Was Kendrix' Death Done in Poor Taste?

Hello, hello.

So earlier today I was on Instagram and saw of clip of when Kendrix died and became Casper the Friendly Ghost on Lost Galaxy.  And when I saw it, I had a thought that I never had before: Was killing Kendrix the right thing to do?

Now from a writing standpoint, killing Kendrix was brilliant.  Bringing in Karone as her replacement was brilliant (and that episode is my favorite episode in ALL of Power Rangers).  However, once you start thinking about the reason the writers killed Kendrix off in the first place, it gets weird.  Kendrix' actor, Valerie Vernon was diagnosed with cancer at that time and had to leave the show for health purposes.  Thankfully, she was able to kick cancer's ass, but she still had to leave the show.

So imagine being told that you have cancer.  Then telling your bosses that you have cancer and cannot continue working.  And then your bosses tell you they are going to kill you off on the show to explain why your character will be gone.  Now maybe the director/writers told Valerie that they were always going to bring her back at the end, I don't know.  But they still had this woman act out dying on the show and being a ghost.

She had cancer at the time guys.  Most likely, she was already thinking about her mortality and then you make her die and play a ghost.  If I were an actor diagnosed with cancer, I could not see myself acting out anything that had to do with my own death.  I'm diagnosed with cancer, I don't want to die, and now I'm being forced to pretend I'm dying on screen?  Good Lord...

Do you think that the writers were being insensitive to Valerie by killing off her character?  Prior to that moment, NO Power Ranger had ever died on the show.  There are plenty of ways they could have written the character of Kendrix off the show without resorting to death.  But the writers chose to have the Grim Reaper visit the pink ranger anyway.

I don't know how Valerie Vernon felt about it, and I certainly do not speak for her.  I have never seen any interviews with her, so I don't know if she's discussed this topic before.  This is just a thought that came in my head today that I never thought about before.

Well, whether it was insensitive or not, Kendrix' death made for some good television and the actor pulled through in the end, so... yay?

How Dino Super Charge Could Have Been Better (For Me)

This was original going to be a video, but I have been sick for almost a week now and my Spring Semester will begin tomorrow; thus, I no longer have time for recording and editing.

Anywho, let's talk about Dino Super Charge.  DSC is a season that should have been great. A season that I should have loved, but because of silly decision after silly decision from the show's writers, I ended up being incredibly disappointed with it.  Womp womp.

So this post is going to be me listing out what I would have preferred Dino Super Charge to have done with its storyline and characters.  Ok?  Cool.  Let's begin.


1.  Heckyl Never Losing His Badassery

Heckyl had so much potential.  He could have been one of the greatest Power Ranger villains.  The first three episodes of DSC showed how dangerous and competent he could be.  However, the moment that the rangers found out that Heckyl was evil, his character went downhill from there.  He soon became a run-of-the-mill PR villain and then the writers decided that Heckyl wasn't really evil. Oh no, he was just being influenced by Snide's evil. Ugh!

I would have preferred for the show to keep Heckyl's ruse going a little longer.  And when the rangers do find out that Heckyl is a dastardly fiend, the rangers end up suffering a loss.

Example: the rangers discover that Heckyl is evil but it doesn't matter because Heckyl has planted bombs in the rangers' base, and our colorful teenagers could not stop Heckyl from detonating their strategic command center.

That would be cool.  Heckyl destroying the ranger base in an episode that is not the finale.  Miss Morgan and the core six rangers worry about what to do next, but then they remember that the Graphite Ranger is a prince and could finance a brand spankin' new command center that is much better than a cave.  Would have loved for this to have happened.  Heckyl would come off as a boss and the prince would actually have something to do. Win, win!

Also, I would change Heckyl's backstory as well.  I want Heckyl to be evil because he is evil.  None of this Snide-rubbing-off-on-him crap.  I also would have liked for Heckyl and Snide to have been partners in crime 65 million years ago.  It could have been that back in the day, Heckyl and Snide were after the Dark Energem; but because they didn't know how to use its power, the dark energem cursed them into one body.  If we must have Heckyl turn good, then have his turn be due to Miss Morgan.  Heckyl stated a few times that he found Miss Morgan to be attractive.  The writers should have had Heckyl develop feelings for our favorite purple lady while he was pretending to be good and working at the dino museum.  I could have gotten behind his love (or lust) for Miss Morgan turning him good.  I'm still surprised that the writers DIDN'T do this.


