Season 13, Episode 36: Resurrection

"Resurrection"
Episode 36
Air Date: November 4th, 2005

Being the penultimate episode of the season, "Resurrection" does a HELL of a lot of set up for the finale but does it in a way that feels natural and you can already tell some individual character arcs as well as overall plot points are gonna be brought full circle...even here!  Definitely makes it seem the writers had a plan for this season and how it will end with the characters starting over again but with much more purpose in their lives than ever before.  Even the opening scene shows just how close the rangers have become to the point where their annoying bickering has turned into friendly banter and teasing, like they've truly become friends over the course of the series at this point.  Meanwhile, Jack is roaming the streets of New Tech city until he runs into a potential thief...who turns out to be a gorgeous blonde named Ally...yowza!!! O_O  Jesus, she really is an attractive woman and both her actress, Beth Allen and Brandon Jay McLaren have immediate chemistry as her and Jack trade verbal blows until he realizes she's not a thief and is simply donating clothing to the homeless for her father's store.  Meanwhile, Z and Sky to take roam around the city themselves as Z is surprised by how laid back Sky has become since they started their journey as rangers and I completely agree.  Of course, things don't stay quiet for long as a new alien soon attacks named Delex, who has been wanted in 10 galaxies (funny how they do so much damage before S.P.D. has to jump in when these various criminals come to Earth! lol) begins absorbing humans for some reason.

Z and Sky soon arrive to morph and fight him and I just can't help but unintentionally laugh as Z gets knocked down but Sky just walks over her while Z checks on Sky when the same thing happens to him.  Jesus, Sentai footage I know, but they made Sky look like such an insensitive jerk during battle, ha! Anyway, soon the other rangers arrive sans Jack, as he is already getting close to Ally as they finish giving out clothes to poor for the day.  While Ally wants to ask him hang out after, Jack is called to assist the other rangers and takes off.  As Delex continues to own the Omega Ranger and the others, Jack soon arrives, guns a blazing (Literally!) as Delex immediately retreats.  Once again, Broodwing is behind this and is using Delex to turn human cells as an alternative power source for his batteries as apart of his overall scheme to takeover Earth.  Meanwhile, things get even creepier on Grumm's ship as Mora is completely minded controlled by Omni to the point she throws Cindy Sunshine away.  Omg, our sweet Mora is officially gone! :_(  Meanwhile, Cruger briefs the team on splitting into pair of two to search the city for Delex when he notices Jack is missing.  As Delex attacks the city, Z and Sky arrive in S.W.A.T. Mode to battle him.  Cruger grows extremely furious as Jack can't be communicated with or found as he seems to be enjoying a beach day fishing with Ally. Uhhh ooohhh! O_O

Luckily, the other rangers arrive to help Z and Sky but they continue to get their collective asses kicked until Cruger finally gets in touch with Jack and orders him to help his team.  Soon Jack arrives and the team comes all their weapons to seriously damage Delex. ...too bad he just uses his batteries to grow...which I think is the first monster growing scene we've had this season??? O_o Anyway, Kat sends the S.W.A.T. Flyers to the rangers and they use the S.W.A.T. Megazord to fight Delex; then blast him in space with the blaster mode thingy.  Back at the academy, after congratulating the rangers, he has a word with Cruger which leads to Jack surprisingly defending himself for once against the Commander.  I really loved this scene, especially Brandom McLaren's performance.  You can't help but feel where Jack is coming from.  We've seen previous rangers struggle with life outside of being a hero but it has shown to take it's toll on certain individuals on the team, like Connor last season.  While saving the world is a priority, having a life within that world is essential as well...what makes us human.  As Commander Cruger dismisses Jack and tells off Kat when she agrees with the red ranger, there is a distress call on a planet that has S.P.D. stronghold there.  As the rangers with the Omega Ranger gtoing to investigate, they run into Troobian forces, which leads to an explosive action sequence (with no need of gratuitous zoom ins on over the top explosions! Wow!) After defeating them, the rangers happen upon a vessel where...A Squad is alive and well, but clearly in pretty bad shape.  Oh and the Red Ranger on the A Squad is a girl....let's just ignore Jack and Sky's sexist reaction.

But what really impacts this episode the most is when A Squad returns, the rangers are immediately dismissed by Cruger; leading the team to believe after a whole season of growth and saving the world as Earth's last hope against Emperor Grumm, that A Squad will go back to taking over a the main ranger team while they clean up after their battles like during the very beginning of the season.  In an interesting subversion of those expectations, A Squad quickly morphs and force Cruger to come with them....WOW!!! Definitely a superb episode before the final battle for the two part finale. :)

Final Morph: A-