Command Center Commentaries: Mighty Morphin Power Rangers Season 2- Part 1

It might seem strange to the casual Power Rangers viewer that Mighty Morphin Power Rangers was given multiple seasons. I'm sure many are used to the idea that once a season is over, they usually change everything heading into a new season. One season is normally a series of a television program, all tied together by being seasons in the Power Rangers franchise. But at the time, Saban probably didn't want to take that risk yet. Power Rangers was the biggest thing in the world for kids at the time and they probably didn't want to alienate those viewers that brought them success by changing too much right away. But, those changes did need to happen in Season 2 to keep the show current and relevant. With limited Sentai footage carrying over, they had to borrow elements from the next Sentai series, while also maintaining the same aesthetic look that made them popular. It's ingenious how they were able to accomplish this over the next 2 seasons, but for now, let's focus on the changes that occurred in the first batch of episodes (episodes 1-9) from Season 2.


Episode 1- The Mutiny Part 1: Nothing kicks off a season better than an epic 3-part episode that completely changes everything we knew about Power Rangers. While the Rangers are preparing for a charity ATV race (yeah sure, why not?), Rita's palace is invaded by the true Emperor of Evil, Lord Zedd. Watching this as a kid, you had to be scared to death of Zedd's appearance. A red body, covered in muscles and veins. An exoskeleton made of chrome. A bright red visor that shoots a beam like a periscope. A snake that becomes his magic staff. And that booming voice. He is amazing. One of the best debuts a villain could ever have on a show like this. He berates Rita for not being able to defeat mere children and banishes her to outer space. HOLY CRAP! In a manner of one episode, a new villain arrives, completely belittles a villain we've spent 60 episodes with, and takes over command, while also not even considering the Rangers to be a legitimate threat. He also creates a new army of Putties that prove to be stronger than Rita's, but can be defeated if the Rangers hit the Z on their chests (minor flaw there Zedd). But the episode comes to an end when Zedd's new monster terrorizes the town and freezes the Rangers' Zords. What are they gonna do now?

Episode 2- The Mutiny Part 2: To make matters worse, the Pirantishead monster takes full control of the Tyrannosaurus Zord and the Dragon Zord. To combat Zedd's new threats, Zordon and Alpha create the Thunder Zords. But they can only be activated if the Rangers regain control of the Dino Zords. So Billy and Trini begin to work on a device that will give them full control of their Zords. The episode ends with Tommy, Jason, Zack, and Kimberly trying desperately to buy Billy and Trini time, as the device isn't ready yet. This episode serves as the transitional episode in the 3-parter, so there's not a whole lot to talk about. The new Zords look cool, but we haven't seen them in action yet. Also, Tommy isn't allowed to pilot a new Zord because of his limited power supply. In reality, it's because the Sentai footage they got the Zords and a lot of the Season 2 monsters from didn't have a color-coordinated Zord for him to pilot (technically Zack's Zord is green, but there's enough black on there to slip through the cracks and it would be really strange for them to give all the Rangers except Zack a Zord just on color semantics.)

Episode 3- The Mutiny Part 3: The episode ends how you'd expect it to. The Rangers summon the Thunder Zords and they save the day. It's a good debut for the Thunder Zords. With the amount of hype going into their creation, the payoff works very nicely. I should also take this time to mention what Bulk and Skull will be up to for the remainder of the season. After being rescued by the Power Rangers during this 3-parter, they vow to find out their true identities. It's a nifty way to keep Bulk and Skull more directly connected with the Rangers both in action and at school. These first three episodes served as a great debut for a new villain, an introduction to some new powers, and get the ball rolling on some new character motivations and storylines.

Episode 4- The Wanna-Be Ranger: Here's an interesting little filler episode that surprisingly focuses on Alpha. When Zordon plans to go offline for a bit, he leaves Alpha in charge of the Command Center and informs him to contact the Rangers at the first sign of trouble. When he spots a little boy lost in the park, he thinks he can handle it and teleports to help. When one of Zedd's monsters attacks Alpha to try and get taken to the Command Center, Alpha activates his self-destruct mechanism. It's a race against time for the Rangers to defeat the monster and save Alpha before he goes kaboom. In addition, the monster is an ape that can transform into the other Rangers, so that gives a lot of fun scenes and opportunities in the Ranger battles.

Episode 5- Putty on the Brain: Zedd puts a spell on Billy and Zack that causes them to see the other Rangers as Putties. Again, another fun opportunity for the action sequences. You can only imagine from their POV how surreal it would be to see Putties fighting Putties. Of course, the problem is temporarily solved because the spell is broken when the Rangers are morphed, but it's a fun idea for an episode. Besides, I love the shot of Bulk and Skull temporarily falling victim to the spell and seeing a Billy as a Putty wearing glasses. That's a shot you can't unsee. Plus, when the monster of the day shows up, Billy and Zack spring into action by working on a new invention of Billy's to neutralize the monster's fire powers. You get an idea that Billy and Zack are forming a close friendship on Jason and Tommy or Trini and Kimberly levels.

Episode 6- Bloom of Doom: Speaking of Trini and Kimberly's friendship, that's the subject of the next episode. Zedd puts a spell on Kimberly to make her grow immense jealousy towards Trini for having more people sign up for her volleyball club than Kimberly's gardening club. It's a really good episode that shows Amy Jo Johnson's range as a young actor. You can feel just how cold and bitter she feels towards someone that we usually see as her best friend. Naturally, they make up and defeat the Bloom of Doom monster with a bit of '90s "girl power." It's a cheesy filler in hindsight, but I like a lot of what is in the episode, such as the idea of Zedd trying to make the team implode on itself by capitalizing on human flaws. Listen to him narrate the consequences of Kimberly's emotions and actions. THAT is the mark of a truly evil villain.

Character Spotlight: Jason Lee Scott, played by Austin St. John

Jason is one of those characters that doesn't need a bunch of development because he never really needs to undergo any major changes. He's the leader, so he's the bravest and one of the best fighters. He's got great friendships with his entire crew. There's really not much to him. But again, it's not that big of a problem. He's the role model for the children watching the show. They can look up to him as someone they could be when they grow up. In this first batch of episodes, Jason gets a lot of combat exposure against the monsters of the day. Usually the rest of his team is captured as well and Jason is the one that has to fight the monster and save the day. It's little touches like this that made Jason stand out as one of the better Red Rangers.

Character Spotlight: Trini Kwan, played by Thuy Trang

I pretty much touched as much base on Trini as I could in Part 1, but there are a few more things I could address with the early introductions of the Season 2. For starters, in The Mutiny, when she and Billy were working on a device together, I kind of got the idea of a teased romance for the two. Of course, further developments would neutralize that altogether, but it was a nice thing that was hinted if it could've gone more long term. What I was not a fan of was her brief romance with new character Richie. He's a new kid at school that she thinks is cute, and he brings little to nothing to the table of being an actual character. The only thing I guess he was used for effectively was being a red herring for the identity of something I'll talk about in the next episode. Still, the romance with Trini and Richie was an underwhelming thing they gave Trini as one of her last "major" story arcs.

With a new villain making waves against the Rangers and Tommy's powers constantly depleting, they will need to be on their guard for a bunch of new dangers and changes coming their way. And we'll talk about one of the biggest changes in the history of Power Rangers in Part 2...


Mighty Morphin Power Rangers and images are copyrighted by Saban Entertainment