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

Change is the theme of Season 2, and episodes 10-18 change the entire landscape of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. As the season progressed, one of the story arcs that tied even the most mundane of filler episodes together was Lord Zedd's plan to get rid of the Green Ranger's powers. It actually got pretty dramatic in some moments. It had to be building towards something, and it would be answered very early on in this season. By now, if you're a fan, you've been waiting for me to get to a pair of 2-part episodes that swap out one 6th Ranger for another. This is something I've been waiting for too, as we're about to get to the debut for my all-time favorite Power Ranger: the White Ranger.


Episode 12- Green No More Part 1: This 2-part episode brought us the conclusion to the storyline of Tommy's battle with his powers. Lord Zedd sends down a monster that actually sucks out the remainder of the Green Ranger's power in order to power a crystal that will lead to the creation of Zedd's Dark Rangers. Let me just stop right there for a moment. The Dark Rangers were an interesting concept, essentially taking Rita's idea of creating the Evil Green Ranger and making an entire team out of it. Comprised of 5 new kids at Angel Grove High, eerily resembling our original 5 Rangers right down to the colors they wear, it COULD have been a cool moment for the series. Instead, they are given 5 of the most embarrassing costumes you could ever wear. They are completely non-threatening, some of them aren't even the right color, and they make the Putty costumes look dignified. Awful. Simply awful.

Episode 13- Green No More Part 2: On to the stuff that actually involves Tommy's last battle as the Green Ranger. Tommy loses his powers, but is still able to defeat the monster, fight Goldar, enter Zedd's dimension, and destroys the crystal. Conveniently, touching the crystal left Tommy energized for one more fight, and so he saves the day. This would have been a really great way to give Tommy another great sendoff for a while, but the stuff with the Dark Rangers makes this a mixed bag of an episode to watch.

Episode 14- Missing Green: I think we've arrived at the point in the show where Tommy not being around just felt wrong. There's a handful of episodes where we are back to the original 5 and it feels like something is missing. However, this is a really good filler because of what it did with the story. Jason is missing Tommy, but even worse, blames himself for Tommy losing his powers in the first place. This is continuity that exists all the way back to The Green Candle. That's pretty impressive stuff. Even worse, Zedd plans to do the same thing with The Green Candle with the other 4 Rangers. It's up to Jason to save the day. This episode goes out of its way to show just how awesome Jason really is as the team's leader. Although, am I mistaken or does something seem off with Jason's voice in the episode? Particularly when he's morphed. Ah well, I'm sure that's not going to happen often. We even get a Tommy cameo at the end of the episode and he's no longer wearing green. Instead, he's wearing all white. Odd...

Episode 17- White Light Part 1: You wanna talk about an episode where stuff gets kicked up a notch? Zedd sends down a very powerful monster that lays waste to the Rangers. Meanwhile, Rita's dumpster has landed on Earth and in the possession of Bulk and Skull. If they can get the dumpster open, they could very well learn the identities of the Power Rangers. And while all of that is going, Zordon and Alpha disappear to an unknown section in the Command Center and Billy discovers what they are doing: making a new Power Ranger. HOLY CRAP! There is so much going on. The resolution to this 2-parter had better deliver.

Episode 18- White Light Part 2: The Rangers are called in by Zordon and Alpha to meet the new addition to their team: The White Ranger. This is a great debut. He descends from above the Command Center and takes off his helmet as the show cuts to commercial. Returning from the commercial break, they reveal the identity of the White Ranger: IT'S TOMMY!!!! HECK YES!!!! He is given his new Zord, his new weapon, and is declared the new leader of the Power Rangers. The Rangers save the day, both by destroying the monster and stopping Rita before she can give their secret away. With so much going on in the 2-parter, you'd expect it to feel too jumbled to be coherent. But the show does a great way to tie everything together in an entertaining 40 minute episode that serves as a memorable return for one of the best Power Rangers ever.

Character Spotlight: Billy Cranston, Played by David Yost

Billy was one of the biggest characters to evolve over the course of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, and we see some strong showings of that in the early episodes of Season 2. Thanks to more time spent in the Command Center, Billy grew in knowledge of the technology and utilized more of his own inventions to help stop the monster of the day. That's a key thing about the teenagers that proves Zordon made the right call choosing them as Power Rangers. The powers don't define them, their abilities as humans do. Billy uses resourcefulness in technology to help the Rangers in battle. Not to mention that his fighting abilities and physique also became more prominent as the episodes progress. He's come a long way from the guy who joined Jason's karate class to build his self-confidence.

Character Spotlight: Zack Taylor, played by Walter Emanuel Jones

Not much is done with Zack during the early portion of the season. The only thing that ties him to any kind of progression is the introduction of his cousin Curtis. But even then, Curtis spends more time being best friends with Richie than he does interacting with his own family. Thankfully, Angela did not come over to Season 2, so there's one good thing that came out of Zack's lack of progression. Still, wish more was done with him, as he was really doing some great stuff at the end of Season 1. Although, knowing what we know is due to come in the next couple of episodes, it's probably for the best that they didn't start any monumental story arcs with him.

With Tommy back on the team as the White Ranger, there are still a number of changes coming that will shakeup the Ranger team. I'll talk more on that as we head into Part 3...


Mighty Morphin Power Rangers and images are copyrighted by Saban Entertainment