1.27 Wheel of Misfortune

Season 1, Episode 27
"Wheel of Misfortune"
Writer: Mark Ryan & Cheryl Saban
Director: Terence H. Winkless

Episode Summary:
We open with the rehearsal of Angel Grove High School's production of Rumpelstiltskin directed by Principal Caplan.  Our tragic heroine ordered to spin straw into gold is played by the only Ranger who can act so well that we can see her acting as her character "acting" - KIMBERLY!  We also see Jason break out of the jock-stereotype as another lead in the production.  Oddly enough, we also see Bulk and Skull taking part in their school's production.  The spinning wheel (trustingly donated by Kimberly's grandmother) is then broken when Bulk spins it too hard (that's what she said? reaching too much?)

Kimberly is extremely upset at the loss of her grandmother's prized spinning wheel that only Tommy can comfort her as he offers to fix the wheel for her.  Unknownst to our teens but knownst to us - Rita has stolen the wheel to turn it into her latest monster: The Wheel of Misfortune!  We learn the wheel will destroy anything it touches - watch out, Rangers!  Tommy is kidnapped by putties and tied to a tree while the other Rangers battle Scorpina and Goldar.  Rita asks us to watch her monsters grow and the Rangers must battle the villains AND the wheel WITHOUT DRAGONZORD!

Luckily Tommy is smart and fakes being sick to trick the putties and gets himself loose in time to morph and call on Dragonzord to bring all the Zords together to form ULTRAZORD (with Titanus)!  After their victory, the wheel is returned better than its original state as it's no longer broken.  The show goes on and someone tells Kimberly to "break a leg" - Tommy winks (swoon) and tells Kimberly "Don't you dare."  Bulk comically splits his pants and Kimberly closes the show.  Applause.

Facts:
-First on-screen - Billy
-First line - "And places everyone" - Billy
-Focus - Kimberly
-Last line - "The end." - Kimberly
-First time the Rangers use Ultrazord

Observations:
We see more of the flirtation between Kimberly and Tommy which is good for showing a developing a season-long story arc.  So that's a good, but we also see some writing that's just sloppy.  Bulk is starring in a school play directed by the Principal.  I get that we only have two faculty members in all of Angel Grove (Ms Applebee the English teacher and the Principal) but wouldn't Applebee have been the better choice?  Was she unavailable for this episode?  And let's say Bulk is in the show because of detention or something - why is he the lead?  Was there really no other student who could pull the role off?    And the school play takes place in Ernie's Gym and Juice Bar?  Does the school just not have an auditorium?  Has public school funding for the arts deteriorated that much?  However, I like that Jason's in the play, to me that says he's building up his extracurriculars to make his college application more marketable.  You go, Jason.

I enjoy any episode about Kimberly, naturally.  And naturally at this point in the show anything about Kimberly will also be about Tommy since they're meant to be - but his capture by the putties is just stupid.  I get why they had to get Tommy out of the picture - the Sentai footage doesn't allow for the Green Ranger to appear as frequently as the other Rangers due to his Green Candle dilemma (his candle in Sentai-world is counting down the hours he has left to live - so you understand why he's reluctant to fight in every battle).  I still think the putties tying him to a tree is stupid, and I think his plan to trick them by faking sick is even more stupid.  Why didn't the putties trap him to a different dimension or use something other than shoddy rope to tie him to the tree?  Sigh.  Henchmen.

Nothing else in the episode is really that statistically significant for the study - we see the introduction of Ultrazord since it's a new toy Zord for the show but as for characterization, nothing else is really all too different or significant. And Trini . . . Trini, you're slowly disappearing from statistical significance in my study!  Come back!

1.26 Gung Ho!

Season 1, Episode 26
"Gung Ho!"
Director: Robert Hughes
Writer: Mark Hoffmeier

Episode Summary:

Tommy and Jason are training for the Team Ninja competition and having trouble cooperating.  Despite the fact that Zack is coaching and Billy designed a computer program to get them into shape, their constant bickering about who is right and who is wrong is getting in the way of progress.  Because obviously this conflict has been building up since . . . ?  Trini tells the boys they need to learn to GUNG HO!  Kimberly and Trini are walking to the park discussing the conflict between Jason and dreamy Tommy when Rita sends a band of putties to attack the girls.  But wait, these aren't just ordinary putties - they're Super Putties made from the Super Putty from the last episode (CONTINUITY!)!

The other Rangers try to help the girls fight off the Super Putties and then regroup at the Command Center since they've never before had that much trouble with henchmen.  Zack (who leads with "it's morphin time" as the de facto second in command) leads Kimberly, Billy, and Trini into battle against the Super Putties while Zordon comes up with this *amazing* plan to get Tommy and Jason to cooperate - he sends them to gather the only weapons they can use to defeat the Super Putties.  What's the catch?  He gives them a map . . . split in two . . . and gives them each half.  Fool-proof. 

Tommy and Jason still won't gung-ho and even though they find the landmarks they should be, each takes credit for something without helping the other.  Sigh.  They finally spot the weapons and are attacked by a giant mecha-beast.  They morph and Jason comes up with a plan that finally incorporates teamwork - Tommy you're better with a sword (I don't know what this assumption is based on) and I can get up the hill faster to get the weapons, so you take my sword, and I'll take your shield since I'll be defenseless.  They do so and Jason discovers . . . some other team of Rangers weapons!

He steals the other Rangers weapons and brings them to his friends who use them to shoot down the Super Putties.  We then find out the mecha-beast?  Really our good friend Titanus whom Zordon's never mentioned before and can apparently turn Megazord into the ultimate weapon.  Thanks.

Shirtless Tommy and Jason battle fully cloaked ninjas in the Team Ninja Finals and apply their team-working skills from earlier to win the competition.  Yay.

Facts:

-First line - Jason "I could've had you man."
-Last line - Jason "Yeah, we make a great team."
-First on-screen - Tommy and Jason
-Focus - Tommy and Jason
-Introduction of the Super Putties
-Introduction of Titanus the Carrier Zord
-Tommy's shield is transferable

Observations:

I like the plot of this episode - I really do.  It makes sense to have a rivalry between the leader of a team that's been in place and a newcomer that has a lot more power (and a much bigger Zord, if you know what I'm sayin').  But since Tommy became a good guy, he and Jason have been friends and Jason's welcomed the addition to the team, so this conflict seems to come out of nowhere.  But again, I think the conflict makes more sense than the previous episodes of no conflict.  It gives an interesting kick to my study of the power struggle on the team.

Let's talk about the guns.  They very explicitly say "Zyuranger" on them.  I get that we use the Japanese source footage a lot - but is there really no way we could have re-filmed this scene?  Also, when do the Rangers actually use these guns to battle Super Putties again?  They made it sound dire that they get these weapons, yet the Rangers seem to battle the Super Putties with ease later in the series.

