Unfinished Business

This article is about an episode in Power Rangers Wild Force.

Unfinished Business

Power Rangers Wild Force, Episode 10x27

Air Date(s)

September 14, 2002

Production Information

Written by

Suzi Shimoyama
Saburo Yatsude (concepts)

Directed by

Tarou Sakamoto

Episode Guide

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The Master's Last Stand	Homecoming (Wild Force)

Unfinished Business is the twenty-seventh episode of Power Rangers Wild Force and the first episode of Power Rangers to air on ABC Kids. The episode marks the reappearance of Zen-Aku.

Synopsis[]

Finally freed from the imprisonment of the Wolf Mask, Zen-Aku is given new life, and immediately targets his former human host, Merrick. The self-proclaimed "lone wolf" is prepared to give the Duke Org what it wants by fighting the far more powerful villain alone, refusing assistance from the Rangers. Can Alyssa convince him otherwise, or will his former dark side get the better of him at last?

Plot[]

One night in the woods of Turtle Cove, three laser-like lights emerge from the darkness and the three broken fragments of the Zen-Aku wolf mask reform, resurrecting the fallen Duke Org, this time as an independent being.

The next day at Willie's Roadhouse, Merrick recalls performing his Lunar Break move during battle and practices the technique once more using Willie's pool table and balls. Willie approaches him and states that he practices the same exact move day after day, and wonders how he never grows tired of it. He then takes the cue and teaches Merrick a new move that increases the cue ball's power and sends it vertically airborne. Merrick catches it, surprised and impressed with his skill, and Willie sets up a game and wants Merrick to break but before it can begin, the wind blows and Merrick is alerted to the danger outside and rushes off.

Merrick runs to where he sensed the danger coming from and to his horror, begins to hear music from the flute belonging to none other than his old enemy, Zen-Aku. Merrick is in total shock as he watches his old foe, somehow resurrected, approach him as he finishes playing his flute. After some uneasy greetings, Zen-Aku sends a blast from his Crescent Blade and Merrick morphs and dodges it. A brutal battle then begins between the two old acquaintances.

As the Rangers are taking it easy in the park, they are suddenly alerted by Princess Shayla, who tells them that Merrick is in trouble and they rush out to help him.

Zen-Aku and Merrick continue to battle and Zen-Aku unfortunately has the upper hand. When the Ranger asked if he is surprised to see him, Merrick wonders how it is even possible that he has returned, as the curse had been broken. The other Rangers show up and are just as surprised as Merrick by Zen-Aku's unexplained return, as they had thought that Merrick was Zen-Aku, that they were one being. Watching him still struggle, Cole says that they need to help him, but just before they can morph, Merrick yells for them to not interfere, thinking that it's his fight and his alone.

Merrick is struck again by Zen-Aku and is pinned down by him. Holding him under the Crescent Blade, Zen-Aku asks Merrick if he really thought that he could escape from him after 3,000 years of being merged. Merrick argues that the mask was broken, but Zen-Aku explains that when Merrick had been freed from the curse, Zen-Aku had been as well and was now a free being, no longer depending on another to exist. Merrick then asks why he would still want him if he no longer needs a host to survive, and Zen-Aku tells him that he wants to rejoin with him for the power they had once had when they were together. Merrick refuses, telling the Org that he would never ally with him again, but Zen-Aku says that he has no choice and prepares to strike him with the killing blow.

However, before Merrick can be destroyed by Zen-Aku, Alyssa morphs and saves him just in the nick of time. Both she and Merrick end up going over the cliff and into a nearby river, and the other Rangers keep Zen-Aku distracted so that he won't pursue them.

Alyssa and Merrick are washed up out of the river and she offers him assistance, but Merrick is angered and scolds her for interfering in what he thinks is his battle only. She protests, almost saying that he could have been destroyed but Merrick cuts her off and says that it doesn't matter. Alyssa further protests that she and the others are his friends, but Merrick, feeling responsible since he was the one who unleashed Zen-Aku, tells her once more that he must handle the rogue wolf Org on his own. He then summons his Wolf Savage Cycle, morphs once again and heads back to the battlefield.

