The today on Power Rangers pretty much boils down to Tommy is scary and Scorpina is awesome. We are clearly in for a great episode
We open at Angel Grove High School, where Kimberly is asking Tommy if he's going to go to the beach with them the next day. Kimberly, sweetie, if you want to make out with him, stop inviting him to group events. Tommy says no, because he's going to try out for a karate commercial. Oh, Tommy. Don't you realize that commercials only lead to becoming a MMA fighter with a lot of scary tattoos? Why do you do this to us?
Zack is wearing red pants. Apparently Ranger Rule #23 (thanks foxtree!) is in effect. Kimberly just looks ridiculous, but she gets a better outfit later. (Trini has the best clothes this episode. We're not sure what alternate reality we've landed in.)
Bulk and Skull come wandering down the hallway. Apparently Bulk is also trying out for the commercial, with Skull as his manager. We're sure this is going to end well. Really. Tommy takes the opportunity to show off his martial arts skills, and seriously, how has he not been expelled for fighting in the hallway? I know Angel Grove only has one teacher and the principal, but O.o I used to teach high school, and if one of my students had been doing karate in the hallway, they'd be in for a world of trouble.
At the beach (so this is the next day, right? And Tommy couldn't go with them because he's going to the commercial thing?) the Rangers are all playing volleyball. Bulk and Skull show up so that Bulk can try to get a tan, and Skull starts rubbing suntan lotion on Bulk. (Apparently they are Cable & Deadpool, and you have no idea how hard I'm kicking myself that I don't have a scan of the sunscreen incident available.) Anyway, the sunscreen goes everywhere, so Skull ends up covering Bulk in mayonnaise. OW.
Later, at the auditions (which should be at the same time as the beach thing) Bulk shows up with the worst sunburn ever. I've officially lost the episode's timeline, and that isn't even trying to figure out how old the Rangers are supposed to be. The auditions are at the high school, so revieloutionne's theory that the Angel Grove economy runs on martial arts is totally true. Bulk makes a giant fool out of himself at the audition.
Rita is apparently fed up with everything, so she decides to take a day off and let Goldar run things. Goldar sends Scorpina down to harass the volleyball playing Rangers at the beach. Two seconds before the beach was filled with civilians, but the Rangers morph anyway. Worst secret identities ever! (Queenriley started flailing again about how Trini grabbed Billy's arm, so if I get any details wrong, that is totally why. I'll return the favor as soon as we get to any episodes that have Adam.)
Scorpina apparently has a pet worm that immediately envelops the Rangers in a silk cocoon. Zordon was paying attention for once, and he tried to call Tommy. However, Tommy had taken off his communicator for the audition, so he doesn't hear it. His audition is pretty awesome. Tommy has skills. Also, the two women who are running the audition clearly want to sleep with him, and my chat with Queenriley pretty much deteriorated into all caps yelling about how he is still in high school and they are supposed to be professional adults and why are they looking at him like that?
Meanwhile, Goldar and Scorpina are doing a great job kicking the Rangers asses, and they dump the giant cocoon off a cliff, even though they were at the sandy edge of the beach two seconds ago. Angel Grove geography makes no sense.
The Rangers do manage to rescue themselves, which is awesome. They shoot their laser guns at the walls of the cocoon and get out. Now, if the villains had thought it out, the walls would have reflected their blasters back at them and they would have all shot themselves. Also, doesn't Jason have a sword?
The monster of the week (well, the first one) is named Babe Ruthless.
Let's just take a minute to ponder that. BABE RUTHLESS. I honestly cannot believe they went there. Also, you would think they would save that monster for a baseball themed episode! We were so busy being baffled by the name that we almost missed that Tommy answered his communicator in the middle of the hall that is randomly devoid of people, even though there were plenty of other people auditioning.
He morphs and goes to help out the Rangers, and they form the MegaDragonzord or the Dragonzord in Fighting Mode, and I don't even know, they use both terms, and what follows is seriously the most confusing Zord fight ever. Somehow Jason is piloting his own zord and he's in the cockpit of the MegaDragonzord? We determine that clearly FISH are piloting Jason's zord. They beat Babe Ruthless and then Scorpina shows back up with her worm which is also now giant and for some reason they go back to the regular Megazord and Tommy has returned his Zord to the ocean? We're guessing Tommy had a hair appointment or something. The Megazord gets trapped in another giant cocoon and the dragonzord cuts them out with its tail, and there's a convenient blank spot in the middle of the city for the cocoon to fall without crushing anything.
Anyway, there was a lot of fighting and we're done trying to explain it. Lots of fish in that fight. Rita yells at Goldar for screwing it up, and Goldar promptly blames Finster's monsters for sucking. Poor Finster. He's too awesome for this.
Back at the Juice Bar, one day later. The Rangers are all watching the Random Reporter Guy (who we're going to have to make a tag for, we guess) talk about how awesome they are. Apparently there was property damage! We're amazed they admit it. Ernie also goes on about how awesome they are.
Then the commercial airs. Bulk is the before, and Tommy is the after. Apparently they just used the audition footage? So we're guessing the Angel Grove Karate Center is in the actual school? And how did the commercial go up so quickly? Did they ever sign a contract? And how did they not get sued by Bulk's family?
Lists:
Fish: 4.5. Four for the ridiculous zord fight, and another half for the sheer WTF of the commercial
Covered in food: Bulk gets covered in mayonnaise.
Questions: So, why didn't Jason try out for the commercial? Did he and Tommy flip a coin or something?
Saturday, August 29, 2009
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Episode 31- Calamity Kimberly
Well I have my beers all settled here beside me and I'm ready to start this episode. It's not one of my favourites, never has been. Thank you, Mr. Guinness, for helping me get through it.
We start off in a ginormous bedroom. I've never seen master bedrooms this big, nevermind second bedrooms. It's also decorated like a hotel from the 1950's. This is definitely not a teenagers bedroom.
Kim doesn't want to get up with the alarm and manages to break her lamp and then fall out of bed while trying to turn it off. She is horrified by her bad hair and I just want to point her to the shower and tell her about this magical thing called water and shampoo. It gets rid of bed head! Fantastic invention, that.
The day turns out rainy and she breaks a mirror. Meanwhile, Rita is stalking the rangers again and thinks now would be a good time to go after Kim, since she's having a bad day and all.
At school, Kim's umbrella has broken so she's soaking wet and she got mud all over her pep rally plans. I was unaware there were planning stages to pep rallies, but then, I never attended them myself, choosing to hide in the theater or library instead. Kim's worried Tommy won't find her attractive and I can't say I've ever met a straight man that didn't like seeing hot young women in wet clothing. Just saying, is all.
Bulk and Skull tease her a little and Tommy tells them to stop. Bulk teases him instead and Tommy pushes Bulk onto a wet floor, sends him sliding through dirty mop water, and then throws him into the mop bucket. Tommy actually planned this, taking in where the spilled mop water and bucket were and then positioning himself to throw Bulk in there. That was HORRIBLE and far worse bullying than calling Tommy a name.
Everybody laughs, however, and then Tommy sets up a date with Kim for after school. They meet at a surprisingly dry park (no mud, dry wooden picnic tables, does nothing hold water in Angel Grove?) and just when Tommy manages to make Kim feel a little better, she trips and he has to catch her. I suspect we're supposed to find this romantic. I just find it annoying.
Rita sends down the Samurai Fan Man to capture Kim in his unbreakable bottle and transport her to an alternate dimension. He manages to suck her in and the wind knocks Tommy out in the process. I don't know how, it just did. Meanwhile, trapped in the jug, Kimberly spends the next however long screaming Tommy's name. And so it begins.
Zordon, in another moment of Epic Win, was actually paying attention this time. He calls Jason, who answers his communicator in the middle of the Youth Center, and tells them to teleport immediately. Jason and Zack stop girl-fighting and they all teleport just outside the main entrance to the Youth Center. There is a very convenient lounge chair in the middle of the Command Center and Alpha teleports Tommy directly onto it. Apparently he has a concussion or something.
They share a bit of the most awkward dialogue EVER in existence and Jason unenthusiastically says "It's Morph... oh whatever, you know the rest." Well, okay, technically he said "It's Morphin Time." but it might as well have been "whatever" for all the feeling he put into it.
They go after the Samurai Fan Man at the Putty Patrol Restaurant which we have never heard of and will never hear of again. Alas, too bad, it looked like a fun place to hang out. They get blown away by the Fan Man, however, and Alpha reverses their teleportation direction. Wha??? I'm lost.
The only cool thing about this fight is we get to see Giant Goldar take on all the Zords individually. That was awesome. But it fails because the Fan Man is there and somehow beats the crap out of them. With his fan. Tommy is somehow roused from his groaning, concussed state and insists on morphing to help, but DragonZord gets blown away too. They call on Titanus, manage to break open the unbreakable jar, set Kimberly free, form the UltraZord, and then... win the fight pretty much instantly.
Back at Billy's garage, which is apparently the happening place to be since they all spend so much time there, Billy is covered in grease and working on the RadBug. The others are hanging out inside his garage and watching an old television. Mr. Reporter Guy starts a story on Who Are the Power Rangers and Kim reveals she is secretly Jubilee by blowing up the television. Everybody laughs. The end.
List time:
Covered in food? Nobody
Billy Speak? None
Fish? 3.5 for being more boring than anything else
Beers consumed to get me through it? 2.5
We start off in a ginormous bedroom. I've never seen master bedrooms this big, nevermind second bedrooms. It's also decorated like a hotel from the 1950's. This is definitely not a teenagers bedroom.
Kim doesn't want to get up with the alarm and manages to break her lamp and then fall out of bed while trying to turn it off. She is horrified by her bad hair and I just want to point her to the shower and tell her about this magical thing called water and shampoo. It gets rid of bed head! Fantastic invention, that.
The day turns out rainy and she breaks a mirror. Meanwhile, Rita is stalking the rangers again and thinks now would be a good time to go after Kim, since she's having a bad day and all.
At school, Kim's umbrella has broken so she's soaking wet and she got mud all over her pep rally plans. I was unaware there were planning stages to pep rallies, but then, I never attended them myself, choosing to hide in the theater or library instead. Kim's worried Tommy won't find her attractive and I can't say I've ever met a straight man that didn't like seeing hot young women in wet clothing. Just saying, is all.
Bulk and Skull tease her a little and Tommy tells them to stop. Bulk teases him instead and Tommy pushes Bulk onto a wet floor, sends him sliding through dirty mop water, and then throws him into the mop bucket. Tommy actually planned this, taking in where the spilled mop water and bucket were and then positioning himself to throw Bulk in there. That was HORRIBLE and far worse bullying than calling Tommy a name.
Everybody laughs, however, and then Tommy sets up a date with Kim for after school. They meet at a surprisingly dry park (no mud, dry wooden picnic tables, does nothing hold water in Angel Grove?) and just when Tommy manages to make Kim feel a little better, she trips and he has to catch her. I suspect we're supposed to find this romantic. I just find it annoying.