2.  Eleven Rangers Instead of Ten

Ok, normally I only prefer even numbers.  But when you have an extra ranger suit that you could use, use it!  Especially when you introduce another energem into the story.

So let me get this straight.  The 10 "good" energems can all turn people into power rangers, but the "dark" energem can't?  That's so lame.  Heckyl clearly should have became a power ranger after he and Snide were separated.  He could have been an evil ranger for a bit and then turned good.  OR, he could have bonded to the dark energem in the finale and fought as a good ranger then.  I don't care how you use the extra ranger, just use it.  Never can have enough Power Brats!


3.  No Time Travel Shenanigans!

This shit has to go.  It made no fucking sense and ruined the DSC finale.  You want a conclusion for the dark energem, here is what you do.  Have the rangers use the power of their 10 good energems to "purify" the dark energem so that it becomes good as well.  In purifying the dark energem, the evil energy that once resided within it leaves and bonds to the most evil person in the galaxy: Sledge!  The evil energy makes Sledge more powerful than evah!!

To face Super Evil Sledge, the rangers have Heckyl bond to the formerly dark energem and all 11 rangers defeat Sledge and his minions in a glorious battle.

Eh, it's a simple plot, but it's a hell of a lot better than what we got...


4.  Keeper's Backstory Explained

I cannot believe that keeper didn't get an episode to explain how he and Miss Morgan met.  This is something I was so sure would be told to us.  I NEVER thought the show would tell us how the zords came to be, but we actually got an explanation for that.  An explanation I actually liked too.

But back to Keeper.  The show could have just told us that Keeper started living with Miss Morgan's ancestors thousands of years ago and has since become a member of the family that just won't die.  I would have accepted that.  But we didn't get anything.  No explanation for how he became the "keeper" of the energems.  No explanation for why it took him 65 million years to find the energems on Earth (seriously, he's just as incompetent as Fury).  We got nothing.


5.  Tyler's Daddy Not Being a Deadbeat

The conclusion to this story arc was the first thing that made me realized that DSC wasn't gonna be shit.  I hated the explanation for why Tyler's dad was missing for 10 years.  So James bonded to the aqua energem 10 years ago and was immediately stalked and harassed by Fury.  Because Fury can "smell the energems."  Bull.  Anyway, James said that because Fury kept showing up wherever he was, he abandoned his son because he didn't want to put Tyler's life in danger.

Now on the surface, Jame's rationale is sound.  But when you start to examine it, the logic falls apart.  First, this is the Power Ranger universe.  If you were having an issue with a monster, maybe you should have sought out the help of a ranger team James!  Admittedly there weren't many active ranger teams in 2005, but the Mystic Force and Overdrive rangers popped up a year or two after that.  Ask for help fool!

After the time travel nonsense that occurred in the DSC finale, I'm not so sure that this season even exists in the main PR universe.  But even if it doesn't and the Dino Charge rangers are the only rangers, this is still stupid.  Fury was shown to be one of the dumbest villains I had ever seen.  Fury was not chasing you for 10 years straight.  He. Was. Not.  Fury lost the gold energem even though the thing was right next to him, and he still couldn't find it even though it had become one of the most important symbols to the Kingdom of Zandar.

Nowhere in season one of Dino Charge did we see Fury chasing after James or telling Sledge that James has an energem and that they should all find and capture him.  None of that shit happened.  What happened is that Fury gave up on James a long time ago, and James used Fury as an excuse to abandon his duties as a parent to live with his gay lover.

Now, this is how I would have told this story.  James finds and bonds to the aqua energem.  Fury shows up.  James and Fury fight on top of a cliff, a big explosion happens, and when the smoke clears, James is gone and Fury is by himself, pissed.

The explosion knocked James off the cliff and into the water below.  He washed up ashore unconscious and unmorphed and was cared for by a nice lady.  When James came to, he had no memory of who he was other than his name.  He began to build a new life for himself with the nice lady and her infant son.  10 years later, the rangers eventually find James and James regains his memory.  James and Tyler are father and son again, and Tyler also gains new family members.

Again, this is a simple plot.  But it is a hell of a lot better than what we got...


6.  Cut (Some of) the Filler

Finally, get rid of all that damn filler.  My goodness!  That "Besties 4Eva" episode did not need to exist.  Same for that episode with the magic makeup.

