Season 13, Episode 24: Reflection, Part 1

"Reflection, Part 1"
Episode 24
Air Date: August 12th, 2005

Well, finally we get some needed plot movement again in this thrilling two parter that sets out to not only introduce the signature Battlizer gimmick of the franchise at this point but also test the emotional state of Sky as he comes face to face with his past through a dangerous criminal who shares the same past as his....Oooooooo!!!  :)  So Part 1 opens with Kat and Boom working on said battlizer when poor RIC's head get blown off when Commander Cruger walks in to check on things.  Needless to say, Kat and Boom having gotten it working yet so....lol.  Meanwhile, the rangers are seemingly enjoying a day when suddenly...Rhinx reappears to confront them.  As Syd remembers him from their last confrontation, the rangers soon morph and chase after him.  Suddenly, Hydrax shows up as Bridge remembers when they took her out, as they continue to fight her, she disappears and Bugglesworth attacks the rangers.  As Z jumps up to a balcony to stop him, he vanishes like the others with no trace.  Extremely puzzled by how these captured villains could be back, Kat soon reveals the three criminals are still captured in their containment cards (Seriously and I thought the whole turning criminals into action figures was bizarre during Time Force O_o) , they realize there must a copycat or some group of copycats that Grumm has unleashed on them.  Meanwhile, Kat introduces Jack to his new battlizer...to Sky's immense disappointment and off handed compliment to Jack when Kat says it's specifically for the Red Ranger.

As Jack chases after an upset Sky, Sky tells Jack it has nothing with him being jealous of Jack being the leader but it's more about living up to his father's legacy.  This has to be one of the best scenes of the show as a whole, not just for this season as Jack reminds Sky that heroes come in all colors which is such a powerful message for kids to hear.  I love it and completely encapsulates the overall theme of the franchise. Nice! :)  In the following scene, Commander Cruger calls on Sky for a special mission on a distant planet to interrogate a notorious criminal who they believe will have information on who the copycat(s) might be,  As Sky takes off, Kat makes a remark about the criminal having ties to Sky's past as Cruger aggressively tells her he is not to know....hmmmm??? O_O  As Sky arrives on the planet, he is told by the guards to cover every reflective surface on his body, including his eyes.  I really LOVE this attention to detail as Sky runs into Mirloc in his cage as he can escape through mirror, puddles, eyes, etc.  Not to mention, this guy has such a menacing presence about his right when he begins speaking to Sky.  Mike Drew does a wonderful job voice acting for the character as he plays mind games with Sky until they come to an agreement that he will give him something to add to his collection in exchange for his info on the rangers' latest threat.  Turns out, a shape shifting alien named Blank Slate (Uhh huh??) has been recruited by Broodwing who has used a DNA Scanner to use previous criminals' DNA to help Slate take on their forms.  Before Sky can leave with this information, Mirloc wants his piece of the deal in return but Sky won't until he checks out his information to see if it's true.  To Mirloc's mysterious amusement.

Back on Earth, Broodwing prepares another DNA scan for Slate who is all in the shadows for some reason.....and I can COMPLETELY see why??? Slate looks like the costume and make-up in department for Super Sentai ran out of their budget mid season with possibly the cheapest looking monster of the week in a while.  Just some guy in an all black suit with big metal dots all over his torso with a red mouth piece cut out..... WOW!!! o_O  Thank God he spends most of the episode shifting from former villain to the next.  Even managing to change in Sinuku and Devastation to make the rangers fight against him harder.  Luckily they manage to draw him back enough where he retreats into one of Broodwing's giant robots.  Seriously, where does Broodwing get these giant robots from??? Jesus, no wonder he runs a tight business and is so aggressive about getting his money back as an army of giant robots ain't cheap!!! :P ANyway, as Kat sends the Delta Runners, the rangers manage to form the Delta Megazord and destroy robot; sending Slate down where they prepare to capture him once and for all.  Unfortunately, Morgana arrives to assist and gives him the ability to create other previous villains from himself as Rhinx, Sinuku, Hydrax and Tomars appear alongside Slate as Devastation.  YEAHHH!!! Pretty sure you know what's gonna happen from here as Grumnm gleefully watches as all 7 gang up on the core 5 and OWN them in battle.  Slate as Devastation is about finish Jack of when the Shadow Ranger arrives.  But unfortunately Morgana and Devastation are too strong for even him to contend with as all 6 rangers lay defeated.

Luckily, Kat calls Jack to use the battlizer and surprisingly, it isn't as dumb looking as previous.  O_O  Well, at least until Jack goes into mode 2 of the battlizer and it's about as stupid looking as you'd expect.  Anyway, with the battlizer, Jack is able to not only defeat all the copies of the old monsters but capture Slate as well as Morgana heads off after Jack threatens her. Badass!  But things only get worse from here despite the rangers' major victory, Sky returns to Mirloc's cell to give him his end of their deal.  Turns out, Mirloc collects memory and wants Sky to reveal the saddest memory he has.  Reluctantly, Sky reveals about losing his father after a fatal last mission for SPD...to which Mirloc laughs and cherishes how tragic his memory is.  As Sky grows more upset and flustered, it was all a ploy by Mirloc to get him to cry so he can escape his prison from a reflective surface! .....Wow......I'm just...WOW....*round of applause*  Never expected such a chilling and shocking conclusion like that and I'm so here such amazing plot development like this! Bra-freakin'-vo! :)

Final Morph: A+