Rita sends down the Samurai Fan Man to capture Kim in his unbreakable bottle and transport her to an alternate dimension. He manages to suck her in and the wind knocks Tommy out in the process. I don't know how, it just did. Meanwhile, trapped in the jug, Kimberly spends the next however long screaming Tommy's name. And so it begins.
Zordon, in another moment of Epic Win, was actually paying attention this time. He calls Jason, who answers his communicator in the middle of the Youth Center, and tells them to teleport immediately. Jason and Zack stop girl-fighting and they all teleport just outside the main entrance to the Youth Center. There is a very convenient lounge chair in the middle of the Command Center and Alpha teleports Tommy directly onto it. Apparently he has a concussion or something.
They share a bit of the most awkward dialogue EVER in existence and Jason unenthusiastically says "It's Morph... oh whatever, you know the rest." Well, okay, technically he said "It's Morphin Time." but it might as well have been "whatever" for all the feeling he put into it.
They go after the Samurai Fan Man at the Putty Patrol Restaurant which we have never heard of and will never hear of again. Alas, too bad, it looked like a fun place to hang out. They get blown away by the Fan Man, however, and Alpha reverses their teleportation direction. Wha??? I'm lost.
The only cool thing about this fight is we get to see Giant Goldar take on all the Zords individually. That was awesome. But it fails because the Fan Man is there and somehow beats the crap out of them. With his fan. Tommy is somehow roused from his groaning, concussed state and insists on morphing to help, but DragonZord gets blown away too. They call on Titanus, manage to break open the unbreakable jar, set Kimberly free, form the UltraZord, and then... win the fight pretty much instantly.
Back at Billy's garage, which is apparently the happening place to be since they all spend so much time there, Billy is covered in grease and working on the RadBug. The others are hanging out inside his garage and watching an old television. Mr. Reporter Guy starts a story on Who Are the Power Rangers and Kim reveals she is secretly Jubilee by blowing up the television. Everybody laughs. The end.
List time:
Covered in food? Nobody
Billy Speak? None
Fish? 3.5 for being more boring than anything else
Beers consumed to get me through it? 2.5
Saturday, August 22, 2009
Episode 30 - The Rockstar
Hey, there's no Tommy in this episode! Of course, there's also no Tommy in this episode with no explanation at all! They don't even bother to say Tommy is at a tournament" or "Tommy is visiting family" or "Tommy is at the salon getting his hair done." He just... doesn't exist for the purposes of this episode.
We open with a shot of the Radbug, which is always awesome. Apparently Zack, Kimberly, Billy and Trini are all going on some weekend getaway, and seriously, how OLD are they? I know conventional wisdom has them being 15 in this season since they don't graduate until after Zeo, but they're going away for the weekend and they can drive. Jason is apparently not going with them because his cousin Jeremy, who is not quite as dumb as Cousin Sylvia, but is still pretty ridiculous, is coming to visit.
Somehow the four Rangers manage to pack all of their luggage (Kimberly, I am impressed by how well you pack) and themselves into the Radbug, and Billy tells Jason there would still be room in the backseat, and QueenRiley and I both start giggling. We're both big fans of Mallrats, okay?
Trini is apparently taking a gourmet cooking class, and she brought them brownies for the trip. Since it's a French cooking class, you know exactly where this joke is leading up to. Yes, those are snail brownies. Eww.
Rita is very excited because the Rangers are all going out of town, so she can go look for the Mirror of Destruction, which can blow things up with the light reflected off of it! It can even destroy super putties.
Meanwhile, at the Park, Bulk is eating a sloppy joe pizza, and watching him eat it is gross. Show, please stop with the fatphobia. For real. At least we're halfway through the Bulk and Skull as crazy bullies season (and we are halfway through the first season as of this recap! It only took us nearly six months!) and then Bulk and Skull can start having character development. *sigh*
Jason and his annoying cousin show up, and words are exchanged, and Jeremy asks if these are the famous bullies that Jason told him about. The way it is said makes me believe that Jason was making fun of them to his younger cousin, so this episode totally gets a The Rangers Are Bullies tag. Bulk tries to provoke a physical fight (he's getting better, but he should really know better, since you know Jason is the winner of every tournament in Angel Grove before Tommy showed up) and Jason tricks him into falling on his face.
Leaving Bulk and Skull (also covered in pizza) to themselves, Jason goes to teach cousin Jeremy martial arts on the beach. Cousin Jeremy unfortunately has Jason's fashion sense. Jason tries to teach some more advanced moves to the cousin, and the cousin fails, and Jason tells him he was once insecure, but martial arts helped him get better. Aww, Jason and Adam have so much in common! Jason repeats the "brains over brawn" motto that is the theme of this episode.
Jason and Jeremy get attacked by Super Putties, and the two of them hold their own. Let me repeat that. The things that beat up Four morphed Rangers are now defeated by a twelve-year-old. Talk about Badass Decay.
Jeremy tells Jason he's so excited that this is happening, and both of us start rolling our eyes. Jeremy is all excited about things related to Power Rangers, but he doesn't even question being attacked by putties. I guess that is just the reputation Angel Grove has, although have we ever seen Putties attack Non Rangers at this point? I can't think of anyone.
Miraculously, cousin Jeremy finds a message in a bottle, and they open it. Crazy yellow sparks start shooting out of the bottle, and an Earthquake begins. Jason tells Jeremy to stay there (on top of a cliff, WTF) and jumps down to call Zordon. He gets points for calling Zordon, at least. He knows what his communicator is there for. We get a glimpse of the Radbug driving and hear them go "Earthquake!" and they keep going. I guess someone must have reminded Kimberly that Not All Earthquakes are Rita Related. Although in this case, that isn't true.
Jason and Jeremy look at what was in the bottle, and it's a map that is clearly no place in California. I am telling you, Angel Grove is it's own country, that is the only thing that makes sense. A monster shows up, and Jason tells the kid to run. Instead of morphing, Jason just gets hit by some rocks and is knocked over so he can't move, and Zordon miraculously was paying attention and calls the other Rangers over to help, by telling them to teleport to the beach. I guess the Country of Angel Grove only has one of those.
The Rangers all go off to look for Jeremy in the woods next to the beach, and they are the worst searches ever. Before they get very far, Zordon lets them know that Scorpina and the Rockstar (the monster that shoots rocks at people) are attacking. Billy volunteers to keep looking for Jeremy, and we have some questions. Does Jeremy know Billy? Why isn't Jason doing this, when his cousin is his responsibility? And doesn't Zordon's viewing globe locate people?
All five of them morph (and why Billy morphs we have no idea) and they find Scorpina next to a swimming pool/stadium thing by the beach. Trini and Zack get hit with giant rocks and knocked into the pool, and how they still manage to float considering they have giant rocks attached to them is beyond me.
Jeremy uses the map and finds a rock. He picks up the rock, and under it is a mirror. Worst buried treasure ever. A solitary putty is stalking him, and he opens the mirror and then the putty explodes. Not only does the putty explode, but part of a cliff explodes. Unless that cliff has eyes, the Mirror does not require eyes to blow things up. That is important for later. Anyway, Jeremy is weirded out by the exploding mirror, so he throws it away.
Somehow, Billy has joined in the battle. I guess he wasn't really looking for Jeremy after all. Scorpina now has the mirror since Jeremy threw it away, and Rita makes her grow. Somehow the Rangers manage to summon the zords and bring them together before anything else happens. I guess transformation really is a free action.
Once the Megazord is assembled, Scorpina opens the mirror, and the Rangers all sheild their eyes, so nothing happens. Except that isn't how the mirror works, as it was established three minutes earlier. Whatever. Goldar shows up, and the Rangers manage to get him inbetween them and Scorpina, so Scorpina throws the mirror away so that it won't hurt Goldar. We are really sad that we don't get more of them together in this show. Apparently they even had a cute baby in Zyuranger!
Anyway, the Rangers blow up the mirror, and then (still morphed) they talk to Jeremy. They are seriously bad at this secret identity stuff, because Trini totally pats Jason on the shoulder when Jeremy says he wonders where his cousin is.
We go back to the Youth Center. I guess the others never get their vacation. Jeremy is telling Jason all about his adventures, including parts that there was no way he had seen, because he was busy looking for the mirror while Trini and Zack got thrown into the pool. The Rangers are all excited to hear this kid talk about how awesome they are. I guess the novelty hasn't worn off yet. Jeremy asks Jason where he was, and instead of saying the smart thing or telling Jeremy that he was looking for him Jason just totally blows off the question and says he has to teach a class. The lack of quality education in Angel Grove rears its angry head again.
Lists!
Five fish. If the episode had given us an explanation for where Tommy was, we'd totally have knocked off half a fish for the lack of Tommy, but since it made us wonder where he is, five fish. Also, this episode was totally ridiculous.
Covered in food: Bulk and Skull get covered in sloppy joe pizza.
Billy speak: "An exemplary motto."
"How idiosyncratic."
We open with a shot of the Radbug, which is always awesome. Apparently Zack, Kimberly, Billy and Trini are all going on some weekend getaway, and seriously, how OLD are they? I know conventional wisdom has them being 15 in this season since they don't graduate until after Zeo, but they're going away for the weekend and they can drive. Jason is apparently not going with them because his cousin Jeremy, who is not quite as dumb as Cousin Sylvia, but is still pretty ridiculous, is coming to visit.
Somehow the four Rangers manage to pack all of their luggage (Kimberly, I am impressed by how well you pack) and themselves into the Radbug, and Billy tells Jason there would still be room in the backseat, and QueenRiley and I both start giggling. We're both big fans of Mallrats, okay?
Trini is apparently taking a gourmet cooking class, and she brought them brownies for the trip. Since it's a French cooking class, you know exactly where this joke is leading up to. Yes, those are snail brownies. Eww.
Rita is very excited because the Rangers are all going out of town, so she can go look for the Mirror of Destruction, which can blow things up with the light reflected off of it! It can even destroy super putties.
Meanwhile, at the Park, Bulk is eating a sloppy joe pizza, and watching him eat it is gross. Show, please stop with the fatphobia. For real. At least we're halfway through the Bulk and Skull as crazy bullies season (and we are halfway through the first season as of this recap! It only took us nearly six months!) and then Bulk and Skull can start having character development. *sigh*
Jason and his annoying cousin show up, and words are exchanged, and Jeremy asks if these are the famous bullies that Jason told him about. The way it is said makes me believe that Jason was making fun of them to his younger cousin, so this episode totally gets a The Rangers Are Bullies tag. Bulk tries to provoke a physical fight (he's getting better, but he should really know better, since you know Jason is the winner of every tournament in Angel Grove before Tommy showed up) and Jason tricks him into falling on his face.
Leaving Bulk and Skull (also covered in pizza) to themselves, Jason goes to teach cousin Jeremy martial arts on the beach. Cousin Jeremy unfortunately has Jason's fashion sense. Jason tries to teach some more advanced moves to the cousin, and the cousin fails, and Jason tells him he was once insecure, but martial arts helped him get better. Aww, Jason and Adam have so much in common! Jason repeats the "brains over brawn" motto that is the theme of this episode.
