Season 24, Episode 4: Presto Change-O

"Presto Change-O"

Episode 4

Air Date: February 11th, 2017

Hmmmm, this episode is definitely the most interesting of the ones so far as it builds on the Ninja Steel and its varying degrees of supernatural benefits by focusing on Preston....or Presto for some reason as everyone keeps calling him that throughout the episode. O_o  I know it's his magician name but it's just kind of bizarre how they keep saying it even when he's not doing his magic show! -_-  Anyway, Presto(n) :P isn't really hitting it out of the park with his magic show as usual, especially when Victor points out the lameness of his latest trick to a crowd of disappointed teenagers.  Tho in the premiere, he transformed into a laughable dragon costume in under 2 seconds, so come on, give the guy a break??? O_o lol While Brody tries to encourage Preston to continue with his dream of being a great magician, Preston suddenly realizes that he can actually perform REAL magic seemingly out of nowhere.  While Brody assumes it may be the Ninja Steel, Preston is too excited to show the others what he can due while the other rangers are working on a surprise for Brody.  When Preston shows his magic in front of Mick and the teens, Mick quickly confirms Brody's assumption since the Ninja Steel has been told to grant someone's inner most desires which in Preston's case, makes him able to perform real magic!  While Mick tries to warn Preston about using his magic since there might be certain unforeseen consequences of him tampering with the added privileges of the Ninja Steel, it doesn't stop him from preforming a magic act in front of the students.....that goes horrible wrong, especially when Monty's lower half runs away from the top half of his body. O_O

Meanwhile, Galanax has yet another monster sent down to get the power stars in the form of Slogre, a turtle based monster who sprays three of the rangers with some type of spell mist, which begins to effect them soon after.  And I got to say, I really liked this monster's power as he clearly forces Hayley, Calvin and Sarah to slow down compared to other humans so he can just quickly grab their power stars as they morph.  It even provides some genuine hilarious comedy like when Hayley frantically contacts Brody in slow motion! HA!  Luckily, before Slogre can escape, Brody and Preston arrive to confront him with Brody suggesting Preston use his magic to hold the monster while they get the power stars back.  While Preston is extremely hesitant given what happened with his last few tricks, his magic ends up working again by holding Slogre so Brody can get the stars back and give them to the other rangers.  Seems Preston's magic only works when he's using them for selfless reasons instead of showing off.  Awwwwww....makes sense in a sentimental lesson of the day way I guess! :P  Anyway, after both of them morph and defeat the monster, the other three rangers revert back to normal but must quickly join the fight when Slogre is GIGANTIFYED!

The rangers soon summon their Ninja Steel Zords and form the Ninja Steel Megazord, but when it turns out that monster can fly, it leads to some serious trouble when Brody tries to go after him but ends up needing help.  Since Preston's zord can fly, he uses it to save a falling Brody on his zord; soon getting the idea to create a new zord formation: The Ninja Steel Megazord Dragon Formation with the Dragon zord now taking the front of the zord while the Red Robot becomes a new arm attachment.  With the new zord formation, the rangers destroy Slogre but also I must mention the rangers have a Ninja Master mode in their cockpits like the Dino Charge and Samurai rangers did....as well as a Ninja Master Saber that's a chainsaw....THIS show!!!! O_O  Anyway, the episode not only ends with Preston learning his lesson....and Monty becoming a human block literally and being just fine with it (O_O), the rangers and Mick surprise Brody with the gift they've been working on; his dad's ole truck which they made look amazing and modern.  It's a touching moment and nice coda on the episode for sure.  Overall, the best episode so far in terms of story and I like the magic angle with Preston even if there wasn't much character development there.

Final Morph: B+