Lastly, in Zyuranger, the Zords are guardian beasts that are alive - Titanus seems to exhibit this quality as well.  I don't know how else they would have addressed Zordon hiding this weapon that could have really helped during the Green Ranger saga except to say that Titanus is different from the other Zords.  He really does have freedom of choice and now he's choosing to help the Rangers.

1.25 Life's a Masquerade

Season 1, Episode 25
"Life's a Masquerade"
Writer: Cheryl Saban
Director: Robert Hughes

Episode Summary:

We open with the Rangers helping Ernie set up the Gym and Juice Bar for a costume party that will be taking place later that afternoon.  Zack is helping Jason put up some party streamers while Tommy is helping Kimberly paint something on a ladder (SPOILER ALERT: Bulk will get pain in his face due to the paint being conveniently hilariously left on a ladder).  Zack chases after Angela (aka the only other black girl in Angel Grove) and she shuts him down.  Again.

Rita reveals to us that her Super Putty is ready and her team of villains spend the majority of the episode mining said Super Putty.  But how to distract the Power Rangers so they don't disrupt her evil plot?  Inspired by their Halloween-themed party, Rita decides to send a Frankenstein monster to wreak havoc on Angel Grove and busy the Rangers for a few hours.

After the commercial break, the Rangers are all dressed up in their costumes ready to go party!  The ever-perceptive Kimberly notices that Tommy isn't there.  Jason (aka Tommy's keeper) informs us (and Kim) that Tommy is putting the finishing touches on his costume and will meet up with them later.  Typical.  Alpha 5 recognizes the opportunity to mingle with the Rangers and comes to the party as a mysterious visitor that women seem to crawl all over.  I haven't seen this kind of woman-on-robot action since Short Circuit.  Frankenstein comes to the party and people mistake him for Tommy - but Billy (dressed as Sherlock Holmes) would like to investigate for more clues.

Billy follows the monster to Rita's cave where she's mining her Super Putty and a fight ensues after he carelessly trips a sensor.  Billy morphs ("it's time for molecular transmutation!") and then runs to the others.  Putties attack Tommy while he's by himself further preventing him from joining his friends.  But no worries, Tommy makes it to the battle just in time to call on Dragonzord to form MegaDragonzord!

We end at the party - but still no Tommy!  Alpha 5 wins the costume contest and makes a casual exit as Tommy shows off his new Frankenstein costume!  The Rangers chortle and Kimberly comments that Tommy looks, like, so cute in gray. 

Facts:

-First line - Kim "Hey guys, nice costumes."
-Last line - Kim "You look great in gray."
-First on-screen - Kim
-First hit - BILLY!
-Morphinominal Count : 1 - Kim says it
-Costumes: Jason - Robin Hood, Zack - King Tut, Billy - Sherlock Holmes, Trini - Pocahontas, Kimberly - Generic Princess, Tommy - Frankenstein

Observations:

I like how we introduce the Super Putty in this episode and set up the plot for "Gung Ho!" (the next episode), it gives the show a feeling of continuity and like there is some over-arching plot.  That said, we've established before that Kimberly likes Tommy.  It's fact.  Even earlier in the episode, he tries to help Kimberly do some painting.  Why then, do Kimberly and Trini accept dance offers from two random guys?  If I were Tommy's friend I'd totally tell him his girl's cheating on him (*omg* I just realized this is fore-shadowing for when she writes him a Dear John letter in Power Rangers Zeo!).

Going along with the romance aspect of this episode, (looking past the fact that Angela is the only black girl we've seen in Angel Grove and therefore the only girl Zack can be attracted to) I like that Angela turns down Zack repeatedly.  He's set himself up to be a really cool guy and when we see him crushed by a girl, we see a lot more to his character.  A whole two dimensions.  He likes to dance and rejection crushes him.  But again, I like the fact that they use a second-tier character that will continue to appear throughout the series.

Let's look at the monster.  Obviously when Megazord battles Frankenstein we're seeing the Sentai footage.  But I'm surprised at just how much original US footage was produced with the monster.  Given, the costume was probably not that expensive to recreate, but I like when they bring the costume to the US footage and bridge the gap between the Sentai footage and the un-morphed teens.  It makes it more difficult (as a child viewer) to realize you're really watching two different shows.

Lastly, I think I need to start tracking how many times this one piece of footage is re-used and count how many times Megazord crushes this office building.

1.24 The Spit Flower

Season 1, Episode 24
"The Spit Flower"
Writer: Peggy Nicoll
Director: David Blyth

Episode Summary:

We open with Kimberly working on a scale model of her float representing world peace for a parade.  I think it's supposed to be akin to the Rose Bowl parade since she's using a lot of flowers and tells Tommy that after the parade they're going to recycle the flowers by turning them into potpourri.  Rita sees this through her telescope and is driven mad by the idea of world peace, which luckily for her hasn't happened yet.  She sends putties down to trash Kimberly's float leaving her devastated and Jason (arriving too late) declares Rita's a "real witch" but you and I, dear viewer, know he meant another word that rhymes with witch.

The group takes Kimberly to lunch to make her feel better while Tommy has "stuff to take care of" since he can never be in the same place with the other Rangers at the same time.  Rita creates a monster called the Spit Flower monster that turns every plant in its path into a human-eating monster.  After a short fight, Rita makes her monster grow.  Zordon calls Tommy to join the fight so they can form MegaDragonzord - but oh no, that's not enough!  They regroup and Zordon holds Tommy behind in case the Rangers fail.  Kimberly shoots an arrow in the Spit Flower's mouth (apparently his weak spot) and the Rangers form their Power Blaster with their weapons and the good guys win.  Tommy then asks for Alpha's help in a project in his garage (I bet it's Kimberly's float!).


We end at Ernie's with the teens watching the parade on television.  Apparently Kimberly did not want to see the parade due to her grieving the loss of her float but they convince her to anyway.  Tommy forces her to stare at the screen and we see HER FLOAT!  She gives Tommy a hug and the romance continues.  Zack does a magic trick and Bulk and Skull run away.


Facts:


-First line: Kim - "Thanks a million, Ernie."
-Focus: Kimberly
-Last line: Zack - "The hand is quicker than the eye."
-Zack's shows us his first magic trick


Observations:


All things considered, this episode really isn't that bad.  There's nothing amazingly special about it, but we get to see Kimberly's acting chops and some light-hearted comedy with the team trying to pick up Kimberly's spirits.  We also see the high school boy in Tommy as he tries to find ways to get Kimberly's affection as he carries a book in front of him (jk).  All in all, it's really sweet.  Also, we see (again) that the teens really are good role models for the kids watching at home.  Kimberly created a world peace float and her friends helped her put it back together when the putties destroyed it.  Quite the heart-warming display of teamwork.

