It’s time to discuss the tenth season: Wild Force!
This was a milestone season in a few ways. Obviously, the franchise hit double digits but less obviously it was during this time that the switch from Saban to Disney was made, only to be reversed eight years later. And this season included the iconic “Forever Red” episode, which was more franchise-centric than team-centric. As a whole, however, it was largely disliked by the fandom- my personal fondness for it and its theme song is an outlier. Then again, I survived Operation Overdrive so maybe my standards are different.
Like that season, though, this DVD case was Yellow. This is very fitting as Taylor Earhardt is possibly the most badass Ranger of all. She had to fight Orgs alone for at least six months, and she had been a Ranger for over a year by the time of Cole’s arrival in the first episode. What tidbits were revealed only convinced me further that a Wild Force prequel would be as compelling as a standard season. And like with Mystic Force, I found myself curious about the previous generation of guardians and what they were like.
The Orgs made for effective villains, particularly the core trio. Master Org’s all-too-human origins and motives are chilling and were well-acted by Ilia Volok. Jindrax and Toxica’s villainy was softened by their genuine friendship for each other. The latter was played by Sin Wong; I have to wonder if Toxica’s portrayal was what was meant for Vypra but fell flat due to a casting issue. Zen-Aku was such a compelling villain that he was revived twice after his initial defeat as the crew evidently felt him ‘too cool to die’ in an inverse of the usual trope.
Duke Orgs Jindrax and Toxica have a subplot in the first half of the season of gradually realizing that the Master Org they’re serving isn’t the real deal. Jindrax and his brother take on Taylor and Max (who are with Kite) in “Team Carnival”. “The Master’s Herald” two-parter as well as “Fishing for a Friend” puts the spotlight on Jindrax and Toxica coming to the realization that none of the higher-ranked Orgs care about them.
Despite my utter agitation over the lack of explanation of transport, I overall enjoyed the Animarium as a setting. Princess Shayla (Ann Marie Crouch) was admittedly a ‘damsel in distress’ at times, but she was also fairly brave, compassionate, and clever. The problem being is that she and Merrick miscommunicated too much for their mutual crushing on each other to amount to anything more. The princess was the closest thing to a mentor that the team had.
I think I’ve made my feelings on Kite/Animus clear: when not bland, he was being frustrating. His supposed power didn’t match up to what actually happened in the season, to top it off. The events of “Taming of the Zords” is the first major hint at his true identity, and he grows angry over pollution in “Monitoring Earth” but backs down to claim it was a test at the end of “The Soul of Humanity” when the team refuses to stop fighting Orgs.
Let’s move on to discuss the Rangers themselves. The team-centric episodes are “Soul Bird Salvation”, “The Wings of Animaria”, “Sealing the Nexus”, and “The End of the Power Rangers” two-parter.
The “Reinforcements from the Future” two-parter almost puts more emphasis on the Time Force team than the current one. That doesn’t keep it from being epic, though. Ransik and Nadira continued to atone for their pasts, Wes and Jen got a reunion, there were epic battles, and Taylor and Eric engaged in snark that turned into flirtation.
Cole Evans (Ricardo Medina Jr.) is the Red Ranger as the Blazing Lion. There is a certain amount of tragedy that this season will now always have a cloud over it because of Medina’s later actions, even if (especially if?) it was not highly regarded before that. Particularly as Cole is admittedly one of the less well-regarded Red Ranges for reasons valid as well as petty ones- he is a food thief, his efforts at rallying the team need augmented by the others, he tends to disregard personal space, and can be short-sighted at times.
His arrival in Turtle Cove was the main point of “Lionheart”, and his realization of the Orgs’ heartless natures is emphasized in “Darkness Awakening”. Cole confronts Master Org in “Soul Searching” while looking for the Soul Bird. In “Secrets and Lies”, Cole ends up with amnesia and Alyssa ends up telling him that his birth parents are supposedly dead (thanks to some sleight of hand due to swapping censors halfway through the season, they stayed dead). Cole learns the truth about his parents and Viktor Adler in “The Master’s Last Stand”. Cole meets Kite in “Homecoming” as the team deals with Mandilok, and the pair of them had a close bond whenever Kite/Animus was in good spirits, although Merrick was the one who refused to abandon Animus in the penultimate episode.
Taylor Earhardt (Alyson Kiperman) is the Yellow Ranger as the Soaring Eagle. I made my feelings about her awesomeness very clear earlier. She’s strict from her time in the Air Force, but she’s brave and has a concealed soft side. Her trouble with stepping down as leader after Cole’s arrival is emphasized in “Click, Click, Zoom” while she earned the Bear Zords in “The Bear Necessities”. She tends to be the glue holding the team together, and she is the only one to find a way to stay in touch with her Zord after stepping down as a Ranger.
