The season finale of Power Rangers Ninja Steel has arrived (minus a Christmas special still to come), and we get a glimpse of just how good the season could have been.
With Galvanax (Richard Simpson) in possession of all of the Rangers Ninja Power Stars, except for the Rangers morpher stars, and a magnet that will allow him to attract anything made out of Ninja Steel the episode wastes no time with jumping straight into action as the Rangers attack their main villain.
Whilst the fact that the previous episode had no connection to the overall plot except for one scene at the very end that put the villain in a position of power, it's inclusion in the previous episode means that we have the entire Ranger team fighting within minutes of the episode starting.
This lack of a need to set up what's happening gives the episode a sense of urgency, something that continues on throughout the episode. Thanks to a constant escelation of the stakes, and the Rangers being put into more and more dire situations, the episode flies by, feeling a lot shorter than its 22 minute run time.
Despite feeling fast the episode does manage to pack in a lot of development, including the destruction of the Ninja Steel, the arrival of an asteroid full of Ninja Steel (though I'm suspecting this may end up being the Super Ninja Steel of the next season's title), the culmination of Madama Odius' (Jacque Drew) betrayal of Galvanax, and the return of Dane Romero (Mike Edwards).
The return of Dane, Brody (William Shewfelt) and Levi's (Jordi Webber) father, is a surprise moment, and is close to being one of the best of the episode as he becomes a second Red Ranger. However, the surprise of Mick (Kelson Henderson) becoming a third Red Ranger is truly the stand out moment of not just the episode, but the entire season.
Having been one of the consistently best characters in the series, and with Kelson Henderson having been involved with the Power Rangers franchise for over a decade, appearing in Power Rangers Dino Thunder, Power Rangers SPD, Power Rangers Mystic Force, Power Rangers Operation Overdrive, Power Rangers Jungle Fury, Power Rangers RPM, Power Rangers Megaforce, and Power Rangers Dino Charge, it's brilliant to finally get to see him become a real Power Ranger for the first time.
Whilst many of Kelson Henderson's appearances in the franchise were voicing a monster of the week, he's appeared in front of the camera enough that he's become a very recognisable part of Power Ranges. His morph feels like something of a reward not just for him, but for long time fans too. Plus, the fact that he kicks arse and is fighting with a sword before he even morphs shows how brilliant he is.
Without access to the Zord Power Stars the episode puts the Rangers in an interesting position where they have to beat a giant monster. There are a few times that this has been done before over the history of Power Rangers, but none that were season finale's as far as I can remember. Having the Rangers fight the giant version of the shows big bad without Zords is a bold step, and does mean that we get a fight scene that stands out against the rest of the series.
The only pieces that let the episode down are the scenes that involve Victor (Chris Reid) and Monty (Caleb Bendit). I know that the Super Sentai series that Power Rangers Ninja Steel was based upon, Shuriken Sentai Ninninger, was a comedy show, but inserting bad comedy into such a dramatic and action packed episode breaks the pace and tone. If these scenes were removed from the episode Galvanax Rises would have a near perfect score.
It's a shame that the best episode of the series is the last, and it's a shame that the rest of the season wasn't like this. However, seeing how well the finale was put together it does give me hope that the next season, Power Rangers Super Ninja Steel, may improve in quality.
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