Season 15, Episode 2: Kick Into Overdrive, Part 2

"Kick Into Overdrive, Part 2"
Episode 2
Air Date: February 26th, 2006

If the painful fact of knowing I have to listen to that god awful excuse of an opening theme song wasn't bad enough, Part 2 opens up with Hartford having to force, yes, force our new team of rangers to save the city about to be destroyed by lava rather than go after the crown!!! HOLY SHIT!!! O_O I....are you kidding me right now??? Not the best way to introduce a team of heroes who we'll have to follow this season!!! Yeah, let's turn the rangers into selfish idiots....not again!!! -_-  Anyway, after Hartford tells them the crown was a fake, he sends 3 of the rangers to stop the flow of lava from the volcano while Mack and Will head into the city to save as many people as they can despite Hartford's continued reservations of Mack being the red ranger.  At the volcano, the three rangers use their silly a$$ weapons to stop the flow of the lava finally as Mack and Will save civilians from being destroyed by the flowing lava.  Gotta love how Will is complaining about this while saving them with little to no empathy here. -_-  Anyway, when a group of civilians get cornered by the lava, Mack tells Will to summon his...sigh...drive slammer and he makes a crack be enough in the ground to stop the lava by it sinking through it.  So...are we not gonna think about the sewer systems, train stations, etc. we are possibly destroying by doing that??? No??  Ok...moving on then!!! Ewww! -_-  Back at the Hartford mansion, while the rangers celebrate and mention they couldn't have done it without Mack, Hartford just takes the tracker away from him and tells him he will no longer be the red ranger by taking over from there.  What follows next is a surprisingly genuine heartfelt moment where a sadden Mack is talked to by Spencer.  I just love this exchange between them, with acting being spot on, especially when Spencer explains why his father doesn't want him to be put in harm's way as he is his most irreplaceable thing in his father's life.  Hmmmm, something awesome foreshadowing here actually!  :)

As Mack goes to see his father and talk to him, Moltor has already captured Hartford and the real crown.  As Mack informs the others about his father's kidnapping as well as the crown, Rose begins tracking down Hartford since Spencer mentions he might have on his tracker watch.  As the team prepares for a rescue, Will decides to try to crack open Hartford's safe thanks to Spencer's not so subtly mentioning how it's impenetrable.  Meanwhile, Rose tracks Hartford to Roman Island where Moltor and Flurious reunite to use Hartford to find the 5 jewels since he found the crown while Will manages to get Mack's tracker and the rangers use Hartford's special hovercraft jet thingy to fly there.  Once there, Will uses his special telescope vision to see where Moltor took Hartford just as they are surrounded by lava lizards. While the rangers fight them off, Mack tells Dex to head over and save his father.   I love how Dex is just able to so casually save Hartford over a large pit of lava as Moltor tosses him in there. Where the HELL did that grappling hook come for??? O_o  Ewwwww!!! Anyway, after fighting off some more lava lizards, Dex and Hartford head back to the other rangers where they are finishing off the lava lizards with their civilian powers.  While Hartford is all upset about Mack coming along, the 5 must quickly morph and battle Moltor alongside his lava lizards...with so many unnecessary Kalishplosions with things just exploding out of no where with nothing absolutely causing them to be!!! Jesus, it's like they are just throwing these massive explosions because it's fight scene now, NOT because they have a purpose to be there. Ewwwww!!! -_-  Anyway,  after the rangers head back to the mansion after rescuing Hartford, a pissed off Moltor summons some giant monster that the rangers must engage with their DriveMax Zords...which happen to include to be a submarine, a jet and...a construction truck...O_O.  I know this is because of the theme of globe trotting and exploration but...man these zords are soooo underwhelming, especially when the DriveMax Megazord Saber is....digging tools combined together.  Anyway, the rangers use the megazord to literally toss and destroy the monster...too bad Flurious isn't happy with how Moltor ultimately failed.

Of course, the two end up not trusting each other and enter another massive slo motion explosion battle that leaves them going their separate ways to find the jewels themselves.  Back at the mansion, Mack decides to give his father back the tracker but Hartford, thanks to Spencer once again giving him some advice, decides to make Mack stay as the res ranger permanently. After Spencer scrambles his molecules and hilariously gives him his super strength, Hartford rounds up the team as he tells them it's the job of Operation Overdrive to find the 5 jewels.  All and All, definitely one of the weakest premieres but at least Part 2 had it's moments.  I really like Mack and his dynamic with Hartford and Spencer.  You can tell that will be the heart and soul of the season's emotional narrative...tho the rest of rangers themselves, the horribly head-scratching dialogue and the sloppiness of the series is weighing a bit heavy so far. Ehhhhhh here we go....o_o....

Final Morph: C-