Recap

All of the Kyoryuger’s efforts are in vain, as Deboss is truly reborn! Worse, there is treachery within the team…

Zigg’s Thoughts

I’m glad that Kyoryuger bounced back pretty well after a lacklustre episode last week. A lot of the show’s trademark zany joy is still absent, but that’s somewhat excusable given the gravity of the situation, and there are plenty of big crashing dramatic moments to make up for it. There’s enough on display here to make me think the show is back on track for a decent finale, even if the run-up there has been a little uneven.

The big talking point here is of course the ‘death’ of Torin. I put death in heavy inverted commas because let’s face it, he’s died once already, and I’m not prepared to call any sort of death in Kyoryuger permanent until we’ve exhausted every episode, movie, TV special and reunion stage show. The telegraphing is sort of blatant too, especially his ‘take up my sword’ moment to Souji, completely apropos of nothing. Yet despite all this, the moment itself is actually pretty good, mostly because of the unexpectedly brutal nature of it. It’s not just the actual killing backstab, but the fact that it’s Dantetsu that does it that makes it very memorable. I wouldn’t say I was sad per se, but it’s definitely full of dramatic tension.

Let’s talk a bit about that Dantetsu betrayal too, because it’s a pretty good twist. In fact, it’s good enough that I kind of wish they hadn’t ruined it by teasing it at the end of the last episode. As it is, the impact is diminished, but it’s still pretty awesome to see him turn so hard on the others. I don’t quite get why he has to hijack Torin’s powers though – he was plenty capable enough even without a ranger form – so I’m guessing it’s just to get the obligatory ranger vs ranger fight in. I fully expect Dantetsu to be forgiven before all is said and done, probably through the use of a ‘Daigo was the real King all along’ twist, but it’s cool to see him heeling it up for now.

While the Kyoryugers plight isn’t bad, it’s the villains I’m increasingly becoming invested in. It’s sort of a shame to lose Deboss as this vast immaterial threat, but on the other hand his ‘final’ form does looks pretty cool and is a suitably weird and gross ultimate enemy to be blown to bits. It’s great too that now the real threats are all on the table Chaos is cheerfully throwing away his comedy relief soldiers. Given how endearing the bumbling antics of Aigaron, Candelia and Luckiero have been, it would have been impossible to take them seriously as actual threats to the earth. By having them be stabbed in the back, it both makes the actual villains look way more dastardly and convincingly puts them on the side of the angels, negating the problem of them being drama killers on the bad guys side. It’s cool to see Killbolero and Icerond get actual names and faces too, though it begs the question as to why they didn’t use these (sweet looking) costumes all along.

With just two episodes remaining, the Kyoryugers are in a pretty dark spot. But that’s totally normal for sentai, which has to put its heroes right through the wringer before they triumph. The real interest lies in the details though. Will Torin return? How will the team overcome the challenege of Deboss? Will we get the obligatory suits-without-helmets shot (I’m going to say no for Ramirez at least)? It’s time for the team to come together and finish what’s been a great run strong.

Random Observations

• It’d have been cool if they’d modified the Kyoryu Silver outfit at least a bit, but as it is we just get a straight re-use. Still, our long held prediction about Dantetsu becoming a Kyoryuger came true, in a manner of speaking.
• I love that Luckiero is not even important enough to be worth killing!
  
• Judging by next week’s preview, it looks like Aigaron is going out on a heroic high. Oddly enough, I think that’ll work.
• The movie trailer has Daigo hugging a crying T-Rex in perhaps the most perfect encapsulation of the show possible.