Season 24, Episode 8: Gold Rush

"Gold Rush"

Episode 8

Air Date: March 18th, 2017

WOW! A sixth ranger intro already!!?? O_o  Hmmmm, apart of me wishes they kept the mystery behind the Gold Ranger's identity for a few more episodes.  But then I remember the long and too stretched out Gold Ranger arc of Zeo that ended up with a reveal of a new character behind the helmet that we hadn't seen before so..... It definitely makes for a rather unique debut episode for a sixth ranger, especially the kind of character that will be the sixth member of the team.  I really liked the idea of Levi Weston, this huge country singing sensation that the rangers are huge fans of, sans Brody of course cause he's so out of touch with Earthly lifestyles since he's been in space most of his life. lol  But Levi as a character is definitely great to look at....I mean....a great character to contrast Brody's out of touch personality with such trivial worship of a celebrity.  I like how Brody saving him during an attack by Ripcon and the Kudabots led to Levi wanting him to be his new bodyguard and the two bonding very naturally.  I loved their scene together after Ripcon's retreat, where the two are just getting to know each other and Levi loving Brody for just treating him like a person instead of celebrity while Brody realizes how down to Earth Levi is.  Hmmmmmm, almost seems "brotherly" of them the way they get along.....:)

In terms of the main plot, Ripcon is on a persona mission by Galvanax to recapture the Gold Ranger and discover who was holding him on his ship without him knowing aka the TRAITOR!!! Oh Madame Odius, I gotta say she's the most interesting villain of the bunch and has done the least surprisingly.  So far her intentions and motivations are unclear but it's always entertaining as hell to see a villain going rogue on the bad guy side of things by having their own plans without the rest of them knowing.  We don't know much about her at all, especially why she is doing all of this in the first place but it's hilarious her playfully teasing Ripcon about who the traitor REALLY is and knowing she two steps ahead of the other villains. :)  Also, the fakeout with Levi's manager wasn't exactly a fakeout as it seemed more like Levi was involved than his manager and why the hell would Levi put it in that suitcase knowing full well he could be putting his manager in harm's way.  In fact, how exactly did Levi go missing for god knows how long, maybe even weeks but no one was making a big deal about it since you know....he's a big star and all!?? O_o  Yes, we finally learn how Levi acquired the sixth power star and how Madame Odius came to capture him but it still doesn't explain how the big country sensation going missing didn't raise a few eyebrows at least!!? O_o

Anyway, we do get some awesome continuity in this episode during the megazord battle against another Skullgater which has Sarah introducing a new star her and Mick created using her clone technology from last episode.  It's just nice to see episodes like that having long term consequences instead of just being a one off lesson episode for a character.  So Levi is now apart of the team it looks like as usual but it will be interesting to see how he balances his sixth ranger duties with his apparently huge music career.  I'm sure there is some kind of lesson in progress for Levi to learn when it comes to that future problematic situation but we'll see.  Lastly, as usual the Victor and Monty stuff makes absolutely no sense and what is the constant flying off into the stratosphere sequences these characters continue to be in!??? Like they're some live action version of Team Rocket or something!!??  Also, there is some obvious reusing of the Dino Charge theme during the final moments of the megazord battles! O_o  I noticed it last episode and here too! Seriously, what is up with the music editing department!?? Hasn't been this lazy since Megaforce!!!! -_- Maybe it's because the Ninja Steel theme is too long and disingenuous to be used on the show itself in stead of the credits!??? Ewwwww!! Overall, a strong(ish) episode for the official Gold Ranger introduction and once again, plot movement so not bad. :)

 

Final Morph: A-