Episode 12 - Happy Birthday Zack

Hey, it's a Zack centered episode! It only took 12 episodes before he got an episode all to himself. We're surprised it took so long, because Zack is awesome.

Anyway. It's Zack's birthday. We have no idea how old he's supposed to be turning, but the other Rangers have decided to throw him a surprise party, and because Angel Grove is totally centered around them, Ernie is letting them take over the Youth Center the night before to decorate for Zack's party. I hope they're paying Ernie handsomely for this, but considering they rarely remember to pay for their food most of the time, I doubt it.

The episode opens with Billy dancing (apparently he got over the dancing thing with help from the young deaf girl) while the Rangers decorate. Billy apparently built a cake-o-matic, because apparently Billy is impatient for replicators to be invented in the 24th century, or whatever. Of course, the cake-o-matic promptly explodes, and Billy and Ernie get covered in something sticky and blue, while Kimberly and Trini look on without actually trying to help them. They are clearly the best friends ever.

After they get cleaned up, we get possibly my favorite moment in the show, and an excuse for me to at some point write an epic Batman/Power Rangers crossover. Ernie is talking to the four Rangers, and he tells them he's heard things about the Power Rangers. They pretend they don't know who he is talking about, because apparently that is their way of deflecting attention from themselves, when it instead makes them sound like morons, because the Power Rangers have been on tv at this point, and since people call them Power Rangers, they've clearly had to have given at least one press conference at this point. But I don't really care, because it lets Ernie say that "Maybe the Power Rangers will do for Angel Grove what Batman has done for Gotham City."

GOTHAM CITY EXISTS IN THE POWER RANGERS UNIVERSE. IT IS CANON.

I apologize for the all caps, but I felt that the amazingness of that needed to be pointed out incredibly strongly. (Look, I love comic books even more than I love Power Rangers, and I love Power Rangers a LOT.)

Ernie continues to tell Jason and Billy what he's heard about the Power Rangers - namely, that they're ordinary humans. This is clearly a hint from Ernie saying "Hey, I know who you guys are. I'm not that stupid." However, Jason is an idiot, and he instead tells Ernie that he heard the Rangers were really space aliens. Because that thought is supposed to be comforting. Look, Jason, people aren't stupid. Did you not see how the deaf girl ran right over to you? People know. Also, space aliens defending people from other space aliens is not at all comforting. One of the nice things about Power Rangers is that these are normal humans, albeit ones who were given the ability to morph by aliens, but most of the martial arts skills are theirs. (Can you tell I have a problem with later series where suddenly they all have special abilities when they're demorphed?)

Jason's attempt at lying and Ernie's pretending to go along with it is interrupted by Bulk and Skull, because the rangers apparently can't remember to lock the door. Nice job, everyone! This is actually the worst we've seen Bulk and Skull - they're downright cruel in this episode, and Skull's sexual harassment of Trini is not at all okay, although the Rangers were still jackasses with some of their comments. (Comparing people to animals is not okay.)

Even after Bulk and Skull leave, the Rangers apparently still don't quite grasp the concept of 'locking the door' because Zack wanders in. Apparently Trini failed to tell her mother this was going to be a surprise party, because she told Zack where they would be hanging out. Zack is very sad that people have apparently ditched him, but we were a bit distracted at this point because damn, his shorts were short. He has seriously nice legs.

Moving on, Rita has also remembered that it is Zack's birthday. Well, it isn't so much that she remembered, it's that all she does is spy on them. Honestly, if she went off and tried to conquer some other city, nobody would notice. But instead she keeps concentrating on Angel Grove. Whatever. She decides to send down a Nasty Knight, and uses an awesome spell to summon him from her big book of monsters.

The next morning, Zack approaches Kimberly at school, and is totally passive-aggressive about his birthday. Seriously, he asks "Do I look any older to you?" Kimberly pretends that she did forget a birthday, and Zack looks really happy, until Kimberly hints that she forgot her pet poodle's birthday, and she hopes the dog won't be mad at her. I'm not quite sure what is more amazing - the fact that this is the excuse she came up with, or the fact that Zack totally buys it as a plausible excuse. Seriously, Kim, be more awesome. I dare you. *hearts* When Zack wanders off, the rest of the Rangers walk over and ask Kim if everything is okay. Kimberly says she hated lying to Zack. Note: Jason is wearing one of his ridiculous tank tops. We're pretty sure it isn't appropriate for school. This will come up again later.

Zack has apparently cut school, or else he just never hinted at his birthday until the end of the day, which we doubt, because he is an attention whore. He's hanging out in a quarry, because... that is where you go when you're cutting school because your friends forgot your birthday? I've got nothing else to offer at that. Rita shows up with Zack's gift, and we're sure that Zack wishes that Rita had forgotten his birthday too. He morphs and fights both the Nasty Knight and Goldar. Zordon is totally oblivious for a while, and then summons the other rangers. Jason is now wearing something else over his shirt. Seriously, he totally got in trouble because of the dress code.

Upon arriving at the quarry, they find that the Knight has the ability to ruin their weapons with one hit, so the Rangers use their blade blasters and shoot him. Rita grows the monster, and there is an exceptionally long Zord summoning sequence, during which we came up with a few theories. First, the Rangers never sound at all excited about Zord summoning. It's silly. Also, we have to wonder how many people end up dying from the volcano every time Kimberly summons her Zord. (I'd also desperately love fic about someone studying that particular volcano.)

The Mega Sword also gets ruined by the Knight, and it looks like all hope is lost for the Rangers, until Zack has the bright idea to reflect energy back at the Knight. Apparently 'reflect energy' is code for 'shoot it with laser beams' and we're really impressed that there were only 3 minutes left in the episode before we had to yell fish! The Mega Sword miraculously repairs itself, and then the Nasty Knight is dusted.

After their victory, the Rangers lead Zack back to the Youth Center, which is completely dark. They turn on the lights and a whole bunch of random extras are there! There was no sign of Angela, which is sad, because she makes episodes more awesome. Zack is excited and he hugs his friends a lot, and then the rangers all dance except for Billy, because his cake-o-matic explodes again and he and Ernie get covered a second time. Except this time the frosting is pink. Whatever.

Rating: Two fish! The rangers actually act like normal teenagers in this episode. And there is BATMAN. You can never go wrong with Batman!

Billy speak: "You're right, Kimberly, the performers assembled to create this harmonious tune transcend all predecessors to this genre of music"
Trini translation: "He likes the music."

Billy speak: "I fail to ascertain why this appliance isn't working, I mean the molecular mix re-arranger is still intact"
Ernie translation: The cake-o-matic that Billy built for Zack's surprise party - it went on the warpath.

Billy speak: "Her proficiency with complex illustrated characterizations is quite impressive, isn't it?"
Kimberly commentary: "Don't look at me, I don't speak Billy."
Trini translation: "He said I draw a good cartoon."

Rita's spell: "Moon of ivory, stars of old, candlelight that's spun of gold. Sky of fire, wind of fright, bring to me a Nasty Knight."

Covered in food: Ernie and Billy (twice!), Skull