Time For Undercover Timerangers

Shogo B'Stard had recently posted on Time for Undercover Rangers and I felt like talking about one episode that I may like or not like. Yasuko Kobayashi has her strange sense of humor which either fits or doesn't fit. I just thought about this episode to be full of nightmare fuel, it almost reminded me of the fifth episode of Kamen Rider Black (where the Goat Mutant was controlling people through a weird one-shot cult) while this one had some undercover.

Some people think (and maybe I myself included) that the whole Tatsuya x Yuuri pairing is somewhat forced -- but I tend to enjoy the good comedy derived from a naive Tatsuya vs. the overly bearing Yuuri. Some of their focus episodes together (such as the two parter Broken Trust arc) reveal that they do have some romantic tensions going on. This episode somewhat has them established (for better or for worse) which either proves that they can actually hook up OR they're practically incompatible personalities for a real life marriage.

The episode begins with the Hakou cult movement. Do you remember the hoax that the world was supposed to end on January 1, 2000? Then there may have also been the fear that the world will end in 2001 -- something that nearly happened in Timeranger. While it's indeed predictable that it's indeed a hoax and the Londarz is behind it. The villain is known as the swindler known as Prophet Strauss. It's a doomsday cult and people are conned into giving money. The episode was frightening for most of it even when the ending had some comic relief because of Tatsuya and Yuuri!

The whole operation gone wrong, how Tatsuya actually saved Yuuri and the interaction the had -- which include the lovers' quarrel included at the end of it were all fun to watch. The nightmare fuel in this episode, the intensity and everything was also fun to watch IMHO -- though I wish Prophet Strauss' real form looked like the Goat Mutant in Kamen Rider Black for scarier reasons. It was a planned "fixed date" by Domon which backfired terribly. It kind of worked itself especially in the finale when you realize you've hidden your true feelings all along.

This episode ended with some foreshadowing yet again -- Yasuko Kobayashi style! It was because later episodes (episodes 42-44) would reveal the upcoming Great Annihilation of the 21st Century which is supposed to happen one way or another. The other four had to leave the 21st Century to the 31st Century which still leaves the question -- how can the Great Annihilation occur AND the 31st Century remains the same WHILE killing Gien destroyed the 31st Century?