REVIEW: Dino Charge 16 "No Matter How You Slice It"
So...no offense to Riley or his fans, but I’ve noticed a pattern with relation to this guy. For whatever reason, it feels as if the episodes focused on him tend to be a little less...something, something that I haven’t quite figured out yet. It’s not that I don’t enjoy them--because I do--but they have seemed more prone to missteps. Since I know I’ve probably made more than a few sworn enemies with that line, perhaps it’s time to stop with the intro and get on to the review, hmm?
I do have to say I consistently enjoy the Adventures of Poisandra and Curio when we get them. The two of them are so enjoyably wacky, it almost makes up for the fact that the monster of the week somehow is able to keep a huge pair of gardening shears in his cell. I can handwave this away somewhat easily; given that monsters natively have incredible powers anyway, it would be somewhat strange to take such pains over taking away some minor part of him that’s not even particularly dangerous. The monster, Shearfear, has a reasonably threatening gimmick of being able to cut the bonds of friendship between people, which we first see on the Gruesome Twosome before he uses it on the Rangers. The only thing I’m not hugely jazzed about regarding this is that it sets up a friendship tier system, as later on it’s revealed that Koda’s friendship bonds are just stronger and more resistant than normal. That’s a little unexpected in Riley’s focus episode, but this episode comes off more as shared between the two than localized on one Ranger, which is always preferable in my book.
On the Ranger side of things, Riley’s main angst in the setup comes from his mother and his teammates seemingly forgetting his birthday a la “Happy Birthday Zack.” I actually like the execution of this plot a lot better here than most of the other surprise party episodes, because like Riley we have no idea as the audience that the other Rangers are planning to surprise him at the end of the day. In fact, I wondered if maybe one of the reasons why the Rangers do some sandboarding is because they’re trying to give Riley a fun time to make up for appearing to forget his birthday. Unfortunately, Shearfear cuts the bonds between the Rangers except Koda and Riley, causing them to butt heads throughout the episode. As stated, Koda’s extremely strong bonds break the shears with their toughness, which maybe says something unintended about Shelby and Tyler being so easily set against one another. In fairness, Koda explains that he sees the other Rangers as his family, but it’s not ideal in my opinion. I did find the foibles of the group as Riley and Koda try to jumpstart their friendships amusing, and I liked the detail that Shelby ignored Tyler trust-falling in favor of her phone, while Chase does the same with Ivan due to a fetching female jogger passing by. At the same time, it is strange that Shearfear’s shears seem to turn characters against each other rather than just making them indifferent.
There are two things I really like about the villain storyline this episode. First is the fact that they come up with a good way to create tension. Because the broken friendship bonds have essentially turned the Rangers into something other than themselves, they run the risk of becoming disconnected from the Energems, like what we saw from Chase in “True Black.” But further, they adapt their plan when the situation changes. Rather than trying to cut all the bonds, Shearfear is under strict orders not to attempt to cut Koda’s bonds, because his shears can’t handle the strain, and the idea is that Koda will be alone once Riley turns his back on the caveman. It would have worked if not for the Rangers’ ingenuity. I know Noah and Jake technically did this last year, but it feels like it may be the first time that the Rangers consciously decide to disguise themselves as one another, causing the shears to break again so that Kendall can synthesize an antidote with the broken shard. Two new Dino Chargers later, the crew is back to normal.
Unfortunately, this is the part where I didn’t enjoy things as much. Primarily, like the treasure monster, Shearfear seems to lend himself to way too many quips and puns. This I actually think should be Riley’s thing, because for one the actor seems better at the delivery of these lines. But there’s some serious monster chattiness here. I feel like it’s 50-50 on whether this is leading to a storyline where the Rangers are a bit too cocky going into a tougher villain arc or if it’s just orders from upstairs to write in gobbledygook. And during the big battle, there are some weird pacing choices and odd reactions, like the amazement Riley and Chase display at the cockpit of the Ptera Charge Megazord’s new formation...which is identical to the old cockpit. This Para-Raptor build is pretty standard, so there’s not much to say there. The ending of the episode is a nice payoff to Riley’s fears in the form of his very green surprise party, which gives us a charming video message from Riley’s family and Keeper in a party hat. Though probably, the most important plot stuff happens on the monster side of things, as Fury has found a lead on the elusive Purple Energem.
There was more good than bad here. The nods to continuity were well realized, and I’m glad we got to see Riley and Koda working together again after “True Black.” There was a good mix of humor and seriousness, high stakes and quick thinking on both sides of the spectrum. Furthermore, the episode continued to validate my theory that teamwork and friendship are being pushed extra hard this season, given how focal of a role they have had in practically every episode. Unfortunately, there were also weird blips in pacing and plotting, mild to moderate contrivances to suit the plot, and too. many. puns. about cutting or slicing things. Sometimes less is more. As far as fillery episodes go, this was filler, but it wasn’t particularly bad filler, and the ending gave us a hook for the final arc of episodes. Are you excited for it? Because I sure am.
