Project Phase Two - Results

Project Phase Two - Results

So we’ve completed what should have been the end of the Power Rangers series altogether only to find that their appeal and their power was too much for Fox to say “no” to them.  20 more episodes were ordered for the season but wouldn’t air for a few more months so that they could be, you know, filmed.  So let’s make some inferences after the first half of season one.

Character Development

Observations.

We suggested before that while the action is cheap to produce, the reason kids keep coming back for more is the teens in their Saved by the Bell/California Dreams scenarios of regular high schoolers who fight crime.  In order to see who has mass appeal, we looked at who opens and closes the show – who gives us our first line to draw us in and who leaves us with our last line to make us want to come back for more?  As has been true all along, Kim is the Queen of opening shows with 14 openers – roughly 35% of the time, Kimberly said the first piece of dialogue. Also keeping in line with our first phase, Zack picked up his pace in closing the shows (11 out of 40) with Kim smoked at only 7 openings.  What we’re seeing here is that Zack gives us catharsis and closure and entertains us with a quick ending one-liner.  Kimberly is complex and makes us want to stay tuned for the next 30 minutes.

At the beginning of the series, we saw quite a bit of rotation with focus characters though many more episodes were about Kimberly than about anyone else.  What I think this really shows is a balance between keeping both girls and guys interested – girls might be more interested in the teen scenes whereas boys might enjoy the action more (in theory).  We see a little over ¼ of all episodes revolving around either Kimberly or Trini or both whereas less than ½ are focused on strictly the boys.  How can this be?  The boys make up 2/3 of the team yet less than ½ of the episodes.  The answer I came up with is that Saban is trying to toe the line between girls vs guys episodes and the fact of the matter is the girls are greatly outnumbered so there’s going to be more episodes about just Trini or just Kimberly as opposed to any one singular guy.

Conclusions.

Jason doesn’t necessarily get too many focus episodes (2 out of 40 about him alone) –but as a teen he definitely rounds out more as a supporting character.  He developed some comedic chops as well as the noble leader . . . without being boring *cough cough* every Red Ranger ever.  Billy is becoming more of a team member rather than just their resident geek, his contributions to the team are real and he’s definitely less of a joke as we moved along in the season.  Zack picked up a few more episodes dedicated to him and developed a lot more outside of the Rangers via his “relationship” with Angela.  Trini and Kimberly have the highest concentration of episodes about them – and good lord are they ever the concerned teens.  Future of America the two of them what with caring about pollution, volunteering to be big sisters to the less fortunate, befriending every minority known to man, these two are really ahead of their time.  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 – and I still maintain that’s true.  Then there’s Tommy.  More and more episodes are about Tommy.  He gets two whole mini-series about just him and his character takes off like wildfire. 

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 – 80% of the time it is Jason who says it.  The only time Jason doesn’t say it is if someone morphs after the group and Jason isn’t present.  It can be assumed that whoever says “it’s Morphin time” in Jason’s absence is next in line of command of that particular group.

Next, let's look at who kills the monster.  I was surprised to find that only Kimberly and Trini had killed monsters on their own (of the Rangers) – we have a lot of group weapons and a whole lot of Ultrazord action.  And that one time with Jason’s cousin, Jeremy.  But interesting that on three occasions one of the girls is the only one responsible for a monster death.  This is a dynamic I really find interesting because more often than not, they kill monsters in their Zords or with their group weapons, very rarely on their own.  I was even more surprised to find that not even Dragonzord had defeated anyone on his own – take THAT Tommy.

Last, there's the Power Order.  The Power Order is the order in which you see the Rangers appear after morphing whether it be through flipping in the air or a pose (left to right).  By tracking which position they stood in (farthest left = position 1, etc) I looked at, on average, where did each Ranger appear in the lineup and does that even matter?  Jason appears most often as the first flipping Ranger or the middle standing Ranger - so it looks like the middle Ranger in a lineup is the most visible/powerful/important.  Again, on average, our Rangers can be found here:

Kimberly and Trini set a precedence for female rangers to follow – you can be girly, you can be into shopping, you can be into saving the environment – you can do anything you like and it has no bearing on whether or not you can fight and/or kill a monster all by yourself.  Empowering, no?  Please, take note Samurai and Megaforce.

Conclusions.

Originally, I said “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.”  I maintain this to be true – he really does lead a team.  He doesn’t venture off on his own too much and does take command over the others – but he truly does make decisions that (most of the time) make sense.  He is a team player and a leader. 