Max Cooper (Phillip Jeanmarie) is the Blue Ranger as the Surging Shark. His efforts to prove himself ‘not a kid’ tend to backfire, but he’s hopeful and willing to do what it takes to save the day. He tends to be the one to say “Never give up” as his and best friend Danny’s motto, which occasionally spreads to the rest of the team. A strange dream leads to Max gaining the Giraffe Zord in “Wishes on the Water”. His bowling past is revealed in “The Tornado Spin”.
Alyssa Enrile (Jessica Rey) is the White Ranger as the Noble Tiger. In addition to having courage and intelligence, she’s skilled at both the culinary and martial arts. Her sweet nature doesn’t mean she ought to be underestimated. The Elephant Zord chooses her as its user in “Ancient Awakening”. “A Father’s Footsteps” showcases her fairly good relationship with her father along with her brains, brawn, and stubborn streak.
Danny Delgado (Jack Guzman) is the Black Ranger as the Iron Bison. Although the strongest of the team, he’s also the shyest and most insecure. He’s fond of plants and his best friend Max. When Danny meets back up with Kendall, his crush from his pre-Ranger life, Max’s jealousy kick-starts the plot of “Never Give Up!”. Then there’s a love triangle of sorts between Danny, Kendall, and Collin in “Three’s a Crowd” which ends on a bittersweet note (Kendall has basically dumped Collin but they both know Danny’s focus has to be on being a Ranger).
Merrick Baliton (Philip Andrew) is the Lunar Wolf Ranger (his catchphrase being Howling Wolf). You know, it just hit me that the set must have been interesting- they would have had to clarify whether they were calling about Philip or Phillip. Unless only one of them went by Phil. In any case, Merrick is a Wolf spirit, which means they act like they’re loners, are very brave, are skilled at fighting, and are prone to blaming themselves for things beyond their control (like being mind-controlled by evil).
Zen-Aku possesses Merrick after Merrick’s usage of his mask three thousand years ago, so the original warriors had to seal him away. Nayzor releases Zen-Aku in “Curse of the Wolf”. He and Alyssa share the focus in “Battle of the Zords”, while Zen-Aku shares the focus with Max in “Predazord, Awaken”.
“Revenge of Zen-Aku” splits the focus evenly between Zen-Aku, Princess Shayla, and Taylor. Zen-Aku develops doubts in “Identity Crisis” which are magically stopped by the other Orgs.
Merrick himself first gets the spotlight in “The Ancient Warrior” and then he gets his morpher in “The Lone Wolf”. His adjustment to modern-day life is seen in “Power Play”, along with Taylor spelling out to the team what’s going on between Merrick and Princess Shayla.
The Deer Zord is appealed to by both Merrick and Princess Shayla in “Sing Song”. Merrick ends up working with the other Rangers to take out Zen-Aku in “Unfinished Business”. Princess Shayla and Merrick have an argument in “The Flute”, which ends up clearing some of the air between them- not enough for them to stay together after the Orgs’ defeat, though.
As you might have noticed, this season was fairly lopsided in who got the spotlight. I don’t mind all the emphasis on Merrick, given how he’s one of my favorites, but I do feel badly for Taylor, Max, Danny, and Alyssa for largely being sidelined as a result. Cole’s story was fairly compelling, but the character himself was fairly flat although his compassionate and forgiving nature is admirable.
Let me break down the math so you don’t have to do it (unless you feel like double-checking mine). Cole had five episodes to himself, as well as sharing one with Kite/Animus. Taylor, Max, Alyssa, and Kite/Animus each got a pair of episodes to themselves. There were three ‘franchise’ episodes as well as five team-centric ones. There was one episode split between Kite/Animus and the team. Jindrax and Toxica essentially got a quartet of episodes to themselves.
Danny, Max, and Kendall shared one episode, and later Danny and Kendall reunited with Collin as the ‘third wheel’ plot-wise. This means that Danny was so shy, he evaded having the spotlight on him alone for the entire season. I think Fluttershy is jealous.
The Merrick/Zen-Aku hybrid had two episodes to himself, but shared one episode with Alyssa and another with Max. Then there was that three-way episode between him, Princess Shayla, and Taylor. Merrick himself got three episodes, a fourth shared with Zen-Aku, and then two more episodes shared with the princess. In total, Merrick got a featured role in eleven episodes- more than a fourth of the season.
Overall, I did enjoy Wild Force but I am looking forward to Ninja Storm (Dustin and Cam!). On a tangent, it’ll be interesting what’ll happen first as I haven’t scheduled far ahead enough to see what’ll happen yet: will Tommy Oliver pass on the Red Turbo morpher first on my blog, or will he show up to mentor the original Dino Thunder trio? My vague Excel prediction sheet indicates the latter, so that could be fun.
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