Linkara takes a look at Power Rangers: Dino Thunder and sees how well a returning veteran Ranger brought back viewers.
Tropes:
- Anti-Climax: Admits this the show's main weakness, the conclusion to plots involving its villains tend to be very anti-climatic.
- Alternative Character Interpretation: He interprets Tommy as having been driven to the point of Shell-Shocked Veteran suffering from a massive identity crisis as a result of his near-decade of fighting evil, identifying himself more as a set of powers than as a person.
- Fan Wank: He admits he might be looking too deep into the symbolism behind Tommy's mental battle with his past Ranger selves, but he feels it helps to explain a lot about the character and the whole event.
- Contrasting Sequel Main Character: He comments on how the four younger Rangers can be seen as a more modern take of the original cast.
- Jason and Connor are both jocks but Jason was a nice guy and smart while Connor is an idiot and a bit of a jerk at first.
- Billy and Ethan are both nerds but Billy was more of the classic stereotype of being socially awkward and into his studies while Ethan is the more modern take with his love of video games and can at least defend himself from bullies.
- Kimberly and Kira are feminine but Kimberly is more of a Valley Girl at first while Kira is more of a Tomboy with a Girly Streak.
- Trent's past counterpart is none other than Dr. Oliver himself as former evil brainwashed Rangers before joining the team but while Tommy was immediately accepted, Trent still skirts towards the outside due to hiding info about the main villain.
- Early-Bird Cameo: He notes the "vision from the future" from the bonus Dino Thunder episode as one for SPD.
- Evil Versus Evil: Lothor vs Mesogog in the "Thunder Storm" team-up, which he feels is better than the fight that occurred with the actual ranger team-up.
- Fantastic Racism: Mentions that Mesogog was probably the first villain definitively motivated by this, adding to his quality as Big Bad. (Also notes that Ransik technically doesn't count since he seemed more concerned with power rather than actual racism.)
- For Science!: Questions why Tommy was researching making cybernetic dinosaur clones "unless [you're] planning to become a super-villain." He later references the trope by name in a Call-Back to Tommy in the Mystic Force review.
- Hilarious in Hindsight: Notes that Zordon's line back in MMPR's second season "Too much pink energy is dangerous", became this due to the white dino gem having problems from there being two white rangers.
- Idiot Hero: Considers Conner to be this.
- Incorruptible Pure Pureness: He interprets Trent's vision of a superhero as being something like this, explaining that this can be one of the reasons for his refusal to receive help from the other Rangers.
- Informed Ability:
- Linkara inadvertently demonstrates how the trope can become subjective if handled improperly. Trent's artwork is genuinely good and looks professional, but Haley gushes over them a bit too much.
- He was also rather ambivalent towards Kira's musical talent and supposed "artistry", but also admits that it's probably just his taste in music is different.
- "No More Holding Back" Speech: Linkara's examination of "Fighting Spirit" really drives it home how important that lesson was to Tommy. Tommy has never given up at any point in his Ranger career, so it may seem like an empty Aesop, but going through several periods of gaining and losing powers may have created a level of existential crisis in that he isn't a hero without his powers. The Green Ranger has also almost always represented either regrets or mistakes as a Ranger, so having that Ranger form be his final confrontation was also very symbolic.
- Overshadowed by Awesome: This is his problem with the team-up episodes with Ninja Storm. The Ninja Storm rangers end up solving the hypnosis problem with their teammates and the Dino Thunder Rangers don't do much until the team-up fight near the end.
- Revenge Before Reason: Notes this as a problem with Zeltrax's character, he doesn't really seem to have a reason for hating Tommy since he had nothing to do with the accident that almost killed him.
- Take That, Scrappy!: Shows immediate love for Mesogog when one of his first lines is that his attack will be blamed on "That idiot, Lothor."
- They Wasted a Perfectly Good Character: With the White Ranger clone, who is just a Flat Character (he doesn't point out that he was created because the white ranger was a villain in most of Abaranger) that didn't do much and felt the plot with him could have been better, like if it had Trent lose his powers when the clone was made.
- What Could Have Been: Mentions that side character Devin was supposed to be the Triassic Ranger, but that idea got scrapped when it was revealed to the production crew that it was a power-up for the red ranger.
- WTH, Costuming Department?:
- He brings up that he's not really a fan of the Dino Thunder suits, due to the goofy dino-footprint emblems on the center, and the white shapes on the sides not matching the coloring of the black and gold symbols on the chests.
- Linkara shows disbelief at the silver stripe on the Mighty Morphin' Green Rangers' helmet in the episode "Fighting Spirit", especially since the suit was featured in the Clip Show, that mistake really shouldn't have been made. This is brought up again in the Megaforce review.
- Triassic Ranger outfit was fine for him, but the battlizer mode made it needlessly silly due to the ridiculously huge shoulder-pads and rubber arms.
