Power Rangers Jungle Fury: One Master Too Many

Welcome back to the Jungle my friends. It’s been a minute, but we’re back now. Last time, Camille thought Carnisoar was doing more harm than good and resurrected The Sea Overlord, Jellica, to usurp his place as Dai Shi’s teacher, not realizing that Jellica, being an evil girl boss jellyfish, is actually far worse than Carnisoar ever was.

Our episode opens in the loft with Theo and Lilly training with the weapons gifted to them by Masters Phant and Swoop. Casey can’t help but feel a bit jealous and asks RJ when he’s getting his new master and weapon. Clearly annoyed by the question, though hiding it as best he can, RJ responds by saying that Casey already has a master in RJ and already has a weapon in himself. Casey needs to stop worrying about what he doesn’t have and concentrate on what he’s doing. I’m with RJ here. Remember, neither Lily nor Theo actively sought out new masters. Lily only needed Master Phant’s training because the Jungle Mace was the only way to defeat the Pangolin Beast, and Master Swoop was the one who sought out Theo feeling that he could benefit from some additional one on one training, which RJ agreed was a good idea. Right now, there is no immediate threat that requires a new weapon, nor is there another old kung fu master knocking on their door. Casey only wants a new master and weapon because Theo and Lily have them and he doesn’t. RJ can’t help but feel hurt by this since it makes him feel that his teaching is not enough.

At Dai Shi’s castle, Dai Shi’s training under Jellica has begun. Jellica seems to think the training is going well, but Camille, once again demonstrating her unwavering loyalty to her master, stands up to Jellica and tells her that all she’s doing is breaking his spirit. Dai Shi says that no matter what hell Jellica puts him through, it will be worth it to see the Rangers brought to an end. Jellica admires Dai Shi’s attitude, but thinks the Rangers won’t be an issue much longer as she reveals our monster of the week. Some kind of Hermit Crab Beast with a drill for an arm.

Later, at Jungle Karma Pizza, Casey has a question for RJ, and RJ assumes the answer has something to do with six horses, a toilet plunger and a wireless computer mouse. While I’m ninety percent sure RJ is just fucking with Casey, I have to know just what in the hell RJ actually thought Casey was going to ask him. Obviously Casey wants to ask about getting a new Master, but RJ is clearly avoiding the subject. No time to dwell on that though since an earthquake starts shaking the restaurant and the Rangers head out to investigate.

As the Rangers arrive on the scene, it seems Jellica’s monster is drilling a hole in the ocean floor and causing the earthquakes. But before they can deal with that, Camille arrives with a Rinshi battalion for the Rangers to fight. Casey is getting swarmed by the monsters when out of nowhere, a grizzled old warrior comes charging onto the battlefield wielding a pair of twin sabers, cutting through the Rinshi horde like tissue paper. He even uses his animal spirit, the shark, to blast the Hermit Crab monster out of the water, forcing Camille to retreat. The old warrior introduces himself as Master Finn and Casey is elated to have found his new master.

Back at the loft, Casey introduces Master Finn to RJ, paying no mind to how awkward that may be for him. We soon learn exactly how awkward as RJ greets Finn with “Hello Dad.” Yup, Master Finn is RJ’s father, and it’s immediately clear from how they interact that they don’t exactly have the best relationship. The first thing Finn does is walk around the loft criticizing everything in it. Yeah, I can see why these two haven’t spoken in seven years. We’ll elaborate on this more later, but one thing that’s clear is that Finn sees RJ as a disappointment since he did his own thing rather than follow in the footsteps of their family and the proud tradition of the shark style. Casey arrives to make things more awkward by asking Master Finn to train him. Man alive, Casey has no tact in this episode, does he.

On the beach, Casey’s training under Master Finn begins as he instructs him in how to wield the Shark Sabers. We soon learn that Finn is a very different sort of teacher than his son. Whereas the often laid back RJ tends to prefer more unorthodox training methods, Finn is a lot more rigid and strict in his ways, pushing Casey to his absolute limit. Still, Casey does pick up the technique rather quickly as he is one to do.

Back at the loft, RJ is worried that he may be losing his student to his father. Theo and Lily say that he’s probably just letting his personal baggage get to him, but that goes out the window when Casey returns, singing Master Finn’s praises. RJ feigns happiness for his student, then leaves. Casey recognizes that he may have hurt RJ’s feelings and heads out to find him.

