Jungle Fury so far.
I watched all of Power Rangers Jungle Fury that's aired so far this week and I have to say, for me, this is the first decent (sometimes almost good) Power Rangers series since Dino Thunder.
Yes, the characterization and writing remain frustratingly inconsistent, but the Rangers (and just about everyone else) are so likeable that I'm willing to overlook those problems.
First, some nagging questions, in no particular order.
"Good Karma Bad Karma": A KITE?!?!?! SERIOUSLY?!?!?! Jungle Karma Pizza has some shitty house rules if Casey couldn't refund a fucking quarter because the "Out of order" sign got knocked off a video game. Who leaves a five dollar tip at a pizza place?
"Sigh of the Tiger": Am I the only one still thinking dirty thoughts because of RJ telling Casey "You have to do whatever I tell you."? Casey's first time on his bike. Longest toy commercial in PR history. Y/Y?
"Dance the Night Away": Are the writers actually going for a Ranger love triangle with Casey, Theo and Lily? Or at least a Theo/Lily relationship? Why didn't they have RJ's bizarre dance sequence from "Can't Win Them All" in this episode?
"Can't Win Them All": Why did Theo choose the battle with Geko to become a whiny emo loser? What was with RJ's bizarre out of nowhere dance sequence? (I liked it, a lot. I just didn't see the point of it in this episode.) Could the writers pay a LITTLE attention to in-show continuity? They showed the Rangers running out of the front door of Jungle Karma Pizza and then cut to them in the loft (which is through the kitchen and upstairs) running and jumping into the morphing tube.
"Way of the Master": Is it just me or is Master Phant the worst of the Masters we've seen so far? He's convinced Lily is worthy of his animal spirit after she plants flowers in his garden and gets attacked by Rinshi? Why *does* Dai Shi want a master? I thought he was a total badass already, but I guess not. Jungle Pride Megazord with Elephant Power? Seriously? Yeesh. If Carnisoar was taking Jarrod back in time to teach him how to be an asshole be more evil, wouldn't that have had an effect on things in the present? That's generally how time travel works in the PR universe, isn't it?
"Blind Leading the Blind": If RJ knows Master Swoop and trained with him (he mentions the "Swoop technique" in "Sigh of the Tiger"), why doesn't RJ fly around at all? Or would that be considered showing off? How can a multitasker like Theo be so unfocused?
"Pushed to the Edge": Why did they wait until this episode to have Camille don a disguise? Is it Jarrod or Dai Shi?
"One Master Too Many": Why was RJ so upset about Casey wanting to learn from a new Master and getting a new weapon? RJ mentioned before that he'd trained with Master Swoop at the Academy and that Swoop was his favorite. And why wasn't RJ upset about Theo or Lily getting new Masters and weapons? The stuff with RJ and his father (Master Finn) was well written and well done, which makes me wonder why it couldn't have been incorporated into the plot better. It would have made more sense if RJ was upset about Casey wanting a new Master and RJ knowing that the only living one left is his dad, who he isn't on speaking terms with.
"Ghost of a Chance": Will we ever see Casey's toy commercial bike again, now that Dai Shi's destroyed it? Casey's afraid of a monster in his closet? Nah, too easy. The new Masters tell the Rangers "You're stuck here forever!" But after the Rangers tell them, "Dai Shi is on the loose," the new Masters let them go. What the hell!?!? It took this long for Fran to learn that Casey, Lily and Theo are Power Rangers? Then again, she has been busting her ass as pretty much the only member of the JPK staff there on a full-time basis. The penguin zord surfs?!?! Now I'm sad we'll never get a Dino Thunder team-up with Jungle Fury because we could have a surf-off between the megazords.
Non-question thoughts: RJ - Awesome character. Loved his out of nowhere dance sequence. Like the subtle clothing hints that he'll be the Wolf (violet) Ranger throughout the episodes.
Casey - It's nice to have a red Ranger who's not completely confident and cocky all the time. Jason Smith does this thing with his voice that sounds like he's got his teeth gritted together or something a lot of the time when Casey's morphed. It doesn't sound quite right. I get that as a Ranger, he's probably angry, but yeesh.
Lily - It's nice to have a female Ranger who's somewhat full-figured (as far as Power Rangers goes, at least). She's a fun character who usually manages to be bright and cheery, just like her color, yellow. She even made Camille happy. Sort of.
Theo - Poor multitasking, can't sing (though he tried, bless his heart) blue Ranger. I like him, in spite of his tendency to show off and be a prick at times.
Flit - OH MY GOD KILL IT WITH FIRE. AND THEN DUMP THE ASHES IN ACID. Still hate him.
Camille - She's an interesting villain. Did she really spend 10,000 years just standing in a wall, waiting for Dai Shi to return? Her loyalty to Dai Shi and his cause is admirable, but it will come back to bite her in the ass turn her good.
Jarrod/Dai Shi - Which is it? Is it a split personality kind of thing where Dai Shi's the dominant personality and Jarrod's just the host body? Or what? And what's with Dai Shi needing to train with Masters? He kicked Casey's ass in "A Taste of Poison", but no. He needs more training!
The Megazord names suck so very much. I'm sorry but the writers/producers just aren't trying when we get "Jungle Pride Megazord with (Animal) Power!" Which is sad.
Why must "Jungle Fury" be repeated so often in every episode? You could almost do a drinking game with some of the episodes.
I want to write fic (especially Casey/RJ), but it's hard to get a grip on these characters when the writers apparently have similar trouble.
The Rangers have fantastic chemistry with each other and their friend Fran and their mentor RJ. And I want to see them kick ass and stuff. But the writing is usually nonsensical and fails to deliver in some way. Don't get me wrong, I really enjoyed a lot of the episodes (sometimes, in spite of myself), but there was this sense that it COULD have been better. And that's what disappoints me about Jungle Fury the most.