Season 16, Episode 24: Blue Ranger, Twin Danger

"Blue Ranger, Twin Danger"

Episode 24

Air Date: August 5th, 2008 (Jetix)/August 11th, 2008 (TV)

Sigh....of all the times to have a character episode, they have it right at the peak of suspense with the introduction of the Spirit Ranger suddenly becoming a secondary plot point to Theo's twin brother, Luen, coming into town.  Don't get me wrong, the beginning of the episode continuing right where we left off is about as awesome as you'd expect with the Jungle Fury rangers immediately going toe to toe with their newest unforeseen enemies.  I love the moment RJ realizes the Shark Ranger is his dad and his father immediately comes out of it to stop the other masters; causing their Spirit Rangers to instantly vanish.  But then...sigh....the episode suddenly becomes this out of nowhere (and seriously, horribly unneeded) focus on Theo and his brother.  If this episode has come before this arc as a filler, than I'd be more inclined to like it but it comes right at the beginning of the Spirit Rangers debut; filling forced in while the Spirit Rangers are forced into sudden henchmen of the week in favor of getting to see the dynamic between Theo and a new character we end up not caring about.  If anything, it makes Luen come off even more obnoxious in comparison to his brother and I honestly don't care for once about Theo's insecurities.  So his brother was super popularity and his parents couldn't stop talking about him.  Look, I get the whole sibling resentment thing (Trust me! :P) but it's hard to care when so much more exciting things are currently happening.  Also, I don't know how I feel about Lily not being able to tell the difference between Theo and Luen as well as Luen playing along until Lily told him how Theo feels about him.  Really shoddy and harsh writing that makes the characters come off selfish and mean honestly. O_o

As for the side tracked Spirit Rangers, like a said, they are merely henchmen this episode in favor of yet another Phantom Beast Warrior aka Dynamir taking the spotlight as he traps all the rangers in mirrors for Dai Shi.  Of course, Theo's brother gets captured instead of him conveniently (mmmhmm! -_-) leaving him the task to save his brother and fellow rangers.  Once again, the inclusion of the brother drama just doesn't hold your attention and of course, the reveal of his brother being a ranger is so casual.  Also, one thing I don't understand is how were Lily and Casey able to summon the Jungle Master Megazord without Theo???  It usually seemed like something that involved all three of them but now the two are able to summon and pilot it without Theo here some how.  Very head scratching???  Would have liked an explanation about that. -_-  Also, RJ just builds a device that can jam the Spirit Rangers from manifesting that Theo uses but gets destroyed! I just hope he's able to build a new one and this isn't just tossed aside some how.....-_-

At least the stuff with Dai Shi is tolerable.  Nice to see him taking up the lead villain role again and his chastising of the Phantom Beasts for their failure was pretty entertaining.  Also, Master Finn channels his spirit to contact RJ about "taking the risk and finding the answer" or something.  Pretty much foreshadowing and alluding to that telescope RJ touched in the previous episode his father told him about.  Overall, "Blue Ranger, Twin Danger" maybe be harmless episode in the long run but it really spoils the dread and momentum of the Spirit Rangers as the rangers'new threat just so that Theo can appreciate himself more and talk about how jealous of his brother he is.  I'm sorry, Now's not the time and who cares! O_O

Final Morph: D