Time For Fight Against Fate

This episode and the next are the same blueprints as the Timeranger episodes, but they're actually a little more meaningful. Alex joins the Rangers in the present to tell that that the future's been altered, especially by Frax breaking away from Ransik and building his own robot/mecha/zord/whatever-you-choose-to-call-it. After a very brief "Good to see you, Alex, we thought you were dea-- destroyed!" Alex wastes no time getting things done. He's a gruffer, no-nonsense guy than the other four remember. A result of wanting to quickly set right things going wrong in the future? Maybe. But I also think his having a near-death experience changed things for him.

Nobody likes the new Alex. He's bossing them around, criticizes the way they do everything. He's blunt and has no filter. He thinks they've gotten way too lax working in 2001, working with Wes. That might be true, but it's also true that they work better that way, and that Wes' influence has been a change for the better. I certainly buy the five Time Force Rangers becoming so close and a loving family than I ever did the self-centered-seeming, rarely heroic, grump-ass Timeranger. Alex decides to take charge as Red and cuts Wes loose, going against Doc Brown's teachings and letting him know his father will be dying from the injuries obtained by Ransik, and that Wes needs to take over his company as history says he will.

Alex runs the Time Force the way R. Lee Ermey would and pretty much everyone hates him -- Jen included. And here's where Time Force has a leg up on Timeranger; in Timeranger, nobody even really knew Ryuuya. He was the Captain, sure, but they had never interacted with him. They met him as a hologram and as Lila impersonating him, but they didn't KNOW or have a history with him. (Especially since three of the four were new recruits.) Here, the four Time Force have a history with him; they've worked with him, they know him. One of them is engaged to him! So when Alex pushes out Wes, who they've all come to like and whose light demeanor has rubbed off on, they're not happy about it, but they're welcoming back an old colleague and superior. And when Pink, in the middle of the battle, seeks Red's advice and calls him Wes? A MUCH huger impact and shock (especially for the others) than when Yuuri slipped and called Ryuuya Tatsuya. Because we know there's a relationship growing between Wes and Jen and Alex is aware, having already seen a Polaroid of Wes kissing Jen on the cheek.

Meanwhile, Wes stays by his father's bed while all of the guys from his dad's company scramble to figure out their next move. Eric is shown to be extremely concerned for A. Collins' well-being. In Timeranger, Naoto's concern was hard to figure out -- another reason why I thought maybe Naoto needed to be Tatsuya's brother. Here, Eric just seems really pissed off that he failed at his job and wasn't able to protect Mr. Collins.

Alex is in such a rush to stop Frax and his robot that it creates a problem that I have with a lot of time travel stories. We've seen Alex in the future keeping tabs on EVERYthing happening in 2001 -- he even sees Frax beginning to build his giant robot. He knows so much of what is happening, is able to travel back in time, so why doesn't he travel back to, like, the day before Frax finishes his robot and kill him there or destroy the robot? We know in Timeranger he's not really out to stop Gien or Gien's zord, because he's pretty much arranging things to guide Gien and use him to alter history to his liking. But Alex isn't an asshole and is a character that makes sense, so that's not the case here. Still...if he's able to time travel so easily...the question stands, why wait to pop up on the day things will be going to shit? Why not a day early? See what bullshit time travel stories can cause?! ARGH!