While looking for RJ by the beach, Casey instead finds the Crab Beast and morphs to combat it. Casey fights the beast off with his new Shark sabers, (which flop around like plastic toys, good lord that looks bad), and manages to wound the monster. Theo and Lily arrive to finish it off with the Huge Mother Fucking Cannon, forcing the creature to grow giant sized. The rangers call in the Megazord and for the first time in what feels like a while, our boy Flit is on hand to provide commentary. I genuinely missed the little dude and am glad he’s back doing his Jim Ross bit. As you can probably guess, The Rangers now have the ability to call upon the Master Finn’s Shark spirit as an armor upgrade for the Megazord, but there’s a problem. See, being a hermit crab, the beast has the ability to inhabit other animal spirits, not unlike a hermit crab inhabiting a new shell. As such, the crab beast takes over the Shark spirit and knocks the rangers on their asses. Our heroes manage to take down the shark and force the monster to retreat once again, but Master Finn blames himself for the rangers almost getting defeated.

Casey finally finds RJ at the loft who is still sulking over the day’s events. RJ finally opens up about his history with his father, who it seems never got over RJ wanting to find his own animal spirit rather than work over and over at the Shark technique. Apparently Finn is very much a “My Way or the Highway” kind of guy in all aspects of his life and when RJ chose the highway, that caused a rift between them.

Elsewhere, we find Master Finn also sulking over the day’ events, showing that father and son may be more alike than either cares to admit, and is passing the time skipping stones. Casey shows up and manages to skip a stone half way across the lake, something RJ taught him by having him iron shirts. Casey tells Finn that RJ’s methods are not exactly traditional, but they do work, something that Finn is beginning to understand.

Camille arrives with the crab beast and another Rinshi battalion and the Rangers and Finn spring into action. Casey battles the crab beast and manages to defeat it using the full power of the Shark Sabers. As the fight rages on, Dai Shi himself arrives on the field of battle and fights Master Finn one on one. The crab beast grows and the rangers call out the Megazord, this time successfully combining with the Shark Spirit, granting them boosted speed and the ability to fight under water (which would have been really useful last episode when the Rangers fought Jellica). With the power of the Shark, the rangers easily make crab cakes out of the monster. Down on the ground however, Master Finn is getting his ass handed to him by Dai Shi when RJ arrives to save his dad. Keep in mind, Dai Shi is in his full Armored Lion form, and RJ is wearing a hoodie and jeans. And yet, despite no Ranger powers of his own, RJ wipes the floor with Dai Shi, even unleashing his own animal spirit, that of a wolf, for the first time in the series to force Dai Shi to retreat, vowing that they will meet again. As RJ helps his father to his feet, Finn admits that while RJ didn’t follow in his father’s footsteps, his own path has lead him to becoming someone any father can be proud of. And so our episode ends with father and son reconnecting while RJ shows his old man how to make pizza.

While Casey finds his new master in this episode, the real spotlight was on RJ. While we’ve gotten some insight into who he is as a person in the past this is the first time we really peel back the curtain and explore RJ’s backstory. What we learn is that RJ’s dad was a rigid traditionalist, something that greatly contrasts and possibly even inspired RJ’s more laid back approach to training his students. Both training methods are shown to be valid, as Casey appears to benefit from both, but not every method is going to fit every student, a lesson Finn had to learn. While RJ has come a long way in figuring out who he is, his dad is still a sore spot for him. It’s almost unsettling seeing RJ drop his usually calm and happy go lucky demeanor when his dad enters the room. And Finn doesn’t help matters by being a jerk to his kid, criticizing him endlessly and reminding him that everything he does reflects back on him. I can’t help but wonder if RJ somehow knew that his dad had his eye on Casey and that was why he was so hesitant about Casey finding his own master. Still, the two do still clearly love one another and I’m glad they managed to come to an understanding by the end. This episode also contains one of my favorite moments in all of Jungle Fury. RJ, as an unmorphed civilian, enters the battlefield for the first time since episode one and wipes the floor with the series big bad. This might have been the moment RJ cemented himself as my favorite character in the franchise, showing that he’s not only a genuinely cool guy and a unique take on the typical mentor figure, but also a total badass. All in all, a solid entry. Next time, we kick off the two parter, Ghost of a Chance. Until then, May The Power Protect You.