Badass Women Week: Trakeena

In the beginning, Trakeena was far from a badass, villainous or otherwise. She was spoiled, shallow, and cared little about anything but herself. Following the death of her father, though, she became a force to be reckoned with.

She began her path to badassery a little before that, really. Upon discovering her father wished for her to enter a cocoon that would greatly increase her power but strip away her beauty, she fled to the planet Onyx. While on Onyx, she met Villimax, who trained her in martial arts and swordplay. She then returned home, only to find her father dying from a battle with the Galaxy Rangers. Trakeena was finally in a position to be a badass.

As Queen, Trakeena was both powerful and ruthless. In fact, she became the first villain to outright kill a ranger. 10 episodes after her rise, she killed Kendrix, the pink ranger. If that's not an example villainous badassery, I don't know what is. She clearly cared little for life, ordering her army to fire upon evacuation shuttles filled with civilians in the finale, something not even Villimax, her loyal general and trainer, would do. She also turned all her stingwingers into suicide bombers. Trakeena cared only for her revenge on the rangers, even going into the cocoon that she intially refused. Eventually, she fought the rangers in her mutant form head on, only killed by blasts from the red rangers battlizers at point-blank range. Yeah, that was a badass death.

In her first appearance, Trakeena was one of the most pathetic villains seen at that point. By the end of Lost Galaxy, she had become an ice cold monster, willing to snuff out the lives of thousands, both of her enemy's people and her own. She only wanted her revenge, and would do anything for it. Trakeena's life and death were both memorable, earning her rank as one of PR's badass women.

Badass Women Week: Jen

Jen Scotts is, in my opinion, the most badass ranger ever. She was intelligent, and an amazing fighter. She knew when to hold her ground and when to let go. She faced in incredible adversary a thousand years in her past, and she did so while reeling from the death of her fiancee.

In the first episode we see Jen, she loses her fiancee minutes after his proposal. Her reaction: take three other Time Force officers and morphers and chase his killer into the past. There, despite being complete fishes out of water and needing help from Wes, her dead fiancee's doppelganger, she thrives. Over the course of the season she faces a lot of emotional obstacles, including facing her traitorous former partner, and she does so wonderfully. Just when she's starting to recover, she gets a surprise: Alex isn't dead, he's in the past, and he's a major jackass. Jen deals with this as well; calling him out on his obvious selfishness and shaming him into going back to the future. She stayed in the past, kicking ass and taking names. In the finale, she even heads back to the past, facing what she believed is certain death, because she couldn't not fight. Her skills are clearly not lost after this; in the Wild Force team up, she saves Wes, Eric, and the Wild Force rangers with her shooting skills, all while dressed in a Lara Croft-esque outfit (How they got that past Disney is one of the worlds greatest enigmas).

Jen stands out to me because she is badass in a way most ranger badasses are not: emotionally. She's intelligent, brave, skilled, and a calm and capable leader, like many others, but how many other rangers went through what she did? Her fiancee died in her arms, she went to the past, started to fall for Alex's ancestor, found out he wasn't dead but was an ass, got left by him, fell in love with Wes only to have to leave for 1000 years in the future seconds after admitting it? (Note: That was the first time 'love' was ever said on PR). None. Despite being a leading candidate for the Mighty Morphin' Therapy Rangers, she faced everything head on, and let nothing slow her down. I raise my glass to you, Jen.

Badass Women Week: Taylor

Taylor Earheart is best remembered as the fun-sucker of Wild Force. I feel that while she was a bit of a fun-sucker, this former Air Force Pilot was my favorite part of every episode.

As exposited in the season opener, Taylor was the team leader before Cole showed up, even having been the only ranger for 6 months, something no other ranger, male or female, can lay claim to. She was very by the book, but as former military, I feel that attribute makes a lot on sense, and she was shown to have a reckless side as well. Taylor was easily the best fighter of the core five, and can hold her own well against Merrick. I honestly feel that she should have stayed leader, as she was clearly more competent than Cole.

Her aggressiveness wasn't just for the battlefield either. She refused to let anyone act superior to or insult her team. This was best shown in 'Reinforcements from the Future' when Eric tried his lone wolf routine, only to have Taylor call him out on his jerk-ass ways. In fact, she was like that with all people; taking shit was not in her DNA.

Taylor Earheart was the lone bright spot in a dismal season, and with her independence and fight skill, she is most assuredly one of PR's most badass women.

Badass Women Week: Tenaya 7

Tenaya 7 is the best villain in the last five years. She wasn't the big bad of RPM, but she scared me more then anyone else, including Venjix. She was brave, intelligent, and fought better than anyone else on the evil side. From her first apperance, I knew she was a kickass villian.

Tenaya was a stark contrast to the other female villains of Power Rangers. She wasn't lovestruck, filled with rage, or an ice queen. Tenaya 7 was a smart, sarcastic, attack-bot who did what she loved and loved what she did. Whenever she showed up, it was always a guess as to who would win; she was a very talented fighter who bested the rangers several times, and when she came u with a plan, odds are it would work until someone screwed up. She also showed some major ambition, readily taking over when she thought Venjix dead, and was disappointed to find out otherwise.

Later, when it was revealed that Tenaya was Dillion's sister, she left Venjix and joined the rangers. Unlike other badasses who turn straight, she stayed a kick-ass fighter until she was reprogrammed (Anyone else getting In Space flashbacks?). She risked a lot to aid the rangers, even sneaking Dillion into Venjix's palace, and was reprogrammed because she refused to willingly rejoin the dark side.

