RECAP: POWER RANGERS RPM #14- “EMBODIED”

Previously on RPM. The scat really hit the fan in the last few episodes. As Dr. Kr reveals to the Rangers how she accidentally, kinda, sorta, might have had something to do with a lethal computer virus destroying civilization as we know it. Dillon has his own problems to deal with, in the form of some pesky amnesia, and a bunch of Venjix technology swimming around his insides. What’s a cyborg to do?

This week’s episode begins with a random zord fight. Luckily, they know which monsters NOT to feature for a big story, so this guy gets taken care of pretty quickly. I’m not sure how many scenes I could have taken where the attack bot uses his lethal “Slippery Floor” technique. As a finisher, I half expected him to throw a banana at their feet in hopes that the Megazord would step on it and fall on its ass.

Our intrepid Rangers make quick work of the attack bot while talking to each other through their helmets. I think I like this new idea of looking through the visor to see their eyes as they speak. It means we don’t have to look at the Rangers throwing their arms around like they’re having a seizure just to say “Hi, how are you?” or some such nonsense because the sentai footage they tried to splice in doesn’t work. It’s part of what makes RPM such a dynamic Ranger show. They’re not slaves to the sentai footage, almost at all. Which, given the acid trip that was the original show, is quite an achievement, I’ll tell you what.

Anyway, the Rangers return to their base, a job well done. But danger is still afoot, as Venjix reveals his latest creation. Oh, goody! They’re finally introducing the new, tougher general, who’s going to make the other two robots look even more irrelevant than before! I wonder what this new character is going to be like. He could really shake things up. He might even–

“I. AM. VENJIX!!!”

Oh.

Well, it seems Venjix has finally decided to get up off his digital ass and get into the fight himself. If you want something done right, you download your memories into a new mechanical body and do it yourself! As I watch this for the first time, I can’t help but think what might happen if his body should get blown up like all his minions. Little do I know…

Tenaya doesn’t want to show it, but she’s worried about losing her place among the ranks here. I guess even robots have to worry about outsourcing in the future. She quickly asks how Venjix plans to get to the Rangers, but he suggests that they’re going to come to him instead. Apparently he’s telepathic, because the Rangers are about to do just that, for no reason that he could possibly predict.

Back at the garage, Summer decides that she’s a hypnotist, and she’s going to help Dillon to recover his long lost memories. Dillon’s smart enough to know that Summer is a crazy person, but Dr. K is swift to remind him that he’s got robo-cancer inside him and no way to stop it except perhaps through his blocked memory. Plus, it would spoil Ziggy’s fun not to get to watch Summer try to make him act like a chicken or something. Oh Ziggy.

Summer pulls forth Dillon’s watch and it plays the sweet melody it always plays, which she hopes will jog his memory. Dillon’s annoyed that she took his watch without asking. Summer’s an interesting creation. A rich clepto hypnotist who rides motocycles like a Hell’s Angel. Fascinating.

Dillon is certain none of Summer’s techniques are going to work. Naturally, that’s exactly when they start to work.

We return to the dry ice factory, as Dillon has more flashes of a darkened area with a young woman whom he knows he’s supposed to protect. Seriously, if you don’t know it’s Tenaya by this week, you should switch over to “Sesame Street” right now. And then there’s that big red light, glowing ominously before him. Ooooh.

The last thing Dillon sees before he pulls out of the flashback is a sign on a wall that reads “Kenmore.” So I guess this means Dillon was shopping for a washer/dryer combo when Venjix kinapped him?

Summer asks Dillon if he’s all right, even though he’s just sitting there with absolutely nothing wrong with him. “Do you know who you are?” the Rangers ask. “No,” he replies. “But I think I know where I’m from.”

After concluding that Dillon may be from the post-apocalyptic Omega City, Scott visits Daddy Truman to discuss the situation. Dad clearly doesn’t want his son and the other Rangers taking all these risks, leaving the city dome, but he knows his son’s not taking no for an answer.

And so, unable to stop him, Truman gives them something that makes me smile. A big bus that reads the name “Go-Onger” on the side of it. Not only do they show the japanese series title right there in plain sight, but they actually bring attention to it by giving the thing an actual backstory (Truman’s “favorite thing in the world”) with an insane acronym:

G round
O utdoor
O perational
N etwork
G eneral-Purpose
E xplorational
R over

Remember when they used to show japanese names and symbols and give you no explanation whatsoever as to why they were there? How Tommy would shoot fireballs with asian symbols attached to them that meant nothing to anyone? Or how the japanese name of the weapons was clearly displayed on some schematic, and then they would shout out a wholely different name for the same weapon in the same moment? This scene is basically a big eff you to all of that. Thus I love it.

