Season 16, Episode 17: No "I" in Team

"No "I" In Team"

Episode 17

Air Episode: June 28th, 2008

Thou art afraid of one's leadership when in danger of being overtaken by thy teacher??? O_o Ok enough Shakespeare talk but even tho RJ's sudden arrival as the Jungle Fury Ranger doesn't make much sense, it does allow Casey a chance to develop more within his own personal arc.  We've seen the rangers, especially Casey come a long way since the beginning of the season as he wasn't meant to be there originally and was just a cub.  But Casey has advanced as not only a Pai Zhuq student quickly but as a fellow ranger alongside Lily and Theo.  So it would make sense once the rangers' master mentor (literally) joining the team would make Casey feel a little back to basics and has lost his place as team leader.  Tho it was never really established that Casey was in fact the leader, Red always means leader on this show so of course, someone like RJ now on the team would make him quickly insecure about his role on the team.  He sees the team training without him in the loft and during a recent monster attack, Casey can't seem to call the shots anymore; leaving RJ having to quickly find an attack strategy against their latest enemies, two more of those Shadow Guards but this time in Red.  Apparently, there is an army of them covered in stone as Grizzaka used his Zocato power to resurrect them and bring them back to life.  Anyway, back to "What's Eating Casey Rhodes?", RJ being the wise mentor he is, quickly realizes something is up with Casey and talks to him about the situation. RJ, of course, tells him that the Tiger leads the team as always but maybe he got a little too excited about being a ranger but Casey still feels inadequate, especially when he splits the team up during another monster attack with those two Red Guard thingys. O_o

While Theo and Lily try their best to fight the two off, we get another really awesome mentoring scene between RJ and Casey.  I really LOVE what the writers have done with RJ this season as his methods may be strange but always seem to have a very great point that feels real, even mature for the show.  Ok, maybe not that far.  But the basketball analogy he uses to force Casey to use his instincts again is simple but once again, a strong progress for him as it shows Casey may have been a cub but he has still come a long way and is more than capable of still being the leader despite his sudden reservations.  Apparently, Casey is so confident in his leadership that he can use a satellite dish that RJ throws to him to deflect a powerful blast by the two monsters back at them....yeah.....oh this show and it's absurdity moments! :P  Anyway, after combining their Jungle Master mode with their Claw Cannon and the Wolf Rangers's Wolf Bane attack, Grizzaka uses his Zocato power to make his guards grow; leading to the rangers having to use both the Jungle Pride (or in this case, Wolf Pride Megazord) and the Jungle Master Megazord to destroy both of them combined.  It's an awesome sight to finally see both megazords together and kicking a$$ for the first time side by side. :)

But one also great plot movement here is seeing Dai Shi continuing to train, even by himself to grow stronger to overthrow Grizzaka and become the master of the beasts again.  The fight sequence between him and the Rin Shi was awesome, showing his desperation for more power but ultimately falling short.  It leads to an unforeseen, even masterful scene (pun intended this time! :P) where Master Mao's spirit returns to confront Dai Shi and remind him about him residing in Jarrod as well as his animal spirit being too strong for him to completely corrupt Jarrod.  I love how the writers are making more clear of the obvious duality within Dai Shi/Jarrod that Jarrod is still present within and fighting Dai Shi's possession of him and of course, what is interfering with Dai Shi's proper full strength.  But also, he unfortunately gives Dai Shi the idea to look for something called the Nexus, which is home to the Rhino spirit, which is very powerful and will use to strength his own to overrule Grizzaka.  Overall, "No "I" in Team" works well in progressing both sides when it comes to ongoing theme of harnessing more power and rising more as a student to become even powerful. :)

Final Morph: A+