Jason and Jeremy get attacked by Super Putties, and the two of them hold their own. Let me repeat that. The things that beat up Four morphed Rangers are now defeated by a twelve-year-old. Talk about Badass Decay.
Jeremy tells Jason he's so excited that this is happening, and both of us start rolling our eyes. Jeremy is all excited about things related to Power Rangers, but he doesn't even question being attacked by putties. I guess that is just the reputation Angel Grove has, although have we ever seen Putties attack Non Rangers at this point? I can't think of anyone.
Miraculously, cousin Jeremy finds a message in a bottle, and they open it. Crazy yellow sparks start shooting out of the bottle, and an Earthquake begins. Jason tells Jeremy to stay there (on top of a cliff, WTF) and jumps down to call Zordon. He gets points for calling Zordon, at least. He knows what his communicator is there for. We get a glimpse of the Radbug driving and hear them go "Earthquake!" and they keep going. I guess someone must have reminded Kimberly that Not All Earthquakes are Rita Related. Although in this case, that isn't true.
Jason and Jeremy look at what was in the bottle, and it's a map that is clearly no place in California. I am telling you, Angel Grove is it's own country, that is the only thing that makes sense. A monster shows up, and Jason tells the kid to run. Instead of morphing, Jason just gets hit by some rocks and is knocked over so he can't move, and Zordon miraculously was paying attention and calls the other Rangers over to help, by telling them to teleport to the beach. I guess the Country of Angel Grove only has one of those.
The Rangers all go off to look for Jeremy in the woods next to the beach, and they are the worst searches ever. Before they get very far, Zordon lets them know that Scorpina and the Rockstar (the monster that shoots rocks at people) are attacking. Billy volunteers to keep looking for Jeremy, and we have some questions. Does Jeremy know Billy? Why isn't Jason doing this, when his cousin is his responsibility? And doesn't Zordon's viewing globe locate people?
All five of them morph (and why Billy morphs we have no idea) and they find Scorpina next to a swimming pool/stadium thing by the beach. Trini and Zack get hit with giant rocks and knocked into the pool, and how they still manage to float considering they have giant rocks attached to them is beyond me.
Jeremy uses the map and finds a rock. He picks up the rock, and under it is a mirror. Worst buried treasure ever. A solitary putty is stalking him, and he opens the mirror and then the putty explodes. Not only does the putty explode, but part of a cliff explodes. Unless that cliff has eyes, the Mirror does not require eyes to blow things up. That is important for later. Anyway, Jeremy is weirded out by the exploding mirror, so he throws it away.
Somehow, Billy has joined in the battle. I guess he wasn't really looking for Jeremy after all. Scorpina now has the mirror since Jeremy threw it away, and Rita makes her grow. Somehow the Rangers manage to summon the zords and bring them together before anything else happens. I guess transformation really is a free action.
Once the Megazord is assembled, Scorpina opens the mirror, and the Rangers all sheild their eyes, so nothing happens. Except that isn't how the mirror works, as it was established three minutes earlier. Whatever. Goldar shows up, and the Rangers manage to get him inbetween them and Scorpina, so Scorpina throws the mirror away so that it won't hurt Goldar. We are really sad that we don't get more of them together in this show. Apparently they even had a cute baby in Zyuranger!
Anyway, the Rangers blow up the mirror, and then (still morphed) they talk to Jeremy. They are seriously bad at this secret identity stuff, because Trini totally pats Jason on the shoulder when Jeremy says he wonders where his cousin is.
We go back to the Youth Center. I guess the others never get their vacation. Jeremy is telling Jason all about his adventures, including parts that there was no way he had seen, because he was busy looking for the mirror while Trini and Zack got thrown into the pool. The Rangers are all excited to hear this kid talk about how awesome they are. I guess the novelty hasn't worn off yet. Jeremy asks Jason where he was, and instead of saying the smart thing or telling Jeremy that he was looking for him Jason just totally blows off the question and says he has to teach a class. The lack of quality education in Angel Grove rears its angry head again.
Lists!
Five fish. If the episode had given us an explanation for where Tommy was, we'd totally have knocked off half a fish for the lack of Tommy, but since it made us wonder where he is, five fish. Also, this episode was totally ridiculous.
Covered in food: Bulk and Skull get covered in sloppy joe pizza.
Billy speak: "An exemplary motto."
"How idiosyncratic."
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Episode 29- Wheel of Misfortune
Oh this was just painful to watch. Really really painful. It would have been easier to get through it with beer, but alas, we're out.
This episode starts with a play rehearsal. In a classroom. With some props and costumes already. So it's a dress rehearsal, except they're not on a stage. There are no stagehands, no set decorators working away on the backdrops, not even a drama teacher! The drama student in me weeps with everything that is wrong with this episode.
So Kimberly is playing Nameless Poor Maiden. Jason is the evil king making her spin straw into gold. Bulk is Rumpelstiltskin. Billy is the director. Skull is some kind of jester. The rest have no part. Principal Caplan is in charge of the kids... I guess he's the drama teacher too? I just... oh this is bad.
Bulk plays around too much with the props and breaks the spinning wheel. Kim freaks out because it belongs to her grandmother and it's an antique. Uh... then why did you bring it to school to be used as a prop, Kim??? Seriously? At least Bulk, who had been mean, had the tact to look as if he felt bad for breaking it.
She freaks out and whines to Ernie at the Youth Center. Tommy says he can fix the spinning wheel. Sure he can. All teenage boys are well versed in the operations of antique spinning wheels. *sigh* They go back to the school and discover it's missing. Kim freaks out again and they rush to the Youth Center to ask if anyone has seen it. Uh... the Youth Center? Didn't they think to ask around at, I don't know, the SCHOOL? Where the spinning wheel was being kept? I guess not. Anyway, nobody has seen it and not once does Kim, Ms. this-earthquake-must-be-Rita's-doing, suspect Rita might have taken it. I shudder as half a season of character development just falls away before my very eyes.
At least while she's being mopey, the other Rangers come to cheer her up by mocking her affectionately and lovingly. It was really rather cute.
Tommy is alone in the park. This always means trouble. He is attacked by putties and after groping one, he stops mid fight to strike a pose. I just want to look at him and say "C'mon, do it, VOGUE.". He does this just about every fight. And every fight I get Madonna stuck in my head. Thanks, Tommy.
The putties capture him and tie him to a bridge. Meanwhile, Zordon contacts the Rangers to let them know Tommy has been captured. He was paying attention! He knew what was going on as it happened! He even knew about Kim's spinning wheel going missing! Zordon for the win! They find him tied to a tree, though, and we're not sure how the putties moved him there without him escaping, but whatever. They can't rescue him, however, because they have to go fight Goldar and Scorpina. Yay! Goldar and Scorpina! And Rita's on Earth! And makes them grow! Finally something that makes sense!
But wait, the Rangers must immediately call the Zords and then Jason in the Tyrannosaurus ends up tangled up in a net. The others just kind of stand around and watch while he yells at them to get away lest they be captured as well. They lament Tommy's absence because apparently they can't beat Goldar and Scorpina on their own, despite having done so pretty much all season thus far. Tommy escapes just in time, thank goodness, and joins the fight. They free Jason and his Zord and call on Titanus to form the UltraZord. The fight is almost over and they get attacked by the spinning wheel. Finally. They beat it pretty easily with the UltraZord and the fight is over.
The spinning wheel magically appears back in the classroom and it's all repaired and working fine again. We then get to see acting worse than even my four year old is capable of while Kim, Jason, and Bulk try to act out a very very messed up version of Rumpelstiltskin. Seriously, they all wish her good luck in the middle of the play, she calls Rumpelstiltskin by his name to get him to show up, and then promises to kiss him if he'll spin the three piles of straw into gold. Way to screw up the fairy tale, Power Rangers!
Bulk's pants split open in the middle of the play while his rear-end if facing the audience and every single adult in the room laughs at him. I'm disgusted. The end.
Lists-
Five fish, solid. Just... this was painful. Ridiculous and horribly painful.
No Billy speak. He was barely in this.
Covered in food: Bulk and Skull had some mini-food fight in the Youth Center at one point, but neither of them really got covered in anything.
Questions we want answered: Why, if they needed a spinning wheel, did they not have the Rangers do the play Sleeping Beauty? Seriously? It would have been so much more awesome if Rita had made the spinning wheel prick Tommy's finger and he fell asleep.
Also, TSB would like to see the Rangers doing karaoke to Vogue. I'm intrigued.
This episode starts with a play rehearsal. In a classroom. With some props and costumes already. So it's a dress rehearsal, except they're not on a stage. There are no stagehands, no set decorators working away on the backdrops, not even a drama teacher! The drama student in me weeps with everything that is wrong with this episode.
So Kimberly is playing Nameless Poor Maiden. Jason is the evil king making her spin straw into gold. Bulk is Rumpelstiltskin. Billy is the director. Skull is some kind of jester. The rest have no part. Principal Caplan is in charge of the kids... I guess he's the drama teacher too? I just... oh this is bad.
Bulk plays around too much with the props and breaks the spinning wheel. Kim freaks out because it belongs to her grandmother and it's an antique. Uh... then why did you bring it to school to be used as a prop, Kim??? Seriously? At least Bulk, who had been mean, had the tact to look as if he felt bad for breaking it.
She freaks out and whines to Ernie at the Youth Center. Tommy says he can fix the spinning wheel. Sure he can. All teenage boys are well versed in the operations of antique spinning wheels. *sigh* They go back to the school and discover it's missing. Kim freaks out again and they rush to the Youth Center to ask if anyone has seen it. Uh... the Youth Center? Didn't they think to ask around at, I don't know, the SCHOOL? Where the spinning wheel was being kept? I guess not. Anyway, nobody has seen it and not once does Kim, Ms. this-earthquake-must-be-Rita's-doing, suspect Rita might have taken it. I shudder as half a season of character development just falls away before my very eyes.
At least while she's being mopey, the other Rangers come to cheer her up by mocking her affectionately and lovingly. It was really rather cute.
Tommy is alone in the park. This always means trouble. He is attacked by putties and after groping one, he stops mid fight to strike a pose. I just want to look at him and say "C'mon, do it, VOGUE.". He does this just about every fight. And every fight I get Madonna stuck in my head. Thanks, Tommy.
The putties capture him and tie him to a bridge. Meanwhile, Zordon contacts the Rangers to let them know Tommy has been captured. He was paying attention! He knew what was going on as it happened! He even knew about Kim's spinning wheel going missing! Zordon for the win! They find him tied to a tree, though, and we're not sure how the putties moved him there without him escaping, but whatever. They can't rescue him, however, because they have to go fight Goldar and Scorpina. Yay! Goldar and Scorpina! And Rita's on Earth! And makes them grow! Finally something that makes sense!
