Power Rangers Jungle Fury: Blue Ranger Twin Danger

Welcome back to the Jungle Ranger Fans, last time, The Phantom Beast Generals were finally awakened. After wasting Jellica, officially supplanting the Overlords as the new major threat, the generals swore fealty to Dai Shi and went about enacting a plan to abduct the three Pai Zhuq Masters. After the Rangers fought One of the Phantom Beast Warriors and got their asses kicked, our heroes found themselves face to face with three new Rangers with helmets corresponding to the animal spirits of the three masters. Who are these new Rangers? Stay tuned and find out.

As today’s episode opens, we see The Masters chained in the dungeon of Dai Shi’s Castle and apparently under mind control. From their prison, the three mind controlled masters are able to control their corresponding rangers’ movements like puppets, and that means the Rangers are in for the fight of their lives. Remember, these are the three most powerful living Warriors that the order of the claw ever produced, and these Spirit Rangers as we’ll eventually come to know them, allow them to fight as if they’re still in their prime. Also, fun fact about the Spirit Rangers. They are a rare instance of Power Rangers who are entirely American creations and have no Sentai counterpart. Naturally, against the experience of three seasoned masters with their inclination to hold back removed, the Rangers are out of their league here and swiftly get their asses handed to them. The fight only ends when RJ is briefly able to reach his father’s spirit, allowing Master Finn to temporarily regain control, forcing the Spirit Rangers to retreat and the Phantom Beasts to once again restrain the Shark Master. 

Back at the loft, RJ seems to have figured out what’s going on. He figures that the Masters are controlling the spirit Rangers remotely, comparing the process to a sort of spiritual radio signal. RJ has whipped up a device that could theoretically jam the signal, but it’s only a temporary solution. The only way to truly stop the Spirit Rangers is to rescue the masters. While RJ is expositing, Theo receives a message that seems to distress him. It seems Theo’s brother, Luen, wants to visit. According to Theo, Luen is pretty much his exact opposite and given all that’s going on, he’s not exactly thrilled about his brother’s impending visit. 

Back at Dai Shi’s castle, The Masters are led back into the dungeon. It seems controlling the spirit Rangers depleted the Masters’ energy and it will be a while before they can launch another attack. Also worth noting about this scene is that there appears to be some tension between Scorch and Camille. 

Back at Jungle Karma, someone downstairs is playing the guitar and putting on a free concert for the entire restaurant. It’s here where we finally meet Luen who we learn is not just Theo’s brother, but his identical twin, probably because this means the studio can save a few bucks by not hiring another actor. We soon learn that Theo wasn’t exaggerating when he said that Luen was his exact opposite. While Theo is shy, uptight and serious, Luen is laid back, extroverted and always cracking jokes. Still, Luen seems pleasant enough and the other Rangers seem to like him, which seems to make Theo feel all the more uncomfortable. 

Luen and Theo finally get a moment to catch up and both are a little put off by the way the other has been living. Theo thinks Luen’s thrill seeker lifestlyle is a waste of time and Luen thinks his brother needs to learn to live a little. After Theo spills sauce on Luen’s shirt, Luen leaves, leaving Theo frustrated. The tense conversation between siblings was overheard by Lily who offers a listening ear. Theo admits that he’s not mad at his brother. Seems when they were growing up, Luen was always the popular one, the talented one, the one people wanted to hang out, and no one ever paid attention to Theo. As much as he hates to admit it, he’s jealous. Lily suggests they get out for a minute and go on a grocery run to get Theo’s mind off this whole thing. Theo heads up to the loft to change and passes Luen wearing one of Theo’s shirts because his shirt had sauce on it. Lily of course mistakes Luen for Theo and brings him along on that grocery run. 

Meanwhile, Dominic is out on a delivery in the cool company golf cart, but ends up getting ambushed by the Spirit Rangers and another Phantom Beast Warrior, a Minotaur Beast named Dynamir. As you can imagine, Dom gets completely bodied in a four on one fight as Dynamir shows off his gimmick, the ability to trap people in small mirrors. 

Back with Lily and who she assumes is Theo, Lily accidentally lets slip that Theo is jealous of his brother, and also mentions that Theo can’t talk about his own accomplishments. Luen informs an embarrassed Lily of her mistake, and is actually kinda glad she said something. Seems that when they were growing up, Luen envied Theo’s focus and discipline, something he felt he never had, and always wanted to be more like his brother. Lily smiles and says that the two brothers are more alike than they think. However, this touching moment doesn’t last as the two are attacked by Dynamir and the Spirit Rangers, the former trapping them both in mirrors like he did with Dominic. 

RJ and Casey, who went to see what happened to Dominic, also get attacked by the Spirit Rangers. At this point, you know how this song and dance goes. The Rangers get the shit kicked out of them and Minotaur Man traps them in a mirror. As the only Ranger still standing, Theo grabs RJ’s doohickey and disrupts the signal, temporarily causing the Spirit Rangers to vanish. That just leaves Dynamir to deal with. As a Phantom Beast, Dynamir is as tough as they come, but Theo surprisingly manages to hold his own in a one on one fight and even manages to free Luen and the other Rangers. Well, this ain’t over yet as it’s Megazord Time! Much like Sonimax from the last time, Dynamir is tough enough to give three Megazords a hard time, but eventually, the day is one and our heroes manage to defeat their first Phantom Beast. 

In the aftermath, Luen is elated to learn that his brother is a Power Ranger and the two brothers reconcile and part ways on good terms. And so our episode ends in Dai Shi’s castle with Master Finn mentally contacting his son, telling him he must “Take The Risk to Find the Answer.”

This was a really great episode. Despite juggling multiple storylines, it was still well paced and never felt too crowded. The Spirit Rangers arc is off to a great start and is already shaping up to be a much more engaging and coherent arc than the Rhino Nexus. The Spirit Rangers themselves are awesome. It’s always great to see American Designed Rangers, and while they don’t quite have the same level of menace as say, Evil Green Ranger Tommy or The Psycho Rangers, but the threat of them is still nicely demonstrated. We have three of the most skilled fighters on the planet controlling these guys, and what’s more, they know all the Rangers moves. The Rangers feel appropriately outclassed here. I also really liked the stuff with Theo’s brother. I liked that even though they are very different people, the two are still brothers at the end of the day and do care for one another. Also, remember way back in Ghost of a Chance where we learn Theo’s greatest fear is singing in front of people. Well, in this episode we see that musical ability is a skill that comes naturally to Luen while Theo always struggled in that department, so it makes sense that Theo would have a fear of performing in front of people when he’s always being compared to his more talented brother. All around, a solid outing for the show. Next time, the Spirit Ranger Arc continues in One Last Second Chance. Until then, May the Power Protect You.