Season 17, Episode 20: Heroes Among Us

"Heroes Among Us"

Episode 20

Air Date: August 15th, 2009

So around this time during the season is where Eddie Guezlin was unfortunately "let go" from the series and Judd "Chip" Lynn was brought in to finish the season....which is unheard of in my opinion.  Then again, there have been dozens of movies where directors began directing a film but do to some issue, had to be replaced by a new director to finish shooting the rest of the film.  But the thing is, til this day, there are numerous fan speculation as to what Eddie's original plan for the second half of the season was considering this was HIS vision for the show, but not only did he not get to finish it because he was bringing the show waaayyyy over budget but now you have someone coming in to conclude said vision without much to go beside the rest of the writers on the show for that season.  Luckily, Judd's first written episode for RPM shows, not only is he more than capable of continuing the series as show runner, but there was a reason he is the most beloved writer/showrunner of the fandom.  "Heroes Among Us" maybe one of his finest scripts as he completely fits into the gritty storytelling and stunning character development we saw earlier this season.  Once again, a courageous, yet stoic leader is put centered stage after the rangers help Corinth's army against a usual attack against the city.  Unfortunately, after Gem saves his father and his soldiers protecting a young civilian, Truman quickly awards Gem the metal of Valor...despite Scott being there to save him too. While Gem is all excited, Summer and Flynn have to come him down when he begins gloating about it because of Scott getting extremely upset.  Sigh....and you can't help but feel for Scott. Colonel Truman has NEVER seemed to see any value in Scott as a soldier, not to mention, a ranger and leader of a team that are the most important defense against the rangers.  It once again brings feelings of inferiority compared to how much his father loved and adored his brother Marcus.

It leads to Scott going off into the wasteland, upset and pissed, as the rangers return from an outing but only Gem notices the tire tracks to follow him with his zord.  When he finds Scott, they have a great heart to heart between the two and I really enjoyed seeing these two characters bounce off each other.  Gem maybe an irrational man child for the most part, but like Gemma, they are extremely empathetic and compassion because of their said innocent mentality.  But soon the two stumble upon a group of runaway prisoners; fleeing from Venjix's forces which leads Scott to formulate a plan with Gemma to free the prisoners.  After disguising themselves and letting themselves get captured by Tenaya and a group of Grinders, they run into Commander Murdoch, a thought to be dead soldier who was immensely honored among his comrades.  He decides to attack the Grinders, so they can escape but unfortunately he is stopped and almost killed by Tenaya until Scott gives in and leads Gem into a fight to free all the slaves.  They manage to beat their forces and draw them back while Scott sends all the escaped prisoners into a truck to bring them to Corinth. Unfortunately, on their way back, they are attacked by Grinders but fortunately, Dr. K alerts Colonel Truman as he and his soldiers as well as the rest of the rangers get to the city's main gates to see the two bio signatures are.  They find out its Gem and Scott who bring the free prisoners into the city to safety.  While Colonel is shocked and honored that Commander Murdoch is alive, the Commander tells him it was Scott who lead the charge in freeing them...to Colonel's smug disbelief...HA!!! Take that Tru-HOLE! :)

Meanwhile, Venjix has had his other general build him a much stronger bot for him to vessel aka an Upgrade Bot with more advanced armor than the last to fight the rangers.  He wastes no time as Venjix begins attacking the city after the unforeseen rescue mission and all 7 rangers morph to summon the SkyRev Megazord.  Too bad Venjix's new body proves too powerful and forces the rangers out of their zords as the battle soon takes place on the ground.  All 7 rangers do their best to battle Venjix but prove to be too much for him...until Scott combines his Street Saber with Gem's dagger weapon to finish Venjix off.  While all the rangers celebrate, Shifter arrives to take the remnants of Venjix's destroy body to bring him back to his lair.  As the episode wonderfully concludes, Colonel Truman finally awards his son for his efforts with a metal but instead of taking it, he admits it wasn't his initial intention to save those prisoners and as leader, he left his team and the city defenseless. It's one of the most remarkable quotas of an episode as Scott realizes he doesn't need his father's approval for validation as a hero as he proved it to himself he good enough.  Also, Truman seems to gain a whole new respect for his son for not taking the metal and excepting responsibility for his initial actions before saving the day.  Despite starting to drag on with Dillon's search for his sister (Honestly, I say drag because I'm already finding this storyline kind of tired, especially when it's already feeling like "been there, done that"! O_O), "Heroes Among Us" remains one of the strongest outings not just for this series but the franchise in general.  One of the most sensational character development episodes with terrific characterizations and high stakes that propels a red ranger's personal arc superbly in every way! :)

Final Morph: A+(+) :)