Recap / History of Power Rangers Dino Fury

It took Linkara awhile (this episode was supposed to be released in late 2022 but it was aired in February 2023), but he finally came through and reviewed Power Rangers Dino Fury, a season that features a heavy lore and the return of an old foe.

Tropes:

• An Aesop: Discussed — Linkara notes a few times that Dino Fury seems to have a solid handle on its mandatedinvoked "one moral per episode" format, and was pleasantly surprised by how mature and relevant some of the lessons were, such as in "Cut Off" (encouraging the use of technology to help others out, even in a Camping Episode which Linkara was worried was going to be used to encourage the opposite) and "Super Hotshot" (warning young audiences about predatory businesses and recognizing scams).
• Anti-Villain: One thing Linkara likes about Void Knight and Void Queen is that their motivations are sympathetic as the series progress. Void Knight needed the Sporix to revive Santaura and never wanted to hurt civilians, while Void Queen's revenge was driven by the apparent loss of her daughter.
• The Artifact: Linkara points out that Warden Garcia was originally supposed to be a police sheriff, but this was changed as the series was written during the height of the Black Lives Matter Movement, and the writers felt that it wasn't the time to have a recurring cop character as part of the castinvoked. However, this consequently made it odd that the Rangers seek to warn the public about the Sporix by contacting him at Park HQ as opposed to a sheriff's office, and especially confusing when actual Pine Ridge police officers answer to him despite being a random park ranger.
• The Bus Came Back: Of course, Linkara does mention the return Lord Zedd come the episode "Old Foes," but his opinions were mixed at best. While the suit looked fine and the Emperor did show his brute strength, he found the episode to be half-baked and was not fond of his voice. Still, he did come around when Lord Zedd returned for Season 2, as he found the latter's voice improved and liked how his plan was reminiscent to his old ones in the Mighty Morphin era, especially as he nearly won over the Rangers.
• Call-Back:
  • Much like in the Time Force installment, he cracks a quick joke about how one part of the endgame storyline shares an episode title with an episode of Doctor Who and claims he mixed up his notes again.
  • At the reveal of Lothorn, after he had made a joke about Lokar getting a reference, he has the exact same reaction to it as the reveal of the Bull Zord back during the Samurai installment.
  Linkara: I WAS KIDDING!
• Continuity Snarl: Linkara becomes a sputtering wreck concerning the Season 2 episode "Ultimate Mystery". Though he forgot to mention it in the review, he believed that Beast Morphers was in its own universe similarly to RPM and Dino Charge, but that all went out the window when Commander Shaw calls the Dino Fury Rangers for help. He doesn't understand why Grid Battleforce wasn't mentioned at all in the previous season or now, especially since Lord Zedd was walking around and Mick and the Ninja Nexus Prism was involved in a previous episode. He acknowledges that people told him that it was "obvious" it took place in the main universe, but then points out that, due to the various hints dropped in Beast Morphers, the idea of it being in the main continuity just didn't make sense to him. ^note Simon Bennett himself left a comment on the video to say that, indeed, Beast Morphers and Dino Fury were indeed connected with the rest of the franchise.
• Comedy Ghettoinvoked: He has nothing against comic relief hijinks, but isn't too fond of Jane and J-Borg's subplots, which he often found tonally at odds with the actual main plots surrounding the Rangers. He notes that this is likely due to behind-the-scenes realities; the comedy scenes and the character and action scenes are filmed separately, and thus they don't always cohere.
• Executive Meddlinginvoked: He's grateful to Simon Bennett, a longtime director on the show recently promoted to an executive producer, for sharing more behind-the-scenes information into the decision-making process at Saban and Hasbro. Among Bennett's comments:
  • Saban commanded that each episode end with An Aesop, and be more-or-less self-contained to prevent Continuity Lockoutinvoked among the young viewers. This is why the clones of Roxy and Blaze explode at the end of nearly episode in season two of Beast Morphers, only to be rebuilt immediately in the next episode and repeat the cycle.
  • They were required to include at least two Victor and Monty scenes in every episode of Ninja Steel, and had a massive library of fart sound effects for their shtick. He mocks this by suggesting that this was "The Writer's Barely Disguised Fetish" and is mildly annoyed when a fart joke appears early on in Dino Fury, but understands that it was part of Ryusoulger.
  • Dino Fury was originally planned to run for 22 episodes, but was extended to 44. The name was also changed from Dino Knights to Dino Fury, despite the knight motif remaining.
  • The Lord Zedd arc was apparently thrown in at the last minute after the episode count rose to 44, with an executive from Hasbro suggesting Lord Zedd come back. And for something that was not originally planned, Linkara enjoyed it, especially come Season 2.
• Fan Wankinvoked:
  • He's flabbergasted by the show matter-of-factly confirming that Beast Morphers is in the main timeline, since that series was repeatedly hinted to exist in its own continuity, and tosses out a few half-baked theories to try and make sense of it.
  • When discussing the Green Morphin Master's role in handling previously unexplained events, such as the creation of the Ninja Nexus prism from Ninja Steel, Linkara wonders if she had a hand in other events, such as reviving Kendrix at the end of Lost Galaxy, and the reason why Dino Charge is in its own universe after the bat shit finale.
  • Lastly, Linkara wonders if a colony of Raftkonians making Earth their home at the end of the season would be the start point of S.P.D's background of having humans and aliens live in harmony.
• Fanservice: Linkara is initially apprehensive over the usage of the Morphin' Masters and the return of Lord Zedd in Season One, fearing that doing fanservice for the sake of fanservice might alienate fans, but he lays off as the show progresses.