The episode "Catching Some Rays" can stay though, ONLY because of Sir Ivan.  Sir Ivan was brilliant in that episode.  The part where he fought Fury while under the "fun spell" was one of best things the Saban Brands Era has given us.  Power Rangers was blessed to have Davi Santos.

Now to be fair, I don't want all the filler to go.  Some of it was fun (like Home Run Koda).  But DSC took filler way too far.  There was so much story opportunity that was wasted because of filler.

Also, the writers wrote these weird episodes that felt like they took a script for a story driven ep and a script for a filler ep and combined the two to create some unholy union.  "Oh no, we need to save the silver ranger.  But first, we gotta win this singing contest!"  What?  Either the episode is going to be about one thing or the other.  Don't pick both.  It just makes things weird.

Sidenote, there was an episode where Lord Arcanon gained the ability to summon and control the rangers' zords... and after that episode, that ability is never brought up again.  So the rangers know that the villains can control their zords, but never do anything about it.  And the villains never try to control them again. WHAT?  If someone reads this post, please tell me I just missed the part where Miss Morgan explains how she built some type of firewall to keep the villains from hacking their zords again.


So there it is.  If the story had been tweaked differently, I would have enjoyed DSC more.  Oh well.  It's over.  On to the next season!

I Quit My Job. Now What?...

After almost three years of working as a court clerk, I decided to step down from my position and quit my job. Why did I do this? So that I can focus on being a full time YouTuber. 

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

I wish that were the case. But no. I quit because in less than two weeks from now, I will be attending law school. There are many reasons as to why I decided to subject myself to three years of sleepless nights, endless reading assignments and essays, and gorging on ramen noodles for dinner because yo boi is unemployed now.  One, I've always been interested in learning about the law. Two, there are many lucrative career options available for those with a JD. And three, I could help those who have been victims of crime receive justice. However, one reason stands above them all at the moment. That reason being, I want to be able to defend myself against the injustices in the world should I have to. If I am ever illegally pulled over and harassed by corrupt police officers (and survive), I want to know exactly how I can legally bring them to their knees. If a family member or a friend is harmed by corrupt police officers, I want to be able to help them receive justice. 

Future photo of me in law school. You know, if I were a bad bitch...

I have to say, I am very nervous about law school. Constantly worried that I won't be able to hack it. That I'm not smart enough. That I quit my job and joined the unemployment club for nothing. You know how long it took me to find work after I graduated college the first time? If you don't, check out my first blog post. That was one depressing ass chapter in my life that I do not wish to repeat. Geez, I haven't even started law school yet, and the devil is already trying to scare me into quitting. 

I'm a worrywart. It's what I do. And I've been worrywarting all over the place for a week now. However, I am not backing down from my decision. Oh yes, I am staying the course. I believe that when you take risk in life, it's only natural that you may feel a sense of dread about it. But you can't let that feeling stop you. You have to fight through that shit. I have so many goals I want to achieve in life, and I've let the fear of attempting them stop me for so long.

So many goals. I have stayed stagnant for too many years now and I am tired of that. I want to feel like I have accomplished things in life and right now I don't. When I die, what are people going to say about me? I know what I'd like for them to say. "Here lies ASdeclassified, a successful attorney, an amazing writer, crazy soap opera actor, and one of the best Power Rangers vloggers to EVAH do the damn thing!"

Well if I want the accomplishments, I need to start putting in the work now. No more procrastinating. No more excuses. No more wavering. 

Time to conquer Earth.

How Heckyl, Sledge, and Keeper Met

Heckyl is currently the most interesting character in Dino (Super) Charge. Because of this, I have been thinking a lot about what his origin story might be. Now I haven't been trying to figure out the relationship between Heckyl and Snide because the show hasn't given me enough information to go on as of yet. Rather, I have been thinking about the relationship between Heckyl and Sledge. As in, what circumstances led to Sledge meeting and capturing Heckyl. So without further ado, here's my fan theory of how Sledge and Heckyl/Snide crossed paths.

We know from the show that Heckyl used to go around destroying planets and whole galaxies. So perhaps Heckyl appeared on Keeper's home planet one day looking to fuck shit up. The beings on Keeper's world tried their best to deal with Heckyl, but they couldn't, so they decided to enlist the help of a renowned bounty hunter. Yes, Keeper and his people hired Sledge to remove the threat of Heckyl/Snide. 