But wait, the Rangers must immediately call the Zords and then Jason in the Tyrannosaurus ends up tangled up in a net. The others just kind of stand around and watch while he yells at them to get away lest they be captured as well. They lament Tommy's absence because apparently they can't beat Goldar and Scorpina on their own, despite having done so pretty much all season thus far. Tommy escapes just in time, thank goodness, and joins the fight. They free Jason and his Zord and call on Titanus to form the UltraZord. The fight is almost over and they get attacked by the spinning wheel. Finally. They beat it pretty easily with the UltraZord and the fight is over.
The spinning wheel magically appears back in the classroom and it's all repaired and working fine again. We then get to see acting worse than even my four year old is capable of while Kim, Jason, and Bulk try to act out a very very messed up version of Rumpelstiltskin. Seriously, they all wish her good luck in the middle of the play, she calls Rumpelstiltskin by his name to get him to show up, and then promises to kiss him if he'll spin the three piles of straw into gold. Way to screw up the fairy tale, Power Rangers!
Bulk's pants split open in the middle of the play while his rear-end if facing the audience and every single adult in the room laughs at him. I'm disgusted. The end.
Lists-
Five fish, solid. Just... this was painful. Ridiculous and horribly painful.
No Billy speak. He was barely in this.
Covered in food: Bulk and Skull had some mini-food fight in the Youth Center at one point, but neither of them really got covered in anything.
Questions we want answered: Why, if they needed a spinning wheel, did they not have the Rangers do the play Sleeping Beauty? Seriously? It would have been so much more awesome if Rita had made the spinning wheel prick Tommy's finger and he fell asleep.
Also, TSB would like to see the Rangers doing karaoke to Vogue. I'm intrigued.
Saturday, August 15, 2009
Episode 28 - Island of Illusion Part 2
Previously, on Power Rangers: Zack was feeling "a bit anxious" about a dance competition, so Rita decided to come up with her own plan to make all the Rangers lose their self confidence. This involved summoning a ridiculous monster and a giant floating head to blow them to an Island, that may possibly be the Island from Lost. Zack is randomly afraid of snakes, and that makes him start to vanish. Also, the guy doing the previously on announcement keeps saying that the island is called the Island of Illusions, but he is wrong.
Billy almost immediately figures out that somehow Zack starting to disappear is linked to his self esteem. I still don't see how seeing a snake makes you lose your self-esteem, but what do I know? At least this starts the trend of Black Rangers having self-confidence issues. (Look, I said Mirror of Regret was one of my favorite episodes.) Quagmire appears and breaks the fourth wall to talk directly to the camera. For some reason, the Rangers think that he can help. So they try to call for him, and Kimberly calls him Quasimodo. Awesome! This time they manage to convince Quagmire that they don't like Rita, so he offers to help, which basically means doing these ridiculous rhymes about situations where the Rangers have won battles.
Zack remembers fighting the Nasty Knight on his birthday, in an episode that is far more memorable for the fact that Batman exists in the Power Rangers universe. Also, Zack was barely holding his own in that episode before the others show up, so I'm surprised that this was his big triumphant memory. Of course, since he's only had two episodes about him so far, it wasn't like they had a lot of material to work with. Zack resolidifies, and thanks Quagmire for the pep talk. I'm not sure why, because telling someone to have confidence does not translate into actual confidence.
Meanwhile, Zordon tells Alpha that the Island is reflecting communications. I'm not sure how Zordon even knows where they are. There's also some sort of war going on between Alpha and the computer, because it keeps electrocuting him. I don't even know.
Back on the Island, Tommy wonders if Quagmire also knows where their power coins are. Quagmire basically says they have to figure it out for themselves. Billy somehow has developed a program in his mind to discover where the coins are, and as he tells them to turn around, it's time for Kimberly's fear.
Okay, I really do love this show, but WHAT. Kimberly sees Bulk and Skull as Angels, rescuing a turtle. Her reasoning for being terrified by this is that if Rita can make Bulk and Skull be nice, she can do anything. Because apparently only Rita can make Bulk and Skull be nice. I am so looking forward to those two getting more character development and the greatest big damn hero moment in the show.
On the bright side, Quagmire (with some help from Tommy) makes Kimberly remember defeating the Terror Toad!!!!!! My favorite monster, yay! Kimberly doesn't want to remember it at first, because it was too gross. Oh, Kim. *hearts*
She goes back to normal, and then it's Tommy's turn. Now, if this episode was going to try to do something with character development, then Tommy would be afraid of turning evil. Instead, the show claims he's afraid of putties and starts seeing the other Rangers as putties. I choose to fanwank this as Tommy's fear of being on opposite sides of his friends and being forced to attack them, but I may be giving the show too much credit. He beats the spell by remembering beating a bunch of putties. Oh, Tommy.
Trini is afraid that she's going to be next, so of course she is. She starts remembering not just her fear of heights, but her fear that Billy was being too high, and QueenRiley starts flailing about her OTP. She remembers defending Billy and wins, and then Billy gives her a hug.
Now we get to the two fears that actually have something to do with character development. It's a minor miracle. Billy is afraid of failure. He should have figured out a way to do this. His intelligence is failing them. Trini sounds positively panicked when she yells for Quagmire, and Quagmire tells Billy to remember how he beat Madame Woe.
Jason's fear is the one that made us both flail. Jason is afraid of failing his friends, of not being a good enough leader and losing them. He sounds like he's going to cry when he's all "they've faded away because I wasn't good enough!" and just... Oh, JASON. *hugs him so much* Look, it's actual character analysis on the show, and this is why Jason was such a great leader. He remembers fighting King Sphinx, but we're pretty sure that some of the footage wasn't aired here, because it's new to us. (One of these days we should watch Zyuranger, huh?)
The episode was pretty low fish up until this point, and then everything goes wrong. Since they've all beaten the spell, their communicators and morphers reappear! And they morph and get off the island and somehow that revives their zords! And then they form the megadragonultrazord and win! There's a lot of fish right there. Actually, I'm wondering how long they were gone for, I mean, it didn't seem like much time had passed on Earth at all, except Zordon was busy worrying.
Later, at the dance competition, Bulk enters anyway, and makes a fool out of himself, but we're really proud of him, because he had to know that he was going to get laughed at, but he did it anyway. Aww, Bulk. (The judges were really mean. Negative three? Seriously?) And nobody clapped. Fail, Angel Grove!
Zack wins the competition with a perfect score. If you're surprised by this, you aren't watching the same show we are. Oh, and apparently Quagmire is the DJ. I don't even know.
Fish: Four. I love this episode, but man, it is RIDICULOUS.
Billy speak: "Your molecular integrity is fluctuating at an inverse ratio to your level of self esteem"
Trini Translation: "The more Zack doubts himself the less there is of Zack."
Billy speak: "If lack of confidence is the operative factor, it just might work."
"My calculations suggest a 98% probability that our coins are in... that direction"
"She's demolecularizing"
"I recall a confrontation. she had me in a most impressive grip. But I finally applied sufficient leverage to defeat her."
"Wow, prodigious!"
"I seem to be completely reconstituted."
Questions: Who is Quagmire? Why does he hate Rita? I mean, besides the obvious. How did he get on the island? Why was he DJing at the end? And is he the same Mr. Quagmire that was mentioned way back in episode 3?
What fears do you think later Rangers would have to confront?
Billy almost immediately figures out that somehow Zack starting to disappear is linked to his self esteem. I still don't see how seeing a snake makes you lose your self-esteem, but what do I know? At least this starts the trend of Black Rangers having self-confidence issues. (Look, I said Mirror of Regret was one of my favorite episodes.) Quagmire appears and breaks the fourth wall to talk directly to the camera. For some reason, the Rangers think that he can help. So they try to call for him, and Kimberly calls him Quasimodo. Awesome! This time they manage to convince Quagmire that they don't like Rita, so he offers to help, which basically means doing these ridiculous rhymes about situations where the Rangers have won battles.
Zack remembers fighting the Nasty Knight on his birthday, in an episode that is far more memorable for the fact that Batman exists in the Power Rangers universe. Also, Zack was barely holding his own in that episode before the others show up, so I'm surprised that this was his big triumphant memory. Of course, since he's only had two episodes about him so far, it wasn't like they had a lot of material to work with. Zack resolidifies, and thanks Quagmire for the pep talk. I'm not sure why, because telling someone to have confidence does not translate into actual confidence.
Meanwhile, Zordon tells Alpha that the Island is reflecting communications. I'm not sure how Zordon even knows where they are. There's also some sort of war going on between Alpha and the computer, because it keeps electrocuting him. I don't even know.
Back on the Island, Tommy wonders if Quagmire also knows where their power coins are. Quagmire basically says they have to figure it out for themselves. Billy somehow has developed a program in his mind to discover where the coins are, and as he tells them to turn around, it's time for Kimberly's fear.
Okay, I really do love this show, but WHAT. Kimberly sees Bulk and Skull as Angels, rescuing a turtle. Her reasoning for being terrified by this is that if Rita can make Bulk and Skull be nice, she can do anything. Because apparently only Rita can make Bulk and Skull be nice. I am so looking forward to those two getting more character development and the greatest big damn hero moment in the show.
On the bright side, Quagmire (with some help from Tommy) makes Kimberly remember defeating the Terror Toad!!!!!! My favorite monster, yay! Kimberly doesn't want to remember it at first, because it was too gross. Oh, Kim. *hearts*
She goes back to normal, and then it's Tommy's turn. Now, if this episode was going to try to do something with character development, then Tommy would be afraid of turning evil. Instead, the show claims he's afraid of putties and starts seeing the other Rangers as putties. I choose to fanwank this as Tommy's fear of being on opposite sides of his friends and being forced to attack them, but I may be giving the show too much credit. He beats the spell by remembering beating a bunch of putties. Oh, Tommy.
Trini is afraid that she's going to be next, so of course she is. She starts remembering not just her fear of heights, but her fear that Billy was being too high, and QueenRiley starts flailing about her OTP. She remembers defending Billy and wins, and then Billy gives her a hug.
Now we get to the two fears that actually have something to do with character development. It's a minor miracle. Billy is afraid of failure. He should have figured out a way to do this. His intelligence is failing them. Trini sounds positively panicked when she yells for Quagmire, and Quagmire tells Billy to remember how he beat Madame Woe.
Jason's fear is the one that made us both flail. Jason is afraid of failing his friends, of not being a good enough leader and losing them. He sounds like he's going to cry when he's all "they've faded away because I wasn't good enough!" and just... Oh, JASON. *hugs him so much* Look, it's actual character analysis on the show, and this is why Jason was such a great leader. He remembers fighting King Sphinx, but we're pretty sure that some of the footage wasn't aired here, because it's new to us. (One of these days we should watch Zyuranger, huh?)
The episode was pretty low fish up until this point, and then everything goes wrong. Since they've all beaten the spell, their communicators and morphers reappear! And they morph and get off the island and somehow that revives their zords! And then they form the megadragonultrazord and win! There's a lot of fish right there. Actually, I'm wondering how long they were gone for, I mean, it didn't seem like much time had passed on Earth at all, except Zordon was busy worrying.
