Power Rangers Jungle Fury: Path of the Rhino

“Holy Shit, Wes is still doing this?” Yeah, I certainly understand that reaction. It has been over a year since my last Power Rangers article. Life kept getting in the way, and certain projects had to be put on the back burner, including this one. The article you’re about to read was actually written months ago, but for one reason or another, it never got posted. Fortunately, now that I’m all settled in to my new apartment, I should be able to update this with slightly more regularity but we’ll see. Anywho, let’s get back to the Jungle and meet our newest Ranger

Welcome back to the jungle Ranger Fans, last time, we learned the backstory of our good friend Flit, The Rangers fought a giant fish cosplaying Clint Eastwood and we continued to allude to a place called The Rhino Nexus where Dai Shi hopes to master his vaguely defined Zocato Power.

We open today’s episode in the villains’ castle, being presented with something called a crystal eye, something Grizzaka hopes to use to revive a group of monsters known as the Phantom Beasts. Apparently these Phantoms used to be the enemies of the Overlords but Grizzaka reasons that that division between the two factions was one of the reasons they lost the war ten thousand years ago. You know, Grizzaka may be an asshole whose only moods are “pissed off” and “even more pissed off” there are several instances in which he shows that he is way smarter and more pragmatic than one may think he is.

Over at Jungle Karma, we see a blonde guy walk into the restaurant claiming to be the health inspector. Said blonde guy then proceeds to tell our heroes how shit they are at their jobs, squash all the fresh produce they have and raid their fridge like Garfield looking for a midnight snack until the whole thing is revealed to have been a big joke. What’s that? That so-called joke was more obnoxious than funny and this guy seems like a total ass? Well I got bad news for you because this chucklehead is going to be our Sixth Ranger. Okay, technically fifth, but anyone who knows Power Rangers knows what I mean. This is Dominic, a friend of RJ and a former student of the Order of the Claw who left the academy to go on a journey of self discovery. RJ is happy to see Dominic, but his whole health inspector stunt didn’t exactly endear him to the others.

Back at the Castle, Camille enters Grizzaka’s throne room, eyeing the crystal eye with curiosity as she introduces our monster of the week, a Crocodile Beast. Grizzaka sends Camille out into the city to attack, but says that neither she nor Dai Shi can know of the plan to revive the Phantom Beasts. He also orders Carnisoar and Jellica to find Dai Shi in case he’s planning something. Smart thinking as we briefly see that Dai Shi is following a map to the Rhino Nexus.

Back at Jungle Karma, Dominic says he’s only staying for a few days, but in the meantime says he’s more than happy to help out around the restaurant. And since RJ is the sort of guy who will literally give a job to any rando who walks in off the street, Casey puts Dom to work scraping gum from the bottom of all the tables. Yeah, Casey’s still bitter about Dom splashing a tomato in his face. However, instead of doing his assigned task, he instead decides to chat up Fran, asking if she was also a student at the Pai Zhuq Academy. The two seem to immediately hit it off and bond over their love of reading. We’re going to be putting a Huge pin in this scene for a discussion we’ll be having some time a little further down the line. Just keep it in the back of your heads.

Meanwhile, RJ, Theo and Lily are out on a supply run and RJ tells the others that Dominic was one of the most promising students at the academy at one point, and even on Master Mao’s shortlist for potential guardians, but he lacked focus in his life, hence him having spent the last several years traveling the world trying to find said focus. However, the conversation is cut short when the Crocodile Beast starts attacking the city.

Back at the restaurant, Casey is none too pleased that Dom decided to flirt with Fran rather than scrape gum off the tables and even more pissed that Dom accidentally threw his Morpher in the trash. Casey hears the alarm go off and heads out to fight, Fran even tells Dom to follow him in case they need back up because at this point, the poor girl is resigned to the fact that she basically runs this place by herself.

Back in the city, the Croc proves to be a surprisingly tough customer, able to hold his own perfectly well against three rangers. Casey arrives to help even the odds, but even then, the monster is quite formidable. Dom charges the monster and while he proves to be a competent fighter, it’s clear he’s treating this life or death martial arts fight with a seven foot bipedal crocodile like a big joke almost getting an innocent bystander killed in the process. Clearly as sick of Dom’s shit as everyone else is, the Crocodile Beast fucks off as the Rangers see if Dom’s okay.

Back at the loft, Dominic has a surprising proposition for our heroes. He wants to join the team, believing that this is the purpose he’s been searching for all these years. Casey doesn’t think that’s such a great idea. Dom means well, but he’s reckless and doesn’t take anything seriously, and because of that, people could get hurt.

Instead of doing some self reflection and taking Casey’s words to heart, Dominic instead makes a big nuisance of himself trying to prove to the others he’s Power Ranger material. As you can probably imagine, this does not go well.

Giving up, Dominic packs his bags and decides to get back to his life of an aimless nomad. While Casey thinks this is for the best, Fran thinks they didn’t give Dom enough of a chance to prove himself. While out on a delivery, Fran spots Dominic waiting for the next boat out of Ocean Bluff and tries to convince him to stay. When Fran is almost crushed by a falling sign, Dominic instinctively leaps into action to save her using his own animal spirit, that of a Rhinoceros. Casey sees this and admits he may have been too quick to judge Dominic. He may be a bit of a goof ball, but he’s got the heart of a hero and just demonstrated that he can step up when he needs to.

However, we got bigger problems as Killer Croc is back for round 2. Casey and Dom are joined by the others and RJ gives Dom a Morpher he’d been working on for him, just in case. Dominic Morphs and with the Power of a Rhino, he is The Jungle Fury Rhino Ranger. Gotta say, I dig Dom’s Ranger form. It’s got a little less of a track suit vibe than the other costumes and the white coloring with black and orange highlights is aesthetically pleasing. His weapon is also neat, a large wrist mounted blade that doubles as a blaster, though personally, I’d have ditched the weapon and just impaled the bad guys with the big rhino horn sticking out of his helmet. In any case, Dom shows off quick that he’s a real power house by making quick work of a Rinshi horde summoned by Camille before turning his attention to the Crocodile Beast and finishing it off as well. And shockingly, he actually defeats it for good. Old Leatherhead doesn’t grow giant-sized and take on the Megazord, Dom turned him into a handbag before he had the chance. Damn, Dom really is strong.

After the fight, we see that Dai Shi has found the entrance to the Rhino Nexus, though finds himself unable to penetrate the barrier. And so our episode ends back at Jungle Karma with Dom officially joining the staff and proving himself to be a competent employee, but still a jokester at heart.

This is a decent episode, generally speaking, but as an introduction to a sixth Ranger, it leaves much to be desired. Dom doesn’t exactly make a great first impression, even if he does prove himself by the end. The biggest problem I have with this episode is how rushed it feels. We’re introduced to Dom but don’t really have time to get to know him to the point where we care if he becomes a Ranger or not, and Casey realizing that he was wrong to reject Dom outright feels very abrupt. Maybe this one could have benefited by being stretched out to two parts in order to let some of the important moments breathe. I did like Dom’s dynamic with Fran, but that discussion is better left for another day. Overall, I don’t dislike Dom, but I feel like he’ll take some getting used to. I guess we’ll have to see next time in Dash for the Dagger. Until then, May The Power Protect You.D