Well, I just finished watching the season finale of Power Rangers Dino Super Charge and I'm just gonna be honest. I didn't really like the second season of Dino Charge. The first season was actually pretty good, but not all that great. Maybe the fight scenes were a little lack-lustering, but hey. At least the writing where the rangers would talk during the fight scenes have been toned down a bit.Still, I'm just worried if this series and Megaforce/Super Megaforce are even in continuity with the main Power Rangers universe, or not.Overall, I'd say stick with just the first season of Dino Charge, but skip the second season, because it's really not all that great.7 out of 10.

The Power Rangers return with the best series in years.Another reviewer here has a small problem with this series "talking more than fighting". Well if the makers of Rangers are reading this review: don't listen to that other reviewer! Keep Rangers just like Dino Charge all the time, in fact I wish you would keep this cast for the next five years! James Davies as the Black Ranger/Chase Randall is the best.Unlike many other good looking Ranger actors before him, Davies seems perfectly fine with making a fool of himself in this series. In one episode he was put under a spell by the enemy and made to look like a silly coward, another time he was made to fall asleep on the spot while talking to someone. His comic timing is outstanding and Davies will go far in the film/TV industry.Everything about Dino Charge is great: the energy, the creatures, the mix of comedy and drama, the plots, etc.

I have been an immense fan of the Power Rangers ever since the first show aired and I have also been following and critiquing the show since I have had access to a computer. With that being said, I am the first to say that my hopes for Power Rangers Dino Charge were very high from the beginning since the previous four seasons were the very worst that the show had to offer. I will be the first to admit that Samurai, Super Samurai, Megaforce and Super Megaforce were the absolute rock bottom for the Power Rangers series, having the worst writing, acting and overall story lines of the 22 seasons I've witnessed as well as a generalized dumbing down of the show that generally alienated life long older fans such as myself. However, upon watching the first few episodes of Power Rangers Dino Charge, I'm satisfied to say that my expectations were met and in some ways exceeded. The CharactersLets start out with the Rangers themselves. These characters are amongst the best I've seen since RPM, which to me, was the last truly great season and in many ways, they break all the molds that have plagued the series. As an African-American woman myself, I was most impressed to see the first Pink Ranger of African-American descent who brings a rare non-stereotypical portrayal that seems to be so common to African-American characters these days. She's a rebellious tomboy whose intellect and knowledge of dinosaurs sometimes puts her at odds with the rest of the Rangers and especially Kendall Morgan, the resident Team Mom. There's Tyler, the Red Ranger who brings a subtle comical portrayal to the traditional no-nonsense attitude Red Rangers have. Following nearly in the Red Ranger's place is Chase, the Black Ranger and a cocky, ladies man whose native New Zealand accent makes the character a sleeker, more refined and lovable version of Zander from Power Rangers Mystic Force. There's Koda, the Blue Ranger, a caveman who has survived into the modern era due to the effects of the Energem he was bonded to. I cannot find Koda comical nor can I take him seriously, more on that later in my critique section of this review. Riley is the logic minded Green Ranger who brings a quiet intellectual approach that seems to make him stand out in contrast to the other Rangers who are very upfront and in your face in terms of personality. Rounding out the Rangers is Kendall, the resident Team Mom and technological expert who reminds me of a younger Mrs. Fairweather from Power Rangers Lightspeed Rescue whose constant squabbling with Shelby in the first few episodes gives her a rare depth that is rarely found in television nowadays. Lastly, there is Keeper who functions as the Zordon equivalent but who has not seen much character development as of yet, something I hope will be expanded on later in the series. As for the villains, we have Sledge and Poisandra who are for the most part, not remarkable nor particularly memorable except for their antics as an engaged couple. However, there is a redeeming villain in Fury, the resident General who is by far the most upfront and direct villain I have seen in this season. He is direct, confrontational and truly something to watch. The StorylineThe overall storyline and premise of Power Rangers Dino Charge is rather simple but played pretty much straight in that Sledge, Fury and Poisandra are interspace bounty hunters searching for the Energems, which are the most powerful objects in the universe and the source of the Ranger's powers when Keeper bonded them to dinosaurs. In addition to this main storyline, there are smaller story lines scattered throughout such as Tyler's missing father and his quest to find him, the arc about Prince Ivan which concluded in the most recent episode to my own applause and the ship-tease that is played between Shelby and Tyler. CritiqueMy biggest criticisms in this series definitely have to go towards the villains Sledge and Poisandra who are very one dimensional and have very little character development which makes them little more than stereotypical Power Rangers villains. This is a downwards trend we have seen become obvious in seasons like Power Rangers Samurai and Megaforce and for the most part, makes the season somewhat unenjoyable to watch when compared to the glorious villains we have seen in previous seasons like Time Force, Lightspeed Rescue, Dino Thunder and RPM. In addition, the character of Koda seems to be poorly written in that his dialogue and generalized actions when he is not morphed is laughable and the actor himself seems very forced when acting him in normal situations. When you consider the fact that his character was behaving normally until the arc that announced he was a caveman played out, it becomes almost face-palm worthy. Some minor criticism would be geared towards the continuing trend of talking more than fighting during the otherwise very decent action scenes. However, in an immense positive, this season has acting that is believable and genuinely good which in of itself is a major accomplishment in addition to the lack of cheesy up-front dialogue. Unlike the previous four seasons, the characters seem to be genuinely interacting with each other and it doesn't seem forced in any way. Final ThoughtsAll in all, Power Rangers Dino Charge is a definite step-up from the disgraceful seasons we've been handed since 2011. While there is still room to improve, it is a very good season and old fans who have loved the show will not be disappointed should they decide to tune in to watch it.

