Power Rangers Dino Charge: Rise of a Ranger Review

Unleashing the Graphite! Prince Philip is back on this weeks Dino Charge.

This Power Rangers Dino Charge review contains spoilers.

Power Rangers Dino Charge episode 14.

The prim and proper prince of Zandar is searching for an Energem of his own after Ivan bonded with the Gold Energem. To do this, he’s been digging up fossils. He even gives us the first intended quarry explosion in Power Rangers history. I’m still reeling from that. Can you do that in the PRU?

Philip is training with a robot when the Energem is brought to him. He tries to morph but fails so Philip goes all “Codebreakers” on us as he attempts to do good deeds to unlock its power. While it was funny back in Mystic Force when Vida and Chip tried to do odd jobs, Philip takes it one step further. He gives tons of money to the city, helps as many people as he can, and the Energem still won’t bond with him. The obvious lesson here is that doing selfless acts for selfish reasons is still selfish. Not to say Philip shouldn’t be helping those people out. Why not? Give away all the money! But the Energem knows your heart and won’t put up with any selfishness.

Ad – content continues below

Meanwhile in the B plot Chase’s sister, Chloe, is visiting but his responsibilities as a Ranger keep them from hanging out. I loved everything about this. It’s been a long time since being a Ranger has hit a character so hard then when Chase tells Chloe he can’t skateboard with her. It’s a gut punching moment.

The two plots cross when the Rangers are engaged in a spectacular unmorphed fight and Chloe is caught in the crossfire. Chase tries to save her but it’s Philip who comes to the rescue. This proves his good heart and the graphite Energem bonds with him. Morphing with the others, Philip takes on his robot that Fury stole earlier in the episode. The fight drags a little bit here, with some unneeded focus on Koda and Ivan but it gets back on track with the introduction of Philips Zord that helps win the day.

Our episode is wrapped up with Chloe giving Chase a ticket to New Zealand and Philip saying his goodbyes to the Rangers. He has a country to run but they’ll have access to his zord and can always call on him in times of need. Now I get this was for footage reasons, but why do the Rangers totally give Philip a free pass in going to run his county but don’t let Chase take a little time off to hang out with his sister. Maybe Chase didn’t mention it?

Also, why didn’t we get to see more of Chloe reacting to her brother fighting monsters? I get that monsters aren’t THAT big of a deal in the PRU but you think Chloe would have a line or two reacting to it. Oh well, we’ve only got twenty-two minutes and this episode was packed tight.

This episode is solely devoted to building up side characters, the most prominent being Philip but Chloe as well. By getting to know her, we learn more about Chase and that he’s more than just a ladies man. We learn that Philip is desperate to be a Ranger. Is it because he’s trying to fit in with his new “friends” who he only knew for like five minutes? Is it because he just really wants to be a superhero? Well that can’t be the case because he gives it up so quickly.

Or maybe it’s because by the end of the episode he’s realized that his desire to be a superhero was selfish. Oh sure, he helped save Chloe and the Rangers but being a Ranger, in his eyes, was still more about himself. That could explain why his bonding looked so painful. The Energem saw the goodness but knew there was some lingering selfishness. That’s a lot of inferring on my part but the episode gives you enough that it isn’t totally baseless. He’s going off to put the people of Zandar first.

Ad – content continues below

That’s what I like the most about Dino Charge. It gives you enough to extrapolate more about these characters. It isn’t all just headcanons and guesswork. It puts in the effort that rewards deeper thought instead of punishing.

STRAY THOUGHTS

-“Slegde-ums will help you.” Oh Sledge. Can we get a flashback to how he met Poisandra?

-Why does Ivan have a reward poster in the ship? Did they make that themselves or are the Rangers wanted throughout the galaxy? If so, does Sledge have contact with some kind of galactic network? PLEASE TOUCH ON THIS.

-“That hunk of steel doesn’t stand a chance against us!” is so Power Rangers. I LOVE IT.

-“You’ll never defeat my mechanical minion!” Alliteration in Power Rangers is LIFE.

Ad – content continues below

-Who else thought for a hot second that Chloe would bond with the Energem? WHAT A TWIST.

-Awww, Philip doesn’t get his own single morph? Booooo.

Rating:

4 out of 5