1.35 Green Candle Part 2

Episode 35, Season 1

Green Candle Part 2

Writer: Gary Glasber & Stewart St John

Director: Robert Hughes

Episode Summary:

We pick up in the Command Center – the Rangers pondering if there’s a way to rescue Tommy’s powers.  Billy and Alpha chat a little bit and voila – a plan is born.  Billy is going to use these things that resemble giant crutches to build a portal to Rita’s dimension so Jason can go in, fight Goldar, and snatch up Tommy’s Green Candle so we can call it a day.  Jason’s the only Ranger who’s ever SEEN the dimension and he has the most visible biceps so it only makes sense to send him and only him.

The Cyclops monster is engaging in a bit of cosplay and dressing up like the Dragon Megazord and causing general chaos on the newly rebuilt downtown Angel Grove.  Tommy can’t stand to sit idly by and morphs into action.  He’s a bit weak losing his powers and all so he jumps in the Dragonzord cockpit and starts . . . losing the battle.  Zack decides to jump through Billy’s portal and ask Jason to come back and finish the battle with them – he points out that while Tommy may lose his powers, it’s not nearly as bad as him losing his life.

The Rangers morph, call on Megazord, Titanus and the gang to form Ultrazord and take down the monster.  Except uh-oh, the candle officially burned out.  At the Command Center Tommy gives his power coin to Jason so Rita can’t have the Dragonzord or his powers and we watch as Tommy slowly turns into a civilian again.  We cut to Tommy practicing a kata by the lake – Kimberly approaches him and informs him that the Rangers (and more specifically her) miss him.  Tommy *gasp* reaches for Kim’s hand and kisses her before asking her to the dance.  Kim turns away and makes Tommy’s little teenage heart panic before saying “k.” 

Facts:

-First on-screen – Tommy

-First line – “I don’t believe this.” - Tommy

-Focus – Tommy 

-Last Line – “YES! - Tommy

-Jason officially owns the Dragon Coin

-Kimberly and Tommy become the first Power Rangers couple

Observations:

Tommy’s gone and we get a pretty decent story out of it.  The great thing about the Green Ranger entering the scene is that we get more of a story arc that carries through the season rather than singular 30 minute episodes that don’t have a continuous story.  The Green Ranger loses his power and adds quite a bit of drama.  Kimberly and Tommy finally admit their feelings to each other and give us some adorable acting – it’s believable that they’re both nervous teenagers who are friends who like each other.

Again, I understand with the constraints of the Zyuranger footage why they needed to take away Tommy’s powers – it just seems like they could have set up the story of how Tommy came to touch this wax a little sooner.  Or perhaps given us a good reason why Jason is the only Ranger who could go and fight Goldar in Rita’s dimension – it seems to me that if Zack went with him the first time they could have double-teamed Goldar, gotten the candle, and been home in time for supper.

 

In terms of MMPR season 1 story-telling, this is as good as it gets.  The story moves the season along and sets the stage for more drama with Tommy.  The reason he was so popular at the time – and still amongst hardcore MMPR fans – is this curse he has to bear.  He’s allowed to show more character through his suffering.  He’s dark and mysterious and it makes his character so alluring – just like Burai in Zyuranger.  Without the appeal Burai brought to the table, the sixth Ranger would not be commonplace in Sentai/Power Rangers today. 

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.

1.3 Teamwork

Season 1 Episode 3
"Teamwork"
Writer: Cheryl Saban
Director: Robert Hughes

Episode Summary:
BFF Trini and Kimberly open this episode pleading with their fellow students to help them close an industrial dump-site in Angel Grove.  We meet Angel Grove High Principal Mr Kaplan who voices his support for the girls' endeavor.  Bulk and Skull tease Kim and Trini by throwing trash on the floor in front of them.  They throw a barrel at the girls which Kim flips over and Skull says something witty about her finally flipping over him.  Zack, Jason, and Billy all come up with lame excuses as to why they can't help their female counterparts do something that saves the world in a different way (sexism, much?) and leave the girls to take their petition to the dump-site alone.  Rita Repulsa is inspired to attack Kim and Trini before the boys can help and thereby weaken and ultimately destroy the Power Rangers. 

The girls have an awkwardly choreographed fight scene with the putties, Zack teaches Alpha 5 his brand of hip-hop martial arts (Hip-Hop Kido), the boys morph to battle Rita's Minotaur monster.  The girls beat the putties and morph to join the boys.  They form Megazord who (to me) looked like he was kicking the Minotaur's ass but apparently was not inspiring Zordon to give the Rangers their Power Weapons.  They combine their weapons and kill the Minotaur.  Back at school, the Rangers use teamwork to clean up the mess Bulk made earlier and confuse Principal Kaplan because, as children's shows have taught us, all adults are stupid.  Alpha 5 shorts the computers in the Command Center trying to practice Zack's patented Hip-Hop Kido, but obviously robots have no rhythm and the episode is given a humorous conclusion.

