REVIEW: Dino Supercharge 19 "Edge of Extinction"
Even without special knowledge of what’s to come, it's pretty obvious from a title like this that the penultimate episode of Dino Supercharge is intended to bring our heroes close to the breaking point. On a show like Power Rangers, it's unlikely (though not impossible) that the Rangers won't make it through, so most of the excitement comes from seeing exactly how they manage to prevail over their foes. The middle of a story like this tends to represent the darkness before the dawn, so here's how this season did it.
This episode is really kind of a tale of two villains: Sledge and Snide. It's interesting to note that they both have the opportunity to avoid the bad end in store for both of them, if they would just walk away when they still can. Sledge actually finally commits and gets married, after all this time of putting it off for “one more Energem” and probably other reasons. The proof of the pudding is revealed in this episode for Snide, given his final defeat at the hands of Heckyl and the Rangers, and to be honest I couldn't help but feel sorry for him. Utterly alone, completely surrounded, and staring down the barrel of a gun, one would normally see this as the point to give up, but of course Snide simply can't do that. So he chooses to go out defiantly, which is at least somewhat admirable.
On the other hand, did he really have a choice? Can anyone actually see a scenario in which Snide hands over the Dark Energem and everyone shakes hands and parts ways? Or even the Rangers taking him captive? I can’t help but feel like the episode was written in such a way that we wouldn’t have to ask that question, because I’m not entirely sure that Riley (at the very least) wouldn’t just destroy him anyway. But at the same time, they should have done more to establish him as still dangerous. He didn’t seem to have any way to wield the Dark Energem’s power, so it was essentially one weakened general versus an Ultrazord, six Rangers, and an alien powerful enough to go toe-to-toe with Sledge.
On the other side of things, Sledge is given the opportunity to just enjoy his wedding and leave. If he wasn’t so intent on his petty quest to destroy the Earth, he would never have given Snide the impetus to betray him as well. In a way, it’s circular; Sledge’s betrayal informs Snide’s betrayal, which in turn informs Sledge’s betrayal, which robs him of the Dark Energem. In a season full of teamwork anvils and speeches, this is perhaps the best way of identifying the pitfalls of working at cross-purposes. If neither Sledge nor Snide had betrayed the other, they’d be in space with the Dark Energem all fine and dandy. Because they both did, Snide is destroyed, Sledge doesn’t have any Energems, and the Rangers are probably about to take out Sledge’s other top general, Fury. As great as it is to see the Rangers as role models, the villains being done in by their own bickering is something that I tend to enjoy personally, and that has been foreshadowed since early on in Dino Charge.
And then there’s Heckyl, who’s pretty much a hero again. I find his story to be the most meaningful, and yet it’s marred by the fact that he doesn’t become a Ranger, evil or good. I’ve made my peace with that, but it still boggles the mind, especially since there’s enough stuff that supports his being a Ranger. I guess they could still play it like Nova Ranger in SPD, but I don’t think his story would support being a Ranger who uses the Dark Energem anymore. He’s come full circle. First he was good, then he became evil, then he slowly went from evil to neutrality to good and cements his position on the good team when he helps not only the Rangers but also a random civilian in this episode. He also gets a fun montage of bucket-list activities when he decides to enjoy his last day alive before he makes his final choice. It’s all very smooth, and Ryan Carter has consistently done great work as Heckyl, but it’s a huge misstep not to make him a Ranger, especially when the final confrontation involves all of the Rangers...and a raggedy Doctor (Who). If they were going to do it, that would have been the time.
Despite this, the way this episode was put together was killer. Not only is there a worldwide threat that the Rangers have to split up to defeat, but the locations specifically include those that Sledge mentioned on his no-fun vacation tour. In addition to Hawaii, China and Japan, Sledge also visited London and New York City, planting Greenzilla eggs all around. The first season ended with a fight against a single Greenzilla, so how do you raise the stakes? Six Greenzillas! While the Amber Beach Greenzilla egg gets destroyed before it can hatch, the Rangers still have to leave their base relatively under-guarded to take on the rest of them, with only Kendall and Keeper staying behind. I was all ready to write nasty reams about Kendall being sidelined yet again, but then she gets a great fight against Snide in which the base gets destroyed.
Speaking of base destruction...the Energem crystals are pretty explicitly and intentionally shown to be destroyed, and Zenowing uses fresh chargers from the other Rangers during the worldwide Megazord fight. At certain points they swap for different formations and sub out certain zords for other zords (which, while I’m on the subject, is probably one of the best ways to do a zord fight in recent memory). Could this be foreshadowing them running out of Dino Chargers, since they now have no way to recharge them? Generally they seem to have three on hand at any given time, and they use at least one to morph. Obviously the Energems themselves are available to use, but it seems dangerous to be waving those around in battle. I can’t help but wonder what challenges this might present in the final episode.
Apart from some minor issues regarding Heckyl and Snide, this is exactly what an ideal penultimate episode looks like on Power Rangers. It featured the end of Snide, the beginning of the (likely short-lived) wedded life of Sledge and Poisandra, and the setup for the final confrontation over the Dark Energem. I actually have no idea how they’re going to get rid of that thing; maybe a random portal will suck it into nothingness. If the combined might of all of the Power Rangers and their allies couldn’t take it out, what can?
