Series Re-Watch: My 'PR Operation Overdrive' Review

Power Rangers Operation Overdrive (Season 15)

...now, I'm trying to understand something here.....who hell thought THIS was passable for a kid's show??! Well considering the usual viewing audience for Power Rangers is between the ages of 5-10 I guess it doesn't matter but if you've been a long time fan since the franchise's inception, then well....this season is like the unfortunate abortion of the franchise! I just don't know what the writers were trying to do with Operation Overdrive, it essentially has all the elements of what could have been a good, even great season: a team of 5 specifically skilled individuals in a treasure hunting/globe trotting adventure are the Earth's only hope when various factions of aliens are after 5 jewels as well as the Corona Aurora which when all combined could destroy the universe itself. Sounds good on paper right?? But what ends up on screen is a clusterf$%^& of cool ideas gone terribly wrong, a cast of the most unlikeable team ever, a ton of villains more one dimensional than any other and one of the most laughable twists of any season...EVER!

"Kick Into Overdrive" introduces use to our heroes well enough I suppose, though I wonder how Andrew Hartford, the rangers' mentor/technical genius behind their powers got those special hologram devices placed in the areas the rangers find them but whatever, PR right?? Anyway, they arrive at his mansion and he gives the low down on their mission by telling them he wants to make them Power Rangers to save the world by various evils that will be after the Corona Aurora, an ancient crown when combined with 5 jewels spread throughout the world will cause a whole lot of destruction. They're not convinced until Sentinel Knight, the protector of the crown, appears all ghost like and tells them the rangers are the Earth's only hope. So far so good. Then the rangers' have their DNA altered by Mr. Hartford's technology and this is my first problem with this season. Why do these guys need superpowers on top of their ranger powers?? In Dino Thunder, the civilian powers were a side effect of the dino gems and weren't used so much in battle and in S.P.D., the rangers' special powers were a side affect of SPD's early experiments. But here, the extra powers in their human form are pointless and don't really serve a purpose besides looking cool. Anyway, "Kick Into Overdrive" is ok only because what's to come makes it look tolerable in retrospect. Oh and the zords this season just BUG! I know the writers are adapting Sentai footage but if fans hated Turbo for the car theme, the fact that the rangers are driving trucks and construction vehicles is even more ridiculous!! Digging tools as weapons? I know, it's going with the treasure hunt concept but it looks so silly, made even sillier by the bad writing!!

Like I said, the rangers themselves...are terrible. I don't know where to begin with this group of idiotic, poorly written teenaged brats. I guess I'll start with the least offensive of the bunch in Rose, the child prodigy and knowledgeable historian as she contributes the most in group. She's always shedding light on historical events to tie into the episodic dilemmas when the rangers are on the hunt for the jewels or puzzles leading to them. The character herself? Bland and boring. "Pirates in Pink" embarrassingly tries to explore that by having her....uh...possessed by an annoying pirate but I just continually rolled my eyes throughout that dumb episode! Didn't exactly make Rose more fun and adventurous at all, especially considering what's at stake. The group doesn't have much time to have fun anyway so why bother? Ronny is a tough, overly competitive NASCAR driver who has to learn that winning isn't everything in "At All Cost" but honestly, it's all pointless and doesn't improve her character at all. Will is a smug bastard, who's a master thief and ends of being the black ranger (complete coincidence I'm sure! ) His character flaw? Oh, he needs to learn to work with others but like I said before, these characters go through no change and Will for the most part comes off like a d!ck who smirks way too much whenever the camera happens to be on him! Then we have the worst offender, Dax.....I don't think I've been more annoyed by a character in my life!! Dax is just an abomination of characterization in terms of acting, writing, development, you name it!! The episodes centered around him are an even bigger waste of time than anyone else and he's just a complete idiot, making Bridge and Chip look infinitely more tolerable in comparison. Who's idea was it to make this character?? Bigger question? Who gave Gareth Yuen an acting career??! Shame on you!! Then, there's our valiant leader, Mack, Andrew Harford's son who ends of being the red ranger...cause...well....Mack thinks it's cool and annoys his father enough until he lets him be one. In retrospect, Mack could have been a cool character with real issues about his relationship with his father and dreams of being a real hero. What do we get?? 25 EPISODES IN, we get a plot twist so random and preposterous that...I'm sorry....I laughed...I laughed until the world made sense to me again! Now don't get me wrong, this sudden turn of events does bring some emotional moments between Mack and his father but the thing that ruins it for me is the reason why Mr. Hartford built an android son. It's not because he lost his real son or some deep purpose, it's because he couldn't find the right woman aka get laid! WHAT!? Then there's the fact between these emotional moments, the plot is played mostly for laughs, with Mack trying to be a rock star in "Red Ranger Unplugged" because he wants to take control of his life....the. HECK?? It doesn't progress Mack as a character or bring up questions about his humanity, he becomes a d!ck to his father for the last few episodes and justifiably so!

