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.