A lot of episodes get caught up in one character or the action (sometimes glossing over the semblance of a plot at all) and especially in later seasons we forget why Zordon picked these teens.  Their friendship makes them a strong group and given that they're all so "different" from each other, episodes like this show us that they do care about each other and that they are in fact friends.  I appreciate the character development episodes, they're a lot easier to watch than the bland (read: stupid) plot episodes.

I can see my obvious bias in that any episode about Kimberly will automatically be an awesome one for me and that might not be the case for others.  I can see that unless you're a Tommy or Kimberly fan, these last few episodes have really left you feeling slighted.  Zack's getting some more screen-time and we see his other interests (i.e. magic and his catch-phrase "the hand is quicker than the eye") which is quite different from my observations from the pre-Tommy world.  We're seeing a lot less of Billy and Trini (after watching the Zyuranger counterpart episode, Trini really got screwed with the Shellshock episode) and I'm not entirely sure this trend will change anytime soon.

1.23 Itsy Bitsy Spider

Season 1, Episode 23
"Itsy Bitsy Spider"
Writer: Steve Kramer
Director: Robert Hughes

Episode Summary:

Having recovered from the crap that was the previous episode, the teens decide to embark on a story that has an actual plot.  We open with Billy and Trini calling on their fellow students to sign a petition to keep City Hall from destroying a statue monument and putting up a BBQ pit in its place.  Legend has it that the statue was built to ward off harmful bugs and so Billy and Trini have the science club's entire collection of bugs on display.  Bulk suggests that at last they can get some good bbq and ribs and throws the entire bug collection on their surrounding students wherein we discover that one, Zack Taylor, is afraid of bugs (spiders in particular).  Upon hearing Billy tell the legend of the statue, Rita decides to steal it and send an evil slimy spider in its place that will sprinkle sleeping dust on those around it.

Kim and Jason decide to help Trini and Billy collect more bugs to replace the ones Bulk lost (sadly Tommy is practicing karate/teaching a class/etc and did not join).  Our teens are caught unaware and attacked by putties - but don't worry, they can handle it.  Zack is teaching a Hip-Hop Kido class (which has the same tenets of self-discipline blah blah blah as any martial arts) to small children and he leaves them unattended to get a tape with "funkier" music out of his car.  When he returns, he finds the children he left unattended sleeping since they were sprinkled with sleeping dust.  Zack tries to outrun the sleeping dust and delivers a poetic soliloqui about how much he hates bugs.

Goldar and Rita's Spidercron monster attack Zack and Zordon calls on the other Rangers to help (except Tommy - who never helps) but they're paralyzed by silly string the Spidercron shoots at them.  Rita makes her monster grow and we call on some Zord action.  By this time Tommy has finished practicing karate and put his communicator back on (Zordon should have a talk with him about that) and morphs to bring us DRAGONZORD!  Dragonzord forms with the Mastadon, Triceratops, and Sabre-tooth Tiger to form MegaDragonzord and we take out Spidercron. 

Zack informs us he's officially over his fear of spiders and jokester Tommy puts a plastic spider on Zack's shoulder and relishes in Zack's anguish and fear (pfft, jerk). 

Facts:
-First line - Trini -"Come on, sign the petition."
-Last line - Tommy - "It's a good thing you've overcome your fear of spiders."
-Focus - Zack
-Zack is afraid of spiders
-Zack teaches Hip Hop Kido to paying students
-First time MegaDragonzord used in battle

Observations:

After Trini's been largely ignored for the past ten or so episodes, we start to see her established character traits show up again with her political activism.  Additionally, we see some progression of character in Billy as the boys learned in "Teamwork" that they should help the girls out next time a petition type event comes up again.  Continuity!  I'm also glad they played against type and had Zack (a boy) afraid of spiders and sent Kim (the girly-girl) out into the woods to collect bugs.  This episode picks up where we were before the Green Ranger saga in developing the other Rangers' characters again.  It also acts as an apology for "The Trouble with Shellshock".

The show keeps up this Saved by the Bell/California Dreams playfulness with the teen storylines (they're still going to high school and doing teen things like saving the planet and teaching karate classes) and is really a breath of fresh air after the intensity and darkness of the Green Ranger saga.  I'm taking the fact that we're further developing Zack to mean that either the show recognized how ignored he's been for the first part of the season and that he's actually a pretty decent character OR that they pulled his name out of a hat as the character this story will be about. 

Now for a Jason tangent.  Jason is the defined leader of the group.  But aside from a few select episodes, he's really not a major character in the series.  My guess is because he was hired as a legit martial artist and not so much as an actor.  Which I'm totally fine with, but it's interesting to see how even though he's the leader of the team, the show is not entirely about him (at all). 

From a statistical standpoint, Trini's falling behind in importance (blowing my early hypothesis out of the water), Billy's becoming less boring, Zack's becoming more than a stereotype and earning some screen time which could earn him some statistical points, Jason's still being Jason, and Kimberly and Tommy are taking a back-seat this week so everyone else has a chance.

1.22 The Trouble with Shellshock

Season 1, Episode 22
"The Trouble with Shellshock"
Writer: Stewart St. John and Julianne Klemm
Director: David Blyth

Episode Summary:

We open with the boys playing basketball while Trini and Kim watch, predictably for MMPR, Zack dominates.  While this frivolity is going on, Squatt and Baboo decide to make their own monster, Shellshock, so Rita will love them and create a turtle with a stoplight stuck in his head and given him weapons such as a baseball bat and a pirate hook.  Back on earth, the Rangers fight some putties (some Rangers utilizing the basketball to hit the putties in various body parts).  Tommy excuses himself to go to karate practice and Bulk and Skull try to grab Kimberly and the teens comically show them who's boss by tossing them into a hot dog cart.

Shellshock goes to earth to disrupt the teen's fun-time and we learn that his stop-light isn't just decorative - it also serves a function.  If he shoots his green light laser beam, you can't stop moving, but if he shoots his red light laser beam, you're frozen.  He shoots Trini with his green light beam and Zack, Kim, and Billy with his red light beam.  The battle escalates and Jason calls on his T-Rex while Zordon sends Trini (who can't stop running) to the Mountain of Hope to retrieve a plant that will reverse the symptoms of the green and red lights.  Trini is triumphant and Jason is able to defeat Shellshock with his T-Rex.

We end with the teens playing basketball again and Tommy trashtalks Zack (but it's all talk, Zack is way better).  Billy then steps in to up the ante (which is funny because nerds can't play sports) and ends up doing some flip-slam-dunk that leaves everyone in stitches.

Facts:

-First line - Tommy "Come on, Jas"
-Last Line - Billy "Did you see that?"
-Billy says "morphinominal" for the first time
-First episode with a good Green Ranger
-First time Squatt and Baboo create their own monster

Observations:

This is sadly a good example of an episode that does absolutely nothing.  The entire plot is driven around finding ways to use the Sentai footage whether or not it makes sense.  Dragonzord doesn't come in til the end - let's send Tommy to teach a karate class and then not have him wear his communicator so Zordon can't contact him.  Sidenote, if you're a Ranger now, Tommy, why aren't you always wearing your communicator?  Trouble could strike at any moment.