The Rangers pile in for a fun road trip, which makes me smile even more. Flynn of course is the driver. For a moment, I think Dr. K is going to join us on this expedition, but she promptly departs before she’s exposed to too much life. Poor Dr. K. She warns them that they’ll only be able to use one zord configuration outside the dome, so they should use it wisely. Corporal Hicks lowers the city shield and the Go-Onger bus (teehee) is on its way.

They’re traveling through the wastelands, having a gay ole time, when they suddenly run into Venjix! The Rangers pile out of the van and proceed to have the longest foot soldier fight in the history of ever…. And then Venjix gives the foot soldiers a power boost and they fight for a few more hours.

Finally, the Grinders are all defeated, leaving only Venjix himself. I guess Dillon recognizes his mechanized voice or something, because he remembers Venjix from back in the day, before the whole amnesia thing. Venjix confirms his suspicions- that he indeed had captured and tampered with his body in some way…. Don’t ask.

The Rangers try to fight, but soon find they’re no match for Venjix and his new form. He saves the best toys for himself it seems. As evidenced by the big freakin’ ship he summons out of nowhere that starts shooting at the demorphed Rangers as they all rush back into the Go-Onger bus.

A street magically appears before them and they drive along it, desperate to stay ahead of Venjix’s laser assault. They drive themselves into a tunnel to take refuge from the attack, but Venjix knows they’ll have to come out eventually.

Now, in a perfect world, the downtime the Rangers have while they’re sitting in the tunnel would be a lot longer. In a situation like this, where you’re pretty desperate to survive, it’s best to wait a while as the tension mounts. Except this is Power Rangers. And on Power Rangers, “waiting a while” equals “waiting thirty seconds and then charging out again.”

Remember when I said they weren’t slaves to the sentai footage? Well, here’s another example. The Megazord charges out into the apocalyptic desert, ready to face Venjix and his fancy new ship. And most of this is sentai footage, with the color treated so that it matches up with the look of the desert they used in original scenes. Pretty simple when you get right down to it, but very nice.

Venjix attacks the Megazord, but it suddenly splits up into all its smaller parts, which all rush at him at once. Scott launches his zord into the air, boosted forth by Flynn’s weapons, and they nearly destroy Venjix… But then his ship just splits up into a bunch of smaller ships, effectively doing what the megazord just did. Crap.

Then, a pair of brand new aerialzords rise up from out of nowhere and thrust into battle with the ships. And they’re piloted by two people dressed in shiney, new costumes. IT’S GEM AND GEMMA!

Now, I wish I could say I loved this sequence, but it feels a little shoddy to me somehow. There seemed to be little attempt to give the revelation a proper sense of surprise, in terms of editing, music, etc. They just kinda… show up and blow all the ships away with bad CGI.

In any case, the new zords destroy every last one of the ships, including the one holding Venjix’s new body, which effectively destroys him once and for all… for the next minute and a half. Before our heroes can figure out who it is that just saved their asses, the shiney new Rangers with terrible ADR decide that they’re hungry and fly away.

Back at Venjix HQ, Dumb and Dumber-bot are crying over the loss of their master, while Tenaya seems to have something up her sleeve. She suggests they fight over who should rule in his place. She tells them not to start fighting until she throws her visor and it hits the floor. She throws her visor and, before it can hit the floor, she’s already knocked them both off their feet.

But suddenly, the ominous eye lights up and the voice of Venjix can be heard once more. Oh snap! Venjix ain’t as stupid as his creations after all! He stored a backup of himself just in case! Not only that, but he’s just built himself another body. Looks like the Rangers are gonna have to deal with him yet again on their way to Omega City.

Can I just say how much I love that I had no idea that this episode would end on such a direct cliffhanger? This is why you don’t throw “Part 1” into the freaking episode title. Or, in this case, just don’t give the two parts the same title at all. Most of RPM’s fans know how the last “Part 1/Part 2” shenanigans went down. Hooo boy.

This was not among RPM’s best episodes. But considering how much new material was thrown in here, and the way in which they used the requisite sentai footage was actually pretty creative and interesting, I’d say they did a good job, for the most part. I want to see what happens in Omega City, like, now. As usual, Dillon rocks my socks, Ziggy brings the laughs, and the wheel of continuity just keeps on turnin.

“Embodied” gets a B+.

-Dr. Tristan