Morphing Order Flow-Chart

While the Rangers are still kind of caricatures of real people, there is a bit of development in them.  They’re stereotypes yes, but they are strong people and you get why Zordon chose them.  Kimberly and Trini are strong women when it comes to the battlefield, Billy does machines, Zack holds his own and is a solid all-around person – and Jason and Tommy are obviously expert martial artists.  You’re not left wondering “wtf” about anyone being on the team anymore.  Everyone has a place and a reason for being there – which is perhaps the greatest message you can send to kids.  Everyone has a purpose.

And then there’s Tommy.  He became wildly popular – arguably the most popular Ranger of all time ever.  Is it because he was an amazing martial artist? Eh, Jason was pretty decent, too.  His acting chops aren’t any better/worse than anyone else’s, but there is something about him.  They make him the romantic interest for Kimberly and give him this dark brooding thing with him being all evil and proving himself to be good.  Not to mention he has a damn shield.  His character was just made to be cool.  Which is kind of unfair to the other five but eh what can you do.  The sixth ranger took off wildly in Sentai and it would become a staple in the US series as well.

Tommy forever changed the dynamic of the Rangers and nothing will ever be the same again.

1.40 Doomsday Part 2

Episode 40, Season 1

Doomsday Part 2

Writer: Stewart St. John

Director: Terence H. Winkless

Episode Summary:

We pick up where we left off with our teens discussing their options at the Command Center.  Jason has this bright idea to take the Zords at half power to battle Cyclopsis and Lokar despite the fact that everyone in the room says “Jason that idea sucks” or “Jason, nobody’s ever done that before” or “Jason, everything in the entire morphing grid could disappear.”  So naturally we morph and head right to Megazord.

It’s dark out and Megazord seemingly has some upgrades in that it can function at night now (despite learning that it runs on solar energy in the Green with Evil mini-series).  Cyclopsis cuts off Dragonzord’s tail and Megazord’s arm and then beats him with it as all the Zords disappear and the Rangers de-morph and land (in daylight) on the stage at the Power Ranger Day festival.  Don’t worry, Billy informs us that along with the solar power issue, Zordon apparently upgraded the Zords to go to their hiding place and not die in the event that they were defeated in battle.  Thanks for letting us know that when Zordon was threatening Jason with the whole disappearing-in-the-morphing-grid business.

With Rita’s Palace on Earth, Alpha is able to hack her computer and get into her spells and learn what weaknesses Cyclopsis has they can exploit – turns out he can’t adjust quickly to changing battle modes.  The Rangers and Goldar visit Billy’s garage for some chill time before jumping back into their respective Zords and battling it out til the end.  For the record: Ultrazord 1, Cyclopsis 0.

Power Ranger Day is officially introduced by Mayor Kerrington as the Rangers shake everyone’s hands and pat Tommy on the back pitying him and his non-Rangerness.  The Rangers are given a choice at the Command Center – do you want to keep fighting evil or are you guys cool with all the work you already did?

Group high-five shouting “POWER RANGERS!” is their response – so I guess we’re getting a second half to season 1 after all!

Facts:

-First on-screen – Jason

-First line – Zordon – “Cyclopsis is one of Rita’s most terrifying creations.”

-Focus – All

-Last Line – All – “POWER RANGERS!”

-Rita and Zordon both store their pertinent information on computers

Observations:

The most interesting thing that popped out at me in this episode is the fact that Rita’s secrets and spells and everything is on her computer.  This almost passed me by when I remembered this is 1993.  Along with having a female mayor in Angel Grove, Power Rangers was pretty ahead of its time in converting all of Rita’s files to her computer.  However, we’re teaching the kiddies a bad lesson about hacking in this episode.  Still, this is part of what made Power Rangers so exciting at the time, we weren’t just dealing with crime fighters in spandex suits, we were dealing with technology and issues unique to this period in time.  A great combination of ancient magic and mythology with the computer age. 

This was supposed to be the end of the series – at this point Saban has burned out all the original footage from Zyuranger and didn’t know what to do with this runaway hit.  What we’ll see in the episodes that aired approximately 3-4 months after this episode is specially made footage dubbed “Zyu 2.”  This will be the only part of the Power Rangers series that does not follow Japanese aired footage.

That said, at the halfway-ish point of Season 1, we’ve seen the teens tackle pollution, friends with disabilities, responsibility, female empowerment, computer hacking, nuclear waste . . . very much issues of the time.  This is what newer seasons like Samurai have been missing.  The cutting edge of what’s happening now as opposed to sticking with formulaic topics.

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.

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.

1.20 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.

1.17 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.

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.