Later, at the dance competition, Bulk enters anyway, and makes a fool out of himself, but we're really proud of him, because he had to know that he was going to get laughed at, but he did it anyway. Aww, Bulk. (The judges were really mean. Negative three? Seriously?) And nobody clapped. Fail, Angel Grove!
Zack wins the competition with a perfect score. If you're surprised by this, you aren't watching the same show we are. Oh, and apparently Quagmire is the DJ. I don't even know.
Fish: Four. I love this episode, but man, it is RIDICULOUS.
Billy speak: "Your molecular integrity is fluctuating at an inverse ratio to your level of self esteem"
Trini Translation: "The more Zack doubts himself the less there is of Zack."
Billy speak: "If lack of confidence is the operative factor, it just might work."
"My calculations suggest a 98% probability that our coins are in... that direction"
"She's demolecularizing"
"I recall a confrontation. she had me in a most impressive grip. But I finally applied sufficient leverage to defeat her."
"Wow, prodigious!"
"I seem to be completely reconstituted."
Questions: Who is Quagmire? Why does he hate Rita? I mean, besides the obvious. How did he get on the island? Why was he DJing at the end? And is he the same Mr. Quagmire that was mentioned way back in episode 3?
What fears do you think later Rangers would have to confront?
Episode 27- Island of Illusion Part 1
Okay, this is one of my favourite episodes... well, the two combined. It's ridiculous, but it's also awesome and fun.
We start off with Zack showing off some wicked dance moves in practice for the upcoming Dance Competition. Yay! Zack features and for once Angel Grove has something going on that does not pertain to martial arts! Trini, Kim, and Jason are checking out Zack's moves when Bulk and Skull come up and insult Zack. Poor Zack. He knocks into Kim and then Kim's pink drink (milkshake perhaps?) is spilled all over Bulk. Zack reveals that he suffers from low self esteem and is sure he'll mess up at the competition.
Bulk and Zack end up in an impromptu dance competition. This didn't end well last time and we're sure it won't this time either. Sure enough, it doesn't. Bulk falls into some pillars, knocks everything down, and people laugh. Zack says Bulk just fell, just like he'll do at the competition. Zack is full of Emo today.
Rita, meanwhile, is apparently fed up with loosing and decides she's going to summon her own monsters. She tells all her minions her plan and waits while they jump all over her telling her what a good plan it is.
She starts to summon Mutitis and it causes a big earthquake down in Angel Grove. In the Youth Center, people go running willy nilly. Ernie hates when this happens and takes cover. The Rangers, meanwhile, cling to each other in the middle of the room and then use the communicators to contact Zordon. Zordon tells them Rita is up to no good and they must find Zack immediately. So they run out of the Youth Center. They could have just used the communicators again, but oh well. Tommy is stopped at the door when two small children he had been teaching in a class call for him. They're scared. I really give Tommy a lot of credit here. He takes responsibility and stays behind with the kids. Good for you, Tommy!
The others find Zack pretty quickly. The earthquake has stopped and he's still being all emo. They don't even really get a chance to talk before they're surrounded by putties! It's an awesome fight, really. Everybody kicks major butt all on their own and Zack even takes out three at once! But Goldar and Scorpina show up and they know they have to morph if they stand a chance.
Rita finishes summoning Mutitis and we discover he looks like a red skull. Or a red version of Rito. Or a Zedd prototype. We're not sure. They summon the Zords and Jason calls him "Ugly Man". That's... real creative there, Jason.
Rita starts gloating a little early. She tells Finster she made her own monster and it's winning. You can just hear the "nyah nyah nyah nyah nyah" in her voice, too. She travels to Earth to watch the fight and we're filled with glee! Rita on Earth is always made of win.
Lokar then shows up. He's a big blue head floating in the sky with some kind of spikes for hair. He's really cool and we wish there had been more Lokar. He could have been awesome in Mystic Force, actually. He eclipses the sun and we have to wonder why the MegaZord isn't affected, being solar powered and all.
His power is the Breath of Doom. Seriously? That's... special. He mutates Mutitis and makes him even uglier. Tommy is summoned and requests Ernie stay with the no-longer-terrified children. He shows up and summons DragonZord, but just in time for both DragonZord and MegaZord to be covered in some kind of toxic foam. It looks like shaving cream, actually, but whatever. The Zords fall down and now, fifteen minutes into a twenty minute episode titled Island of Illusion, the Rangers are thrown into another dimension only to land on, well, the Island of Illusion.
We don't know how they got there or why toxic foam apparently equals immediate death-to-zords, but we nod and smile. They wander around for awhile, everybody clinging to Jason. We can appreciate that. We might cling to him and his delicious arms too. Kim says it seems like the bushes have eyes and we are shown that, yes, yes they do have eyes. Or rather, there is somebody hiding in the bushes so it looks like they have eyes.
The Rangers hear a horrible noise and Trini comments on it being seriously out of tune. Not where it came from, not what made it in the first place, but that it's off key. Priorities, Trini. They stumble upon a Little Person and Kim starts to say "Rita sent us..." when he flips out. He says friends of Rita are no friends of his and disappears. We can't blame him. I wouldn't stick around either. Unfortunately, he also rhymes. Everything.
The Rangers then see previous monsters they've fought. Pudgy Pig is there and I squeeled in delight. TSB was saddened to realize there is no Terror Toad, however. Zack starts to flip out a little, though. Because they're on an island apparently. And he sees an out-of-tune Little Person. But mostly it's the island.
Zack then stumbles upon a snake and starts really flipping out. He's whimpering and sort of screaming and is just paralyzed with fear. We wonder why they went with snakes. Not but four episodes ago we discovered Zack is terrified of spiders. They could have used that, but oh well.
He says they can't fight something like snakes and we think that's just ridiculous. Of course you can fight snakes! Shoot, get one of your non-afraid friends to go pick it up and move it if it's that bad. Mind, his non-afraid friends can't even see the snake, so I guess that wouldn't work in this particular situation. We then get Ominous Goldar speaking from the sky, tearing down what little confidence remained. Quagmire, the Little Person from earlier, appears and warns them of impending danger. Zack, now kicked while he's down, begins to fade.
And that's the end of part one. It really was rather ridiculous, wasn't it?
Overall, 3.5 fish. Tommy was responsible so we couldn't help but lower the fish a little for that. Also it's just a great two parter so that probably affected it here.
Covered in food: Bulk gets covered in some pink drink
Billy Speak: "Zack seems to be experiencing a transient deficiency in self esteem."
"There must be a major destabilization of a trophospheric(?) pressure zone."
"It would appear that we all survived the transdimensional journey intact."
"He means your loss of confidence is causing your body to dematerialize!"
Fic we want: Billy fixing the Zords so they are no longer solar powered, which would explain why they were unaffected by Lokar's eclipse.
We start off with Zack showing off some wicked dance moves in practice for the upcoming Dance Competition. Yay! Zack features and for once Angel Grove has something going on that does not pertain to martial arts! Trini, Kim, and Jason are checking out Zack's moves when Bulk and Skull come up and insult Zack. Poor Zack. He knocks into Kim and then Kim's pink drink (milkshake perhaps?) is spilled all over Bulk. Zack reveals that he suffers from low self esteem and is sure he'll mess up at the competition.
Bulk and Zack end up in an impromptu dance competition. This didn't end well last time and we're sure it won't this time either. Sure enough, it doesn't. Bulk falls into some pillars, knocks everything down, and people laugh. Zack says Bulk just fell, just like he'll do at the competition. Zack is full of Emo today.
Rita, meanwhile, is apparently fed up with loosing and decides she's going to summon her own monsters. She tells all her minions her plan and waits while they jump all over her telling her what a good plan it is.
She starts to summon Mutitis and it causes a big earthquake down in Angel Grove. In the Youth Center, people go running willy nilly. Ernie hates when this happens and takes cover. The Rangers, meanwhile, cling to each other in the middle of the room and then use the communicators to contact Zordon. Zordon tells them Rita is up to no good and they must find Zack immediately. So they run out of the Youth Center. They could have just used the communicators again, but oh well. Tommy is stopped at the door when two small children he had been teaching in a class call for him. They're scared. I really give Tommy a lot of credit here. He takes responsibility and stays behind with the kids. Good for you, Tommy!
The others find Zack pretty quickly. The earthquake has stopped and he's still being all emo. They don't even really get a chance to talk before they're surrounded by putties! It's an awesome fight, really. Everybody kicks major butt all on their own and Zack even takes out three at once! But Goldar and Scorpina show up and they know they have to morph if they stand a chance.
Rita finishes summoning Mutitis and we discover he looks like a red skull. Or a red version of Rito. Or a Zedd prototype. We're not sure. They summon the Zords and Jason calls him "Ugly Man". That's... real creative there, Jason.
Rita starts gloating a little early. She tells Finster she made her own monster and it's winning. You can just hear the "nyah nyah nyah nyah nyah" in her voice, too. She travels to Earth to watch the fight and we're filled with glee! Rita on Earth is always made of win.
Lokar then shows up. He's a big blue head floating in the sky with some kind of spikes for hair. He's really cool and we wish there had been more Lokar. He could have been awesome in Mystic Force, actually. He eclipses the sun and we have to wonder why the MegaZord isn't affected, being solar powered and all.
His power is the Breath of Doom. Seriously? That's... special. He mutates Mutitis and makes him even uglier. Tommy is summoned and requests Ernie stay with the no-longer-terrified children. He shows up and summons DragonZord, but just in time for both DragonZord and MegaZord to be covered in some kind of toxic foam. It looks like shaving cream, actually, but whatever. The Zords fall down and now, fifteen minutes into a twenty minute episode titled Island of Illusion, the Rangers are thrown into another dimension only to land on, well, the Island of Illusion.
We don't know how they got there or why toxic foam apparently equals immediate death-to-zords, but we nod and smile. They wander around for awhile, everybody clinging to Jason. We can appreciate that. We might cling to him and his delicious arms too. Kim says it seems like the bushes have eyes and we are shown that, yes, yes they do have eyes. Or rather, there is somebody hiding in the bushes so it looks like they have eyes.
The Rangers hear a horrible noise and Trini comments on it being seriously out of tune. Not where it came from, not what made it in the first place, but that it's off key. Priorities, Trini. They stumble upon a Little Person and Kim starts to say "Rita sent us..." when he flips out. He says friends of Rita are no friends of his and disappears. We can't blame him. I wouldn't stick around either. Unfortunately, he also rhymes. Everything.
The Rangers then see previous monsters they've fought. Pudgy Pig is there and I squeeled in delight. TSB was saddened to realize there is no Terror Toad, however. Zack starts to flip out a little, though. Because they're on an island apparently. And he sees an out-of-tune Little Person. But mostly it's the island.
Zack then stumbles upon a snake and starts really flipping out. He's whimpering and sort of screaming and is just paralyzed with fear. We wonder why they went with snakes. Not but four episodes ago we discovered Zack is terrified of spiders. They could have used that, but oh well.