So Sledge came to Keeper's planet and did what he was paid to do: defeat and capture Heckyl. However, while Sledge was on Keeper's home-world, he learned about the powerful Energems. Not being able to resist such incredible power, Sledge then started attacking Keeper's planet himself. In order to protect the Energems, Keeper grabbed them and high-tailed it off of his home-world in his spaceship. Sadly, Sledge was right on Keeper's ass and chased the little creature all the way to Earth. From there, the rest is history.

So there you have it. That is my fan theory of how Heckyl, Sledge, and Keeper all met. Basically, almost everything is Keeper's fault. He invited Sledge to his planet to take care of Heckyl, but didn't run a background check on the guy to make sure he wasn't evil as well. And of course, this all led to the destruction of the dinosaurs. Keeper always makes poor decisions.

Well if anyone reads this, let me know what you think of this theory. Also, tell me if you have any theories about Heckyl/Snide.

Some Life Goals of Mine

Well, 2016 is here. I feel that this year is going to lead to many interesting and fundamental changes in my life. Lately I have been thinking about some of the goals that I want to accomplish before the Grim Reaper pays me a visit.



I thought it would be cool to write a blog post listing out these goals. Then in a few years or so, I'll click back to this post to see if I actually did any of the shit I said I wanted to. I'm going to be depressed as hell if I read this post in five years and I haven't met at least one of these goals. Well, anyway, let's get this list going.

1. Go to Law School



This has been one of my main goals in life since I was in middle school. Learning about the law and legal proceedings has always been fascinating to me. I have worked as a court clerk for over two years now just so I could see first hand how the court system operates. However, I am a bit apprehensive about going. Mostly because of finances. This shit will not be cheap. I'm trying to look at law school as an investment for my future, but right now all I can see is the strain it's going to put on me while I am trying to reach said future.

And yet, every time I hear about another unarmed black person being killed, the resulting rage I feel makes me want to pursue a career in law. I mainly want to be an attorney so that I can help fight against civil and criminal injustice. I want to study the law, change the law, and create law that leads to the betterment of all people. Especially minorities. Black. Lives. Matter.

2. Write a Book. Or Several Books. Just Write Something



I love to write. Well I say I do, but I engage in the craft so sporadically that I don't even think people believe me anymore. Sometimes I don't even believe myself. But I swear I do. I just suck at time management. I have been working on the same 2-3 stories on and off since 2007 and have not finished a single one. Last year, I decided to create a "short story". Usually my story ideas are these long "epics" that, if adapted into a TV show, could be made into 20 seasons. Like Naruto, or the Young and the Restless.

I figured that if I make the story short, I would actually have a shot at finishing it. Ha! I haven't worked on the thing in months. Well, it's time to change that. I want to have my "short story" completed by this year. No more fucking around, let's dew dis!

3. Be a Soap Actor



And now we have reached the more outlandish goals I have for myself. I grew up watching quite a few soap operas thanks to my mother. I love melodrama. I dream of the day that I can be on a soap and act a damn fool on the TV screen 5 days a week. "Yeah I fucked yo bitch, whooped yo ass, stole yo company, and if you continue to cross me, I'll end you." I want to be the badass character that everyone loves to hate. "Yes I'm evil, but there are reasons why. Cry for me!" I have no clue on how I can accomplish this goal, but whatever. Never know what the future holds.

4. Be a Successful YouTuber



So I have been playing this YouTube game since 2011. I am very lucky to have the viewers and subscribers I do have. Still, I can't help wishing I was a bigger YouTuber. Or at least making enough money off of my videos to help pay back my student loans. That's all I really want. I don't need to live off of the shit (although that would be nice too).

5. Be Rich



Not an original goal, but it is one that never goes out of style. I don't care how it happens, just let it happen Lord.

So these are some of my goals. Let's see if I can place a check mark next to at least one of them in 5 years.

Julius Explodes! Bold and the Beautiful Episode Review for 8/7/2015

Last Friday's episode of The Bold and the Beautiful was very entertaining. So entertaining that I'm writing a blog post about it.

It's Maya and Ricky Boy's wedding day! And guess who decided to make an appearance. Why Ricky's sister, Ms. Bridgette Forrester! Bridgette is rarely on this show anymore, so this was indeed a surprise. She even told her brother that this was one family occasion that she was not going to miss...

