Power Rangers Jungle Fury: Arise The Crystal Eyes

Welcome back to the Jungle Ranger Fans. Last time, the confusing, poorly thought out and overall vaguely defined Rhino Nexus arc came to a surprisingly fun and exciting conclusion that saw Dom get a new Zord, Dai Shi master his Zocato Power, and Carnisoar meet his ultimate demise. What awaits us this time around, let’s find out. 

We open at Jungle Karma where RJ calls the team together to discuss a newspaper article about an archeologist who has discovered more of those Crystal Eyes we’ve been hearing about. According to RJ, three thousand years ago, the Phantom Beasts were the deadliest beasts around, even giving Dai Shi a run for his money. To make matters worse, tonight the stars will be in a rare alignment that will allow the Phantom Beasts to be released from their crystal eye prisons. Oh, and it gets even worse, this archeologist only has five out of the eight crystal eyes, and we the audience know that  the bad guys already have the other three.

Well, while our Rangers are contemplating the shit sandwich they’ll all be in if they don’t get those crystal eyes in time, we head back to the Castle where Grizzaka is berating Jellica for only locating three of the eyes. A very confident Dai Shi walks in and taunts Grizzaka, enraging the big bear. Grizz attacks Dai Shi, but with Dai Shi's newly mastered Zocato power, Grizzaka is brushed aside like nothing. Well, Grizzaka knows when he’s writing a check his ass can’t cash and storms out of the room, planning to take on the Rangers himself and feed off the fear he spreads throughout the city to increase his strength. 

Meanwhile, Dai Shi may have some newfound strength, but he still recognizes that Grizzaka is a powerful threat to his authority and suggests he need something that will give him an edge. Fortunately, Camille has an idea, unleash the Phantom Beasts from the Crystal Eyes and use them against Grizzaka. What’s more, Camille read the same newspaper article the Rangers did while she was doing the crossword puzzle. Heh, cute, I love it when supervillains have mundane hobbies. 

Later, we see Casey meeting with the Archeologist who discovered the Crystal Eyes, Dr. Sylvia Jennings. Casey impresses the Doctor with his knowledge of the animal kingdom and even correctly deduces her own animal spirit, the dolphin. Casey gets down to business and warns the Doctor that there are dark forces after her new discovery, though keeps things vague for obvious reasons. The Doctor seems to think that Casey is some kind of con artist and refuses to just hand over her life’s work. Casey politely leaves Dr. Jennings’ office, but tells RJ he’s going to hang back at the facility in case the bad guys come for the eyes. It’s also implied that Casey might be crushing on Dr. Jennings, but it isn’t made clear

Back in Ocean Bluff, Grizzaka is leading a massive Rinshi horde to attack the City, our heroes doing all they can to stop the monsters and prevent civilian casualties. 

Back at the facility, Camille arrives and steals the Crystal Eyes. Casey fights Camille, but some Rinshi take Doc Jennings hostage, distracting Casey long enough for her to escape. Casey catches up to Camille in the woods who presents the Eyes to Dai Shi. Dai Shi spots Casey and the two engage in a pretty dope one on one fight, both demonstrating how much they’ve both improved as fighters during the series.

Back in the city, the remaining Rangers fight Grizzaka, but old Grizz is as tough as they come and tosses the Rangers around like rag dolls.  

Back in the woods, Casey and Jarrod are still locked in combat. Dai Shi lets slip that the other Rangers are currently fighting Grizzaka. Knowing that his friends need all the help they can get, Casey grabs the eyes from Dai Shi and runs for it, Dai Shi declaring that this isn’t over

Back in the City, Grizzaka is wrecking everyone’s shit when Casey arrives to even the odds. Casey somehow figures out that he can combine his own power with Dom’s Rhino Morpher for a boost in power that puts him on par with the mighty Overlord. The Rangers regroup and blast Grizzaka with the Huge Mother Fucking Canon. Our heroes celebrate, but Casey knows this isn’t over, probably because he’s seen this show. Grizzaka grows giant and battles both the Jungle Master and Wolf Pride Megazords. Grizzaka continues to prove he’s more than a match for our heroes until Dom arrives with the Rhino Steel Zord. The combined might of all three Megazords attacking at once with their new finishing move, The Jungle Stampede, Grizzaka finally goes down for good. However, in the aftermath, we see that Jellica still has the original three Crystal Eyes. 

Later, Casey meets once again with Doc Jennings, who apologizes for not believing Casey and happily hands them over for safe keeping. RJ compliments Casey on his sharp instincts which were instrumental in both securing the Eyes and defeating Grizzaka. All is not well however, as our episode ends with Jellica ready to awaken the Phantom Beasts from the remaining Eyes. 

If I had to sum up this episode in one word, that word would be Transitional. It’s very clear by this point that the whole Overlord Arc is rapidly drawing to a close and sooner rather than later we have to start getting rid of the old villains to make way for the new ones, which, obviously, will be these Phantom Beasts. This is why Carnisoar got the axe in the last episode and Grizzaka followed suit in this one, and I don’t think I’m exactly spoiling anything when I say that Jellica isn’t going to be sticking around much longer either. It’s just kind of the way it goes, especially if you’re reliant on the Sentai Footage. It is a bit of a shame since, overall, I actually enjoyed the Overlords as villains. They came across as serious threats, but also made the storyline for Dai Shi and Camille a bit more engaging. Moving on from the Overlords, I thought this episode was awesome, and a lot of that had to do with Casey. Casey has come a long way since episode one, and this episode more than any to date shows his incredible progress. His one on one fight with Dai Shi was incredible, one of the best fights in the series so far. But more than that, we got to see Casey’s confidence, ingenuity and most importantly, his instincts , on display, showing that Casey is at his best when he takes charge rather than follows behind, something that will play a major role in episodes to come. Good stuff all around. Next time, The Phantom Beasts finally Awaken and waste no time putting a sinister plan into motion in Fear and the Phantoms