Command Center Commentaries: Mighty Morphin Power Rangers Season 1- Part 4

During the production of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, there was a HUGE elephant in the room that was plaguing the upcoming episodes. In the Sentai, the Green Ranger doesn't last as long as we'd think he would. He...dies. And yet, Tommy is the most popular character at this point and the key reason for Power Rangers staying on the air. You can imagine the amount of panic that would be circulating around the creative team. If you made your way through the episodes following Green with Evil, Tommy would get separated from the rest of the team, either being knocked out by the Putties, attacked by the monster of the day, or being somewhere where he was separated from his communicator. He'd later show up towards the end of the battles and be a clean-up player for the team. Morph, show up, summon Dragon Zord, and they win. That was the formula that was occurring most of the time, but they had to do the inevitable: they had to bring the Green Ranger to an end. On top of that, the season was arriving at the end of the original 40 episode contract that they were signed up for, so within episodes 31 to 40, they had to find a way to give the Green Ranger a proper sendoff, but also deliver on the planned season finale. The pressure is on, so let's see how the show handled its purposed final 10 episodes.


Episode 34- The Green Candle Part 1: How do you solve the dilemma of Green Ranger Sentai footage? Simple, you write him off. But because this was a show for kids, they couldn't kill him off like in the Sentai. Instead, we get the great storyline of The Green Candle. This two-parter is near perfection. The premise is simple: Rita unveils a candle made of green wax that is connected to Tommy's powers. When the candle burns out, Tommy's powers are gone. They address in the show that he must have touched the candle when he was under her spell during the Green With Evil saga, and that she's been holding it as a trump card for such an occasion. That's GENIUS. It'd be easy to not even address a continuity issue like that and get away with it on children's programming, but they treated their viewers like they weren't stupid with a moment like this. I like that a lot. She also sends a cyclops monster that can mimic the megazords. Part 1 ends with the stakes the highest they've ever been on the show: if the Rangers are unsuccessful, Tommy will no longer be a Power Ranger.

Episode 35- The Green Candle Part 2: Thanks to Billy's invention, Jason goes into Rita's Dark Dimension to battle Goldar and retrieve the Green Candle. But when the Cyclops comes back, Tommy can't hold him off on his own, so the Rangers are called in to help. Now it's a race to the finish, as they have to dispatch the monster in time to go back and get the candle. Of course, they are unsuccessful in getting the candle, but the day is saved when Tommy gives his power coin to Jason. Tommy is no longer a Power Ranger, but his powers stay in the team and Jason receives the gold shield, the Dragon Dagger, and the Dragon Zord. And the episode gives you a happy ending by giving the fans something they'd been hoping to see for a while: Tommy asks Kimberly out on a date and they kiss. YAY! If you don't know the show well, *SPOILER ALERT* Tommy does come back. But if you were watching this as a kid when it was airing, you had no idea. At the time, it was a proper sendoff to a great character and the episode still holds up very well today.

Episode 38- A Bad Reflection on You: If you've ever gotten tired of seeing the five actors play the teens so pristine and proper, you'll enjoy this filler episode. Rita sends a monster that can turn himself and 4 Putties into evil copies of the Rangers. They cause commotion at school that gets the real Rangers in detention. While they're in detention, the phony Rangers wreak havoc on Angel Grove. That's a clever idea. I actually really like and I wish Rita would've returned to that idea a handful more of times, because it actually works for a good chunk of the episode. Also, this is the only other episode that had Bryan Cranston voice a monster, as he voices Twin Man. His voice is used for maybe two minutes, but you can't help but appreciate the early beginnings of one of my favorite actors on one of my favorite childhood shows.

Episode 39- Doomsday Part 1: Angel Grove is holding a Power Rangers Day in honor of our colorful heroes, but Rita makes all of the town citizens vanish in a vortex. At the same time, Goldar terrorizes the city with his own Megazord. The Rangers have to find a way to save the day, or lose all the people of Angel Grove forever. It's a pretty cool concept for a purposed finale, but the execution leaves a little to be desired. This could have been 1 episode, and a lot of the stuff in the two-parter seems a bit slow for my taste. We also have a moment of Angela turning Zack down, but saying that she'd accept a date from him in a heartbeat if he was a Power Ranger. This has been popping up in a couple of the filler episodes at this point, and I'm still baffled about what Zack sees in her outside of looks. We also have a great bit from Bulk and Skull trying to steal the thunder at the celebration by debuting their alter egos The Incredible Bulkster and Super Skull. There's an awful lot of Megazord footage in episodes 39 and 40, so get used to seeing that. Not a whole lot to rave about the first part, as it's just set up for what should be an epic conclusion to one of the toughest challenges the Power Rangers have ever faced. What's going to happen next?

Episode 40- Doomsday Part 2: They save the day, obviously, and we get to the final 5 minutes of the episode, which are really worth talking about. There's so much finality in this episode. Rita and her goons flee from Earth, the people of Angel Grove are returned safely, the Power Rangers are regarded as town heroes, and look...even a cameo from Tommy. On top of that, Zordon gives them the option to carry on with their normal lives and entrust the powers in the hands of the next generation of Power Rangers. Of course, they say they'll continue to be Rangers, and celebrate as we head to the end credits. Remember, this was supposed to be the final episode of the season, but the show had proven to be so popular that an additional 20 episodes were ordered as a result. Kinda neutralizes the importance of an episode like Doomsday in hindsight, but it's still cool to see how the show was planned to end.

Character Spotlight: Zack Taylor, played by Walter Emanuel Jones

Once again putting racism aside in terms of the casting, Zack was more than just the token black guy. He actually brought a lot of levity to the episodes. Quick with one-liners and comebacks, Zack was the cool guy that children watching would've wanted to have as their best friend. His unique breakdance fighting style (Hip Hop Kiddo) also allowed him to stand out during many of the fight scenes. Seemingly confident and fearless, there were only three things that got in Zack's way: spiders, snakes, and Angela. His pursuit of Angela is one of the aspects with his character that I just don't get. Based on how she treats him, I'm surprised he wanted her in the first place. Guess you can chalk that up to the excitement of the chase. Anyways, Zack was funny, a good dancer, an unorthodox fighter, a loyal friend, and an excellent member of the team.

Season Spotlight: Weapons and Zords

The Rangers have a classic arsenal of weapons and Zords at their disposal. It's pretty simple to process the weapons. Zack has an ax, Kimberly has a bow and arrow, Billy has a lance, Trini has a pair of daggers, Jason has a sword, and Tommy has a combination dagger and flute. A flute? Interesting. In all seriousness, the dagger does its job well and the flute is only used to summon the Dragon Zord. I'll use that to segue to the Zords. I like that the Rangers have Zords that have their own special powers. Like the Mastodon Zord has ice powers, the Triceratops Zord has hooks that shoot out of his horns, and the Tyrannosaurus Zord can actually fight many battles on its own. The original Megazord has such an iconic look to it, but I'm a much bigger fan of the other megazord combinations. I like the Dragon Zord, I like the Dragon Zord in fighting mode that combines with the Triceratops, Mastodon, and Sabertooth Tiger Zords. But the best combination is the Megazord and the Dragonzord combining with Titanus to form the UltraZord. To find out how I feel about that, I redirect you to my Island of Illusion review in Part 3.

With 20 more episodes ordered for Season 1, what can happen next for the Power Rangers? Tune into Part 5 to find out...


Mighty Morphin Power Rangers and images are copyrighted by Saban Entertainment