1.32 A Star is Born

Episode 32, Season 1

A Star is Born

Writer: Cheryl Saban

Director: Terence H. Winkless

Episode Summary:

Kimberly and Zack are hanging out with Tommy in school when we find out that Tommy has his eye on stardom and is auditioning for a karate commercial.  What kind of commercial and what it has to do with karate remains unanswered until the end of the episode (dun dun dun).  Tommy’s hair amazingly stays in place as he shows off his martial arts skillz to Bulk and Skull and for the first time I’ve realized Tommy has a mullet.

We cut to the beach where the teens (minus Tommy) are enjoying a day in the sun playing with beach balls (unless you’re Jason and then you’re showing off your guns doing karate moves).  Bulk and Skull lather each other up with lotion/mayonnaise in quite a homoerotic display.  In an unprecedented act of bitchery, Scorpina and her pet worm attack this beautiful beach scene.

The Rangers morph and are trapped in a cocoon spun by her worm (yes, cocoons are for butterflies, I know this).  Tommy is in his audition when Zordon tries to contact him.  We hear his bag beeping because god forbid Tommy ever actually wear his wrist communicator.  Luckily, Jason and the Rangers shoot their way out of the cocoon and call on their Zords.

Bulk auditions for the commercial and hilarity ensues because fat people can’t do sports.  Tommy rocks his audition and then is called away by his Ranger duties.  For some reason a monster called Babe Ruthless appears and the Zords take him down.  We jump out of the Zords only to jump back in seconds later to take down Scorpina’s worm.  Dragonzord Battlemode and Megazord (respectively) win this battle and we find ourselves in Ernie’s gym watching telly.

The newscast on the TV mentions property damage is sustained but there are no human casualties thanks to the Power Rangers.  We then see Tommy’s commercial which seems to have been filmed unknowingly since it’s his audition footage.  Did he even see the contract before signing?  This is dispersed with footage of Bulk’s audition and we’re told that if we take karate lessons we can look like Tommy instead of Bulk.

Facts:

-First on-screen – Kim, Tommy, Zack

-First line – “So Tommy, are you gonna go to the beach with us tomorrow?” - Kim

-Focus - Tommy

-Last Line – “All right, Tommy!” - Zack

-Scorpina has a pet worm

-Zords called on twice

Observations:

The storyline for the episode is good enough in that we get to see the kids having fun at the beach and some hilarity from Bulk and Skull.  We also get to see Tommy do what Tommy does best – fancy kickin’.  The fight scene footage though is spliced to the point of incomprehensibility.  We’re in the Zords defeating Babe Ruthless and then jump out of them only to get back in them again to defeat Scorpina’s worm.  Obviously this is because the fight footage is from two different episodes.  Overall, the editing effort just looks sloppy.  As it does every time they put in two different villains from various episodes.

Also – why did Rita name her monster Babe Ruthless?  I mean, I appreciate the wit behind the name but it sounds like a Roller Derby chick’s name.  Since when does Rita appreciate human culture and history?  The monster comes out of nowhere – the focus of the episode should have been Scorpina’s Worm.  There could have been an entirely different episode with a baseball theme for Babe Ruthless.  The kids could have been coaching a Little League team when all of a sudden Tommy forgets the team’s batting equipment and on his way to retrieve it he realizes he left his communicator on the bench and is jumped by putties while Babe Ruthless attacks the kids on the baseball diamond.  And boom, you’re welcome Saban.

The US footage, yet again, is more pleasurable to watch and makes a lot more sense than the fight footage.  At least the teens’ storylines is coherent and seems somewhat plausible.  Unlike being caught in Scorpina’s worm’s cocoon.  I want a cookie for not making a single dirty joke about Scorpina’s worm or her worm’s cocoon for this entire blog.