Weekly Ranger Review: Dino Charge Episode 07, “Let Sleeping Zords Lie”

Be sure not to get stung as we dive into Power Rangers Dino Charge’s seventh episode, “Let Sleeping Zords Lie.”

Synopsis

The gang is out on a dig, looking for any hints of an Energem. Shelby comes up with an idea for a machine that can pinpoint the energy signature of an Energem using fossils of the dinosaurs they bonded with combined with the signature off of the respective Dino Charger. Shelby takes off back to the museum to tell her idea to Kendall. On Sledge’s ship, Sledge continues to threaten Fury while Poisandra and Curio convince Wrench to help them.

Kendall once again talks down to Shelby, but after standing up for herself, agrees to Shelby’s idea. The two craft the E-Tracer, an Energem tracking device. The others arrive to learn about the device. Using the Ankylo Charger, the machine pinpoints a location. Unfortunately, Sledge picks up the signal as well. When the Rangers arrive at the location, one of Sledge’s bounties is already there. After a tough battle, Koda is stung by the monster, turning him against the Rangers. They quickly pin Koda to pull out the stinger. The Ankylo Zord comes from the ground and attacks, retreating back underground.

Back at the base, Keeper tells them there is an Aqua Ranger out there with the Energem, but is either hiding or is unaware of the other Rangers’ existence. Koda brings up the fact the monster could have been stung. As Shelby claims it her fault, Kendall takes the blame and storms off to find a solution. Shelby stows away on the pick-up to follow Kendall. On Sledge’s ship, he once again continues to threaten people.

Kendall finally figures out Shelby is there, as the two get attacked. Shelby falls down the hole while Kendall is forced to defend herself with some mad shovel skills. In the pit, Shelby befriends the Ankylo Zord and manages to remove the stinger. Kendall continues to fight off the Viviks, ultimately getting defeated. Fortunately the other four Rangers arrive in time to rescue her. Kendall returns to the base to hunt for Shelby while the other four continue the fight.

Shelby arrives with the Ankylo Zord and defeats the monster with the Tricera Drill. The group calls upon the Dino Charge Megazord Tri-Ankylo Formation. Using the powerful drill and hammer, they make quick work of Stingrage. Fury once again threatens Poisandra for succeeding more than him. At the cafe, Riley says Kendall fixed the E-Tracer while Koda makes wheel jokes. Kendall gives Shelby fossilized poop to show her immense gratitude.

Review

The episode as a whole was quite a fantastic watch. It managed to progress multiple characters while also progressing the overarching plot of the show together in unison. The episode ultimately focused on Shelby, but gave a lot of additional focus to Kendall as well.

Shelby was a character that needed some time to shine, after getting shelved since episode one in favor of giving the other characters their respective focus episodes. We’ve had multiple counts of Kendall talking down to Shelby, which I mentioned before, isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Their multiple fights show how flawed both characters are, particularly Kendall. That flaw allowed Kendall to shine in this episode.

Shelby finally stood up for herself against Kendall. She was tired of being talked down to and she let Kendall have it. Kendall, either impressed by the defense, or coming to the realization that Shelby’s idea was incredibly intelligent, backed down, and started seeing eye to eye with Shelby. The construction of the E-Tracer was clearly a bonding moment for the two, a moment where each character was on each others’ levels. Of course, Kendall didn’t take the bond entirely to heart as she denied Shelby’s help and went off on her own. Regardless, the moment between the two characters was great to see, and a step in the right direction for their relationship.

The episode of course introduces the Ankylo Zord and the Ankylo Charger. It was stated before (and in the episode) that if a Zord is active then a Ranger has bonded with that Energem. Keeper tells the Rangers, and the audience, that there is indeed an Aqua Ranger out there. This route is very different from Kyoryuger, where the Ranger appeared at the same time. I have to say that I really like this approach, as it not only leaves you with anticipation for their arrival, but it adds a much needed element of mystery to the show. We now know there is a Ranger out there, but we have no idea whom he or she is, or even where they are located. It is actually pretty awesome.

Jumping back to Shelby, she was incredibly impressive in this episode. She has proven on multiple occasions that she knows a “dino dung”-ton amount of facts regarding the dinosaurs from which they draw their powers. Yet time and time again, not only Kendall, but the team themselves often discredit her, as seen in the opening scene of the episode. It was very refreshing to not only see her stand up to them and go after her idea, but to see her finally stand up to Kendall. Not only that, she braved the fear of being potentially stomped on by a rampaging Ankylosaurus, and managed to arrive in time and kick the monster’s butt. After being sidelined for a while, it was great to see the return of the strong and spunky Shelby we witnessed in the pilot of the show. It will be interesting to see if she continues to have a strong relationship with the Ankylo Zord after this episode.

Unfortunately the episode did not do much in terms of the villains. Poisandra continues to take the sass meter off the charts while Fury continues to wander around and talk her down or complain about everything. Curio continued to be useless. Wrench continued to be bumbling. Sledge continued to be incredibly impatient. Even the monster of the day, Stingrage, didn’t have much of a personality. While Shelby and Kendall shined, the villains sort of remained static. It would have been really interesting to give more light to Poisandra, if only to see the women of both factions taking charge.

Despite that, I can not praise this episode enough. There was never a moment when I was bored. It brought much needed light to Shelby and Kendall, improved their dynamic, progressed the story, and introduced a new level of mystery with the confirmation of the Aqua Ranger. It is rare an episode can hit so many points, but this one sure did.

VS. Kyoryuger

This episode marks the return of a true and tried adaptation. Besides the base concept of hunting down the Ankylosaurus and focusing on the Pink Ranger, both “Let Sleeping Zords Lie” and “Brave 06” had little to nothing in common with each other.

In “Brave 06” Debo Viruson (Stingrage) has control of Ankydon (Ankylo Zord). Amy (Pink) learns that Ramirez (Aqua) is losing his physical form due to the weakening connection between himself and his Zyudenryu partner. Amy ultimately cheers him up, gets into Ankydon’s mouth, and forces Debo Viruson out to regain control of Ankydon and restoring his connection with Ramirez.

Meanwhile in “Let Sleeping Zords Lie” our Pink Ranger does indeed befriend and cure the Ankylo Zord, the element of an Aqua Ranger is completely removed outside of a few simple mentions. We don’t know who he or she is, or where they are. Stingrage had little importance to the overall story, unlike Debo Viruson.

While following a vaguely similar outline, the two episodes are still worlds apart, both figuratively and literally. That is not to say one is better than the other. Both episodes were pretty great to watch, and both actively promoted and progressed their Pink Rangers. Dino Charge had the added benefit of seeing growth with Kendall as well.

One could argue that Kendall was Ramirez in this situation. Both characters were in a bind, and through the “wisdom” of the Pink Ranger, they solved their issues and grew as characters. While the parallels stop there, it is interesting to see a situation where the plots are more similar than you think just based off a singular analysis, but actually turn out to be quite similar after closer inspection. I feel as though that is the sign of a great adaptation.

Next Week

Next time (on April 4th, 2015), in “Double Ranger, Double Danger” a group of clone Rangers steal the Rangers’ tracking device. To top it off, Fury discovers the location of the powerful Ptera Zord. This episode is an adaption of “Brave 07” from Kyoryuger.