POWER RANGERS RPM: “THE DOME DOLLS”

Courtesy of the Hero Power Blog

Ya know, I really hope they explain where Kilobyte has been this whole time, because “I was lost” is hardly an adequate explanation as to where the best part of the episode came from.

And I just don’t understand what happened with this episode. Skipping through all of the plot pieces, I have to say how annoyed I was at some of the smaller details here. There were several in-battle moments where you could have just copy-and-pasted lines from 700 previous season episodes. And the thing that I had thought was so great about the fight dialogue in RPM was that they didn’t fall back into the trap of saying the exact same stock lines over and over again.

I remember a couple weeks back when they used the same tired-ass joke where someone says what they think about another character and they walk into the room, and the person asks “They’re standing right behind me, aren’t they?” Like we didn’t already see that exact moment last freaking year with Dominic and Fran.

And I realize this could be a small thing to nitpick, but I only do so because RPM had usually taken so much care to get away from a lot of the franchise’s easy cliches that, when I see it slipping into old habits, it’s just disappointing.

I will say that I’ve been looking forward to this episode for a good while now, and I actually enjoyed the basic premise. In fact, the whole idea that only males fall asleep, leaving the females to deal with the situation alone, was handled far more believably than I would have expected. This aspect of the episode was very amusing.

Of course, the monster of the day was just needlessly goofy. I realize it’s a Go-Onger monster and they “needed” to use it, but they did not need to add the slurping sound effect. For that matter, I have to wonder if they were under any obligation to keep the straw in its “mouth” in the New Zealand footage, which consumed the whole episode besides the zord fight. I would have actually been fine with a random straw in that scene if it meant not having to look at it flopping around for the rest of the episode.

The comedy in general was really hit-or-miss for me this week. The wrap-up scene at the end felt like it just went on and on forever. I mean, as soon as the girls dropped the car hood on the ground and we saw Dillon’s reaction, the scene should have been over.

And that’s exactly the same kind of crap we got in “Three’s A Crowd.” A needlessly long comedy scene just for the sake of it. 

We may never know how or why these episodes ended up the way they did, but “Three’s A Crowd” and “The Dome Dolls” both happen to be credited as scripted by the same writer, and to be perfectly honest, they both contain a lot of indulgent comedy that just dragged the show down tremendously for me.

And my problem isn’t with comedy in general, because RPM has had some fantastic comedy. The problem is when it gets to the point where the scene doesn’t just end on the first good punchline, and instead tries to marinate in it for a good three minutes until the entire joke is almost totally ruined. It’s just depressing.

The episode ends with a nice hint toward the impending revelation about Tenaya’s backstory, so that’s interesting. And I do like how Kilobyte has shaken things up (and those other yahoos just weren’t bothered with). So the wheel of continuity keeps on turning. 

But as a whole, I don’t think this was one of RPM’s best. “The Dome Dolls” gets a C+ from me. The awesomeness of Vasquez and the weather grid plan kept it from dropping into D territory.  

For pity’s sake, RPM, GET THE HELL IN GEAR.

-Dr. Tristan of Heropower