He says they can't fight something like snakes and we think that's just ridiculous. Of course you can fight snakes! Shoot, get one of your non-afraid friends to go pick it up and move it if it's that bad. Mind, his non-afraid friends can't even see the snake, so I guess that wouldn't work in this particular situation. We then get Ominous Goldar speaking from the sky, tearing down what little confidence remained. Quagmire, the Little Person from earlier, appears and warns them of impending danger. Zack, now kicked while he's down, begins to fade.
And that's the end of part one. It really was rather ridiculous, wasn't it?
Overall, 3.5 fish. Tommy was responsible so we couldn't help but lower the fish a little for that. Also it's just a great two parter so that probably affected it here.
Covered in food: Bulk gets covered in some pink drink
Billy Speak: "Zack seems to be experiencing a transient deficiency in self esteem."
"There must be a major destabilization of a trophospheric(?) pressure zone."
"It would appear that we all survived the transdimensional journey intact."
"He means your loss of confidence is causing your body to dematerialize!"
Fic we want: Billy fixing the Zords so they are no longer solar powered, which would explain why they were unaffected by Lokar's eclipse.
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Episode 26 - Gung Ho!
You know, for an episode about Tommy and Jason, this one actually wasn't that bad! That is probably because a) most of the episode features them showing off their mad martial arts skills and b) they're shirtless for a lot of it. All good things, as far as we're concerned.
Anyway, like the last Jason centric episode, this one is about Jason (and Tommy!) learning the importance of cooperation and teamwork. And like the last one, we have no idea why they chose that particular moral for the episode. I mean, yes, Jason and Tommy need to learn to get along. But they weren't really having any problems with it in the last few episodes, and it doesn't work in context.
Tommy and Jason are preparing for the Team Ninja Finals, even though they just had a Martial Arts Expo just a few episodes ago. Angel Grove has a lot of martial arts competitions. One of these days I will post my theory about how Angel Grove is secretly a country, and this episode just backs up that theory. It would explain the wacky geography, maybe.
The boys are sparring against each other, and apparently this is preventing them from cooperating. No shit. They're sparring AGAINST each other. Unless they were doing an intricate kata, they shouldn't really be cooperating at that exact moment. I mean, for real. If they were practicing against two others, then yes, it would work, but they're both trying to beat the other person at that exact moment, so I have no idea what they're going on about.
The other Rangers are all watching them spar (and honestly, we can't blame them. They're both quite pretty at this point in time) and Trini gives them a lecture about how Gung Ho is Chinese for working together. A quick google search will point out that while the two characters in that phrase do mean "work" and "together" but they don't count as an official phrase. (So speaks wikipedia, but the librarian in me cries typing that sentence.) It is however a motto for the Chinese Industrial Cooperative Society. We'll totally give the show credit for it anyway.
Before Jason and Tommy can roll their eyes too much, Bulk and Skull show up in ridiculous outfits. Bulk is all pimped out, and Skull is a referee. Apparently they're sponsoring their own team of ninjas in the competition, and we get to watch the two ringers spar. They're not bad, and Tommy and Jason look nervous. Then Bulk gets knocked over. *sigh* But we have a few questions. This is supposedly the finals, so how come Jason and Tommy are just seeing these guys now? If they were having trouble working together before, how come it didn't affect them getting to the finals? And if they need to be sponsored to be in the competition, who is sponsoring the Rangers?
Meanwhile, on the moon, Rita is all excited for her super putties, and we're incredibly excited, because they remembered what happened last episode! Except wait, it looks like the Frankenstein monster they blew up in an extremely gory fashion is alive and well. So close, show! So close!
We switch to Trini and Kim walking in the park, and Trini starts talking about how Zack is helping the boys train, and... well, isn't Trini supposed to be a martial artist herself? Isn't that her big defining characteristic? Apparently she can't be bothered, or else the show just doesn't want to showcase her skills. They get attacked by the all new super putties, and promptly get their asses kicked. In a rare moment of actually remembering what the communicators are for, Kimberly calls Zordon and asked for help. Zordon immediately pages the other Rangers (and I briefly need to point out how ANCIENT Billy's laptop is. OMG we are SO OLD) and they run out of the Youth Center to go help the girls.
Queenriley immediately flails because Billy went to protect Trini. OTP, y'all. OTP. (Even if Trini should be able to take care of herself. I mean, really.)
Back at the Command Center, the Rangers demand some answers from Zordon. Putties haven't kicked their asses since episode 1. Zordon explains about the Super Putties, and then tells Tommy and Jason that they must go retrieve new weapons to defeat the putties, while the others go morph and fight them. Apparently Tommy and Jason retrieving new weapons involves tearing the map in half so that they can learn to cooperate. We get that learning to cooperate is important, but maybe they could do that at a time where the rest of the team isn't in danger? I mean, seriously. We have to admit that the Super Putties are pretty awesome. If they get broken, they reform into two new putties! How awesome is that?
While four of the Rangers are getting beaten up by a bunch of clay goons, Tommy and Jason discover a rock, and Jason is all "Look at me! I found a rock!" and Tommy is "not without my half of the map, you didn't!" and for real, just get over it. We're assuming that they're still on Earth, but the geography of this makes no sense, although we supposed we shouldn't be surprised by that. Apparently there's some shrine to dinosaurs (Sabre-toothed tigers and Mastodons still ARE NOT DINOSAURS) that nobody has discovered. Jason comments that it's too easy, and apparently he's never seen a movie in his life, because he doesn't know that means they're about to get attacked.
And they are! It's Titanus, although we don't know that yet. They morph, and then fall down a hill. Apparently to solve all their teamwork problems, Jason gives his sword to Tommy and Tommy gives his shield to Jason, and then Jason runs up the hill and grabs the new weapons. We're not quite sure how a sword is a long distance weapon, but apparently Tommy uses it to fire some sort of energy, but we've seen him do that before with his Dragon Daggers, so IDK. They teleport to the other Rangers and give them the new weapons, which are weird slingshot shaped guns, and then they blow up the putties. The end. Hey, there wasn't an actual monster this episode! Wacky! And we've still got... a lot of time left!
We then return to the Youth Center, for the highlight of the episode. More sparring! Except shirtless this time. Right before the competition begins, Zordon rings them, and they answer their communicators in the middle of the Youth Center, and nobody notices. Seriously, Zordon is drugging the water or something. He tells them Titanus was the guardian and will be an ally.
Jason and Tommy win the competition, and then Bulk gets covered in water. We still have no idea why they chose this episode to be Jason's second "learn to work together" episode. We can't wait until Jason gets an episode that isn't about that.
Lists!
This episode gets 4 fish. It isn't quite as ridiculous as the Bench Pressing one, and we feel that we should be nicer because it actually mostly remembers what happens in the episode before, but it's pretty ridiculous. Amazingly, we didn't actually mind Tommy in this episode. This was pretty necessary for his involvement in the team, but the execution was pretty flawed.
Covered in food: Bulk gets covered in water. Surprise, surprise.
Anyway, like the last Jason centric episode, this one is about Jason (and Tommy!) learning the importance of cooperation and teamwork. And like the last one, we have no idea why they chose that particular moral for the episode. I mean, yes, Jason and Tommy need to learn to get along. But they weren't really having any problems with it in the last few episodes, and it doesn't work in context.
Tommy and Jason are preparing for the Team Ninja Finals, even though they just had a Martial Arts Expo just a few episodes ago. Angel Grove has a lot of martial arts competitions. One of these days I will post my theory about how Angel Grove is secretly a country, and this episode just backs up that theory. It would explain the wacky geography, maybe.
The boys are sparring against each other, and apparently this is preventing them from cooperating. No shit. They're sparring AGAINST each other. Unless they were doing an intricate kata, they shouldn't really be cooperating at that exact moment. I mean, for real. If they were practicing against two others, then yes, it would work, but they're both trying to beat the other person at that exact moment, so I have no idea what they're going on about.
The other Rangers are all watching them spar (and honestly, we can't blame them. They're both quite pretty at this point in time) and Trini gives them a lecture about how Gung Ho is Chinese for working together. A quick google search will point out that while the two characters in that phrase do mean "work" and "together" but they don't count as an official phrase. (So speaks wikipedia, but the librarian in me cries typing that sentence.) It is however a motto for the Chinese Industrial Cooperative Society. We'll totally give the show credit for it anyway.
Before Jason and Tommy can roll their eyes too much, Bulk and Skull show up in ridiculous outfits. Bulk is all pimped out, and Skull is a referee. Apparently they're sponsoring their own team of ninjas in the competition, and we get to watch the two ringers spar. They're not bad, and Tommy and Jason look nervous. Then Bulk gets knocked over. *sigh* But we have a few questions. This is supposedly the finals, so how come Jason and Tommy are just seeing these guys now? If they were having trouble working together before, how come it didn't affect them getting to the finals? And if they need to be sponsored to be in the competition, who is sponsoring the Rangers?
Meanwhile, on the moon, Rita is all excited for her super putties, and we're incredibly excited, because they remembered what happened last episode! Except wait, it looks like the Frankenstein monster they blew up in an extremely gory fashion is alive and well. So close, show! So close!
We switch to Trini and Kim walking in the park, and Trini starts talking about how Zack is helping the boys train, and... well, isn't Trini supposed to be a martial artist herself? Isn't that her big defining characteristic? Apparently she can't be bothered, or else the show just doesn't want to showcase her skills. They get attacked by the all new super putties, and promptly get their asses kicked. In a rare moment of actually remembering what the communicators are for, Kimberly calls Zordon and asked for help. Zordon immediately pages the other Rangers (and I briefly need to point out how ANCIENT Billy's laptop is. OMG we are SO OLD) and they run out of the Youth Center to go help the girls.
Queenriley immediately flails because Billy went to protect Trini. OTP, y'all. OTP. (Even if Trini should be able to take care of herself. I mean, really.)
Back at the Command Center, the Rangers demand some answers from Zordon. Putties haven't kicked their asses since episode 1. Zordon explains about the Super Putties, and then tells Tommy and Jason that they must go retrieve new weapons to defeat the putties, while the others go morph and fight them. Apparently Tommy and Jason retrieving new weapons involves tearing the map in half so that they can learn to cooperate. We get that learning to cooperate is important, but maybe they could do that at a time where the rest of the team isn't in danger? I mean, seriously. We have to admit that the Super Putties are pretty awesome. If they get broken, they reform into two new putties! How awesome is that?
While four of the Rangers are getting beaten up by a bunch of clay goons, Tommy and Jason discover a rock, and Jason is all "Look at me! I found a rock!" and Tommy is "not without my half of the map, you didn't!" and for real, just get over it. We're assuming that they're still on Earth, but the geography of this makes no sense, although we supposed we shouldn't be surprised by that. Apparently there's some shrine to dinosaurs (Sabre-toothed tigers and Mastodons still ARE NOT DINOSAURS) that nobody has discovered. Jason comments that it's too easy, and apparently he's never seen a movie in his life, because he doesn't know that means they're about to get attacked.