I'm also not impressed with how Trini is the character who saves the day, but we only hear that Zordon sent her after the antidote in exposition after the fact and that some editing error happened and she calls Tommy "Billy" when she finds the plant.  Trini used to make things happen on this show and now we only get to hear her in voice-overs.  This is wickety-wack.

Also - Shellshock looks like a knockoff version of Tokka from TMNT II.  (I mean, right?)

From a statistical observation perspective, this episode really does nothing to establish any new patterns or trends - with the exception that when Tommy morphs on his own he does not say "it's morphin time" as Jason, Kim, and Zack have all done.  I suppose he hasn't earned that honor yet.

1.21 Green with Evil Part V: Breaking the Spell

Season 1, Episode 21

"Green with Evil Part V: Breaking the Spell"
Writer: Gary Glasberg and Stewart St. John

Director: Robert Hughes

Episode Summary:

The Rangers are still in disbelief that Tommy could be the Green Ranger (the DNA match courtesy of Alpha).  Now that Jason's back in charge he directs the other Rangers to split up and try to find Tommy and appeal to him on a personal level. There's no way anybody can be evil because they want to be - it has to be a spell!  Predictably, Kimberly finds him at Ernie's and whispers to him that she knows he's the Green Ranger and that they can help him overcome Rita.  His eyes glow green and he greets her as "Pink Ranger" (HE KNOWS!) and declares once again that Rita is his queen so back off.  We close-up on Kimberly's face and discover that she really needs to clean her eyebrows.  Seriously.





Rita gives Tommy his very own zord - DRAGONZORD! which he summons with his Dragon Dagger (a dagger that has a flute built in to it - very manly).  Dragonzord goes on a rampage through the Warehouse District in Angel Grove and the Rangers morph into action.  Alpha revives Zordon who then revives the Rangers Zords by making their morphers glow.  Jason's T-Rex then battles Dragonzord and wins (you'd think Dragonzord would have the size advantage, but no).  Jason jumps to the ground and decides to have hand-to-hand combat with Tommy and Zordon informs Jason that he needs to destroy Tommy's Sword of Darkness to break Rita's spell over him.  He knocks said sword loose and destroys it with his Power Blaster freeing Tommy.

Jason asks Tommy to join the Rangers and fight on the side of good, which he bashfully declines since he's so ashamed of his actions.  The other Rangers convince him and then we morph as a six-member team and pose for the camera and say various threats to Rita about how awesome being good is.  Zordon then displays a toy commercial, I mean, new battle-mode for Dragonzord that combines the Mastodon, Triceratops, and Sabre-Tooth Tiger (I totally had this toy - and it was awesome).  Tommy takes the same pledge the other five Rangers took in episode 1 and we end on a high-five, er, six shouting "POWER RANGERS!"  The epic Green Ranger mini-series concludes.

Facts:

-First Line - Kim "I can't believe that Tommy's the Green Ranger."
-Last Line - All "POWER RANGERS!"
-Focus - Tommy
-Jason says "morphinominal" for the first time
-Rita introduces us to Dragonzord and the Dragon Dagger and the summoning song
-Zordon introduces Dragonzord Fighting Mode
-Tommy joins the Rangers, our first sixth Ranger

Observations:

Alpha really drove most of the action in this mini-series.  He kept morale from hitting rock-bottom by giving his rousing speeches, he discovered the identity of the Green Ranger, he protected the Command Center from further damage, and he revived Zordon - TWICE.  Forget Jason and Zack's leadership ability in this mini-series, for the first time ever I'm on Team Alpha.  Ai yi yi yi yi indeed.

This episode really shows the limitation of using the Sentai footage as in Zyuranger the Green Ranger is driven to tears (in his un-morphed form) to dissolve the Sword of Darkness because he cannot bring himself to kill his brother (the Red Ranger).  Additionally, Dragonzord is battled by Goldar and Megazord in Zyuranger since the Green Ranger attempts to assassinate Bandora (Rita).  Furthermore, since the Zords are "guardian beasts" in Zyuranger, they automatically come together to show the Rangers the new battle mode instead of having Zordon introduce it.  Obviously MMPR could not use all of this footage in their storyline and had to splice the Dragonzord footage, cut out the assassination attempt completely, and film an entirely new scene with Jason shooting the Sword of Darkness.  If you go through the final fight with Jason and Tommy slowly, you can definitely pin-point when we switch from the Japanese to the American footage because a) Tommy's shield suddenly becomes some cheap material instead of metal and b) US Jason is a much bigger guy than Japanese Geki.

So now the Morphinominal Project takes a new turn - looking at the composition of a six-member team.

1.20 Green with Evil Part IV: Eclipsing Megazord

Season 1, Episode 20
"Green with Evil Part IV: Eclipsing Megazord"
Writer: Gindy McKay and Stewart St. John
Director: Robert Hughes

Episode Summary:
Goldar is still destroying Angel Grove as per the end of the last episode and Rita is still planning on creating a solar eclipse to drain Megazord of its power and the Green Ranger will still be the one to destroy Megazord after all of this is done.  So the first nearly five minutes of the episode are simply recapping (and re-showing that Megazord eclipse footage for the third time) without any new action.  The Rangers attempt to morph but sparks come out of their morphers instead - turns out Alpha's computer usage is causing an inter-dimensional power surge that keeps the Rangers from morphing.  So we can't morph, we can't use the Zords yet, and the Command Center is basically broken - Mercury must be in retrograde.

Billy realizes he can connect these negative electrodes here and these postive electrodes there and voila we have power in the morphing grid again!  Our heroes morph and battle Scorpina while Squatt and Baboo dance a jig behind her.  We find out Zordon is in sector Q-9 and as Alpha tries to recover him, the Green Ranger enters the Command Center again to take out Alpha and send Zordon to a dimension where he'll never be recovered (bwahahaha!).  He commits the bad guy faux pas of talking too much and while he's telling Zordon exactly where he'll be sending him and that evil will triumph, Alpha's backup power kicks in and he captures the Green Ranger.  By far making him the most useful good guy in this saga.

Bulk and Skull try to escape Angel Grove on a bus only to have giant Goldar pick it up and dangle it over the Rangers heads.  If the Rangers try to save them, they'll drop the bus.  If they don't try to save them, they'll drop the bus.  What to do?  Let's get some Dinozord power in there, that's what!  Megazord saves Bulk and Skull and then goes after Goldar and by now a giant Scorpina as well (by the way, Scorpina loses all beauty when she grows) - Rita then conducts her spell and drains Megazord of its power.  She then brings in her beloved Green Ranger (teleporting him out of the Command Center) to finish off Megazord.  Giant Green Ranger does the job and the Zords all retreat into a fiery pit as the Rangers watch a part of themselves die. 

