Jayden and Kevin are sparring, fully morphed and the other Rangers complement Kevin’s skills.
Decker joins Dayu on the ship. He tells them he wants to go after the Red Ranger, but doesn’t want to interfere with their own plans. He realizes he knows something about the Seal that’s holding him on the Sanzu (and yes, we’re all supposed to know there’s a sealing spell) and is happy to have the upper hand when it comes to his own plans. He then demorphs into… Cole Evans! a human form.
The Nighlock, Hitodama, has the long lost tiger zord under his control and he heads out to taunt the Rangers with it. Like he controls the tiger zord, he puts a spell on Mike and orders him to turn on the other Rangers.
The four Rangers go home and struggle to find a way to defeat the Nighlock without hurting Kevin. The alarm sounds and Jii tells the Rangers that Jayden has already gone to meet Kevin.
Jayden goes to meet Kevin at a construction yard and the fight as the other three look on in horror.
Cole Decker walks up to them, demorphed of course, and says Kevin will never win a duel if he continues fighting for a point instead of the win.
But that’s exactly what Jayden is hoping for as he uses his own skill to infuse Kevin with symbol power to break the spell. It works and the Rangers are reunited.
They fight off Hitodama, summons the zords when he embiggens and Jayden manages to regain control of the tiger zord to add to their arsenal.
The Rangers head back home to celebrate another victory by playing a board game with their origami (though we aren’t supposed to know what they’re called really). Jayden gives Kevin words of wisdom and they join the others in their game.
Episode Thoughts
The whole “Jayden is awesome” angle in the episode was very disjointed and really out of nowhere because unlike in Shinkenger, Jayden, though more experienced, has never been this be-all, end-all untouchable leader. Takeru was the distant, sometimes cold leader whose life was that of the samurai, and the heir to the Shiba clan and it takes a while for both him and the other Shinkengers to lighten up with each other.
And despite all the criticism and jokes, Ricardo Medina, Jr. did well as Decker. I never had a problem with him (or Wild Force really), but yeah, he out-acted the Samurai Rangers. That says a lot.
Sentai or Power Rangers?: Sentai, no question.
Corresponding Shinkenger Episode: Act 9 – The Tiger’s Rebellion
PRS’ episode was slow, bogged down by a bloated beginning that yup, included a pointless Bulk and Spike.
Shinkenger took a more dramatic turn with the story as it highlighted Takeru’s experience as a form of his strength with respect to the other Rangers, but it also highlighted how the Shinkengers have become closer, even cold Takeru has started opening up to the others, though slightly.
Samurai isn’t going for that with the Rangers, but by translating the Shinkenger episode, it made for a slow, boring PR episode without all the deeper stuff from the original.
Power Rangers is on DVD!
Want to own Power Rangers Samurai? The entire season available at
.And you can finally own the first seven seasons of Power Rangers, from Mighty Morphin to Lost Galaxy by ordering now: