1.30 The Rockstar

 

Episode 30, Season 1

 The Rockstar

Writer: Peggy Nicoll

Director: Terence H. Winkless

Episode Summary:

We open with our favorite teenagers packing the car for a field trip (whether this is school sponsored or just for funsies remains unanswered).  Trini packs some “exotic cookies” that turn out to be escargot and everyone enjoys before she unveils what escargot actually is and the teens comically throw the “exotic cookies” over their shoulders.  Through exposition we find out that Jason is not going on this trip because his cousin, Jeremy, is in town and he wants to hang out with him.

We cut to Rita who tells us of her evil plan to obtain the Mirror of Destruction which, true to its name, destroys anything that stands in its path.  Luckily for our Rangers, this mirror is hidden in Angel Grove so they don’t have to travel very far to battle Rita’s evil plan. 

Bulk and Skull are eating a large pizza (the sloppy joe pizza to be exact) and Bulk picks a fight with Jason.  He makes some martial arts moves that are rather uncomfortable to watch and Jason merely evades and lets Bulk make a fool of himself.  He tells Jeremy to remember brains over brawn.  Jason and Jeremy then practice some karate kicks and Jason tells his cousin how martial arts helped build his confidence and made him a better person and the same old crap we hear in every after school special.

Realizing I’m taking too long to get to the point of the episode, I’ll sum up the rest of the ep in one paragraph.

Jason and Jeremy fight some putties on the beach, Jeremy finds a map  that produces an earthquake.  Our teens feel said earthquake in their car (yes, scientifically this baffled me, too) , must be Rita and not the fact that we live in California.  Scorpina then summons Rockstar (cleverly named because it shoots rocks).  Rockstar kicks a morphed Trini and Zack in a pool with rocks attached to their bellies.  Billy shows up despite the fact that he was not in the morphing sequence.  Jeremy finds the mirror and kills some putties with it (not before telling us brains before brawn) and then he masterfully kills Rockstar with it.  Scorpina grabs the mirror and Rita makes her grow.  Goldar joins and the Rangers are able to destroy the mirror.  Jeremy then recounts the story and the Rangers’ egos grow as he tells them how awesome they are.

Facts:

-First on-screen – Jason, Zack, Kimberly, Billy

-First line – “This is going to be fun!” - Billy

-Focus - Jason

-Last Line – “I have a martial arts class that I need to teach.  Come on, Jeremy.” – Jason

-Tommy does not appear in this episode nor is he mentioned

-Jeremy kills the monster, not the Rangers

Observations:

First of all – this is probably the second episode where we see a monster destroyed but NOT by the Rangers (with Alpha 5 destroying the Genie earlier in the season).  But note that Jeremy does not gloat about this when recounting his story later.  I think this humility is perhaps a greater lesson for the kiddies watching at home rather than us constantly being beat over the head with “brains over brawn”.

Second, there are some scientific aspects of this show that really just . . . left me in pain.  Billy didn’t realize what escargot was until he thought about it for a second, he’s a brainiac he should have known exactly what escargot was when Trini said it the first time.  Then we have them feeling the earthquake in the car – which just doesn’t happen.  Then we have the Rangers with rocks on them in the pool.  They were floating in the pool, not sinking.  It makes one question if these rocks were really rocks or rather some Styrofoam prop (my money’s on prop).  I get that drowning Rangers might be too heavy for kids to watch, but having floating rocks is just dumb.

Overall, I didn’t personally enjoy this episode due to the lack of Kimberly (or for that matter, Tommy) – but I can see how this show might be one of those episodes that people distinctly remember from 20 years ago.  If you’re a kid watching this and see someone who looks like you practicing karate with Jason the Red Power Ranger, that’s pretty cool. 

Not to mention, I think Jeremy is undervalued in this episode.  He’s an actual teenager (which at this point none of the actual Rangers are), and he’s actually not that bad with martial arts.  His moves aren’t as polished and tight as Jason’s, but they’re still not too shabby form-wise.  He’s got his wits about him and fights some Putties, kills Rockstar, finds the Mirror of Destruction and recognizes when it’s “too hot to handle” and doesn’t get power hungry.  NBD.  No other kid on the show (at this point) has shown herself/himself as being capable and have all been damsels in distress (for lack of a better phrase).  Trini’s cousin Sylvia?  She couldn’t fight her way out of a paper bag without Trini.  Kimberly and Trini’s “sister” Maria?  Punky Brewster was captured within minutes of us being introduced to her.  Billy’s protégé, Willy?  Forced to hang out in a monster’s eyeball.  Zack’s entire Hip-Hop Kido class?  Sleeping on the job.

We’re getting away from the idea that only the Rangers are the heroes and getting more into the fact that other people, normal average people, have the power to be heroes inside of them.   Now lets go sing some Kumbayahs.

1.8 I, Eye Guy

Season 1, Episode 8
"I, Eye Guy"
Writer: Stewart St. John

Director: David Blyth

Episode Summary:
Billy and his young protege, Willy (clever writers), are in Billy's garage tinkering with Willy's latest invention: a Virtual Reality Roller Coaster (1993's vision of THE FUTURE!).

They test it out on the other Rangers and silly Kimberly reacts as if the coaster is real thereby rendering his invention awesome.  Willy and Billy exchange some odd nerdy high-five ending in a yank on their overalls (as awkward to watch as it is to describe).  The Rangers walk Willy through the park to get to the Science Fair which is conveniently held at Ernie's Gym and Juice Bar since the Rangers don't really know how to go anywhere else.  Putties attack because Rita decides she wants Willy's genius for herself.  She plans to use the Eye Guy monster to capture Willy in his big eye (Eye Guy is a bunch of prop eyes glued to a suit) and feed off his genius. 

They make it to the fair despite the putties and Bulk and Skull cause trouble with the nerds (cos who else goes to science fairs?) which Jason and Zack try to prevent, somehow Bulk and Skull lose their clothes and end up in drag, and Willy gets blamed for the entire fiasco and kicked out of the fair.  Willy goes off on his own because he was blamed for Jason and Zach's actions and oops! is captured by Eye Guy.  Willy then becomes a Japanese child in a space simulator trapped in Eye Guy's eye.  The Rangers morph and call on Megazord to defeat Eye Guy (who by this point has a severe case of conjunctivitis because he has Willy in his eye).  The Rangers take Willy back to the fair where the judging Professor and Ernie are both enjoying his VR Roller Coaster and announce Willy is the best inventor ever FTW!  Bulk and Skull are naked and want their clothes back since they lost them  earlier, Trini and Kimberly are bitches and shrunk their clothes.  Laughter ensues.


Facts:
-First Ranger Line - "Aww, come on, you've gotta have faith." - Billy
-First on-screen Ranger - Billy
-Focus Character - Billy
-Last Line - "Sure, we washed and we sterilized them." - Kim
-Jason wears blue jeans for the first time
-Trini says "morphinominal" for the first time (leaving just Billy and Jason to say it)

Observations: 
This is our first Billy episode and definitely isn't as moving or fast-paced as other episodes (i.e. "High Five" and "A Pressing Engagement").  Unlike our Trini and Kimberly-centric episodes which develop the characters further and debunk Kimberly's valley girl stereotype, Billy's episode doesn't do anything to further develop his character beyond anything but a nerd who wears dorky glasses and overalls.  The only way to believe he's actually friends with Zack, Jason, and Kimberly is if they're copying his homework - and since the MMPR have such high moral standards - you know this isn't happening.  So, I don't buy Billy's place in this group.

We see more of the Sentai footage influence in this episode when Willy is trapped in Eye Guy's eye with the Japanese child stuck on the space simulator.  Much like Maria in the last episode, it is very obvious it is not the same American actor.  However, unlike Maria, Willy is dressed appropriately - similar to his mentor Billy - and not in an obvious attempt to fit the Japanese footage like Punky Brewster Maria.  I'd like to say this is evidence of Saban getting better at stitching the Japanese and American footage together - but I assure you we're way off from that happening.  Additionally, anyone notice the small Japanese girl the Blue Ranger is protecting when he attacks Eye Guy's center eye?  Continuity much? 

Additionally, when Willy goes to the park by himself, we hear our first ever voice-over on the show.  Oddly enough, it's not one of the Rangers.  This breaks down the fourth-wall removed format of the show and has the character directly addressing the audience.  I don't have much recollection of this happening again - so my guess is it's because we're at the beginning of the series and haven't yet found the voice or stride of the MMPR format.

1.7 Big Sisters

Season 1 Episode 7
"Big Sisters"
Writer: Gary Glasberg and Shuki Levy
Director: Jeff Reiner

Episode Summary:
We open with Kimberly looking for Punky Brewster Maria at Ernie's.  However, Maria is a trouble-maker and turned off the hot water in the guy's shower room.  Figuring that all Maria wants are friends, Trini and Kimberly volunteer to be her "Big Sisters" and hang out with her and talk with her any time she wants . . . unless it's after this episode.  Zack and Trini have a good cuddle at Ernie's and then Kim and Trini take Maria to the park for a picnic where she is bombarded with traditional teenage girl questions such as "who's the most rad boy at school."  Rita discovers the location of the Power Eggs which are ancient mythical eggs that only a child can take out of the box they're kept in.  Thank goodness the writers have cleverly written a child into this episode.

Ages ago, the Morphing Masters put these eggs to sea to protect the world from universal danger.  Rita creates a Chunky Chicken monster to kidnap Maria to open the egg-box and OH NO teleportation and the communicators are down (OVERUSED PLOT DEVICE) forcing the Rangers to use Billy's newest invention - the Rad Bug.  They take the Rad Bug (a suped up old VW Beetle) to the Command Center and inform Zordon of Maria's capture (apparently he did not sense this danger as he seems to sense all other danger).  Chunky Chicken ties Maria up and threatens to kill her, the Rangers form Megazord to catch her from falling and kill the monster.  We end at Ernie's with Kim holding a bowl of Ernie's Veggie Chili.  Apparently this is a popular item as she announces it's on the house and then drops it on an unassuming Bulk and then she utters the funniest line ever said on Power Rangers, "It was supposed to be on the house, Bulk, not on you."

Facts:
-First Line - "Hey Ernie, have you seen a little girl wearing long black pig-tails?" - Kim
-First on-screen Ranger - Jason and Zack
-Last Line -Kim, see above
-We first learn about the Power Eggs - and never hear about them again
-Billy invents the Rad Bug
-Maria is intentionally dressed like the child from the Japanese Sentai footage

Observations:
The Rad Bug seems to come at a very convenient time even though we had no prior knowledge Billy had been working on it.  We later see it used to transport the Rangers to the monster without actually seeing the American actors inside - obviously the Japanese footage had a similar car so this is really just convenient.

Maria wears awkwardly long pig-tails and an outfit that you'd really only ever see on Punky Brewster, which seems odd at first until you realize that it's to blend her in seamlessly with the Sentai footage which contains a similarly dressed Japanese girl.  This will start the beginning of the trend of using small children as plot devices and dressing them very oddly so they match up with the Japanese footage.

This is also the first episode we don't see Bulk and Skull starting trouble.  They're just sitting down at Ernie's trying to enjoy a sundae when Kim accidentally spills veggie chili on him.  While we won't see the transformation of Bulk and Skull into good citizens for another two seasons, it's good to see that they're starting to be more than just one-dimensional generic high school class clowns.