Command Center Commentaries: Power Rangers Zeo Part 4

At this moment on Power Rangers Zeo, the big question that kept fans watching was the identity of the Gold Ranger. It could be Billy. It could be Tommy's brother David. It could be Skull. The point was, we had a very compelling list of candidates that could possess the powers of this mysterious Gold Ranger. Episodes 31-40 did their job in giving us the identity of the Gold Ranger, but it isn't as simple as that. From what I've gathered, Brad Hawkins (the main actor on VR Troopers) was slated to play the character of the Gold Ranger, even voicing him in early episodes. Something happened to change those plans, so the Gold Ranger was given an underwhelming identity. To save us from a lackluster build, it was necessary to bring in a former Ranger to take on the Gold Ranger's powers. How did they make this work? Well let's find out...


Episode 32- Do I Know You?: The major moment of this episode that really narrowed down the potential list of identities for the Gold Ranger was when the Gold Ranger was teleported to the Power Chamber and acknowledged Zordon and Alpha. They deduce that for him to know them, they must've known him. Well...that rules out both Skull and David. It really made a lot of people think it could be Billy, but you can tell it's not. If he was, he would tell them. He wouldn't be this darn stubborn to keep the secret going. In truth, he was working on something for them. Had David Yost stayed with the show, it was heavily rumored that the goal was to have him create the powers they'd be using for next season. Of course, he had a falling out with the production and plans changed. But yes, after watching this episode, it really nailed in that all the candidates for the Gold Ranger were merely red herrings.

Episode 33- Revelations of Gold: After being wounded in a battle, we finally know the identity of the Gold Ranger. It's.....someone we've never seen before. The Gold Ranger is named Trey, an alien from the planet Triforia. The gimmick with Trey was that he was split into three personalities (using triplet actors...nice touch guys) of courage, wisdom, and heart. This causes his powers to be unbalanced, so they must be transferred to someone else. The Rangers naturally don't hesitate to select Billy, but thanks to some science mumbo jumbo, he's not able to. Tommy has another idea and leaves to go get another candidate for the powers. Probably his brother David, but we don't know for sure until the next episode.

Episode 34- A Golden Homecoming: Tommy makes it back to the Power Chamber with the new recruit and it's...JASON!?!?!? HOLY CRAP!!!! I can't imagine how good that must've felt for the fans when it first aired. It's such a great homecoming for the original Red Ranger. He takes on the Gold Ranger's powers and it feels just like old times. I got chills when he said "Back to action!" The Rangers also add the Super Zeo Zords to their arsenal in this episode, as well as Rito and Goldar get their memories back and reunite with Zedd and Rita. Now they're focused to try and take over the world again. What an episode to shake things up. You've got the return of an old ranger to take on the powers of the Gold Ranger, an unveiling of new zords, AND we're teased that Rita and Zedd are a force to be reckoned with yet again. Lots of stuff going on and fans were probably glued to their sets for the rest of the season. An episode like this has THAT much momentum going for it.

Episode 35- Mondo's Last Stand: With Jason back on the team, Rocky feels like he's being replaced. Which makes sense, after all, HE replaced Jason, so it's not too out there to think he'd be paranoid of turnabout being fair play. To prove himself, he tries to fight King Mondo on his own. It blows up in his face, obviously, but the Rangers band together to save the day. Mondo is destroyed, but Queen Machina makes it explicitly clear that Mondo will be back after a little bit of repair. But for now, we've got 15 episodes left, and our main villain has been temporarily destroyed. As far as major story arcs go for the season, anything is possible at this point.

Episode 36- Bomber in the Summer: The good times couldn't last very long for the Rangers, as a new baddie is created by Zedd and Rita to overthrow the Machine Empire. This new bad guy, Louie Kaboom, has a bit of an annoying voice that's tough to get around, but time will tell to see what kind of lasting impression he makes. This episode also introduces Jason's potential girlfriend for the season Emily. It seems so strange to see Jason have a love interest since he was really the only one in the original Power Rangers team to not be romantically attached to someone. I can't understand why, as he seems very good at it with his scenes with Emily.

Episode 37- The Lore of Auric: This episode had two main moments in the long run. The first was that it introduced the character of Auric the Conqueror, serving as a Ninjor-like ally for the team. However, there is a misunderstanding when Sprocket awakens Auric and convinces him the Rangers are evil. I'm surprised a villain hasn't thought of that until now. Summon a great warrior, convince them the Rangers are evil, and have them do all the dirty work for them. Brilliant. Anyways, the other aspect of the episode that's worth noting is that Tanya is able to find and save her long-lost parents in the jungle. It's a happy ending and all, but they're never seen or heard from again, so it kinda goes nowhere. But in the confines of the episode itself, it's a nice moment for Tanya's character.

Episode 40- The Joke's on Blue: We get the arrival of Prince Gasket, the heir to the Machine Empire, in this episode. He and his wife Archerina devise a plan to make Louie Kaboom fall in love with Archerina. They use that to their advantage and send him to go and destroy the Rangers, which ultimately backfires. With Louie gone, Gasket celebrates knowing the Machine Empire can now be in his control. What kind of evil plans will Gasket and Archerina have in store for the Rangers? Well, with 10 episodes left, we hopefully get some really solid episodes that make it worth adding them on as main villains.

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

Having Jason come back was a huge shocker for fans watching the show at the time. Of course, it does raise the question of where the heck Zack and Trini were, but that's a minor gripe. It would have been easy for them to not develop Jason any further than how we knew him when he left back in Season 2 of Mighty Morphin, but they took advantage of the opportunity that presented itself. Jason has been gone from being a Power Ranger for 2 years, and he's clearly going to have room for growth as a person. Moments where he thanks Tommy for stepping up as leader when he had to leave for the Peace Conference, assuring Rocky that he won't be replaced, and his romance with Emily. All these felt like a step in the right place for gradually developing Jason. He wasn't your stereotypical leader character anymore. There was a bit more substance in his episodes and the long-time fans definitely got a kick out of seeing Jason back on a team with Tommy, this time with the roles reversed. It's now Tommy who is leading as the Red Ranger and it's Jason who is the Sixth Ranger struggling with his powers. But I'll cover that more next time.

Season Spotlight: Bulk and Skull

The big progression with Bulk and Skull this season came when they stuck up for Lt. Stone after he was fired from the Police. After that, they became second-rate detectives and the comedic possibilities became endless. If there was anything that staggered Bulk and Skull slightly, it was the episodes that had them bully Rito and Goldar. While it's funny to see these two in control of the monsters that used to terrorize them, it regresses their development over the years and reverts them back to selfish bullies. Other than that, I really felt Bulk and Skull's material, like usual, makes most of the filler episodes must-see television.

Gasket and Archerina only have 10 episodes left in the season to prove their worth. But we'll get to talk about that in Part 5...


Power Rangers Zeo and images are copyrighted by Saban Entertainment