The other four Rangers at the scene continue to struggle against Zen-Aku, but Merrick soon reappears on his cycle and charges at him at full speed. Once they are in the immediate vicinity of each other, they both hit each other with attacks at the same time and end up disappearing after going over the hillside. Alyssa shows up and his Savage Cycle reverts to his Wolf Animal Crystal. Alyssa picks up the crystal, filled with worry and fearing the worst.

Later, on the Animarium, Cole notes to Princess Shayla that Zen-Aku seemed more powerful than before. The Princess explained that once Merrick had put on the cursed mask all those years ago, the evil power that it held was divided between the mask itself, Merrick, and his three Wild Zords. Taylor realizes that now that the curse is broken and Merrick and his Zords are now free, Zen-Aku now has all of that evil power to himself. Alyssa continues to wonder about Merrick, still fearing the worst, but Princess Shayla can sense that he is still very much alive and out there somewhere.

That night as Merrick finishes bandaging himself up, Zen-Aku confronts him once again, telling him that trying to escape him is futile and to give in, but Merrick refuses, saying that he can send him back to the Spirit World just as easily as he brought him into the mortal one, and a battle then ensues once more. Merrick puts up a good fight and soon morphs. The two continue to fight as the hours of the night and early morning go by.

Up on the Animarium, Princess Shayla continues to hold onto Merrick's Wolf Crystal and she suddenly hears the Wolf Zord howl into the night. The Rangers are awoken by the Wolf Zord's howls and Cole realizes that he is stating that Merrick needs help.

Both Merrick and Zen-Aku continue to battle until after the sun has risen, and Merrick is finally too badly beaten by Zen-Aku that he falls back and demorphs. However, before Zen-Aku can finish him, the Wolf Zord appears in his Savage Cycle form and knocks Zen-Aku away, saving Merrick's life and the Ranger gladly thanks him for it. The other Rangers then show up as well, and start to finally get through to Merrick that the Power Rangers are supposed to work as a team. Though he is reluctant to let them help at first, he finally accepts their help and all six Rangers morph into action.

Zen-Aku is ready for battle once again and is more than willing to destroy the other five Rangers along with Merrick if necessary. He is powerful, but as a team, the Rangers are able to bring him to his knees and come close to claiming victory. But Zen-Aku says that they have not seen a fraction of his new power yet, and is able to grow to gigantic size without the use of growth seeds.

Merrick's Zords instantly leap onto the scene, eager for revenge against the monster that controlled them. Zen-Aku is able to blast them back, as Merrick tells them they need to work together to defeat their enemy. He boards and forms the Predazord, which takes on Zen-Aku but is held at bay. The other Rangers summon their Wild Zords and form the Wild Force Megazord Striker Mode. The Rangers are taken by surprise when Zen-Aku appears to be able to stop and catch/intercept the Armadillo Zord's final strike attack and are hit hard when he throws the attack back at them. He begins to gloat, stating that he can't be beaten, but Merrick, seeing the Armadillo and recalling the special move that Willie had shown him the previous day at the pool table, refuses to back down and performs the move using his Gator Staff as a cue and the Armadillo as a cue ball. Zen-Aku is taken by surprise and the move appears to precisely mirror Willie's and be quite effective on him, cutting off his horn and weakening him. Merrick then takes the opportunity to strike Zen-Aku with the Predazord's Revolver Phantom attack. Zen-Aku's wolf mask shatters causing Zen-Aku to crumble into dust, finally putting an end to him once and for all.

After the battle, the other Rangers congratulate Merrick on the beach for his teamwork and victory, and as a result of their win they decide to throw a party on the Animarium. Merrick is still uneasy around his friends, however, and when asked if he will come to the party, his response is simply, "We'll see."