Back in the Command Center, Kimberly and the others decidedly give up since they can't use their Zords, Zordon's gone, and Rita has three major bad guys that can kick their butt at any time - they've deduced that they don't stand a chance.  Jason refuses to accept this from his teammates and Alpha agrees.  Zordon would never accept that.  But then Zack states "Zordon's not here" - BOOYAH!  Alpha tells the Rangers he locked on to some of the bio-something-or-other from the Green Ranger when he captured him earlier and the computer is trying to find an identity match to the DNA.  Guess what?  It's totally Tommy. The other Rangers can't believe it and Kimberly most of all is shocked that such a d-bag can be the Green Ranger.

Facts:
-First line - Zack "Goldar's blowing the world to bits!"
-Last line - Kim "I don't believe it, Tommy?"
-First on-scrren - All
-Megazord runs on solar power

Observations:
Rita is finally employing something the Rangers never do - strategy.  Seriously, she has a damn good battle strategy.  I fight the Rangers to either distract them or weaken them but pull back before I finish them to psych them out.  I take out their computers and advisor and most power weapons.  I taunt their humanity by challenging their compassion for Bulk and Skull.  Then finally I let it all loose and unleash my strongest warrior (Goldar), my most skilled fighter (Green Ranger), and my most sinister and evil henchwoman (Scorpina) AT THE SAME TIME IN GIANT FORM!  Maybe it's because she's had four episodes to bring this plan to fruition, but you have to give her credit for a well thought out plan that actually works.  We won't see this kind of ingenuity from the Rangers (then again, they're teenagers and not a centuries old witch).

This episode has more action to it than the last and actually starts to give some answers.  Tommy is our evil Green Ranger and all of his behaviour makes sense.  What I'm not understanding is how they didn't see this coming before.  He started out a nice guy and then turned into this jerk who is the last person Jason sees before he disappears (and then lies about it).  And also, Jason's fought Tommy in an exhibition match in Part I and fights him again in this episode and you can't identify his fighting style?  He does the same tornado kick in every episode how can you not pick up on it by now??  And his little "keeyah" sound??

Anyway, I'm realizing now that Alpha is a lot more useful than I gave him credit for when I first watched this show.  He single-handedly captures the Green Ranger (nobody else can lay a finger on him) and figures out his identity.  He finds Zordon even if just for a second (Billy's been tinkering with the computers for four episodes now and can't even do that).  Additionally, he gives a pep talk that trumps Jason's (the supposed leader).  While his "ai yi yi yi yi" might get annoying from time to time, I'm learning to look past that and to the part of him that is really helping this team progress the plot in this five-part mini-series.

1.19 Green with Evil Part III: The Rescue

Season 1, Episode 19
"Green with Evil Part III: The Rescue"
Writer: Mark Ryan & Stewart St. John
Director: Robert Hughes

Episode Summary:

We open with Jason and Goldar battling it out – with Jason grunting and Goldar taking stabs at him with his sword.  Then we shift over to the Command Center with some very sad Rangers still lamenting the loss of Zordon.   We see a lot of wandering around after Zack comes up with the brilliant plan to split up and look for Jason.  For some reason we’re checking all around Angel Grove thinking perhaps Jason just forgot to show up for the big fight.

After a comical encounter with Bulk and Skull, Kim runs into Tommy where he sasses her off again and accuses her of “worrying” again – she then convinces Zack that he should talk to Tommy since he probably thinks she made it up for an excuse to talk to him.  Which is a lot more astute an observation than I think anyone in Angel Grove is capable of making.  While chasing down Tommy, Zack and Kim are attacked by putties who, they note, do not attack Tommy.  Wtf?

We learn about Rita’s new weapon – Scorpina – who is this really hot Asian woman in spandex and an uneven pony-tail.  Rita sends Green Ranger in to finish the job with Jason (Goldar is so pissed) while he waves his Sword of Darkness in Jason's face.  Conveniently Billy is able to get their communicators back on-line and they teleport Jason out of there (hooray!) before Tommy does any real damage.  Jason rejoins the team, Scorpina kicks their collective ass and then Rita pulls her team back (again).  Oh no, what could she be planning?  Thankfully she employs some exposition and tells us.

See, Megazord runs on solar energy (because this is California, duh) and she plans on creating a solar eclipse to cut off their energy source.  Instead of, I don’t know, attacking at night.  That said, we end with a giant Goldar attacking Angel Grove and the team pondering what’s up and how to fight this battle with most of their resources depleted.

Facts:

-First Line - Zack "Come on Alpha, you almost had a lock on Zordon."

-First on-screen - Jason

-Last Line - Jason "We don't have a choice."

-Introduction of SCORPINA!

Observations:

I can’t help but think the Rangers really aren’t too bright.  How many more hints do you need that nice guy Tommy who suddenly turned into a dick who wears green all the time is the Green Ranger?  I mean, nothing wrong with giving him the benefit of the doubt in order to drag this mini-series out yet another episode I suppose.

That said, seriously nothing happens here.  I feel like I waited for Godot the whole episode.  They wrap up the Jason cage-fight, they tell us the plan Rita is going to use in the next episode to defeat Megazord, and we’re still looking for Zordon.  Trini and Billy never leave the Command Center and even Kimberly is given very little to do.  Zack has some damn decent plans when he’s forced to take on the leader role.  Split up to look over Angel Grove because we can’t teleport?  Be proactive and find him instead of waiting at the Command Center?  Seriously, Zack is carrying this team and earning the unofficial title of “second-in-command”.

The only thing worth noting is the introduction of Scorpina - in Sentai-world, she and Goldar are married.  You can see this in the Japanese footage as they seem to squabble like a couple and even have this romantic way of battling the Rangers together and leaving before they're defeated.  She's the first foe the Rangers face that looks like a human - which is why I find it odd that they considered killing her.  Usually they're vary wary of battling anyone human.  Anyway, Rita is nervous about how pretty Scorpina is and asks the opinion of her henchmen.

1.18 Green with Evil Part II: Jason's Battle

Season 1, Episode 18

"Green with Evil Part II: Jason's Battle

Writer: Tom Wyner, Cheryl Saban, and Stewart St John

Director: Robert Hughes

Episode Summary:
We open with some very sad Rangers at Ernie's trying to relieve some stress as Jason angrily punches a bag.  He and Zack question the true identity of the "Green Ranger dude" and lament the loss of Zordon, Alpha's virus, and the overall destruction of the Command Center.  Then we see Rita going on about yet another ancient relic that apparently everybody but the Rangers and us the audience knew about for centuries (I really hate being left out of the loop) - the Sword of Darkness.  We cut to Tommy in the same alley he was first abducted and Bulk and Skull confront him about the whole karate mess in the hallway the day before.  Tommy shines some green light in his eyes and then shoots lasers out of his eyes at them as they run away - in all honesty, if this didn't start Bulk and Skull thinking about the true identity of certain Power Rangers, I don't know how much more of a blatant clue they need.

