REVIEW: Dino Charge Special "Race to Rescue Christmas"
So I have to admit, I was a bit disappointed going into this, because I guess I had my wires crossed on which episode they were going to show first. When I headed over to Nick.com, I was all excited and ready for the second part of what looks like it’ll be a purplicious finale, but then I quickly realized upon seeing the title that they’d decided to air the Christmas special first. I’m going to try to compensate for what might end up being a negative slant, simply because it’s not what I was expecting. I find it similar to getting the wrong drink order, where no matter what you get instead it tastes horrible because you were expecting something else. So let’s try to look at this episode on the merits.
Before I get going on that, I have to say this was kind of a scheduling snafu, because there is no way it’s a good decision to have the two-part finale episodes split up by a Christmas adventure where Santa’s Big Brother-esque Naughty/Nice computer is hijacked by evil space aliens. I don’t believe for a second that this was the intention of the writing staff or Chip Lynn, mainly because the last episode ended with “To Be Continued…” which of course did not happen. So my blame falls primarily on the network for doing this. I think they probably wrote it with the knowledge that it would be aired between parts--it doesn’t spoil the finale, although there is yet another clue to the Purple Ranger--but I don’t think they would have wanted to put it here if they could help it. And beyond breaking up the suspenseful ending, it’s also a bizarre decision because next week is closer to Christmas. So the first time I watched this episode I spent about the first five or six minutes fuming because of the boneheaded train of ideas that led to this schedule.
Taken on its own, however, the episode isn’t half bad. It’s a Neo-Saban Christmas episode, which means that it’s going to have some issues with the timeline. Namely, unless Christmas occurs during the summertime in the PRU, Riley should be home already. Also, either the Purple Energem has been reclaimed by now or it hasn’t, and both cases imply something that felt missing here. But then the episode also gives us the image of Poisandra sitting on Santa’s lap and telling him everything she wants for Christmas (don’t worry, she has the list written down) so I guess you win some and you lose some. Of course, Santa’s not about to give the worst Bridezilla in history a “Nice” rating, so Poisandra steals the computer out of spite, forcing Santa to tentatively cancel Christmas. This is a bit odd; one would think Santa is the highest authority on running the North Pole, since it’s pretty clear this is the real Santa. The question then becomes why he can’t just ditch the system and give everyone presents, but maybe he’s got really firm principles, or his elf magic is powered by the Morphing Grid and misusing it would make it shrivel up and die.
I will say that Tyler and Shelby seem to be more casually chummy this episode. Generally during the season, they’ve been a bit shyer (shyler?) in terms of relating to one another, but they have a very couple-y vibe to their interactions, from reminiscing over shared moments to more physical closeness. I’m glad it’s going forward. I also kind of liked the Chase plot for giving the whole adventure an actual time limit, hence the title Race to Rescue Christmas. While I’ve seen it mentioned that they have at least two zords capable of making the flight to New Zealand (and in fact flew back in the Plesio Zord), I think that it’s understandable. Even though it’s a joke on Santa’s part, we know the Rangers are bound by rules regarding use of their tech, and getting home for Christmas isn’t exactly a pressing need. I also continue to be grateful for Koda and Ivan being written as from thousands of years and hundreds of years ago respectively. Their knowledge of customs being filtered through this lens create great opportunities for humor. The characters were pretty much on point throughout the episode, from Koda not knowing who Santa is to Ivan calling him St. Nicholas.
Santa calling the Rangers is mildly contrived (as is Santa apparently having a press conference where he releases the news to the media) but I’ll accept that a man who can travel to every continent in one night can somehow make it work. As far as plot goes, this is a pretty good framing device for a clip show. Instead of just having them sit around saying “remember when,” the villains decide to use the machine to look through the Rangers’ recent lives and discover where their base is. So instead of the Rangers driving the clip show, it’s the villains who do so. This automatically makes it better than at least 80 percent of the clip shows in existence. The clip choices are the ones one would expect: Riley saves his dog and rescues the others from Puzzler’s maze. Shelby returns Tyler’s bracelet, defeats Bones and gives Julian some exposure for his art. Koda protects his brother, Phillip and Peter. Chase grabs the tabby cat out of traffic and apologizes for making fun of Shelby. Ivan protects his ancient prince and catches the damsel in distress. And Tyler gives Riley a lift and fights off Fury, the latter of which is kind of an odd choice. There was more contrivance in the form of the Rangers finding the hideout just as they were about to be discovered, but I can’t say it was unexpected.
The fight stuff in this episode is also kind of an afterthought, because Poisandra just tosses a random Spikeball at the Rangers to cover her escape with Wrench and Curio. The Rangers destroy him in pretty much no time, but the most important thing here is a shot of Sledge in a Christmas hat. WHAT. I love it. He sarcastically growls “Ho ho ho” before resurrecting the Spikeball with a Magna Beam. It’s always funny to see villainous versions of customs or festivals, and to see how much they understand about Earth. Of course it brings up another question of how, if he was blasted through space, he knows about those customs. I do like the Spikeball’s exclamation of “A very scary Christmas, Rangers!” when he grows. I also feel as if this year we get more low shots of the Megazords during fights, which I’ve always preferred. The low shots tend to make the zord look bigger and more like a giant robot than a guy standing in a miniature set of a city. The plot resolution is cute; although Chase misses his plane, Santa gives him a lift as thanks for returning the computer. As he leaves, a thankful Chase and Chloe hug as Santa’s nine-fold reindeer team--the foremost with a glowing red nose--fly off into the sky.
This episode has some sweet stuff, and I was grinning like a five-year-old on Christmas morning by the end of it. The plot the villains had was a great one, and it was so true to the characters. Chase’s puzzle picture of the eight team members was an adorable gift. We even got some wisdom doled out by Keeper to Chase. All in all it was a feel-good episode, even with the timeline issues and minor contrivances it presents. And my enthusiasm for the finale continues unabated, so after a bit of a false start, I’m hoping to see something really good to wrap this tale up and get us ready for the next phase of Dino Charge.
