Season 16, Episode 1: Welcome to the Jungle, Part 1

"Welcome to the Jungle", Part 1
Episode 1
Air Date: February 18th, 2008

Well, onto yet another season of Power Rangers!!! I'm just thankful I made it through the entirety of Operation Overdrive!!! O_O Seriously, I can not fathom how exactly I managed to get through it but I guess that just ultimately shows how much I love this franchise and am dedicated to finishing this extreme task of reviewing and looking over season after season until Beast Morphers.  At this point, I wouldn't be surprised if the last thing they write on my tombstone after they bury me is "Watched lots of Power Rangers!" O_O  Lol  Anyway, onto to Jungle Fury and thank God, the theme song is a HUGE improvement over......the travesty that shall not be named last season before every episode. -_-Sure, it has a more of lighthearted pop rock feel to it compared to the more epic rock feel of the Ron Wasserman(eqse) themes of the Saban era but the melody is very catchy and the lyrics are actually pretty fun!!! Not one of my top 5 of course, but top 10 just for being even mildly enjoyable.  So we open through a mist covering yet another one of those secret academies (There seems to be quite a few of those in the PR Universe huh? O_o) But instead of a hidden Ninja academy, this time it's a temple school high above the mountains where the Pai Zhuq aka Order of the Claw are training students in the art of kung fu and channeling the power of their individual animal spirits.  Six students have been selected to advance to the next level in their training including Theo, clearly the uptight archetype of the team this year, Lily, the adorable, charismatic sweetheart who I know I'm gonna LOVE and Jarrod.....clearly here to because of his extremely cool demeanor and able to NOT be a temperamental a-hole!!! Jesus, how did he even make it this far with that kind of attitude??? Doesn't Kung fu require a lot of discipline and respect??? O_o Anyway, we see that the fighting this season is gonna be the most intense since Ninja Storm as Theo and Lily fight off their fellow students with some awesome moves...before summoning their own animal spirits to finish them off.  Jarrod fellows of course, even when the student was crying for mercy but we'll just ignore that I guess...the HELL!!! O_o

Soon the students' teacher aka Master Mao ( I just love seeing all these former actors from Xena actors on this show!!! That pool of New Zealand actors must be soooo small?! lol) tells the three have been chosen and to meet with him.  Unfortunately, Jarrod is continuing to be a major douche to a beginning student called a cub when yet another young student comes in to give Jarrod the towel he wanted and to stop him from picking on a fellow student.  Of course, Jarrod pushes him over because that's exactly what he wanted and can't contain his excitement clearly (Seriously dude CHILL!!! -_-)  Luckily, Casey, the young cub, unleashes some tiger projection ability like the others that knocks Jarrod back.  Master Mao, being impressed, expels Jarrod and replaces him with Casey. While Lily and Theo banter, Master Mao finally invites them to a dark chamber within the temple.  It's exposition as he tells them about a great evil named Dai Shi that want to rule the world over 10,000 years ago before being put inside a chest that Master Mao is holding...without a lock on it!?!! o_o  I can't even begin to describe how incredibly dumb this is but I'll just say Jarrod some how enters the chamber; mad as hell for being kicked out before entering a very Matrix-eqse fight with Mao...but before Jarrod leaves after being defeated, he uses his lion animal spirit power that knocks the chest out of Mao's hands and opens after hitting the floor.  Oh no! Dai Shi is free and destroys their master? Jarrod runs away during all this? Dai Shi gets away and plans to continue his war against humans?!?  .....Sooooo the Pai ZHuq can't even afford a damn lock on that chest so Dai Shi isn't so easily released by like...I don't know....someone accidentally dropping it!!!? O_O Seriously what is with this show and poorly concealing thousands of year old forces of evil!!? O_O Rita's "dumpster", the tomb holding the demons of Mariner Bay, now this???  Omg!!!  It's like they WANT the world to constantly be in danger just the Power Rangers can clean it up eventually!!! God knows, no one else seems to be doing anything to stop these forms of evil on Earth and beyond! -_-

Anyway, with Mao quickly dying, he tells the three students that they must a new master since his time on this realm is over and hands them a note to where to find him.  You know Mao, you entrust these three to look after an ancient evil spirit only to mess up and die on them; so now you have to send them to a new master when they all can barely comprehend what's going on.  Jesus, poor Lily is in tears and Casey is clearly completely not ready for such a responsibility and journey.  Yeah Mao dies and honestly, for the first time, I feel really bad for a chosen team of rangers....Jesus, hang in their guys??? So the three soon to be rangers head to a pizza shop in the city called Jungle Karma Pizza where they hilariously assume some old Asian man is their new master when he's simply a customer.  Oh microaggression stereotyping!!! :) Suddenly, the opener of the shop, a dude bro named RJ introduces himself to the three as they ask about their master.  He's surprisingly very chill and inviting about it as he gives them some pizza while they wait for him.  RJ tells them to work at the shop God knows when he'll arrive but the three bicker among themselves in some funny dialogue that feels natural again for this show. Thank God! Meanwhile, after seemingly destroying Jarrod in the woods as he tries to get away (hehe!), Dai Shi has apparently taken corporeal form as he returns to his evil palace place thing and summons his foot soldiers: the Rinshi, ancient looking clown warriors (at least that's what they look like to me! 0_0)  Oh they move weird like the Cyclobots; love these foot soldiers already a lot better than the two forms of them we got last season.  Also, we are introduced to Dai Shi's first general, Camille, who has just been in the wall for ten thousand years as well.....wow, talk about a lifetime or too many of patience! O_o Oh and Dai Shi's new form is mysterious hidden from the viewers as he chooses one of his soldiers to become one of his monsters and attack the city.

As the three student soon here the city in chaos, they rush in to see what's going on and confront the foot soldiers.  God, it's great to see a team of rangers saving people and fighting off minions with their own fight skills AGAIN!!! :) :) :) But unfortunately, the chosen foot soldier turns into a mantis monster and prepares to finish the three...until their true master arrives.....wait, RJ!!! Yeah, he also has an Order of the Claw tattoo and unleashes a powerful attack that forces all of them into a retreat...to the teens' shock yet content.  While Dai Shi yells at his soldiers for failing, he sends out Camille to lead them against the teens who stopped them and morphs into a chameleon monster form.  Back at the pizza parlor, after officially introducing the teens to Fran, a frequent if no eccentric customer, RJ leads the three to their base of ops in the form a huge lounge area where he will be teaching and training them against Dai Shi.  Only don't sit on his chair! I love RJ already! We don't get enough kung fu master stoners in modern day media and I support it! :) But that's not all, he gives the three new uniforms as well as...sunglasses??? O_o  Yes, he tells them that these are their solar morphers and use them to become the Power Rangers....which I'm more surprised by the fact that Casey and other two know who the Power Rangers are when several former teams didn't even think the Power Rangers existed!!! -_-  Anyway, with Dai Shi's forces attacking the city again, the three take their morphers and head out in their new uniforms to save the day...after a close up heroic run!!! O_O So....this morph sequence.....gotta say, I....don't know what I think of it yet....as well as the rangers' suits but I will say, this season is already a huge departure from norms of both Power Rangers and Sentai with those two.  But unfortunately, while Theo and Lily are kicking serious ass with their new powers as well as animal spirits, Casey is having some performance anxiety and can't seem to morph....hate when that happens! :P  And it couldn't come at a worse time, as Fran is being attacked by the mantis monster while Casey is capture by the foot soldiers trying to rescue her; ending Part 1.  So far, pretty solid and fun! :)

Final Morph: C+