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.

1.2 High Five

Season 1 Episode 2
"High Five"
Writer: Steve Kramer
Director: Adrian Carr

Episode Summary: We open showing off Jason's amazing ability to climb a rope and Trini is concerned for his safety.  We are led to believe Trini is afraid of heights, however Ernie's Gym and Juice Bar suffered structural damage when Rita began wreaking havoc in the last episode.  Trini is just exercising caution since the rope is attached to the roof, srsly.  Billy arrives in his overalls and glasses and Jason sits on his head while coming down from the rope climb.  Wearing Jason as a boa, Billy swings back and forth comically while we, the audience, enjoy circus music.  We learn that Billy invented "communicators" which function as these devices that allow members of the team to communicate with each other regardless of their location.  Kim remarks that this is "so 90s."  Touché. 

The un-morphed rangers find out Billy's communicators tapped into the morphing grid (oops!) and they can teleport, too.  They encounter a group of Rita's Putties, Billy ends up on a rock formation which requires Trini to overcome her fear of heights to rescue him.  Rita's monster of the week, Bones, is a skeleton who transports the Rangers into a time-warp (has nothing to do with the plot) and Trini throws his head into a giant pit which destroys him.  Since we haven't used the Zords yet in this episode, Rita uses her magic wand to make a random monster grow.  He kind of looks like a medieval knight - but again, he has no relevance to the rest of the episode and disappears just as quickly as he shows up.  We end at Ernie's again and playful Zack scares Trini into climbing up the rope by wearing a skeleton mask (a la Bones).

Facts:
-First episode to focus on a specific character, Trini
-First line - "Okay Jas, let's see you do it." -Kimberly
-Last line - "ZACK!" - Kimberly
-Trini is afraid of heights and has a knack for tech language
-Kimberly first introduces the phrase "Morphinominal!" which she says twice in the episode
-Billy invents communicators and enables self-induced teleportation

Observations:  Bulk and Skull don't hit on Trini and Kim this time, but rather pick on Jason's climbing ability and call him "Monkey Man."  This prompts the sassy teenagers to encourage Bulk to climb a rope with no regard for his safety.  He's an overweight character with little upperbody strength, forcing him to climb a rope with no safety mat underneath caused him to hit his back on the floor when he fell.  So let's laugh at his failure?  Seriously?  Second, Zordon still has this weird English accent.  Third, what's with the random knight monster Rita throws into the mix?  Obviously it's for show-length and to have a chance to use the Zords in the episode (read: 30 minute toy commercial).  But it also shows how creative Saban is in incorporating the Japanese Sentai footage into the US format.  To the trained eye, we see two different episodes of Zyuranger used to bring us "High Five". 

Early Hypothesis: Also, what I'm noticing is that while Jason and Zack have the strength and martial arts training necessary to fight villains and Kim and Trini are both agile and can flip out of situations easily - the team really wouldn't be able to beat most of Rita's villains without Billy.  His communicators are carried throughout the entirety of the series - and at the time were kind of crazy since only Zack Morris had a cell phone.  He enables the rangers to choose when they teleport and allows them to coordinate from long distances.  Oh yeah, AND he knows martial arts (as we see in Episode 1), oh yeah, AND he's a trained gymnast (or, David Yost - the actor is).  Trini speaks tech, knows martial arts, and has the physical flexibility that Kimberly does (without the grace) - clearly she and Billy are the most valuble/undervalued members of the team.