Back at school, Kimberly asks Tommy why he didn't show up yesterday for their pseudo-date and he responds very Greg Brady-like with "something suddenly came up" and then she states the obvious - you're being kinda not yourself.  Tommy is apparently on his period as he shoots back something like "the whole world doesn't revolve around you, Kimberly."  Gees.  All she asked was why you stood her up, take a Midol and get over it Tommy.  Tommy then has to prove his worthiness to Rita to earn the aforementioned Sword of Darkness by fighting some putties - without his powers!  Spoiler alert: he succeeds.

Jason, doing the responsible thing, informs Tommy that he won't be able to make their date, I mean workout plans to which Tommy (apparently still PMS-ing) comments "oh, I understand all right" and then shoots Jason off into another dimension wherein he has to cage-fight Goldar for his morpher!  Oh no!  Kimberly and Zack use the Rad-Bug to drive to the Command Center to meet up with their fellow Rangers and morph so they can battle the evil Green Ranger with his Sword of Darkness.  Without Jason, they form Megazord and (sort of) defeat the Green Ranger.  We close on Jason on his back in the cage fight with Goldar declaring it will be the end of him.

Facts:
-First line - Jason - "Man, I wish I could get my hands on this Green Ranger dude."
-Last line - Jason - "What's your point?"
-First on-screen Ranger - Jason
-Focus Character - Tommy and Jason
-First time Jason does not morph in an episode
-First time Zack says "it's morphin time"

Observations:

Jason's gone (a Red Ranger has to face an enemy alone - a novel concept) and Tommy becomes more powerful.  Kimberly is upset that Tommy stood her up and everyone notices Tommy's overall moodiness - yet how do we not put two and two together to see that Tommy is the Green Ranger?  While Zack, Trini, and Billy are all in this episode and all have some sort of function (Billy fixes Alpha, Trini watches, and Zack drives the Rad Bug and says "it's morphin time") - the show is still driven by Jason/Tommy/Kimberly.  Get used to it, folks.

Zack says "it's morphin time" for the first time which is kind of cool.  Without Jason, we see Zack take up second-in-command duties and (in my opinion) make a much better call than Jason would.  Green Ranger kicked our butt last time, so let's beat him to the punch, escalate the battle (against Zordon's rules, but hey, Zordon's in another dimension right now) and form Megazord to fight a 6 foot tall man.  Genius really.  And guess what?  It works.  But let's not get used to a Ranger having a good battle strategy.

All in all, the episode progresses the saga, but really could have been condensed into five minutes (much like the other episodes in the saga) and starts to feel a bit drawn out.  Plus, Tommy's hair is really starting to bother me.

1.17 Green with Evil Part I: Out of Control

Season 1, Episode 17

"Green with Evil Part I: Out of Control"

Writer: Gary Glasberg & Stewart St. John

Director: Robert Hughes

Episode Summary:
We open with a Martial Arts Expo at Ernie's Gym and Juice Bar (which seem to happen quite often in Angel Grove) and Jason is nervous about his upcoming fight with new transfer student (overused plot device much?) and resident cutie (according to Kim) - Tommy Oliver.  His outfit is almost identical to Jason's except that he's wearing a GREEN tank top instead of a RED one (foreshadowing!).  They both kick each other and it turns out they're evenly matched.  Who knew?

Kimberly thinks Tommy is, like, so cute and asks him to hang out with the gang after school tomorrow.  Bulk and Skull pick on Kim in the hallway the next day and Tommy does some karate moves that frankly would get him expelled in any public high school in the United States.  Or at least made fun of.  They share a cute moment and as he's walking to the gym after school - oh no! - Rita Repulsa descends upon him as she's chosen him as her own evil Green Ranger.  Unbeknownst to us but knownst to Zordon for the first 16 episodes - there's a sixth coin that Rita's just been keeping around for a rainy day.  After her attack on Uncle Steve in the last episode failed - it can't get much rainier.

She tests Tommy with some Putties to determine his worthiness of the coin - but to be honest even I could defeat the Putties so is this really much of a test?  Rita thinks so and uses some of the Japanese Sentai footage to show "Tommy" going through the transformation process to evil.  Once the transition is complete, Tommy takes his power coin and breaks into the Command Center (remember - only someone who has a power coin may enter) and he totally wrecks the place, gives Alpha 5 a virus, and sends Zordon to another dimension.  In five minutes, Tommy has single-handedly done more to devastate the Rangers than Rita has in 17 episodes. 

We leave with devastated Rangers who lost the big fight when Tommy breaks into Megazord to physically throw them out , and a bummed Kimberly (Tommy totally missed their date which is way more sad than losing Zordon or your Zords), and Tommy's equivalent of a fist-pump as he declares his intentions to end the Rangers and we fade on our first ever . . . TO BE CONTINUED.

Facts:

-First line - Zack - "All right there, Jas, remember think positive and concentrate on your moves."

-First on-screen Ranger - Billy - technically

-Last line - Tommy - "To the end of the Power Rangers, I'll destroy you one and all."
-Focus Character: Tommy
-The Rangers are defeated for the first time ever
-First breach of the Command Center

-Introduction of the first 6th Ranger - Tommy the Green Ranger

Observations:

I know Zack opens the show and I know that Trini and Billy probably had lines, but aside from Jason's pseudo-karate-rivalry with Tommy and Kimberly's hat teen-girl obsession with how cute Tommy is - was anyone actually in this episode?  Naturally since this episode introduces us to the concept of a sixth Ranger - Tommy should be the focus.  However, we're beginning to see the team dynamics change to what they will most likely become: the Tommy-Jason-Kimberly show.  Or as I like to call it "Kimberly Acts and Tommy Kicks".

That aside - the show takes on a much darker tone in this episode.  For the first time we're left with the impression that the Rangers are human and capable of failure (an important lesson for the kiddies at home). 

Also, the show begins to show some structure.  Every episode thus far has been Monster of the Week and then a live-action storyline about a Ranger that ends in them fighting a Monster of the Week.  We've seen some character traits, but no over-arching plot development - which changes here.  We see an imperfect Ranger who doesn't always go with the crowd (kids always love the loner) and the beginning of a romantic spark between two characters that will be in more than one episode together (cough, Billy and what's her face from the Madam Woe episode).  It's that kind of story arc that will keep people tuning in for the storyline as opposed to just the 30 minute toy commercial.

Plus, how awesome is it that we see the girl (Kim) pursue the guy (Tommy)?  Not only is the show displaying an arc for two characters, it's also breaking societal molds.  Kelly would never ask Zack out, I'm just saying.

Project Phase One - Results

After last week's sneak-peek at the first ten episodes, I'm happy to present my first round of results.  So let's look at the data and make some inferences about the power hierarchy in the Power Rangers original lineup.