And they are! It's Titanus, although we don't know that yet. They morph, and then fall down a hill. Apparently to solve all their teamwork problems, Jason gives his sword to Tommy and Tommy gives his shield to Jason, and then Jason runs up the hill and grabs the new weapons. We're not quite sure how a sword is a long distance weapon, but apparently Tommy uses it to fire some sort of energy, but we've seen him do that before with his Dragon Daggers, so IDK. They teleport to the other Rangers and give them the new weapons, which are weird slingshot shaped guns, and then they blow up the putties. The end. Hey, there wasn't an actual monster this episode! Wacky! And we've still got... a lot of time left!
We then return to the Youth Center, for the highlight of the episode. More sparring! Except shirtless this time. Right before the competition begins, Zordon rings them, and they answer their communicators in the middle of the Youth Center, and nobody notices. Seriously, Zordon is drugging the water or something. He tells them Titanus was the guardian and will be an ally.
Jason and Tommy win the competition, and then Bulk gets covered in water. We still have no idea why they chose this episode to be Jason's second "learn to work together" episode. We can't wait until Jason gets an episode that isn't about that.
Lists!
This episode gets 4 fish. It isn't quite as ridiculous as the Bench Pressing one, and we feel that we should be nicer because it actually mostly remembers what happens in the episode before, but it's pretty ridiculous. Amazingly, we didn't actually mind Tommy in this episode. This was pretty necessary for his involvement in the team, but the execution was pretty flawed.
Covered in food: Bulk gets covered in water. Surprise, surprise.
Saturday, August 8, 2009
Episode 25- Life's a Masquerade
We got the opening theme on this episode and I have to say, we get such a delight when we get the opening theme. Season 1 MMPR had the best opening theme in my opinion. Maybe it's just nostalgia talking, but I just get a warm fuzzy feeling when I hear the theme song and see those cheesy effects.
Apparently there is a costume party at the Youth Center and a rather large group of teenagers is helping set up. All the Rangers are there plus probably twenty other kids. Bulk and Skull are there too and Kim mocks their wardrobe without provocation. Way to be mean, Kim, way to be mean. Zack chases after Angela, Jason is left hanging, Tommy offers to help Kimberly and somehow a bucket of paint gets tossed on Bulk. Everybody laughs and we cut to Rita.
She wants a nasty monster to invade the costume party so Finster makes her a Frankenstein Monster. I'm a little sad at this fact. The Frankenstein Monster was really a pretty nice guy. He didn't want to hurt anybody, he just couldn't help it, and I hate that he's been turned into a bad guy... and given his creator's name. Anyway, my rant aside, Rita's Frankenstein Monster agrees to go attack the Power Rangers.
We then get to see all the Ranger costumes, except Tommy's. Billy is Sherlock Holmes, Kim is a princess, Trini is Pocahontas, Zack is King Tut, and Jason is Robin Hood... complete with tights. They actually look pretty good (Zack especially... that man is BUILT) and aside from Kim's entirely pink dress, nobody is decked out in entirely their Ranger colour! In fact, Jason isn't wearing any red AT ALL. We're impressed and wish we could see more of this.
In another house in another part of town we see Bulk and Skull. It appears to be Bulk's very messy bedroom and it is huge. They're trying to figure out what to use as their costumes, no doubt still stinging from Kim's thoughtless comment on their normal attire. First they try Skull as Captain Hook and Bulk as Peter Pan. Then they try Bulk as the back end of a horse and Skull as the front. The best costume idea comes last... Skull as young!Elvis and Bulk as older!Elvis. Bulk throws out his back, however, and they apparently do the same to the costume idea. Tis a pity. They both looked really good as Elvis.
Later, at the party, Zack tries to get Angela to dance with him and she flat out refuses. He laments that even a king isn't good enough for her and Jason comforts him affectionately. We discover Bulk and Skull decided to come as punks and Ernie shows up as a vampire. Alpha then shows up. Yes, Alpha. In public. At a party. At least it's a costume party and he can get away with it for now. The Frankenstein monster comes in right behind him and Billy theorizes it might be Tommy. Tommy hasn't shown up yet because his costume wasn't ready so, despite the very noticeable height and build difference, people just assume he's Tommy. Way to be bad friends, guys. In the meantime, girls swarm around Alpha and Zack again complains about his lack of luck with women. Seriously, Zack, stop hanging around your boyfriend and maybe the girls would look twice at you.
A girl drags the Frankenstein Monster on the floor to dance and he gets mad and lifts her high in the air. She screams and everybody basically just stares at them. Skull, however, jumps into action and shoots the monster with a suction cup dart. It was ineffective, but at least he did something about it! Good for you, Skull.
The monster leaves and Billy, realizing it may not actually be Tommy, chases after him. He is led into the now familiar Cave of Captivity. The only cave Rita ever uses for anything. In this cave we discover Rita (hanging out on Earth!) is having her henchmen build a Super Putty. It's going to be twice as strong and nearly invincible. They are building the Super Putties by making a very big ball of clay. No shape, no form, just a big ball of clay. Rita opens the Earth and flies the big ball of clay out of the ground and up into the air. She promises to come back and destroy all of humanity, cackling evilly the whole time.
Meanwhile, Billy is battling the Frankenstein Monster in the cave. The monster disappears and he runs back to the Youth Center. You have a communicator, Billy. Heck, you CREATED the communicators, Billy. USE THEM FOR THEIR INTENDED PURPOSE! Sorry for the all caps there but this really irritates me. To date Zack is the only Ranger who used the communicator in a time of need. Fail, Rangers!
Billy tells the others what is going on and they teleport to the Command Center to ask Zordon. He shows them the monster and they try to contact Tommy but are, as usual, unsuccessful. At least it's consistent for his character! They morph and go to fight the monster, but Rita makes him grow almost immediately. So they summon the Zords almost immediately.
Meanwhile, Tommy is attacked by a group of putties in front of the Youth Center. He beats them off and finally realizes he has a communicator. Zordon tells him to morph and go help the others. MegaZord has been knocked down, but Tommy shows up just in time to help. Rita flies away, thinking she's likely won at this point, and they form the MegaDragonZord. They beat the Frankenstein Monster relatively easy and it, as usual, gives poor Rita yet another headache.
Back at the party, they discover it's time to find out who won the costume contest. Tommy is in his regular clothes and tells them he'll be right back, he has to go put on his costume. Tommy shows up about 15 seconds after he leaves. He's managed to change clothes, put on a mask/hat, and paint the rest of his skin blue. He looks just like Rita's Frankenstein Monster, only considerably shorter and less bulky. Everybody jumps, Tommy removes the hat, and the whole bunch get a hearty laugh. Ernie then hands the blue ribbon to Alpha, who insists his identity must remain a mystery and leaves.
Overall, this is a pretty low fish episode! It's consistent, it's not too terribly ridiculous, and it even has foreshadowing for later episodes! The Rangers aren't glaringly obvious by wearing outfits consisting entirely of their designated colour. Rita is on Earth! And foretells of evil things to come in the future! Alpha is in public, but in the believable setting of a costume contest. And we get to see the Cave of Captivity again. All in all, we give it 2.5 fish.
Covered in food: Nobody, but Bulk gets covered in paint
Billy Speak: "My deductive reasoning tells me you're not Tommy."
"It's time for molecular transmutation!"
Apparently there is a costume party at the Youth Center and a rather large group of teenagers is helping set up. All the Rangers are there plus probably twenty other kids. Bulk and Skull are there too and Kim mocks their wardrobe without provocation. Way to be mean, Kim, way to be mean. Zack chases after Angela, Jason is left hanging, Tommy offers to help Kimberly and somehow a bucket of paint gets tossed on Bulk. Everybody laughs and we cut to Rita.
She wants a nasty monster to invade the costume party so Finster makes her a Frankenstein Monster. I'm a little sad at this fact. The Frankenstein Monster was really a pretty nice guy. He didn't want to hurt anybody, he just couldn't help it, and I hate that he's been turned into a bad guy... and given his creator's name. Anyway, my rant aside, Rita's Frankenstein Monster agrees to go attack the Power Rangers.
We then get to see all the Ranger costumes, except Tommy's. Billy is Sherlock Holmes, Kim is a princess, Trini is Pocahontas, Zack is King Tut, and Jason is Robin Hood... complete with tights. They actually look pretty good (Zack especially... that man is BUILT) and aside from Kim's entirely pink dress, nobody is decked out in entirely their Ranger colour! In fact, Jason isn't wearing any red AT ALL. We're impressed and wish we could see more of this.
In another house in another part of town we see Bulk and Skull. It appears to be Bulk's very messy bedroom and it is huge. They're trying to figure out what to use as their costumes, no doubt still stinging from Kim's thoughtless comment on their normal attire. First they try Skull as Captain Hook and Bulk as Peter Pan. Then they try Bulk as the back end of a horse and Skull as the front. The best costume idea comes last... Skull as young!Elvis and Bulk as older!Elvis. Bulk throws out his back, however, and they apparently do the same to the costume idea. Tis a pity. They both looked really good as Elvis.
Later, at the party, Zack tries to get Angela to dance with him and she flat out refuses. He laments that even a king isn't good enough for her and Jason comforts him affectionately. We discover Bulk and Skull decided to come as punks and Ernie shows up as a vampire. Alpha then shows up. Yes, Alpha. In public. At a party. At least it's a costume party and he can get away with it for now. The Frankenstein monster comes in right behind him and Billy theorizes it might be Tommy. Tommy hasn't shown up yet because his costume wasn't ready so, despite the very noticeable height and build difference, people just assume he's Tommy. Way to be bad friends, guys. In the meantime, girls swarm around Alpha and Zack again complains about his lack of luck with women. Seriously, Zack, stop hanging around your boyfriend and maybe the girls would look twice at you.
A girl drags the Frankenstein Monster on the floor to dance and he gets mad and lifts her high in the air. She screams and everybody basically just stares at them. Skull, however, jumps into action and shoots the monster with a suction cup dart. It was ineffective, but at least he did something about it! Good for you, Skull.
The monster leaves and Billy, realizing it may not actually be Tommy, chases after him. He is led into the now familiar Cave of Captivity. The only cave Rita ever uses for anything. In this cave we discover Rita (hanging out on Earth!) is having her henchmen build a Super Putty. It's going to be twice as strong and nearly invincible. They are building the Super Putties by making a very big ball of clay. No shape, no form, just a big ball of clay. Rita opens the Earth and flies the big ball of clay out of the ground and up into the air. She promises to come back and destroy all of humanity, cackling evilly the whole time.
Meanwhile, Billy is battling the Frankenstein Monster in the cave. The monster disappears and he runs back to the Youth Center. You have a communicator, Billy. Heck, you CREATED the communicators, Billy. USE THEM FOR THEIR INTENDED PURPOSE! Sorry for the all caps there but this really irritates me. To date Zack is the only Ranger who used the communicator in a time of need. Fail, Rangers!
Billy tells the others what is going on and they teleport to the Command Center to ask Zordon. He shows them the monster and they try to contact Tommy but are, as usual, unsuccessful. At least it's consistent for his character! They morph and go to fight the monster, but Rita makes him grow almost immediately. So they summon the Zords almost immediately.
