Season 12, Episode 28: The Passion of Connor

"The Passion of Connor"
Episode 28
Air Episode: September 5th, 2004

Well, here is our arbitrary Red Ranger battlizer episode and like most episode's surrounding this American only weapon that is forced down our throats each season because those toy lines need more, SO MUCH MORE toys in them, how Connor gets this new battlizer is soooo random and comes from literally no where! O_o  But what I do really enjoy about this episode that the writers use the journey toward getting that stupid ranger tradition worthwhile.  Sure, the episode starts off with Connor really wanting to impress a girl in school named Krista, who even Ethan and Trent think he has absolutely NO chance with since she's a very sweet and sincere girl and Connor is....well...a sometimes vain and self involved jock.  Of course Connor goes for it anyway despite their reservations and tells Krista he'll be apart of her stand to stop Principal Randell from having the big old tree near the school destroyed since it has been there for hundreds, if not thousands of years. Doesn't help that Connor is dumb enough to tell Ethan how he's gonna pretend to like her stupid activism for the tree just to get a date with her....while she is right behind her overhearing and rips him a new one for being said dimwitted jock! Ouch is right Ethan....ouch is right!!! O_O

Meanwhile, it turns out...wow...Zeltrax served his Assault Vehicle being destroy and plans to use the sap from the old tree to give him immeasurably power just as Mesagog sends Elsa out to do the same and retrieve the sap from the tree for himself.  Too bad after Devin gets hilariously scared off by Zeltrax, that Elsa get her Gothic villainess behind kicked as Zeltrax gains more power from the fluid flowing through the tree.  After defeating Elsa, Zeltrax kidnaps the tree and transform it into a monster, Deadwood, to use against the rangers as well as anyone who else standing in his way as he consumes more power form the tree.  Turns out that the old tree has actually been growing around  sacred water aka a fountain of youth that has been keeping it alive for so long.  As Tommy and Hayley reveals this to the rangers, Mesagog tells Elsa he needs the tree or the fountain's power is useless thanks to the changing ecosystem over the years.  As Triptoids attack the city, the three rangers go off to defend the city while running into Elsa and the evil White Ranger. As the rangers fight off the Triptoids aka run through more Sentai footage to save money, Zeltrax attacks both sides and makes Deadwood grow while he fights off Elsa and Trent arrives to finish off the Triptoids.  Unfortunately, the evil White Ranger summons the Dino Stegozord and teams up with the Deadwood against the Thundersaurus and Mezodon Megazords cause...I guess at the moment they share a common enemy.  But even though the rangers are able to destroy Deadwood, Zeltrax manages to save a piece of it to make his way back to the tree's original location to drain more power from it.  Of course, Krista's stupid activist ass is there to get captured by Zeltrax and despite Connor's best efforts to stop him, he's way too powerful to stop.

What follows is Connor finding Zeltrax randomly climbing up a wall of the quarry while dangling Krista helpless over him.  As Connor tries to save her, he remembers Tommy's words of wisdom earlier about taping into new power finally kicks in and thus, Connor's battlizer is born in the most random way possible yet.  Oh and the sequence is about as cheesy as a CGI sequence during this period gets with the swinging flaming legs and all!!! I just.....the thing even gives him the ability to super stretch his arms to save Krista from a fatal fall when Zeltrax lets her go.....WOW! -_-  Anyway, an inevitable fight ensues between the powered up Zeltrax and battlizer Connor who easily beats the living crap out of Zeltrax to the point he loses his new found limitless power and retreats.  The episode ends of course with Connor making a deeper connection with Krista who sees him in a new light by seeing how much he truly cares...awwwwwww.  Honestly, "The Passion of Connor" is a really solid episode outside of the continued ridiculous need for selling these awful looking battlizers.  Connor's development feels nice and natural outside the sudden power up out of no where, Zeltrax's return made for a great conflict this episode and the action was great as seeing a three sided match between Mesagog's generals, the rangers and Zeltrax was a very entertaining treat to watch. :)

Final Morph: A-