Season 17, Episode 13: Brother's Keeper

"Brother's Keeper"

Episode 13

Air Date: May 23rd, 2009

You know, I'm getting REALLY tired of the gratuitous racing shots and sequences with the rangers just driving around like freakin' Fast and the Furious!!! God, even Turbo didn't have this much macho extreme NEED FOR SPEED forcing in the story just because Scott and Dillon can only bond through how much of a MAN they are.  Yeah, I know RPM aka Racing Performance Machines but it comes off as more obnoxious for the sake of looking cool instead actually being natural and entertaining is all I'm saying.  -_-  Anyway, Scott and Dillon abruptly end the race thanks to Tenaya coming by with a surprise attack as all five engage her.  Dillon goes for Tenaya one on one while the others fight off the pack of Grinders as always, tho gotta love the bit where one of the Grinders scratches Scott's car before he proceeds to apesh!t and kick their asses.  lol While the sudden attack than retreat of Tenaya seems weird and nonsensical, it was actually a clever ruse to get a remote device on Dillon as well as having an Attackbot strike him with some lightning so that Venjix hardware within him would accelerate so that the virus would completely takeover and he'd work for Venjix by bring all of the city's shields down.  This leads to Dr. K and the other rangers catching Dillon in the act but before that, we get as hilarious scene of Dr. K's hilarious analyzing of Summer's mixed feelings toward both Scott and Dillon aka the brooding bad boy vs the courageous leader. Ha!!! Gives me the love triangle between Scott (Ha!), Jean and Wolverine.  Anyway, after fighting off Dillon before all the shields are down, Summer manages to kick the device off of Dillon's neck as Scott holds him.  But unfortunately, the damage has already been done and even after tying up Dillon, Dr. K discovers that the virus inside Dillon as grown  even rapidly with the rangers only having a small window to find Venjix hardware to reverse the process back to normal.

While Dr. K isn't willing to go on a mission to save Dillon in exchange for protecting the city, Ziggy comes up with a rather brilliant plan to let Venjix seem like he won by drawing the defenses down and allowing his forces to come in so they can get the circuit board from the Attackbot that struck him with lightning since it will reverse the virus back to it's normal progression rate.  But unfortunately, Dillon would rather leave the city and sacrifice himself to live out in the desert than to put his friends and city in danger.  Doesn't stop Scott from....chaining themselves together??? O_O Ummmm...I get this was Scott's way of stopping Dillon from doing so as well as providing some comedic cutaways to them being chained together and having to do their daily routines as such...but whhhhyyy??? Why was this a temporary solution, especially when Dillon almost drives off with Scott's arm attached to his aka can rip it off violently, is this a way to force Dillon and Scott to come to some come ground with their rivalry between each other.  Also, so the spare key as well as the original is gone, why not unchain him and find yet another way to keep Dillon bounded until they find the chip they need to reverse the virus' speed??? I just...I just don't get it when it's not even a minor dilemma but an annoying inconvenience used for cheep laughs and character interactions that could have been with a much better setting than being chained together when they didn't have to be. Ehwwww!!!

Anyway, while Scott and Dillon are chained back at the garage, Dr. K monitors the fight between the other three rangers and the foot soldiers lead by the Attackbot that zapped Dillon so they can get the circuit board.  When they begin to get their asses kicked, Dillon and Scott finally decide to go off and help them; by morphing and breaking the chains easily.....sigh.....-_-  They kick serious ass together, even with their wheel blasters and manage to destroy him until Venjix makes it grow with a download.  All five rangers immediately call on their zords to form the Zenith Megazord to combine all their weapons and blast it into oblivion once and for all.  Summer quickly grabs the chip from the rumble of the Attackbot as back in the lab, the rangers and Dr. K are trying to reverse the virus' progress...until Dillon reboots under Venjix's control and fights the rangers.  The virus is about to completely take control of Dillon as Ziggy, Scott and Summer try to hold him down and Flynn tries to find the code to make the circuit board work....but it can only do so by the original passcode for the Venjix Virus.  One that Doc K decides to use to save Dillon last minute.  As Dillon reverts back to normal, the rangers wonder how its possible as Doc K quickly reveals that she put in the passcode since she is responsible for Venjix as well as everything they have been through since they met her.....leading into a TITLE CARD!!! O_O  Well, that was a very powerful and pulse pounding cliffhanger considering the episode itself to me was intolerable at times with the chain dilemma between Scott and Dillon.  I did enjoy the massive progression in Dillon's storyline with him being part machine and the virus within him but honestly, I could careless with how the plot played out.  Tho the Summer and Doc K sub-plot with her affection between Scott and Dillon did pay off, especially during a tense moment where Doc K comes off aggressively transparent while wanting to desperately save Dillon's life. lol  These characters remain so painfully surreal and awesome. :)

Final Morph: C-