SPD was awesome!

I have to say S.P.D. was one of the biggest surprises while watching this franchise so far! At first, I was preparing myself for this season to be crap! "Beginnings", Parts 1 and 2 had a pretty good set up: 3 S.P.D. rangers in training go after a duo of thieves who surprisingly get recruited by their Commander as new rangers, one of them even becoming the new red ranger. The thing is I kinda disliked these characters at the first. Jack comes off as a complete jerk, Sky won't stop whining about not being the red ranger, Bridge is an unfunny, bumbling idiot, Syd is the most clichéd pink ranger ever and Z...well...she was the only tolerable one I guess. Just couldn't buy these guys as rangers! Also, the acting by the main cast was very awkward and even awful at times during the beginning of the season. Then there's Emperor Gruumm who can barely be understood and seems to have some weird relationship with a little girl named Mora. Cue irritating child outbursts from Mora and I was ready to mentally check out of this season! But around episodes 12-15, the season started to pick up and towards the end, I was really enjoying this season. Eventually the acting improved from the cast, the characters started becoming likeable, the villains more interesting, story arcs formed nicely and things felt like they came full circle by the finale. The S.P.D. suits have to be some of my favorites from PR and Super Sentai, looking very cool in action. I LOVE the fact that the zords went back to being vehicles and planes, allowing for less CGI and more animatronics/guys in suits. The zord fights were always better that way and the zords this season are pretty awesome (the S.W.A.T megazord being badass and the Delta Command being the one of the biggest, most impressive looking zords)

Like I said, the characters really come into their own. Jack and Sky especially improve after my initial feelings about them. I wondered why Jack was chosen as the Red ranger as he seemed like such a poor choice and I just couldn't see him in that role. "Confronted" sees Jack at his worst being a lazy leader having the other rangers doing all the work for him. Eventually, the character matures and you realize Jack is meant to be sort of the underdog red ranger. Coming from a harsh background, he's suppose to struggle as the leader and make mistakes, which is often explored throughout the season. Sure, he's still a cocky, stubborn bastard but at least he becomes more relatable and he actually sounds really cool as the red ranger. Sky, of course, is adamant about being the red ranger for the majority of the season. While a glaring personality trait, the writers eventually develop him into one of the most engaging blue rangers we've seen so far. I came to like his rule regulated, sometimes stoic manner as well as his personal mission to prove himself as it stemed from a longing to be just like his father, a real hero. Outside of Jack, Sky gets the most character development out of the rangers with some of the season's best episodes like "Idol", where his old friend from SPD returns to betray the academy. "Recognition" boosts an original plot seeing Sky switching places with one of the worst alien criminals and "Reflections", Parts 1 and 2 is nothing short of excellent! What starts out at an interrogation mission ends up being Sky coming face to face with his father's murder. The episode is filled with great writing all around and the moment Jack gives Sky his morpher to bring his father's murder in is one of those moments from PR that should be in like in a top 10 list or something! It's such a well acted moment and highlights another great aspect of the season in Jack/Sky's rivalry. The animosity at first came off kinda forced, but it becomes an organic relationship with both men's personal arcs complimenting each other. I liked the moment in "Reflections" Part 1 where Jack tells Sky heroes come in all colors, to which Sky returns the compliment in Part 2. "Impact" is another strong episode that shows while both can be over confident and stubborn, they have immense respect for each other. Simply, Jack is a good leader who couldn't ask for a better second in command than Sky. By the end of the season, both men have grown a lot and end up where they always wanted to be.

The rest of the rangers don't get as much development as Jack and Sky but what we got wasn't bad. "A-Bridged" shows that while Bridge can be bizarre and sound incompetent, he's actually intelligent as well as has good instincts. Sure, his humor has more misses than hits, but like I said, he becomes ultimately likeable (especially seeing the seasons after this one with supposed "funny guys"!) Z is the tough girl of the team and Jack's closet friend seeing as they grew up in the streets together. Though, after the premiere we see less of their friendship in favor of Jack and Sky's rivalry which is disappointing given their history. Anyway, "Sam", Parts 1 and 2 is her only moment this season to shine when she tries to desperately befriend a little boy named Sam. We learn more about Z's past, being so isolated from kids because her powers and eventually gets Sam to choose the right side. Syd, like I said, is the most clichéd pink ranger in that she's highly materialistic, overly girly and beyond spoiled. She seems the least likely to be an SPD officer given that fact but ultimately we see some shades of selflessness in "Dogged" and "Stakeout", the latter being more of a Jack episode really. Like the others, the writers tone done her more annoying character traits and becomes naturally apart of the team. Not to mention, she's definitely the most attractive pink ranger of the franchise, looking like Hugh Heffner dropped her on the set of PR. What?! Also, each ranger has their own specific ability, which is very rare during their time. Apparently it was a side effect of their parents' work when S.P.D. was first established in 2001. This is one problem I have with the series, the timeline creates some problems. It's suppose to be 2025 yet things feel too advanced and I find it hard to believe a utopia with humans living peacefully with aliens could exist that soon. Then there's the fact Sky' father looks like he could be Wes from Time Force. It just doesn't make much sense in the long run if the franchise makes it to 2025. They should have just set this future closer to Time Force's timeline by putting S.P.D.'s timeline between the 22nd century and the year 3000! Anyway...