Tenaya 7 was everything a good villain should be: smart, resourceful, a good fighter, not afraid of her boss, and she was pretty hot too. She was the first badass women villain in over nine years, and hence, an obvious choice for this list.

Badass Women Week: Summer

When it comes to women, Power Rangers can a bit, well, formulaic. If there are two female rangers, one (typically pink) will be the girly-girl while the other is the tomboy. If there's only one, she pulls double duty as both types, and the female villains are usually shallow/lovestruck idiots. Speaking as an actual girl, this bothers me. It's really irksome that there are so many female characters, yet so few tough ones. However, there are a few times when Power Rangers writers have written women that aren't just tough, they're badass, and in honor of the 100th National Women's Day, I'm going to spend a week talking about the toughest of them all.

Summer Landsdown is the most recent badass. She was the RPM yellow ranger. She also, for over a year, survived being the only girl on the team, which is its own badass skill. Before the series, Summer was a spoiled rich girl who only cared about money and was vicious to everyone she knew. It was only after her long suffering butler sacrificed himself to save her that she became the warrior she is now.

Summer may, at first glance, be an odd choice for this list. She was a bitchy princess for 16 years, she spent a lot of time in the background in fights, and is best remembered as 'The chick who had a thing for Dillion.' However, while of these things are true, they don't necessarily detract from her badassery. During her time as a princess, she trained in martial arts and became an incredible motorcycle rider, both of which helped her save Scott before she even became a ranger. Her place in the background was, in my opinion, due to the sentai footage, as The Dome Dolls showed her to be a capable and clearheaded leader, and the fact that she crushed on Dillion doesn't make her weak, it makes her not dead, as even cold-hearted Dr. K admitted to finding him attractive. In fact, messing with Dillion was shown to be a garunteed way to bring out her badass side.

Summer Landsdown was a loyal ranger, a tough fighter, and a talented leader. She was a truly tough ranger, and earned her place on my Badass Ranger Women list.

Gokaiger Episode 1: Review

Today, I finally found a version of Gokaiger's first episode with English subtitles (needed as my Japanese is as good as my sense of direction: non-existant), and I fecking loved it.

The story was amazingly well-written. There was cheese, but not so much I couldn't overlook it. It also really gets into the legacy of Sentai, and as I have previously stated, I love legacy. The Gokaigers transformed into 3 teams besides their, for lack of a better term, 'true form' and it rocked. The fighting was great, the music was great and the characters...wow. Whoever came up with the season premise is brilliant. All previous Sentai teams are now powerless, their powers in the hands of space pirate anti-hero's who care nothing about justice, only a legendary tresure, led by a hot-headed (and plain hot), curious, impusive money-seeker. Yeah, this rocks. Marvelous is my new favorite character, and the rest of the cast, save one, is pretty kick-ass, too.

There's only one thing I dislike so far, and another that isn't a dislike as much as a head-scratcher. How the hell did the Gokaigers get their hands on so many ranger keys? They've never been to Earth, it's said to be a rural planet, and it just doesn't make sense! I can only hope it will be adressed in a future episode. The thing I hated was Ahim. Shallow, sheltered, 'I want to help everyone', I hated her before I saw it. And if she wants to help people, why is she a pirate? By their own admission, they take what they want and smash whoever gets in their way. It doen't seem like a logical life choice for miss goody-two shoes.

So yeah. Gokaiger episode 1 was wicked awesome and I will be watching the season eagerly as long as I find eps with subtitles.

Missed Kisses

I hate Valentines Day. I don't know if its because I'm single or if it's just stupid. Either way, I did not want to to a top 3 romances for this unblessed occasion for 2 reasons: 1) See first sentence and 2) They're done to death. Instead, I'm going to do a list that is more original and more in line with my feelings. I proudly present my list of the top 3 of missed kiss moments.

Honerable Mention: Nick/Maddie in 'Mystic Fate, part 2'.

Andros and Ashley at the end of 'Countdown to Destruction, part 2'. Specifically, when Andros appears on the Megaship after saying goodbye. Sure, Ashleys reaction is touching, as is his confession that his home is with the rangers. Still, the lack of kiss feels weird. I mean, Andros is leaving his home and most of his family for Ashley, and she can't spare a little lip action? If I was her (or him) the kissing would have come before anything else.

Summer and Dillion in 'Belly Of the Beast'. This was a serious face palm moment on behalf of the writers, as we have not one, but two missed kisses in the space of a minute. Trapped in a burning Venjix factory, Summer and Dillion almost lock lips, only to be doused by water from the Whale Zord. They attempted to celebrate their new lease on life with anther kiss, only to be interrupted again, this time by Gem and Gemma, who are completely unaware of what they burst in on. Really, writers, really?

Was there ever any doubt? Wes and Jens heartbreaking separation in 'The End of Time, part 3' had me in tears the first time I watched it, and I was seven. It is, in my opinion, one of the best-written scenes in the entire series. I can still recall the feeling of loss as the two time-crossed lovers separated, thinking I'd never seen anything sadder in my life. I also remember thinking "Why aren't they kissing?" (Reminder: seven.) When small children start wondering why there is no kiss, you know someone dropped ball.

The Power Rangers writers love to tease us with flirting and almost-there-but-then-something-happened moments, and its annoying. I can only hope that the writers of samurai have figured out, through MMPR, that audiences like romances and like seeing the two we all to get together actually get together. If not, at least I'll have new material for next years list.