Episode 10 - Foul Play in the Sky

Honestly, until we started watching this episode, all I remembered was that this was the airplane episode. I thought it was going to be more like the Sweet Valley High book Crash Landing, which had not as wacky hijinks about someone losing control of a plane. (Although, that book would work really well as a Kimberly and Tommy story. I'm just saying.)

Anyway. Like all stories for tv where someone goes up in a tiny plane, the plot of this episode revolves around Kimberly having to fly a plane when the pilot passes out. In this case the pilot is her uncle Steve, who is actually fairly cute, and the reason he's passed out is because he's been given what we can only assume is liquid green iocane powder. We assume this because even though a giant vial of green liquid was poured into Steve's drink, he still drank the whole thing. Therefore it had to be odorless and tasteless. Coming along on the trip are Bulk and Skull, who are actually pretty awesome in this episode. The only reason they come along is... to yell a lot? Insert random commentary? Prove that her uncle is totally oblivious? (Okay, they are probably actually there to just make sure that Kimberly can't just teleport out.)

While flying, but before Uncle Steve passes out, we are introduced to Angel Grove's geography. First, let me make one thing clear - Angel Grove is not a city. Angel Grove is a suburb. That is not a city by any standard, and I'm not just saying that because I'm from New York. But seriously, they show a giant park and rows of houses and the youth center. Of course, it isn't like Angel Grove's geography has ever made any sense, considering that it is located by a rain forest, an ocean, a desert and a glacier. But we also get treated to a flashback of the series premiere when they fly over the mountains near the Command Center. (Zordon apparently stole a Romulan or Klingon Cloaking Device, and that's how nobody notices the Command Center. Or so we've decided.)

Uncle Steve finally succumbs to the green iocane drink, and he passes out. Bulk and Skull both faint as well, but it is pretty clear that Skull has only pretended to pass out because he still does whatever Bulk wants him to, so we can only assume that he hears what happens next. Instead of calling Air Traffic Control, Kimberly calls Zordon. Alpha talks her through landing the plane, which... well, mythbusters says it might be possible, but since Alpha didn't have a flight controller's view, we doubt it.

Moving back over to the rest of the Rangers, we get a very important character introduction this episode! Angela, aka the girl who keeps turning Zack down, because she is way too awesome for his bullshit. She is wearing a totally ridiculous outfit, but she's working two hula hoops at a time, which makes her way more awesome than anyone. (Zack's outfit is also ridiculous. Bulk and Skull have awesome boots, and Kimberly looks fabulous. Seriously, whoever picked out her outfit in this episode did a great job. She looks adorable.)

While Kimberly is attempting to not crash the plane, Rita sends down her most ridiculous monster yet - the Snizzard. Half snake, half lizard. Look, we don't make this stuff up, we just report it. For some reason, the monster is blue. Because apparently that's the color you think of when you think of snakes, clearly. The rangers are having lots of trouble beating the Snizzard (which sounds like a bad Harry Potter pairing name for Snape/Wizard) until Kimberly finally lands the plane. She runs away from the plane without offering any explanation, even though there are police and ambulances on their way. Nobody tries to chase or follow her or even get a statement or anything.

Kimberly morphs to join the battle, and then she then beats the monster all by herself, making the moral of this episode that Kimberly is amazing, and that girls kick a lot of ass. This is a moral that we both approve of. Kimberly is also the first Ranger to defeat a monster by herself, unless you count the Jason's Zord beating Bones way back in episode 2. (We don't. For the record.)

The episode ends with Kimberly flirting with a guy who is not Tommy (we approve of him too!) and bragging about how she landed the plane. Zack says to Jason, "'tell me more you big strong hunk of a man, you!" and then I demand that the entire internet (or at least QueenRiley) should write Jason/Zack fic. Okay, Zack was trying to mock Kimberly, but that actually makes no sense, because she was the one telling the story. And then Bulk and Skull get covered with food, ruining what could have been a decent ending to the episode.

Fish: We actually had a running commentary during the episode about how many fish this episode should get. At one point it was as low as 2, at another it was as high as 4. We ended up going for a middle ground of 3 fish, because Kimberly and Angela are awesome. Also, considering everything, this episode still isn't as ridiculous as Big Sister or Teamwork. I mean, the whole having to land a plane thing has a tv tropes entry and everything!

Billy speak: None! He's barely even in this episode! I can't even remember if he talks.

Covered in food: Bulk and Skull. Of course.

Oh my God, we are so old moment: Kimberly uses a pay phone to call Trini. Life before cell phones. WHAT.

Question: Okay, so Bulk and Skull were only in this episode to prevent Kimberly from just teleporting out. But since they were both unconscious, why didn't Kimberly teleport them all out anyway?

Extra bonus question: Where in California do you think Angel Grove is located? Make sure your answer is close to a volcano/mountain range, a rain forest, a desert, the beach, and a glacier!