Later at the party, Merrick does not show up and the Rangers are slightly bummed, but Princess Shayla tells them not to take it personally as he has always been quite a lone wolf and suspects that he is celebrating in his own way. This proves to be correct as he returns to Willie's and readies himself for another pool game with him. Merrick thanks Willie for teaching him the move he showed him earlier and the two resume their earlier game that hadn't started yet, with Willie saying that it was still his break.

Cast[]

Ricardo Medina Jr. as Cole Evans (Red Wild Force Ranger)
Alyson Kiperman as Taylor Earhardt (Yellow Wild Force Ranger)
Phillip Jeanmarie as Max Cooper (Blue Wild Force Ranger)
Jessica Rey as Alyssa Enrilé (White Wild Force Ranger)
Jack Guzman as Danny Delgado (Black Wild Force Ranger)
Phillip Andrew as Merrick Baliton (Lunar Wolf Wild Force Ranger)
Ann Marie Crouch as Princess Shayla
Sin Wong as Toxica (credit only)
Ilia Volok as Master Org (credit only)
Lex Lang as Zen-Aku (voice)
J.D. Hall as Willie

Errors[]

Merrick wasn't wearing his Howling Wolf jacket when he morphed before the night battle, but had it on after demorphing.
When Lunar Wolf Ranger's Savage Cycles response to Merrick, his jacket is different due it to using Gaoranger Footage.
When summoning the Wild Zords, the Crystal Sabers didn't play the usual melody.
The Bison Animal Crystal was inserted in the Crystal Saber when the Wild Zords were summoned, but the Rhino and Armadillo Wild Zords arrived instead.
Having defeated Zen-Aku with his Lunar Break, instead of saying "you're finished", he says "you're finisked."
It's said Zen-Aku is stronger because he doesn't have to share his power with Merrick or the Wildzords, yet he wants to re-merge with Merrick and claims that will make him stronger despite have to share his power at least with Merrick if not the Zords.
- However, Zen-Aku did mention that he mostly wanted to re-merge with Merrick because he didn't want be alone again.

Notes[]

This is the first Power Rangers episode to air on ABC Kids.
Merrick morphs a total of four times in this episode.
Zen-Aku is the only villain to appear in this episode and acts as the monster of the day.
As a single entity, Zen-Aku is much stronger as his power was previously spread between Merrick and his three Wild Zords, effectively making the possessed Merrick weaker.
As revealed in the "The End of the Power Rangers", Zen-Aku somehow managed to survive his destruction in this episode. He returns seeking redemption however, making this the last episode where Zen-Aku appears as an enemy.
The episode reveals not just Zen-Aku's true nature as a Duke Org as much as Toxica and Jindrax, but also an insight of his backstory. Apparently, despite his status, his lone wolf nature resulted his fellow Orgs perceived him as an outcast and that none of them come to his rescue when he was sealed in Wolf Mask which meant to be his prison all along, debunking Wild Force Rangers' assumption of him being Merrick's corrupted alter-ego.
- It's also implied that Merrick and his fellow Animarian Warriors' predecessors along with Predazord's components (Wolf Zord, Alligator Zord, and Hammerhead Shark Zord) were the ones who not just sealed him in the first place, but also splintered his essence for a good measure; whereas the master fragment was stored in the mask, the remaining three were kept by Wolf Zord, Alligator Zord, and Hammerhead Shark Zord. But over time, Predazord's Zord components ended up corrupted by their respective Zen-Aku's fragment and when Merrick combine them while wearing the Mask, he dangerously brought them all close together leading to the wolf-themed Org's return who used him as his host.
- What made all of this painted Predazord components and Zen-Aku in tragic light as much as explained how Wild Force Rangers and Princess Shayla were ill-prepared against Zen-Aku back when he still had Wolf Zord, Alligator Zord, and Hammerhead Shark Zord under his control as Dark Wild Zord was those who involved in the endeavor to seal the Duke Org opted not to record the whole thing in Animaria history leading to such important event and its participants ultimately forgotten. That said, parts of it persisted in legends, explaining not only Merrick was aware of Wolf Masks existence, but also Princess Shayla being aware of the three Zords' true benevolent nature to begin with.
None of the main villains appear in this episode.