Season 16, Episode 19: Path of the Rhino
Well, unlike RJ's surprisingly lackluster handling of his debut as the fourth member of the team, "Path of the Rhino" does a better job of giving a plausible reason as well as character defining moment for a new ranger to step up and join the team. Dominic can come off as a bit of an overzealous, immature jerk but he really means well and is someone who is desperately trying to find his purpose in life. But of course, the way he goes about integrating himself into the group doesn't go well. He irritates the trio before finding out their rangers, not to mention almost gets an innocent bystander killed by the latest monster of the week, Crocovile (I swear there's already been a monster of this show with that name??? In Space??? Lightspeed??? Bah!) It makes perfect sense that the majority of the team sans RJ wouldn't want him to join even after telling him how eager and needed he is. But what I love most about Dominic, is his unlikely connection with Fran. One thing the writers are doing right unlike last season is making the supporting characters feel much more involved and essential in the plot movement, especially when it comes to developing new characters. It's crazy the same people who the selfish dialogue last season are the same people who can write such a heartwarming, charming scene between Fran and Dominic that feels so natural and grounded. Yeah!!! I like how the writers use Fran to see Dominic from a different perspective than the others. Yes, he is making tons of mistakes, not to mention seriously aggravating the team but it's only because he's so passionate about this unforeseen opportunity presented to him. An opportunity that would allow him to grow and learn to not be so immature and childish about a lot of things like he's always been. It's Fran who sees the depth within Dominic that the others don't, which leads to an awesome moment of him showing how heroic and powerful he can be by saving Fran with his Rhino spirit...hmmmm....tying into the Rhino Nexus story arc I see??? :)
Like I said, Dominic's arrival as the Rhino ranger feels much more earned unlike RJ's as the Wolf Ranger. Tho I find it weird that RJ happened to have a bracelet already for Dominic to wear even tho he was leaving town but whatever, maybe he sensed his old friend would return and save the day??? Anyway, the morpher tho for the Rhino Ranger is....ummm.....O_O.....someone's been watching too much Yugi-Oh!!!! O_O Then again, both properties (Sentai and Yugi-Oh) are from Japan so....lol! I'm just saying it'd so huge with the form finger type hand and the blade attached to it. Something that should be badass just looks ridiculous as usual sometimes for this show. His morph sequence isn't bad tho and the initial fight is actually pretty awesome. Little Kalishplosions like most of this season so Kudos as usual. The suit itself??? The best looking out of the 5. It actually has a martial arts/Kung fu theme with the black belt around the waist, not to mention the helmet is very creative and cool. The colors actually mix well together with the white and black being the dominate colors with a bit of orange to add some flavor instead of making it look worse like the Mercury Ranger suit! Yuck! O_O I also enjoyed by the end of the episode Dominic remains himself but is clearly more accepted and comfortable around the others while maintaining his prankster charm.
Meanwhile, on the villain side of things, we followed Dai Shi on his journey to the Rhino Nexus, which he finally finds in this episode. Unfortunately, there is a powerful energy barrier around it that even Dai Shi can't brake through which leads into to next episode. Also, we are introduced to the Phantom Beasts arc as well as Carnisoar is collecting crystal eyes for Grizzaka that apparently will help bring them back. Hmmmmmm..... "Path of the Rhino" is a bit rough around the edges. It introduces a potentially annoying character that actually turns out to be fun and relatable with a pretty good reason to become the fifth member of the Jungle Fury team. Not bad and does set up some excitement for this Rhino Nexus arc. :)
Final Morph: B+
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