Mr. Hartford himself was already one of the weakest mentors of the franchise before this and this plot twist only made him out to be a pathetic jerk. Also, let's not even discuss the plot holes this whole "you're an android" story brings. Sure, I suppose one can argue that Mr. Hartford's overprotectiveness of Mack makes sense now but why give him super strength if the guy is a machine? Did he program his son to have free will? If you wanted to be the red ranger originally why not program your son to not want to be the red ranger? Just doesn't make sense! Spencer the butler is like a poor man's Alfred who apparently is a master of the disguise, popping up randomly throughout the season in multiple disguises...why??? I have no clue and don't care at all. Then there's Tyzonn, a Mercuian from...Mercuia??? What the hell, he can't be from Mercury?? Anyway, he's an alien who was transformed into a lizard monster who eventually is cured of his horrible appearance and joined the rangers. "Face to Face" and "Man of Mercury" are a decent pair of two parters but honestly, Tyzonn is nothing special and is another pretty poorly acted character. His backstory is nothing truly compelling considering what we've seen before and the missing fiancée story...I'll get into that when I talk about the finale. Let me just get to numerous villains that stink up this season. The main two are Moltor and Flurious, the two brothers turned aliens after attempting to steal the crown many years ago and were banished to separate planets. Ok 1) These guys look like they should be in "The Year Without Santa Claus", so all intimidation is lost! 2) They're one note comedic nightmares most of the time. 3) Flurious' mustache looks stupid and pisses me off!! 4) Flurious?? Just stop the pun insanity!! 5) The Fearcats, with the exception of maybe Crazar, are forgettable! 6) Kamdor is a bore and Miratrix is all kinds of horrible. The actress doesn't sell anything remotely threatening and anyone associated with Dax just makes my skin crawl.

I just don't understand the writing for the rangers again, they come off as so incompetent it's hard to cheer for them. Whether it constantly falling off cliffs ("The Underwater World") or just casually waiting to be saved in an incredibly dangerous situation ("Weather or Not"), those first few episodes set up a bad tone for the series that never recovered. Being the 15th anniversary season, we got "Once A Ranger", Parts 1 and 2, which let's be honest, is only decent because everything else around it sucks! Seriously, Adam and Xander returning is a surprising relief after the non-sense of this season but the episodes themselves have their own problems. Thrax, Rita and Zedd's son is ultimately a pathetic villain, Alpha's back and his voice couldn't be more horrifying, the Overdrive rangers are easily overshadowed, making them look worse. Loved seeing Tori, Kira and Bridge again, the fight scenes were cool and bringing back the morhin' grind was awesome but this was NO Forever Red by any means. Once again, Adam is back as the original black ranger and it just makes me want Walter Jones back dammit! The season ends with "Crown and Punishment", a pretty good finale until the Pinocchio ending with Mack becoming a real boy by the Sentential Knight and Tyzonn reunites with his fiancée cause she just randomly appears at the end of last episode for no reason!! So let's see: bad cast, weak acting, terrible villains, a good plot ruined by half-a$$ed writing, horrible characterizations and a finale full of copouts as well as plot contrivances. Oh, then there's Sentinel Knight aka the Blue Fairy apparently and the less said about Norg the better the world will be. ALL of that and I still haven't gotten to that black hole of composition that is the theme song! Why oh why did Disney approve another hip hop inspired theme!? Mystic Force's theme took a while to become tolerable and it's instrumental was pretty awesome during some scenes but Overdrive's theme....my ears will NEVER recover! Operation Overdrive is one of the worst seasons of the franchise, seriously...what did I just watch???

Best Episodes (grasping at straws here....)

1. Once A Ranger, Parts 1 and 2

2. Two Fallen Foes

3. Face To Face, Parts 1 and 2

4. Home and Away, Parts 1 and 2

5. Ronny on Empty, Parts 1 and 2


Final Morph: F