Season 17, Episode 2: Fade to Black

 

"Fade to Black"

Episode 2

Air Date: March 7th, 2009

As the episode picks off exactly from the premiere, we see the three rangers attacking the Attackbot with the weapons they summoned at the end of the last episode: Street Saber, Turbo Cannon and....Zip Charger.....uhhh huh. As the rangers continue to battle the both (ha!), Ziggy is still shocked that Dillon doesn't know about the existence of the rangers just as the three rangers combine their weapons to fire at the bot; seemingly shutting him down.  Back at Venjix's lair of DOOM!!!! We get some hilarious banter between his generals, especially General Crunch! lol Venjix decides since the city's defenses are still down, now would be the perfect time and orders General Shifter to send "all of them". O_O  Soon hundreds, if not thousands of flying drones exit his lair and fly toward Corinth but since the Colonel and his operative in the base of the city is able to close the walls of the city in time, the drones begin attacking....tho Dillon is hilariously unfazed as one blast hits right behind him and Ziggy as he jumps into Dillon's car for cover.  The rangers are soon contacted by Dr. K and are ordered to summon their individual zords: an Eagle Zord, a Lion Hauler and a Bear Crawler.  Yes, animal based race cars are the rangers zords and I actually am LOVING this.  The immediate danger of the matter juxaposed to the outlandish silliness of the rangers' gimmicky af zords works so well, being both beyond hilarious and action packed! But while the rangers are protecting the city from the attack, Ziggy and Dillon see a bunch of Grinders building a ray to fight down the rangers; leading them both to hop in the car as Dillon proceeds to ram into the laser; destroying it and the Grinders as well as it shoots down the rest of the flying drones.  Jesus, can Dillon calm himself down with the badassness, a bit excessive dude! :P Unfortunately, as Venjix's forces retreat, he has a back up plan as he tells them to "prepare the download" and the Attackbot is forced to reboot as well as grow.  Honestly, this has to be the most realistic way to make a monster grow on this show compared to previous seasons and that's saying A LOT!!! Since Venjix is machine based, why not uses certain programs to upgrade your army to grow in size???

Anyway, Scott orders the rangers to form the "High Octane Megazord", which....looks surprisingly awesome and embarrassing all at the same time.    With their megazord and accompanying super saber, they are able to destroy the Attackbot as Summer immediately comes down to unmask herself and thank Dillon for helping them save the city.  Too bad the instant chemistry is interrupted by the Colonel's men who immediately grab Dillon and Ziggy for being intruders. Ziggy is all happy to be associated with Dillon until it's reveal he has some intense bio hardware aka Venjix series 7 machinery in him.  "I don't even know this dude!" I ALREADY LOVE this guy!!! :)  Also, I just LOVE how when Dillon is getting interrogated by Truman and his other operatives, Ziggy is just distracting the other operatives with hilarious stories about his childhood as well as a hideous rash that grew throughout his back! I have NEVER laughed so hard watching this show! My goodness, bring back Eddie Guezlian...PLEASE!!! Anyway, back in the Garage, the three rangers are being debriefed by Dr. K, who continues to simply be a voice on a monitor, which just makes me think of Plankton's wife, Karen! :P  Anyway, Doc K informs the team that Venjix's latest machines are his most advanced yet and if they don't match that in time, Venjix could take over the city within a month.  Flynn suggests they find someone for the Series Black suit, but Scott says they can't find someone who can handled the Series % hardware, which gets Summer thinking. 

Back in prison, Summer decides to talk to Dillon one on one about possibly joining the team and the dialogue once again puts a big ole smile on face.  Dillon's smug flirting as Summer quips about him practicing on being a "brooding bad boy"!!!  Omg, more, MORE!!! :)  She also brings up his pocket watch with the tune that opens up, as Summer tries to convince him of giving him some answers in exchange for his help.  Anyway, back at the garage, Dr. K informs the team about Dillon's internal hardware and both Scott and Flynn aren't so keen on him joining since he has Venjix technology in him.  But Summer relents and thinks he'd be a great asset to the team even tho Scott still has serious doubts.  Meanwhile, Dillon thinks he maybe able to find a way to break out of prison and Ziggy eagerly wants him to bring him along.  Dillon say no to that since he's been such a nuisance to him since he met him just as several other inmates are being escorted by their cell and not so subtly threaten Ziggy; apparently having sort of past with him.  Also, Shadow Puppets!!! Oh Ziggy is a treasure! :) Later in the prison cafeteria, an inmate named Hector and his boy confront Ziggy as they prepare to pretty much kill him while Dillon gleefully lets Ziggy handle it himself.  But clearly Dillon is getting pissed off by Ziggy being all helpless and decides to finally back him up.  What proceeds is something I would NEVER thought I'd see on Power Rangers, an full on and pretty brutal prison brawl as Dillon kicks all their asses with one hand holding his tray.  Once again, badass is his name, Dillon plays no games! O_O As Ziggy gets all cocky and taunts all the bitten prisoners, he thanks Dillon but he just plays it off like he didn't do it for him.  God, this character dynamics!!! Off the charts awesome! Meanwhile, after Dillon proceeds to kick some more inmate ass, Summer shows the footage to Scott and Flynn who are beyond shocked by how well Dillon can handle himself; leading the three to go back to the prison and introduce the team in full as well as Dr. K.  Also, Venjix has reveals his newest weapon against the rangers, a humanoid robot named Tenaya 7...uhh ohh.....  Also the abrupt ending with the TITLE CARD really is too hilarious!!! I just....I have no words.....this is sensational, mature kid's TV!!! Intelligent, serious but fun and silly enough to be taken seriously! If that makes sense. O_O Feel more like a two parter than the second episode and Eddie's writing is terrific! :)

Final Morph: A+