Power Rangers Jungle Fury: A Taste of Poison

Welcome back to the Jungle everyone as it is once again time for another look at Power Rangers Jungle Fury

As our episode opens, we are introduced to five new Rinshi beasts. Rantipede, a Centipede Beast with lighting fast strikes. Stingerella, a Scorpion Beast who lures her prey in with a hypnotic dance. Gakko, a Gecko beast described as a master in the art of surprise attacks. Toadie, a strong and nearly invincible Poison Toad Beast and finally, their leader, the cold and lethal Cobra Beast, Naja. Together they are, The Five Fingers of Poison! Before we go any further, I have to say, I love these guys! While monsters of the week coming in pairs or even groups is nothing we haven’t seen before, it’s rare that a group of monsters explicitly form a team of their own. It’s a very unique idea for monsters of the week and while I wouldn’t necessarily put these guys on the level of say, The Psycho Rangers from Power Rangers In Space, the Five Fingers of Poison still hold a special place in my heart. Hell, back in my rarely discussed college DeviantArt days when I used to design Pokémon themed Ranger Teams (because I was nineteen had had way too much time on my hands) I based an evil Ranger team on these guys. Anywho, the Five Fingers are brought before Dai Shi who instructs them to attack the city and spread as much fear and despair as they can.

At Jungle Karma Pizza, Casey is remarking on how all things considered, his life is actually pretty cool. Shredding cheese one minute, shredding evil the next. We also get a throwaway line about how RJ has been working on some sort of secret project in the garage. Fran calls out an order but instead of making the pizza, Casey and Lily get into a food fight. Fortunately, Theo is the responsible one and tells them to clean up the mess get back to work. Unfortunately, the alarm goes off and the trio have to bolt, meaning once again Fran has to run the restaurant by herself. That makes twice so far, and I will continue to keep track. Trust me, I have a rant about this in my back pocket, but I’m waiting for just the right moment to use it. For now, all I’ll say is that while I still like our Rangers, their treatment of poor Fran does not do them any favors.

Anywho, The Rangers head out to the city to face off against The Five Fingers of Poison, who reveal their Monster forms and even have their own Rangeresque battle cries. The rangers fight the fingers, but the poisonous posse is too much for them, especially in a five on three situation. Clearly outnumbered and outmatched, our heroes retreat.

The Rangers don’t get too far outside the city before the monsters catch up with them, this time joined by Dai Shi himself, revealing for the first time to our heroes that he’s taken possession of Jarrod’s body. Naturally, our heroes are shocked by this revelation. Dai Shi insists that Jarrod is gone, but curiously, when Casey mentions Jarrod’s expulsion from the academy, it seems to get a rise out of him. It is here that Jarrod reveals that he has a pseudo Ranger form of his own, an armored from that resembles a black and gold lion like Jarrod’s animal spirit. Dai Shi goads Casey into a one on one battle which our Red Ranger accepts, leading to a pretty sweet fight. While Casey is able to hold his own for a little while, he’s ultimately no match for Dai Shi and gets taken down. Dai Shi mocks the Red Ranger for his defeat, and adds insult to injury by commanding Stingerella to infect Casey with her poison. It’s not lethal, but it’s going to hurt like a mother fucker.

Later, our heroes regroup back at the loft as Lily nurses Casey back to health. RJ is also dismayed by the revelation that Jarrod is now Dai Shi, but he also mentions that he has a surprise for Casey once the Scorpion poison is out of his system. Later that night, Lily has a nightmare about Dai Shi defeating Casey

Back at Dai Shi’s castle, the Five Fingers are growing impatient. Rantipede in particular doesn’t feel like waiting and decides to head out on his own. To that end, Rantipede calls out the Red Ranger for a one on one duel, but since Casey is still recovering, Lily heads out to answer the challenge. Well, Rantipede isn’t exactly picky about which Ranger he gets to kill, so he and Lily fight, the two warriors matching speed with their lightning fast strikes.

The fight goes on for a while until eventually Theo and a recovered Casey show up. Seeing that he’s now outnumbered, Rantipede summons a Rinshi horde to even the odds. To deal with the Rinshi, Casey reveals what RJ’s been working on, a specially designed motorcycle called the Strike Rider. Why a motorcycle? Because this is Power Rangers and even when it’s at its best its primary objective is still to sell toys. With the Strength of The Tiger and the Power of Questionable CGI, Casey uses his new wheels to blast through the Rinshi battalion. Camille arrives on the battlefield but even she ends up getting mowed down by the strike rider.

Meanwhile, Lily finishes off Rantipede, which means it’s time for the nasty centipede monster to grow giant sized and for the rangers to summon the Jungle Pride Megazord. And as always, our buddy Flit is on hand for commentary. Rantipede is no pushover but the Rangers still make quick work of him with their signature spin attack.

Back at Jungle Karma, Lily admits that she went off on her own because she was feeling protective of Casey. In the time they’ve been together, she’s come to regard him as a little brother. Casey is grateful to know that Lily cares, but knowing how she feels about him means he’s going to have to treat him the same way he does his own sisters, ending our episode with another food fight.

A Taste of Poison has a lot going for it. First, we are introduced to a new set of unique villains, even if one of them doesn’t make it past this episode. Like I said at the top, I love the Five Fingers of Poison. They almost give off the vibe of a pseudo evil ranger team. Even though Rantipede got taken out, he still had a pretty impressive showing. Not only was he creepy as hell with a look that was somewhat reminiscent of The Scarecrow from DC Comics if he stepped into the machine from The Fly, his one on one duel with Lily is one of the best fights we’ve had in the series so far. This episode also gives us some character development for Lily, which we sadly don’t get enough of over the course of the show. It’s not anything groundbreaking, but it is sweet that she’s protective of Casey and is even willing to fight a monster solo in order to keep him safe. The introduction of the strike rider is something I have mixed feelings about. Its introduction is rather unceremonious and it feels like it’s only here because of the mandate to sell toys. Yes, you can probably say that about everything in the show, but I normally don't mind if the toy they’re advertising is also serving the story. The Strike Rider feels like it could be completely omitted and nothing would need to change. However, the most important part of this episode is our heroes’ first significant encounter with Dai Shi and the subsequent revelation that he’s possessed Jarrod’s body. Dai Shi’s Lion Armor form is dope as hell, as is his fight with Casey. We also get more hints that Jarrod’s personality has melded with Dai Shi. Notice how Dai Shi insists that Jarrod is gone, but then it’s immediately made clear that he’s still holding a grudge against Casey. Dai Shi may deny it, but Jarrod is clearly still in there and while Dai Shi is likely the one driving, they’re both in the front seat of the car so to speak. All in all, A Taste of Poison was a great episode. Next time, our heroes continue to battle the remaining fingers in Can’t Win Them All. Until then, May The Power Protect You.