Power Rangers Jungle Fury: Good Karma, Bad Karma

As I desperately try to break my personal record for most articles written in a single day, I welcome you all back to the Jungle for yet another look at Power Rangers Jungle Fury. Last time, the Rangers met an old hermit who lived in the woods who gave Lily a mace and the ability to upgrade the Megazord with the power of the elephant. Meanwhile, Dai Shi found the tomb of Carnisaor, the Hawk Overlord of the Sky with the intent of using one of Naja’s life talons in order to resurrect him. And now, on with our show.

We open in Ocean Bluff where a small child sees a kite in a store window, but given that all the kid has in his pocket is a quarter, a piece of blue lint, a marble and, I don’t know, is that a tic tac, it’s clear he can’t afford it. Over at Jungle Karma Pizza, the restaurant has had a recent influx of new customers, thanks in no small part to the new toy store that just opened up down the road.

Back where we left off last time, Dai Shi uses the full might of Jarrod’s Lion spirit to crack open Carnisoar’s tomb and using the life talon, finally resurrects the Sky Overlord. Dai Shi tests to see if old Carny is worthy to train him, and Carny proves he’s more than up to the task by taking the best Dai Shi can dish out and still knocking him back. Dai Shi takes a knee and begs to become a student of Carnisoar, acknowledging the Sky Overlord’s superior strength. Carnisoar accepts Dai Shi as his student, and acknowledges that even in his weakened state, Dai Shi is still a powerful warrior. The problem is, Jarrod’s humanity is still within him and is holding him back from reaching the pinnacle of evil. Carnisoar takes his new pupil and says that they will be visiting his past to destroy his humanity.

Back at Dai Shi’s castle, we meet our monster of the week, an Eel beast with the creepiest smile you’ve ever seen. Even Camille is creeped out by this guy as she orders it to clear out the city.

We rejoin Dai Shi and Carnisoar in what appears to be Jarrod’s old elementary school. Dai Shi, or perhaps Jarrod, remembers this. One of his classmates stole the answers to the math test, but Jarrod refused to look at them since cheating is wrong. Carnisoar says that if he had cheated, he would not have failed the test and seemingly alters events so Jarrod DID cheat on the test. So, there’s some debate as to what’s actually happening here. One theory suggests that Carnisoar has taken Dai Shi to the actual past and is altering actual events in his life. This is certainly possible, but since a bunch of black holes aren’t opening up in the sky and Jen and the rest of Time Force haven’t shown up to sort things out, I kinda doubt it. What’s more likely happening is that what we’re seeing are Jarrod’s memories which Carnisoar is altering in a bid to eradicate whatever goodness resides within Jarrod, which in a way is even more sinister. In any case, with this event altered, Dai Shi’s evil influence grows stronger

At Jungle Karma, the kid from earlier sneaks in and swipes Casey’s five dollar tip. Casey chases the kid down and catches up with him at the toy store, where he puts two and two together that he planned on using  Casey’s tip to buy the kite we saw earlier. Casey takes pity on the kid, Josh, and tells him a story that when he was his age he really wanted a skateboard, and even briefly thought about stealing it, but instead, he mowed his neighbor’s lawn until he saved up enough money to buy it for himself. The point of the story being that the easy way and the right way are rarely the same. Casey leaves, and even lets Josh keep the tip, hoping that he’ll make the right decision.

Meanwhile, the city is suddenly coated in thick slime, the work of the creepy Eel Beast.  Our heroes fight the monster but despite being one of the weirdest monsters they’ve gone against so far, the Eel Beast is surprisingly formidable, the rangers attacks slipping right off it due to the creature being covered in slime. The Rangers have no choice but to retreat.

Back with Carnisoar and Dai Shi, the next stop on the Jarrod, this is your life world tour is the home of the Fisher family, Jarrod’s old neighbors. Jarrod’s parents weren’t around a lot when he was a kid, so The Fisher’s would look after him and always treated him well. When Mr. Fisher lost his job, Jarrod rallied the town and helped raise enough money so the family could survive until the man was able to find work again. Well, looks like we have another example of Jarrod's good nature, let’s get rid of it. Carnisoar alters this memory and before our eyes, the Fisher Family turns to dust and their home stands in ruin. With another one of Jarrod’s good deeds erased, Dai Shi’s influence grows stronger still.