I'm quite pleased with the cast of "Dino Charge," the 22nd season of the Power Rangers franchise, which premiered on Nickelodeon on Feb. 7, 2015. The new actors all have high degrees of charm, energy and charisma and their characters are more interesting and more layered than the individual rangers have been in some time (possibly since "Jungle Fury" in 2008). They're also older than the Rangers have been in a while. These aren't high school kids but young adults just past college age and venturing out into the working world for the first time. In a historic first for this franchise, this lineup marks the first time there's been only one female ranger in the initial lineup. (Later episodes promise more rangers, so presumably at least one will be female.) The female ranger here is the Pink Ranger, of course, and the character, Shelby, is played by a black American actress (Camille Hyde), making her the first black Pink Ranger ever. Not only that, but she's the first black female ranger in 14 years—since Yellow Ranger Katie Walker (Deborah Estelle Philips) in "Power Rangers Time Force" back in 2001. (In Japan, most of the early sentai seasons traditionally had only one female ranger, even "Kyoryu Sentai Zyuranger," the basis for "Mighty Morphin Power Rangers," which turned the male Yellow Ranger from the original into a female for the American version.) Shelby also happens to be the most compelling character here given her extensive knowledge of dinosaurs and the constant need to prove herself in her efforts to make a real impact on the Rangers' mission. She also expresses dissatisfaction at having to work as a waitress in the cafeteria of the Amber Beach Dinosaur Museum during her downtime when she's got so much paleontological knowledge to share. (In all fairness, the other Rangers have to do drudge work in the museum also, while still being on call to morph into Rangers at a moment's notice.) Their supervisor, Kendall Morgan (Claire Blackwelder), also director of the museum, which houses the laboratory base of Power Rangers operations, is a white female who has some prickly exchanges with Shelby. Anyone who's observed black female workers in an office setting with white female supervisors will recognize some of the dynamic at play here. The two female characters dominate the drama in episode #7: "Let Sleeping Zords Lie." The four male rangers are all personable, endearing characters, each with different backgrounds. Tyler, the Red Ranger (played by Brennan Mejia), is a young man of color, but of indeterminate ethnic origin (I'm guessing Mejia is Hispanic, thanks to his last name and Los Angeles birthplace.) Tyler's father was an archaeologist who disappeared after tangling with one of the lead villains here, a monstrous armored warrior called Fury, who Tyler gets into a serious battle with in episode #8 ("Double Ranger, Double Danger"). Tyler hopes to find his father or at least learn his fate. He keeps a journal and sometimes narrates his thoughts about the others. Koda, the Blue Ranger, is a caveman who has somehow been revived after being buried alive a few thousand millennia ago during a confrontation with one of the ancient villains they're now facing. (It's all explained in #4: "Return of the Caveman") He's played by Yoshua Sudarso, from Indonesia, as someone new to the modern world and struggling with the language and the new technologies he witnesses around him. Riley, the Green Ranger, is a white farm boy (played by Michael Taber), newly arrived in the city, who has a very precise way of doing things, which sometimes puts him at odds with the Black Ranger, Chase Randall (James Davies), a white slacker from New Zealand given to riding a skateboard with headphones on. One episode (#6: "The Tooth Hurts") shows their contentious relationship and how they learn to adapt their working methods to each other. It's a highlight of the series so far because of the way it develops the characters and their working relationships, something not always given much attention in past PR seasons.Even though the series is shot in New Zealand, as have the previous eleven seasons (since "Power Rangers Ninja Storm," 2003), this season appears to take place in California. One can only surmise that Amber Beach is a neighbor of Angel Grove (hometown of the first few seasons of Power Rangers). The series is adapted from "Zyuden Sentai Kyoryuger," the 2013 sentai season in Japan, one of three sentai seasons with a dinosaur theme, the first being "Kyoryu Sentai Zyuranger," the aforementioned basis for the original "Mighty Morphin Power Rangers." Since I'm following "Kyoryuger" episodes as well, I am happy to note that much of the Power Rangers fight footage in "Dino Charge" and most of the villain scenes seem to be newly shot in New Zealand for this version while the Zord battles, which take up the last five minutes, are, as usual, taken from the Japanese original.As of this writing, there have been only eight episodes of "Dino Charge" aired on Nickelodeon. (I watched them all.) "Kyoryuger" had 48 episodes. Last year there were only 19 episodes total for "Power Rangers Super Megaforce," while the sentai basis for that series, "Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger," boasted 51 episodes. I'm not sure why production seems to be curtailed on the U.S. version, especially since these recent seasons have been so good. Oh, and I like the theme song as well.ADDENDUM (12/12/15): There have been 14 additional episodes since I did the above review. Three new Rangers have appeared, with one (Gold Ranger) joining the team as a regular member and the others appearing intermittently ("Graphite Ranger" and Purple Ranger). This means there have been a total of eight Rangers so far this season. That's gotta be a record. And based on its conclusion, it looks like today's episode, "One More Energem," is the final one. It was a great season.