REVIEW: Dino Supercharge 16 "Freaky Fightday"
Well, I suppose it was simply a matter of time. While this episode is by no means a complete failure, I have to give it the dubious distinction of being the worst Dino Supercharge episode yet. Part of that is because of its placement in the narrative, but part of it is because it's just not very good. It's pretty obvious from the title what to expect from this episode, so without further ado…
I'll say it off the bat: Dino (Super)charge has too many fart jokes. I suppose it's an easy enough gag, given that the Rangers are in an enclosed space with a caveman, but really, it feels more played out than the N-Zed Boys. We’ve got farting monsters, farting Rangers and a farting Megazord...why is there so much toilet humor in Dino Charge? Far be it from me to imply even indirectly that I'm somehow above it (I’m definitely not) but one or two times is a different thing from the reality of it. I don't think it's a stretch to say that. If you want a running gag, what happened to combat shovels? And I don’t think I would have a gigantic problem with it if it was just monsters or comic relief characters. Maybe it’s a weird thing to harp on in a kids’ show, but at the same time it feels...I don’t know, disrespectful to the Rangers or something to make them so uncouth. Which, again, caveman, but still. Koda’s a great fighter with a huge heart and a fierce sense of loyalty; these are the traits that make him the Blue Ranger, not his lack of table manners.
The main plot of this episode is the semi-titular Freaky Friday Flip, combined with the plot about Ivan's descendant Zack (obviously played by Davi Santos) and Ivan learning not to hate on things that are different. Either one would have been fine on its own in an earlier episode, but they're unnecessarily smashed together here. The Rangers do well enough playing each other, and their personalities are distinct enough that it doesn't play poorly. My best guess is that perhaps the writers wanted Davi to have a chance playing someone who isn't just a regular guy, since Zack is a juvenile delinquent graffiti artist, whereas playing Riley isn’t really a dynamic difference. Indeed, we seem to get more of Davi as Zack than Davi as Riley, which seems to suggest some truth to this hypothesis. Speaking of Riley and Zack...I don’t know if I should see it as significant, but now that Chase is happily partnered with Kaylee, here’s someone new for Riley to flirt with...er, share scenes with. And hey, lime is Zack’s favorite flavor.
I think I only really have a couple of big problems with the swap itself. First of all, the need for the writers to hold the audience’s hand by dressing the characters in their counterparts’ clothes and having each swapped character’s lines dubbed in by the original actor makes it less impressive than it otherwise would be. This was kind of the case in the Megaforce episode as well, but it's exacerbated by the voices. And secondly, Tyler and Shelby switch bodies.
WHAT.
It's not that I don't find them trustworthy (plot twist, I think Shelby would be more likely than Tyler to do something untoward). But why even open that can of worms after establishing something romantic between the two? I guess once they decided to adapt this episode in a season where there is one woman on the core team, you kind of just have to cringe your way through it. Of course, the “why” of Dino Supercharge is just a result of the “why” of Kyoryuger, and that's an even bigger can of worms in a dumber context that I have no interest in getting into.
Going back to the “if you can do it once, why wouldn’t you do it all the time” well is the resurrection of more old monsters, led by MoTW Professor Strickler. I like that his body switching power gives Beauticruel a shout-out, despite her being the most horrid of all the horrid designs that have ever punched me in the face. And really, for all I’ve been saying that this episode is pretty dumb, he comes the closest to actually getting Energems for Arcanon. But then again, his plan is executed in a pretty dumb manner. If you have the ability to switch the minds of monsters and Rangers, why not just line up 8 Vivix and go to town? The answer is obviously a combo of “because that’s not the footage” and “because then the Rangers lose immediately” but it doesn’t feel like the kind of oversight Dino Supercharge should be making. Also on the villains’ side, I feel like the splitting of Heckyl and Snide ends up a little anticlimactic. Points for giving Snide a giant tentacle out of nowhere though, as he did have one last year.
I guess overall it’s better to characterize this episode as “weak” rather than “bad,” but the result is kind of the same. Episode 36 of a 40-episode series should not be a silly romp in bodyswitching unless there’s something huge that happens, like one of the Rangers switching bodies with Snide and learning some aspect of Arcanon’s endgame that potentially spells doom for the world. With 4 episodes to go, I’m hoping this season gets tightened up and moves into finish-line mode, because it’s getting harder and harder to remember the highs of Dino Charge.
