Episode two of Power Rangers Beast Morphers continues to establish this new world, giving the Rangers new robot sidekicks, powerful Zords, as well as revealing some strange weaknesses in the new team.
The episode starts off by showing us what happened to the evil avatar versions of Blaze and Roxy who were teleported away at the end of the last episode, revealing that they've been transported to the 'cyber dimension'. They're quickly confronted by Scrozzle, a robot with an army of minions called Tronics. However, he's quickly beaten by Evox, and joins the villains as one of their lieutenants. Together the new group of villains forms a plan to steal Morph-X from Earth to free Evox from the Cyber Dimension.
Back at Grid Battleforce Ravi and Zoey argue over which of them should become the team leader, whilst Devon marvels at all of the technology that the place has to offer. The three of them are introduced to their new tactical companions, the Beast Bots; Jax the jackrabbit, Smash the gorilla, and Cruise the cheetah. Still impressed with these new robot sidekicks, the team are also shown their massive Zords, machines designed to combat giant monsters.
When one of the Morph-X distribution centres comes under attack the team head out to fight the threat, discovering Scrozzle and Blaze stealing Morph-X. Blaze summons a group of Tronics and the Rangers have to fight them. Midway through the fight Devon sees a dog and freezes up, Zoey runs out of energy, and Ravi begins to heat up and becomes enraged. The team get rescued by Abraham and the Beast Bots and taken back to Grid Battleforce for testing.
Back in the Cyber Dimension Scrozzle uses the small amount of Morph-X they stole to power up a Robotron, a massive battle robot. When the Robotron attacks the city Devon is dispatched to fight it in his Zord whilst the others recover. During the battle, however, Devon sees a billboard of a dog and freezes up again. This lets Abraham figure out that Evok somehow corrupted the animal DNA when they first morphed, corrupting the rangers and giving them weaknesses. Devon's cat DNA makes him afraid of dogs, Zoey needs to eat carrots to replenish her dwindling energy, and Ravi has to keep calm to stop himself from overheating. The other Rangers head into battle and help Devon to defeat the giant robot. Back at Grid Battleforce Ravi and Zoey nominate Devon to become the leader of the team.
So, straight off the bat I've got to say that this isn't as strong an episode as the first one, however, you could make the argument that whilst it doesn't pick up straight where the last one left off and does feel like a little time has passed for the Rangers at least, it is like a second part as it continues to establish the new status quo.
I kind of like that the bad guys have gone from a lone computer virus and his two minions to getting a whole support network in the form of Scrozzle. He's the one that provides the Tronic's, this seasons new foot soldiers, and there's a throwaway line that he's got hundreds of the giant robots already built and waiting to be used. It does make the bad guys feel a little more like a mirror of the heroes, there are Rangers on both sides, both use Morph-X to power their stuff, both have someone making all their equipment. It's not an exact analogue, but it works.
There's not really an explanation for the Cyber Dimension at this point though, and it's not entirely clear what it is. Is it some kind of digital world inside of cyberspace? But if so, how is it Scrozzle is a physical being and is able to build robots there. I imagine, this being Power Rangers, that we'll never get answers to this, so it's probably best for my sanity to try not to think about it too much.
The design of Scrozzle is pretty good, and is a completely new character created by the American production team and has no Sentai equivalent. His apron and tool belt looking design is reminiscent of Finster from the original Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, and as he fills a similar kind of role I imagine that was intentional.
Speaking of cool designs, this episode introduces the Beast Bots, who are very cool. Whilst Cruise and Smash are pretty cool looking, I do have a soft spot for Jax, who looks a bit like R2D2 cosplaying a rabbit. It's also nice to have Kelson Henerson back for yet another season of Power Rangers, this time voicing cruise.
The episode has some good un-morphed fights too, with series stars Rorrie D. Travis, Jazz Baduwalia, and Jacqueline Scislowski getting to how off their martial arts and gymnastics abilities. Morphed fights might look cool, but it's always great to see the actual actors getting to go out and do some stuff themselves too. Hopefully the team behind this season will continue to show off their abilities like this throughout the season.
My biggest gripes about this episode, however, are the Ranger weaknesses, and Betty and Ben. The idea that Evox corrupted the original morphin sequence and led to the Rangers receiving a flaw isn't itself a bad idea, but the execution is a little shaky. Devon freezing up whenever he sees a dog makes little to no sense, and Zoey instantly goes from semi conscious to fighting fit whilst still chewing her first bite of carrot. Maybe they'll make this a bit smoother as the season goes on, because it's a little bit silly at this point.
Now for Ben and Betty. I don't know why the Power Rangers brand is trying to put a comedy duo into the show. I know that the very first season had Bulk and Skull, and they became beloved by the fandom, but that was over a very long period. The moment that Bulk and Skull stand up to Astronema and her army at the end of Power Rangers in Space is one of the greatest moments in the franchise, but that was earned across 283 episodes that came before it and years of character development. Ben and Betty aren't going to get that, and just feel silly and annoying. The set-up for this season, for it being a special combat unit run by adults with funding and backing isn't the same as kids in high school; high jinks don't really belong in a dangerous workplace.
Despite these small issues, I really liked the episode, and it finishes setting up the new season well.
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