Character Development

Observations.

As we looked at before, the first and last lines of the show are important to draw the viewer in to this world of spandex-clad heroes and leave us feeling compelled to come back and watch the next episode as well.  In line with the results after episode 10, it appears that Kimberly kept up the trend of opening episodes whereas Zack took over the lead for closing episodes.  Given, his lead over Kim for closing episodes is merely 6%.  Nearly half of all episodes open with a Kimberly line (as they should).  One would expect this to correlate with another parameter - first Ranger to appear on-screen in each episode.

However, despite the fact that Kimberly has a knack for opening episodes, she is not as often the first on-screen Ranger.  That honor belongs to underdog, Jason.  To be fair, a majority of Jason's appearances are alongside another Ranger (i.e. we see him sparring with Zack or teaching Trini a new karate move).  This is evident in his correlation with Zack's first on-screen appearances.

While opening and closing shows is important - what's going to keep a viewer coming back for more?  The character carrying the story for each episode.  This is indicative of who the audience finds the most entertaining to watch or the character they're most willing to come back for.  My findings are not at all surprising - Kimberly and Trini are tied with 6 episodes each.  While Trini had the early lead after episode 10, it appears that Kimberly is more than making up for lost time.  To add a personal anecdote, "Foul Play in the Sky" was my first episode in 1993 and look where I am now.  Kimberly clearly drew me in for more.

Conclusions.

While Jason may be the designated leader of them as a fighting squad, there's not much in the way of character development leaving him rather flat.  Billy is at least fleshing out to have individual interests and show some semblance of a personality.  Zack is largely ignored in the beginning episodes - left behind to be a supporting character with only one episode about him wherein he believes himself to be forgotten (my guess is he's seen the rest of the show and realizes it's highly probable that he was in fact forgotten).  Trini and Kimberly have the highest concentration of episodes about them with Billy not too far behind.  My original hypothesis was that perhaps episodes tend to focus on the girls since female viewers are more likely to tune in for story as opposed to action - but I'm wondering now if it's simply that Amy Jo Johnson is the break-out star of the show. 

The question becomes - was MMPR successful because of Kimberly?  Or did Amy Jo become successful because of MMPR?

BACK TO ACTION!

Observations.

The three main components to look at for the morphed Rangers are: who says "it's Morphin time", who is the first to action (first hit), and who kills the monster.  If Jason is the leader, we would assume that he says "it's Morphin time" the most - and the data support this.  With the exception of Zordon calling the Rangers to action in the first two episodes - it's almost all Jason.  However, starting in "Power Ranger Punks" we notice something new and different - someone who is not Jason gets the opportunity to say those words.  Prior to this episode, even if a Ranger morphs on their own, they do not say the words but merely hold out their morpher and assume the morphing pose.  Billy and Kimberly muster up the strength to say the words together for the first time - and then Kimberly seems to forget that she's a girl and starts saying it all over the place (by this I mean twice). 

Looking at who is the first to action - we see that the numbers are pretty evenly split.  There is somewhat of a correlation between being the character focus of the episode and having the first hit - but not enough to suggest a trend.  We can see this in the fact that the girls (combined) get the first hit nearly half the time and are also the episode focus about half the time - but Jason and Zack's first hit percentages throw off any sort of statistical correlation.

Lastly, let's look at who kills the monster.  After episode ten, we noticed that Trini was the only Ranger to kill a monster on her own and it happened all of once.  Continuing the trend from our last observation, Megazord continues to be the most dominant monster-killer (at 44% of all monster killings).  What's interesting to note is that Alpha 5 is responsible for defeating a monster (the Genie) and ties himself with Trini at one monster each leaving most monsters defeated by either Megazord or through the Rangers combined weapons (63% of the time this is the case).  However, we notice another new parameter that was not present in our last observation - Kimberly kills two monster on her own giving her the lead as Ranger who's killed the most monsters on her own.

Conclusions.

My original hypothesis was that Kimberly and Trini may lead in character development and story lines - but when it comes to action, Jason is the man.  He's the martial arts expert (in real life) and it can be assumed that he therefore should kick the most ass on the show.  But the data is suggesting this isn't necessarily the case.  Jason leads and commands - but he's much more of a team player than I would have thought.  The only times monsters are killed by individual Rangers instead of the team are when the girls do it.  Or more specifically, when Kimberly does it.

Morphing Order Flow-Chart

While I attempted to put aside my own bias (that Kimberly is the best Ranger ever FTW) - the data is suggesting that Kimberly is in fact the most important all-around Ranger.  While she doesn't take command the way Jason does, she's a utility player that takes command when Jason's not around.  She drives storylines and shows us something no other Ranger does: popularity.  I think a lot of this comes from the fact that the characters (with the exception of Billy and Kimberly) are rather flat and not given much to do and never stray far from their stereotypes characters.  Zack always dances and says something sassy, Trini always does everything, and Jason always kicks things.  Billy's a nerd - but he can also be a valley girl and a punk.  Kimberly's a girly-girl - but she's also a gymnast, a nerd, and a punk.

I'm interested to see what happens with the other characters, will they be developed further or has Saban relegated them to background characters while he fleshes out the characters the kids have shown an interest in (Kimberly and I suppose Billy).  Next we're moving in to the Green Ranger saga which will completely throw everything for a loop.  Hold on to your morphers, kids, things are about to get morphinominally kookie.

How to Turn a Japanese Franchise into an American Cash Cow

Having not seen MMPR for more than a decade, it’s a very different experience to watch the show as an adult.  While I always enjoyed the US live-action sequences more than the fight scenes, it’s very obvious to me now that these are spliced from the Super Sentai series, Zyuranger.

Curious about the source footage, I checked out a few episodes of Zyuranger and the geographical similarities between Japan and Angel Grove astounded me.  Not to mention, both locations have identical city sky-lines.  And many Angel Grove buildings have Japanese-written signs – it’s uncanny really.

Each episode of Zyuranger has its own monster-of-the-week to go along with the storyline (similar to MMPR) except for one major difference: MMPR storylines were drafted to fit the Zyuranger fight footage as opposed to the other way around.  Why does Tommy always forget things and have to separate from the rest of the team?  Because the Green Zyuranger wasn’t in every fight scene due to his limited life (by his green candle – a storyline MMPR “borrowed” as well).  The Super Sentai series was a lot darker than MMPR – but I found the storylines a lot less believable (I say this without irony).

Most of Rita’s (Zyuranger – Bandora) monsters are inspired by what the teens are doing in real life (Lord Zedd carries on this tradition in Season 2).  Jason’s being held back by his teammates?  Let’s separate him from them by creating a monster that prevents his friends from being near him.  Kimberly is writing Tommy a song on her guitar?  Let’s create a monster that hypnotizes you with his guitar.  The US footage is very deliberately dictated by the Zyuranger footage as seen with the fact that a lot of storylines center around an unexplained (and never seen again) child - because Pandora is obsessed with hating children (understandably so).  Cheer up though, things will get better when we get about halfway through Season 1 when the source footage ran out and Saban paid Zyuranger to film more fight scenes for him to use.