Elsewhere, Casey walks by the toy store to see Josh walking out of the store with the kite, much to Casey’s disappointment.

But enough of that for now, it’s time for Carnisoar to play Twisted Ghost of Christmas Past once again, this time showing a time when Jarrod as attacked by bullies. Apparently Jarrod had already been studying Kung Fu at this point and could easily have defended himself, but in doing so, he would have violated his vow to never use his skills against a weaker opponent. Well Carnisoar’s having none of that, time to watch young Jarrod beat up some little kids, once again allowing Dai Shi’s evil influence to grow stronger.

Back in Ocean Bluff, Casey expresses his disappointment in Josh for getting what he wanted the easy way. Josh promises to pay Casey back, but Casey said he can’t trust him. He understands that Josh wanted the kite, but reminds him that the choices we make affect our character. Before Casey can finish his little life lesson, the Eel Beast attacks the city once again, Theo and Lily already on the scene. Josh is apparently a big fan of the Power Rangers, but Casey tells Josh that because he’s a thief, that means he’s a bad guy, and the Power Rangers don’t like bad guys. Reluctantly, Josh hands Casey the kite.

Holding the kite, Casey gets an idea. Using the cloth from the kite, Casey wipes down the monster meaning now he’s not so slimy, allowing the Rangers to hit it with their weapons. To that end, the Rangers blast the Eel beast using the Huge Mother Fucking Cannon. The Eel Beast naturally isn’t done yet, as it’s time for a Megazord fight, an especially cool one at that what with the sunset in the background. Once again, our heroes power up using Master Phant’s Elephant Spirit and finish off the Eel Beast. The only part that’s not awesome is, for the first time, we don’t have Flit on commentary. That makes me sad.

At Dai Shi’s castle, while Camille laments the Eel Beast’s failure, Dai Shi returns with Carnisoar, the Sky Overlord saying that it’s finally time to begin Dai Shi’s training in earnest.

Our episode ends at Jungle Karma where Casey has seen fit to help Josh earn some money rather than steal it by having him wipe tables in the restaurant.

This was a really good episode. The stuff with Casey isn’t exactly as engaging as the stuff with Carnisoar and Dai Shi, but I still greatly enjoyed it. I especially appreciated how Casey tried to stress the importance of good character to the kid, something my father always tried to instill within me when I was growing up, and the fact that he used the kids admiration for the Power Rangers to steer the kid in the right direction was a nice touch. Carnisoar is definitely a nasty customer and his method of reaching into Jarrod’s head and erasing his good deeds is pretty sinister. But now, let’s talk about Dai Shi, as this episode gives us some interesting insight into his character. See, Dai Shi isn’t stupid. He knows that the Rangers have been kicking his ass. When something like this used to happen to Rita Repulsa or Lord Zedd, they would stew in their failure, only to try the exact same thing next week. Dai Shi is not like that, at all. He’s not just going to sit on his keister and let the Rangers keep winning. Dai Shi knows in order to win, he needs to grow stronger. Helping him in this endeavor is that Dai Shi has a lot more humility than your average Power Rangers villain. Dai Shi respects whoever is the strongest, and has enough self awareness to recognize that at the moment, that’s not him, hence why he pledges himself to Carnisoar. Whether this humility is part of Dai Shi or the influence of Jarrod’s personality we can’t really know for sure but since this episode makes it crystal clear that Jarrod’s personality and memories are still very much a part of Dai Shi, I’m inclined to believe the latter. Either way, under Carny’s guidance, Dai Shi is now deadlier than ever, which is definitely bad news for the Rangers. Next time, a new Pai Zhuq master arrives at the loft in Blind Leading the Blind. Until then, May The Power Protect You.