Facts:
-First Line - "Stop the pollution of our neighborhood" - Trini
-First on-screen Ranger - Kim
-Last Line - "Forget about the hip-hop, man, keep being a robot and keep that control console working." - Zack
-Zordon introduces the Power Weapons in this order
Power Lance (Billy), Power Bo (Kimberly), Power Sword (Jason), Power Axe (Zack), and Power Daggers (Trini)
-This is our first introduction to Principal Kaplan
-Walter Jones (Zack) is missing a finger
-A Ranger says "it's morphin time" for the first time

Observations: 
We see Saban's genius splicing the Japanese Sentai fight-scene footage with his American teenager footage in full-force in this episode.  Example, we see the morphed Yellow and Pink Rangers in the foreground with the giant Minotaur fighting the boys in the background . . . and they have an unexplained small child with them in the shot.   Additionally, this is the first time Zordon explicitly designates a leader - Jason.  His Power Sword holds the power to all the weapons, which kind of isn't too smart in case something happens to his sword.  I hope something doesn't happen that would isolate Jason from the team and jeopardize this.

Additionally, Zack's Hip-Hop Kido doesn't look anything like martial arts, but rather break-dancing.  But now I just sound petty.  The thing that stood out most to me in this episode is that Rita's plan is to isolate rangers from each other in order to weaken the team (hence the episode name) - which on paper sounds really smart.  So smart we'll see her do this about 120 other times before the series end.

Early Hypothesis:
Rita has difficulty accepting responsibility for her own actions.  She seems to blame either Goldar or Finster for her problems when both are merely trying to make her happy.  If she can do it so much better, why doesn't SHE go to earth and become giant and try to beat Megazord.  Frankly, I'd like to give Goldar a medal as the only bad guy who consistently battles and NEVER DIES. 

Also, I'd like to propose to the Baltimore Orioles - please sign Rita Repulsa, her throwing arm (and aim) is out of this world (literally).

1.1 Day of the Dumpster

Season 1 Episode 1
"Day of the Dumpster"
Writer: Tony Oliver and Shuky Levi
Director: Adrian Carr

Episode Summary:  Astronauts on the moon discover what one assumes to be a dumpster (from the episode's name) and inadvertently release an evil sorceress, Rita Repulsa, and her cronies dooming the world since her release party from 10,000 years of captivity includes destroying the nearest planet.  After 100 centuries of peace, Zordon, an interdimensional being who is also a wise wizard (and apparently English in this episode), orders his robot companion, Alpha 5, to recruit a team of "overbearing and overemotional humans" to become a team of spandex-clad warriors.  They reluctantly agree (after an initial refusal led by valley girl, Kimberly, and African-American, Zack - both well-developed stereotypes) to take on this responsibility and "morph" into these superheroes that command really big battle machines (Zords). 

Rita sends her favorite henchman, Goldar, to take down the Rangers (as apparently he's her only henchman who can actually fight - seriously, where'd she recruit these guys, Squatt and Baboo are a total joke).  Long story short, they fight, they command their Zords and combine them to become MEGAZORD! only to have Goldar escape at the last minute.  Everyone high-fives after Kimberly makes a joke about the helmet ruining her hair.  Silly humans and their humor.

Facts:
-First Ranger Line: "Nice recovery, Zack!" - Jason
-Last Ranger Line: "POWER RANGERS!" - All
-Kimberly is the first to receive her Power Coin
-Jason is the first to wear his ranger suit

Observations: Through exposition we learn that Kim and Trini have taken Jason's karate class as they make fun of class clowns, Bulk and Skull.  We also see that Billy is beginning his martial arts training by taking Jason's class.  Zack is first seen sparring with Jason at the episode's open (with Jason telling Zack he has a nice recovery - clearly Jason > Zack).  Thankfully, this explains why these five "random" teenagers all know martial arts.  We also note that when Zack fights Rita's Putties, he fights to hip-hop dance music, introducing us to his Hip Hop Kido.  Additionally, how conceited is Zordon that he names the battle machines the Rangers use after himself?

Also, I'm not entirely sure why there are astronauts on the moon in 1993.  I had to suspend my disbelief on that one a little.  Teenagers fighting alien monsters without parental consent I can buy, but American Astronauts walking on the moon in the early 90s?  Puh-lease.

Lineup:
Jason - Red Ranger - Tyrannosaurus
Kimberly - Pink Ranger - Pterodactyle
Billy - Blue Ranger - Triceratops
Trini - Yellow Ranger - Sabre Tooth Tiger
Zack - Black Ranger - Mastadon