• Fridge Logicinvoked: Ollie and Amelia's Meet Cute hinges on him wearing a white rain poncho so that she mistakes him for a ghost. But it's a clear, sunny day, so why is he wearing a rain poncho in the first place?
• Growing the Beardinvoked: As opposed to how slow the first season for Dino Fury was, Linkara liked the second season more as everything started to form based on the plot points introduced last season into a more coherent and well told story.
• Hype Backlashinvoked: Downplayed. While he has high praise for the season, even admitting that it is one of the best seasons, he feels that the fans overhyped the show just a little bit.
• Official Couple: At long last, Power Rangers has introduced its first LGBTQ+ couple with Green Ranger Izzy and recurring character Fern. Linkara finds their romance adorable, and is happy to see that after years of No Hugging, No Kissing, these two finally break the streak and get a proper kissing scene.
• Pandering to the Baseinvoked: Linkara makes note that in this season and the last, the series has been more inclined to give nods to past seasons for its adult fanbase, especially those in the know of the franchises' expansive mythos. Once Lord Zedd is reintroduced as a threat, Linkara takes a moment to express his worry for this trend, as while he enjoys team-ups and Continuity Nods, he prefers they be used sparingly to continue stories that deserve to be acknowledged as part of the Power Rangers universe, not just bringing old stuff back to spike up ratings (referring back to Power Rangers Megaforce as continuity fanservice done poorly). While he did come around to Lord Zedd's return by the second season once they ironed out the kinks of his characterization, Linkara hopes the franchise henceforth doesn't rely on nostalgia-baiting old fans as a crutch for telling new stories, as it can come off as a sign of desperation and lack of confidence in its own future.
• The Power of Love: As this trope ties into the theme of revenge, Linkara likes how Void Knight and Void Queen are not defeated in a traditional manner, but by the reveal that Amelia was their long-lost daughter.
• Plot Hole: Linkara is flabbergasted by the confirmation that Beast Morphers takes place in the main timeline, as this retroactively opens up a whole bunch of these concerning the team-up episodes in that season, such as where the past Ranger tech came from, or why Devon needed to endanger his life to send a multiverse-spanning distress call across the Morphin' Grid.
• The Reveal: He compliments the final twist that Amelia is the villains' long-lost daughter; all the clues were in place, but they weren't so heavy-handed with the foreshadowing so as to spoil it too soon.
• Sequel Hook: At the end of the review, Linkara says that the Dino Fury Rangers' journey is not over yet as, for the first time since the Zordon Era, they will continue the fight in Cosmic Fury.
• Slow-Paced Beginninginvoked: He considers the first season weaker than the second because there's little plot momentum in favor of more character-centric and self-contained episodes. That said, he's ultimately grateful that they exist, as they do lead to a satisfying payoff in the second season.
• Spoiler:
  • As with the last season's reveal that Evox was Venjix, Linkara said he was spoiled by Lord Zedd's return... but not by the fans initially. Linkara said a friend accidentally shared the news with him on Twitter, and then Youtube pushed it into his recommended video pool. After reminding the viewers that he does not watch new seasons until he's ready for the next episode, he mentions that Lord Zedd's reveal was spoiled for many viewers after Old Foes aired in France and the United Kingdom (as television channels over there pushed the entire season one at once while Nickelodeon did not until the fall TV schedule began).
  • This is subverted with Mick's return, which led to a genuine surprise from Linkara.
• Subverted Catchphrase: Instead of his usual "I'm sure we'll neeeeever gonna see [x] again" catchphrase, Linkara doesn't even attempt to pretend that Lord Zedd's capture will be the last time they're seen.
  Linkara: And I'm sure we'll neeeeeeever see Zedd ag- of course we're gonna see him again.
• Tempting Fate: Early in the video, Linkara is completely shocked that they used the Morphin' Masters, a concept that was only used once early in Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers season one and never used again until Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers (Boom! Studios).^note Which is explicitly an alternate universe take on the Power Rangers mythos. He mentions that it would be like if they referenced Lokar, who only showed up twice in Mighty Morphin was suddenly referenced here... and near the end of the review, we're introduced to Lothorn, who reveals himself as Lokar's nephew to Linkara's surprise.^note In a bit of serendipity, it's because in Ryusoulger, the Monster of the Week Lothorn is based off of was a repainted and repurposed Dai-Satan costume from Four Week Continuous Super Sentai Strongest Battle.
• Unexpected Characterinvoked: This season has a lot of nods to Ranger history, bringing back one-off Mighty Morphin concepts like Lokar and the Morphin' Masters or supporting characters from Beast Morphers and Ninja Steel in lieu of the traditional team-up.
• A Wizard Did It: This season introduces the wizard: the Green Morphin Master, one of the color-coded spirits connected to the Morphing Grid itself. Against the wishes of her peers, she's been providing Deus ex Machina for nearly every Ranger team, from the Legendary Battle to Steel's transformation. Linkara doesn't mind this as much as he did for characters like Gosei, since unlike Gosei being essentially a Deus Ex Machina dispenser despite having no solid narrative reason for doing so, Morphin Master Green is properly established as doing so because of her belief that the Morphin Masters should be more proactive in helping the battle against evil, instead of staying in the background.^note And unlike Gosei, who seemed to just be the writers' way of getting out of problems they created while doing little to properly flesh out the situations or Gosei himself, Morphin Master Green is a Retcon to explain a lot of the sillier/inexplicable events that happened in the series' past in a way that fleshes out and builds on the characters of the Morphin Masters in a way that makes sense.