Recap: Power Rangers Cosmic Fury, Episode 1 – “A Megazord made out of Christmas globes. Very scary.”

Recap: Power Rangers Cosmic Fury, Episode 1 – Lightning Strikes

On the Planet Zordnia Rangers are joined by the Morphin Masters and Mighty Morphin Blue Ranger Billy as they battle Lord Zedd’s new army led by businesswoman Bajillia Naire. Bajillia owns the galaxy’s largest weapons manufacturer and she traveled to this planet to mine for raw materials only to be led to the crystal that held Lord Zedd inside.

Bajillia says 40 of her scientists died trying to release Zedd from the crystal. But she believes it is worth it because she is poised to make a lot of money in the event of an intergalactic war which Zedd himself will instigate.

Bajillia says Zedd will have full control over her entire fleet and factories to use as he wishes.

Also on the planet is Mick who had been traveling the galaxy with Billy. Amelia fills Mick in on the final arc of Dino Fury before resuming the battle against Bajillia’s foot soldiers.

Squillia Naire, Bajillia’s social media influencer daughter, comes to update her on Scrozzle being a bit slow with the ultimate weapon. In the meantime, Bajillia shows Zedd her Squidrill which can use the resources of a planet to create an infinite minion army.

Bajillia allows Squillia to join Zedd as he steps into battle. Mick watches as Zedd easily tosses around the Rangers, especially Billy.

Aiyon fills Zayto in on his new café as Ollie is able to open up a portal to send a few monsters packing. Unfortunately, Squillia summons Doodrip who shoots poison on the Rangers to turn them evil. But it only works on Ollie who suddenly opens a cosmic gateway which Zedd sends Zayto through.

Master Red allows Mick to morph and jumps in to help the Rangers. Just then, Scrozzle arrives with the Master Captivator that allows them to capture all the Morphin Masters into a tube.

Master Red is able to toss his staff to Javi before he gets sucked in. And as soon as Javi touches it, he sees a strange altar getting struck by lightning. And Master Red tells them to head to that location.

The Rangers teleport over and demorph. They assure Amelia that Ollie will be okay.

EvilOllie is now in charge of the Squidrill and orders Squillia and the soldiers to find the Rangers.

Billy tells the Rangers that this is the planet his team got the Shogunzords years ago. So the animals on the altar could potentially combine into a Megazord too. Mick says there are legends of ancient Cosmic Fury Zords and this is just the thing he and Billy have been searching for.

Aiyon says the hole in the altar looks perfect to stick a Morphin Master staff in. But Billy says it is too dangerous since it is filled with uncontrollable energy. Mick takes the staff from Javi.

But EvilOllie and the Squidrill arrive and it transforms into a robo that shoots at them. Javi decides to grab the staff and stick it in. A huge burst of energy sends Javi flying back.

But the action releases the Cosmic Fury Zords who battle the Squidrill robo.

Unfortunately, Javi has lost his arm and begins to go into shock. Mick takes care of Javi as the other Rangers morph. They each choose a Cosmic Fury Zord and hop in. While it takes a few moments for them to figure out how to pilot them, they are able to combine into the Cosmic Fury Megazord. Amelia refuses to leave this planet without Ollie.

They battle and are able to get Amelia into the Squidrill. She battles the soldiers before putting them all, including Ollie to sleep. She grabs Ollie, teleports out of the Squidrill before the others blow it up.

The Rangers hurry back to Pine Ridge.

Squillia reports back to Mama Bajillia and Zedd about losing the Blue Ranger and the Squidrill. But Zedd is determined to finish what he started 30 years ago and that is to kill the Rangers.

Back at the base, Amelia calms everyone as they focus on what they have to do next. Billy and Mick have contacted other Ranger teams while Tarrick has informed the Rafkonians. Billy says Javi and Ollie are stable. Solon will work on cybernetics to possibly help Javi with his arm while Mama Akana will work on the antidote for Ollie.

Billy warns the Rangers that this is only the beginning.

Episode Thoughts

Welp. I love the drone shots at the start of the episode. And I am very happy to see Solon!

But I’m not sure what to think of this first episode. I mean, I can feel that there is something different to the season. Especially with the bombardment of “Look at this!” moments throughout the episode obviously meant to announce that the franchise was free of the shackles of cable television and is now a Netflix series.

I appreciate the different overall plot approach. But the execution still screams Saban Brands/Hasbro. Which I guess is to be expected considering the people actually in charge of writing and directing the show are still the same as the ones who brought us Samurai through Dino Fury, for the most part.

Aside from perhaps the more polished visuals, the writing and directing felt like it kind of regressed from the actually great final arc of Dino Fury. Plenty of awkwardness from the flat jokes to shoehorned one-liners to stilted dialogue. The voice acting absolutely did not match up with the excellent work of the suit actors. And it just overall felt like I was watching Megaforce again. I half-expected a fart joke to be thrown in somewhere.

All of this of course while Javi lost his damn arm, Ollie is mind controlled… again and Zayto is killed… again. I mean, I get wanting to seem more “Netflix-like” rather than “Nickelodeon-like”. But this episode felt more like someone took these two randomly unconnected pieces and sloppily taped them together.

Now, I’ve declared my apathy to Power Rangers already. But the last few episodes of Dino Fury actually left me with a positive feeling. At least, the most positive I’ve felt for Power Rangers in a decade.

This first episode of Cosmic Fury reminded me of exactly why I even wrote all this and was more than ready to just move on from Power Rangers.