As soon as she said that, I burst out in laughter. The fuck? Let me get this straight. This bitch was too busy to be in attendance at her niece Aly's wake and funeral, but she has all the time in the world to be at her brother's third wedding? This is the more important event to go to? Bridgette, go on with this foolishness.

One of the best parts of this episode was Bill Spencer apologizing to Maya for telling her private business to the whole world. I loved this scene, not because Bill apologized (I never needed him to do that), but because Maya did not make it easy for Bill to apologize. Ms. Avant was busting Bill's balls the entire time he was asking for forgiveness, and it was great. She eventually accepted the apology, but the fact that she stood strong and called Dollar Bill out on all his bullshit made me like her. I have never really been a fan of Maya. The reason why is because she tends to let people (like Bill) treat her like trash and then she runs away without fighting back. Meanwhile, Bill Spencer is one of my favorite characters on the show. So if I'm giving Maya praise for talking crazy to Bill, you know I loved this scene. No more running for Maya.

Now the ending to this episode took the cake baby. If you are reading this post and are not aware, Maya is transgender. Her parents are very conservative and have not been in her life for a long time. Maya and her parents are now trying to mend fences, and they are present for the wedding. While Maya's mother is beginning to accept who Maya is, her father (Julius) still refuses to let go of his bigotry. During the finale scene of the episode, Julius could not hold his true feelings in anymore, and he pretty much erupted on his wife. Julius hates what his "son" has done to "his" body, and he is disgusted that he has to walk his "son" down the aisle and hand Maya off to a man. The conversation Julius was having with is wife was supposed to be private, but this is a soap opera, so you know that private conversations do not exist here. Maya ended up hearing every vicious thing her father said. She was completely crushed. I loved it. The drama was so damn good. Julius is a bastard, but if he was a great guy and completely accepting of his child, then this shit would be boring. Let him be a bigot, just as long as the show expresses that he is in the wrong.

*Side note: Julius wasn't wrong about Rick already having two ex-wives. Maya will be out the door soon. But she will be receiving some good spousal support checks, so chill.*

I am also surprised that Julius is the ONLY one that has an issue with Maya being transgender. All of the Forresters are cool with this? Really? All of these super rich white people are that progressive? It's great that they are, but I'm not sure if it's that realistic. Oh well, I'm patiently waiting for Monday's episode. August 10, 2015, let's go!

Pick Me, Choose Me, Promote Me!

It's a damn shame that my last blog post was in 2014. I have to do better.

Anway, let's get a little personal for a bit. Without getting too specific with the details, I'll say this: a "lead" position at my job has opened up. For the past three weeks, I have been instructed by my supervisor to fill in and be the interim "lead" of that position. So for three weeks, I have been doing all of the extra work that comes with that position, but without the additional pay. Joy.

Just last week, a job posting for the position was issued out internally for all employees to apply. I have applied for the job. Now you would think that I'd be a shoo-in for the position, but with this place, nothing is for certain. All I can say is that I will be extremely pissed if I do not receive the promotion. I am more than capable of doing this job. The reason I was chosen to be the interim "lead" in the first place is because of how capable I am. Even more important than that, I want to do the job.

Blame the inner geek in me, but I often compare my job to how the 13 Court Guard Squads are set up in the Bleach anime. My current job title is pretty much the equivalent of being a Lieutenant (or Vice-Captain) of one of the 13 Squads. And the highly coveted "lead" position is the equivalent of becoming a Captain. Believe me when I tell you I am ready to become a Captain. I am an expert at Kido, and I have mastered Bankai. Hell, I even shit on Yoruichi with my Flash Step game. However, gaining a "Captain" position at my job is almost as difficult as becoming one in Bleach. Most of the time, you have to wait for one of the previous "Captains" to retire or die, and after that, you have to fight a number of "lieutenants" for the job. Sigh.

So in conclusion, I'm a geek and I really want the promotion. Like I said earlier, I'm going to be furious if I don't end up getting the job. Not furious enough to cuss out my supervisor or burn the building down, mind you. But furious enough to start looking for a new place of employment.

Now enjoy this clip of a bunch of Captains explaining how to become a Captain while trying to kill each other lol:



*Edit: I originally wrote this blog on July 19, 2015. It is now July 26, and I am pleased to report that I was given the promotion! Yeah baby!*