Outside the rangers, the supporting cast is solid. Commander Anubis "Doggie" Cruger is one of the stronger mentors of the series. Sure, he's a talking dog but thanks to some very expressive animatronics, good voice acting and a dark past that became great to watch, Doggie is pretty badass! "Shadow", Parts 1 and 2 are the first episodes to explore his past with him losing his wife as well as his home world in a devastating battle! He soon fills in the 6th ranger spot as the Shadow ranger and in an awesome fight sequence destroys 100 cybots in mere seconds. Cruger's relationship with the rangers is also complex, as his methods can sometimes be harsh like when he refuses to help the rangers in battle in "Abandoned" but also quite endearing when it comes to how he develops Jack and Sky. Kat is the technical genius of the team, creating the rangers' powers and zords. She's also the voice of reason to Doggie's sometimes tough mentorship and always giving the rangers moral support. She doesn't get much development outside of "Katastrophe" where she briefly becomes the cat ranger but it's more about the rangers, Doggie and Boom missing her than anything. Boom is the comedy relief character, who is pretty much a comedic sidekick for Bridge. "Boom" explores his failures of not being ranger and having to lie to his parents because of it. Boom is a fine character in the long run, especially in the finale where he has a great moment when he takes a stand to stay and fight when the rest of the academy doesn't want to. The Omega Ranger is the last character to round off the group who arrives in "The Messenger", a good two parter that ends with a great revelation of him being the future version of Sam. The only downside is we never get to see him unmorphed (sans a brief moment in the finale) and spends most of the time floating around as a ball of light. Yet he's ultimately a great ally and it's nice that the Sam story had a purpose overall.

Emperor Gruumm is one of those villains that took me awhile to like. His initial appearance, not to mention his relationship with Mora was just odd and off putting. But unlike other villains, we actually see Gruumm taking matters into his own hands and dealing with the rangers head on. Sure, it's mostly on a silly looking motorcycle but it's nice seeing a villain not just sitting around all day watching his minions fail and being proactive quite often for a change. His history with Doggie adds a bit of gravitas to the overall story and we find out by the end of the season, Gruumm's plans for world domination have been rather successful by stealing specific matters from Earth to ultimately achieve his goal. It's an effectively subtle build up and despite coming off goofy sometimes, makes him one of the most adequate villains of the franchise. Mora/Morgana is one of the most unique and intriguing villainesses of the franchise. Mora comes off grating at first, but her relationship with Gruumm becomes interesting after a while, especially when we learn her true form is an adult. Turns out, Morgana has this depraved obsession with wanting to be a child and I got to say that's very creepy. The disturbing dolls and the fact she can draw monsters to life adds to her creepiness. She's a sensible confidant of Gruumm as well as a strong fighter against the rangers. While it would have been nice to get some backstory on how she became one of Gruumm's servants and why she wants to be a child, her characterization remains fascinating and entertaining. Broodwing makes for a slightly original "minion gone rogue" character as he does so out of loss of profit instead of betrayal or power.

The season concluded in the jam packed "Endings", Parts 1 and 2, the best finale since Wild Force. We get great fights, strong conclusion between characters and numerous moments that standout, especially the showdown between the A-Squad and B-Squad. Another well written story arc was that these rangers weren't the main team originally and simply the back up team for clean ups or what not. It's a pretty original concept and it's the first time we see rangers choosing to be evil as opposed to spells, possession, etc. I want to also mention the quote on quote "Kalishplosions" that began with this season. While it does get repetitive (there's one moment where one just happens to appear behind the A-Squad...as they are walking unmorped!) It's more tolerable here than the next few seasons. Overall, despite a lackluster start and few other minor problems, S.P.D. is very entertaining! The characters overtime became enjoyable, the villains are solid, the two team-up episodes with Dino Thunder kick a**, the story is developed well, we get to see 9 rangers in action (the most of any season so far) and that theme song just ROCKS! Then there's Piggy! Love him or hate him, he helped save the day and entertained!

Best Episodes

1. Reflections, Parts 1 and 2

2. Endings, Parts 1 and 2

3. History/Wormhole

4. Recognition

5. S.W.A.T., Parts 1 and 2


Final Morph: B