Saban intended on getting in and making a quick buck off of action figures and didn’t anticipate the cash cow he created.  He used non-union actors, so he didn’t have to worry about their collective bargaining power and could just write someone off the show (cough, go to a peace conference much?) which meant he could pay actors very little and maximize his profit.  He cut costs by using the super cheap Sentai footage (essentially halving his production costs).  In summation: low costs, high revenue = PROFIT!

Please note that the Yellow Zyuranger is a guy named Boi.  Trini the Yellow Ranger is a girl.  They wear tight spandex suits . . . as if we wouldn’t notice.  Ever wonder why Jason and Tommy both have similar looking helmets (dinosaur teeth surrounding the eyes) – cos their Zyuranger equivalents are brothers.  Also, notice that the Green Zyuranger has a hard shield whereas Tommy the Green Ranger has a shield that looks like something my mom made. 

Looking ahead – I’ll provide a similar comparison between the source footage and the US storylines for Season 2 once I finish up with the Season 1 episodes (and subsequent analysis).  I guarantee once you hear how Saban spliced that footage - your mind will be blown and you will question everything you've ever known.  In the meantime, this youtube video summarizes the differences between MMPR and Zyuranger rather candidly.  Check it out.

1.16 Switching Places

Season 1, Episode 16

"Switching Places"

Writer: Shuky Levy and Steve Kramer

Director: Jeff Reiner

Episode Summary:
We open with Billy showing Kimberly his newest invention - a mind-reading device!  Yet unbeknownst to Billy, Squatt (that little devil!) tinkered with his toy and the invention accidentally switches Kimberly and Billy's bodies.  Bulk and Skull sneak in and the same thing happens to them!  Hilarious!

The next day we see Kimberly and Billy trying to function as each other to hilarious results.  Billy-in-Kimberly can't put on makeup and wears frumpy clothes and explodes a cheese souffle.  Kimberly-in-Billy blows up a computer during a tutor-session and dresses him in a stylish slim-fitting vest.  Billy-in-Kimberly walks around with his hands in her pants (that sounds bad) and Kimberly-in-Billy stands with his hip cocked and flips his hair around. 

Rita sends her Genie monster after Squatt rubs him out (of the lamp) and the Rangers morph, fight, call on the zords, and are about to lose when Alpha 5 figures out a way to trap the Genie back in his lamp.  Victory!  Billy then figures out how to fix his machine and everyone is back to normal.  Skull makes a joke about borrowing Billy's brain for a math test on Monday.  Silly Skull.

Facts:

-First line - Kim "So like, what is this new project?"

-First on-screen Ranger - Billy and Kimberly

-Last line - Billy "Some people will never learn."
-Focus Character: Billy and Kimberly
-Rangers do NOT defeat the bad guy - Alpha 5 does
-Last episode before *spoiler alert* Green Ranger

Observations:
Since this is the last episode before the Green Ranger saga, it's nice to have a light-hearted comedic episode.  Unlike other light-hearted comedic episodes, this one is actually funny.  The story-line is character based rather than action based and the result is a much more enjoyable show.  The comedy isn't forced even though it's slap-stick and the acting is actually somewhat decent.  If you're looking for why Kimberly is a fan-favorite - this episode is the epitome of why.

Amy Jo yet again shows off her acting talent by showing her comedic chops and does a really good impersonation of David Yost's Billy - down to his nerdy lingo and word pronunciation and mannerisms.  I say this without irony, she actually does a really good job with this role.  David Yost actually shows that he has an inkling of acting ability as well as he incorporates a lot of Kimberly-mannerisms in his hair flipping and the way he pronounces certain, like, words.  However, he makes Kimberly out to be really uninterested in anything but herself and highly inconvenienced by everything - and that's not the Kimberly we know and love.  Bad Billy.

Continuing with what we saw in "Power Ranger Punks", Billy shows some promise of maybe one day not being the poorly dressed nerd who over-enunciates and sucks-the-fun-out-of-everything.  Season 2 spoiler perhaps?  So - props to the costuming department on this episode, you win.  Props to Bulk and Skull, you actually can act as well.  And props to Kim and Billy on a job well done.

1.15 Dark Warrior

Season 1, Episode 15
"Dark Warrior"
Writer: Ronnie Sperling, Jeff Deckman, Mark Hoffmeier
Director: Terence H. Winkless

Episode Summary:
We open on Jason teaching a karate class and Billy once again whining about how lame he is.  Trini's Uncle Howard is coming to visit and we find out that not only is he a scientist, but he's also a martial arts legend!  A karate scientist!  Billy decides he's tired of being picked on and decides to re-enroll in Jason's class.  Uncle Howard invents an invisibility formula and then humorously loses it at Ernie's!  Rita sends her Scarf Dark Warrior to create a plan to steal the forumula.

By this time Uncle Howard has taken Billy under his wing and is teaching him a little about science, a little about karate, and a lot about life.  While practicing martial arts with Billy, Uncle Howard is kidnapped by Putties and taken to a cave where he's tied to an explosive and threatened with his and Trini's life if he doesn't fork over the invisibility formula.  Dark Warrior sends a nastygram ransom note to Trini which prompts the Rangers to take action and find Uncle Howard.

Billy diffuses the bomb using his martial arts training he learned from Howard and we morph to kick some Dark Warrior behind.  Throw in a little Megazord and we've got ourselves a victory!  We end at the Youth Center where Billy earns his Yellow Belt in karate and Bulk and Skull still pick on him (cos only nerds do karate) and invisible Uncle Howard teaches them a lesson by beating them up.  Ha ha.

Facts:
-First line - Jason "1, 2, punch 3, punch 4"
-First on-screen Ranger - Jason
-Last line - Trini "Uncle Howard!"
-Focus character: Billy AND Trini
-Billy earns his Yellow Belt

Observations:
This episode is mostly about building Billy's confidence and proving my previous assertions wrong that he doesn't belong on the team.  He does have dedication (despite the fact that he initially quit Jason's class, pfft) and finally does have some martial arts know-how.  He just needed to learn it from a scientist and not a jock.

I dislike the ending of this because, yet again, it's awfully unfair to Bulk and Skull and very un-martial-arts like to beat someone up without them knowing it.  Especially since Skull is doing this cute little A Clockwork Orange thing with his hat.

Additionally, I misheard Rita call Dark Warrior the Scarf Warrior several times, understandably so since he wears a scarf.  It then dawned on me that he's probably the name-sake of the episode.  It struck me as odd that Rita let one of her minions take charge of something - but I guess she respects the Dark Warrior in some capacity.