Meanwhile, Tommy is attacked by a group of putties in front of the Youth Center. He beats them off and finally realizes he has a communicator. Zordon tells him to morph and go help the others. MegaZord has been knocked down, but Tommy shows up just in time to help. Rita flies away, thinking she's likely won at this point, and they form the MegaDragonZord. They beat the Frankenstein Monster relatively easy and it, as usual, gives poor Rita yet another headache.
Back at the party, they discover it's time to find out who won the costume contest. Tommy is in his regular clothes and tells them he'll be right back, he has to go put on his costume. Tommy shows up about 15 seconds after he leaves. He's managed to change clothes, put on a mask/hat, and paint the rest of his skin blue. He looks just like Rita's Frankenstein Monster, only considerably shorter and less bulky. Everybody jumps, Tommy removes the hat, and the whole bunch get a hearty laugh. Ernie then hands the blue ribbon to Alpha, who insists his identity must remain a mystery and leaves.
Overall, this is a pretty low fish episode! It's consistent, it's not too terribly ridiculous, and it even has foreshadowing for later episodes! The Rangers aren't glaringly obvious by wearing outfits consisting entirely of their designated colour. Rita is on Earth! And foretells of evil things to come in the future! Alpha is in public, but in the believable setting of a costume contest. And we get to see the Cave of Captivity again. All in all, we give it 2.5 fish.
Covered in food: Nobody, but Bulk gets covered in paint
Billy Speak: "My deductive reasoning tells me you're not Tommy."
"It's time for molecular transmutation!"
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
Episode 24 - The Spit Flower
Aww, this was the first episode of Power Rangers I ever saw way back when I was nine and it was first airing! Has it really been that long? I feel so old now. So I'd like to thank my little brother for watching it every day after school, because unlike him, I'm still totally obsessed.
This episode reminded me of the only Bobbsey Twins book I ever read, which was the Bobbsey Twins Rose Parade Mystery. All I remember about that book was that a bunch of flowers got destroyed, which hey, totally fits with the theme of this episode.
The episode opens with Kimberly in a fairly cute outfit (look, I still like vests, I am that dorky) and for some reason the costumer seems to think that putting Tommy in two different shades of green is attractive, when it really isn't. It is wrong, and they need to stop doing that.
Kimberly is apparently designing a float for some parade, and there are a lot of flowers. We find out that all of the flowers are going to be recycled into potpourri, which is pretty awesome. We approve. Kimberly's float has something to do with world peace, and we really have no idea. This apparently offends Rita, and she decides that she must destroy the float, and the parade itself. She decides to go with her standard plan, and suddenly there are Putties! At the Youth Center! It's pretty awesome, and they immediately start ripping flowers off the float model, and Kimberly and Tommy fight them, and Tommy loses his ugly flannel shirt. For all that we don't like him, he does have pretty nice arms, and we've made our feelings about nice arms pretty clear at this point.
The other Rangers all show up, but Ernie has left for an hour, and we're amazed that he leaves the Juice Bar unattended. Fail, Ernie! But Kimberly is sad about how her float model is destroyed, because apparently this will prevent her from having a float in the parade, and there is no way to repair it on time or get new flowers. We think she's just being angsty, but we really can't blame her. Jason calls Rita a real witch, and... well, she is! She casts spells and everything! We know that wasn't what you intended to say, Jason!
The Rangers actually start to clean something up, and seriously, we're amazed. Next thing you know they'll start paying for their drinks. Tommy is all cryptic about how he has a plan to fix things, and Trini suggests that they take Kimberly out. She's even wearing green in an attempt to make Kim notice her. Oh, Trini, don't worry, your girlfriend still loves you. Tommy is clearly about to build Kim a new model float, and he heads out. It is blatantly obvious, even if we hadn't seen this episode before.
Meanwhile, Rita needs a monster! And amazingly there's one that actually fits the episode! The Spit Flowerhad some sort of scientific name that we didn't quite catch. The monster itself is a bastard love child of a lobster and a Venus Fly Trap. The Spit Flower sucks in flowers, and then spits them back out again. The flowers then bite people and drain their energy. It is AMAZING. Zordon summons the Rangers, and a bunch of ridiculous jokes follow. Dangerous Daisies! That's like something a Golden Age Superhero would say! I totally want that to exist, by the way. Zack still seems to have bugs on the brain from the last episode, because he says it's one ferocious bug. Riiiiiiiiight.
The Rangers (minus Tommy, who is still missing) go out to fight, and promptly get their asses kicked, as the Spit Flower vomits biting energy draining vampiric flowers all over them. Rita grows the monster, and we are only nine minutes in. Seriously, usually it takes way longer. Zordon calls Tommy, who for some reason is in Billy's garage (we assume because that's where all the cool tools are), and Tommy somehow... shoots some sort of green energy from the dragon dagger? Does it normally do that? Anyway, they summon the MegaDragonzord, which then gets flowers vomited on it, and Zordon teleports them away from the battle. Flower Power is apparently too much for the Dragonzord, and I demand a hippie AU exist IMMEDIATELY.
Meanwhile, Bulk is allergic to flowers, and he uses Skull as a tissue. Do not want.
Zordon analyzes the monster, and apparently all they need to do is have Kimberly shoot it in the throat. Okay then! It's about this point that my roommate, who is not a Power Rangers fan but was listening as I watched the episode, handed me a glass of wine, insisting I needed it. Tommy is told that he should stay behind in case the other rangers fail, even though all six of them just got their asses kicked. Kimberly shoots the monster, they summon the power weapons, and the monster is defeated.
Tommy recruits Alpha's help to build the float, and apparently Alpha doesn't know the difference between a wrench and pliers, and he manages to get the bottle of glue stuck to his hand. Whatever.
The next day (so we assume, as they are discussing the Spit Flower) Jason and Zack are sparring. We approve of this scene. It's time for the parade, and everyone is watching at the Juice Bar. Billy has binoculars, because he says it makes him feel like he's there. He is so dorky and adorable, we love him so. Kimberly is sad, and then suddenly we see her float! Apparently they all made it for her! Overnight? How did they pull this off? Whatever, we call fish.
Bulk and Skull show up, and they're vaguely annoying. Zack does a magic trick (awesome!) except he makes some flowers appear, and well, he knew Bulk had allergies. I have allergies, so sadly this episode will also get the Rangers are bullies tag, because that was just cruel.
Lists!
2 fish! This episode was actually pretty consistent, and except for the ridiculousness about the float being made overnight at the end, it wasn't that bad. Even with Tommy! We're amazed.
Covered in food: Do flowers count? Everyone gets covered in flowers.
Questions: How DID Tommy get into Billy's garage?
This episode reminded me of the only Bobbsey Twins book I ever read, which was the Bobbsey Twins Rose Parade Mystery. All I remember about that book was that a bunch of flowers got destroyed, which hey, totally fits with the theme of this episode.
The episode opens with Kimberly in a fairly cute outfit (look, I still like vests, I am that dorky) and for some reason the costumer seems to think that putting Tommy in two different shades of green is attractive, when it really isn't. It is wrong, and they need to stop doing that.
Kimberly is apparently designing a float for some parade, and there are a lot of flowers. We find out that all of the flowers are going to be recycled into potpourri, which is pretty awesome. We approve. Kimberly's float has something to do with world peace, and we really have no idea. This apparently offends Rita, and she decides that she must destroy the float, and the parade itself. She decides to go with her standard plan, and suddenly there are Putties! At the Youth Center! It's pretty awesome, and they immediately start ripping flowers off the float model, and Kimberly and Tommy fight them, and Tommy loses his ugly flannel shirt. For all that we don't like him, he does have pretty nice arms, and we've made our feelings about nice arms pretty clear at this point.
The other Rangers all show up, but Ernie has left for an hour, and we're amazed that he leaves the Juice Bar unattended. Fail, Ernie! But Kimberly is sad about how her float model is destroyed, because apparently this will prevent her from having a float in the parade, and there is no way to repair it on time or get new flowers. We think she's just being angsty, but we really can't blame her. Jason calls Rita a real witch, and... well, she is! She casts spells and everything! We know that wasn't what you intended to say, Jason!
The Rangers actually start to clean something up, and seriously, we're amazed. Next thing you know they'll start paying for their drinks. Tommy is all cryptic about how he has a plan to fix things, and Trini suggests that they take Kimberly out. She's even wearing green in an attempt to make Kim notice her. Oh, Trini, don't worry, your girlfriend still loves you. Tommy is clearly about to build Kim a new model float, and he heads out. It is blatantly obvious, even if we hadn't seen this episode before.
Meanwhile, Rita needs a monster! And amazingly there's one that actually fits the episode! The Spit Flowerhad some sort of scientific name that we didn't quite catch. The monster itself is a bastard love child of a lobster and a Venus Fly Trap. The Spit Flower sucks in flowers, and then spits them back out again. The flowers then bite people and drain their energy. It is AMAZING. Zordon summons the Rangers, and a bunch of ridiculous jokes follow. Dangerous Daisies! That's like something a Golden Age Superhero would say! I totally want that to exist, by the way. Zack still seems to have bugs on the brain from the last episode, because he says it's one ferocious bug. Riiiiiiiiight.
The Rangers (minus Tommy, who is still missing) go out to fight, and promptly get their asses kicked, as the Spit Flower vomits biting energy draining vampiric flowers all over them. Rita grows the monster, and we are only nine minutes in. Seriously, usually it takes way longer. Zordon calls Tommy, who for some reason is in Billy's garage (we assume because that's where all the cool tools are), and Tommy somehow... shoots some sort of green energy from the dragon dagger? Does it normally do that? Anyway, they summon the MegaDragonzord, which then gets flowers vomited on it, and Zordon teleports them away from the battle. Flower Power is apparently too much for the Dragonzord, and I demand a hippie AU exist IMMEDIATELY.
Meanwhile, Bulk is allergic to flowers, and he uses Skull as a tissue. Do not want.
Zordon analyzes the monster, and apparently all they need to do is have Kimberly shoot it in the throat. Okay then! It's about this point that my roommate, who is not a Power Rangers fan but was listening as I watched the episode, handed me a glass of wine, insisting I needed it. Tommy is told that he should stay behind in case the other rangers fail, even though all six of them just got their asses kicked. Kimberly shoots the monster, they summon the power weapons, and the monster is defeated.
Tommy recruits Alpha's help to build the float, and apparently Alpha doesn't know the difference between a wrench and pliers, and he manages to get the bottle of glue stuck to his hand. Whatever.
The next day (so we assume, as they are discussing the Spit Flower) Jason and Zack are sparring. We approve of this scene. It's time for the parade, and everyone is watching at the Juice Bar. Billy has binoculars, because he says it makes him feel like he's there. He is so dorky and adorable, we love him so. Kimberly is sad, and then suddenly we see her float! Apparently they all made it for her! Overnight? How did they pull this off? Whatever, we call fish.
Bulk and Skull show up, and they're vaguely annoying. Zack does a magic trick (awesome!) except he makes some flowers appear, and well, he knew Bulk had allergies. I have allergies, so sadly this episode will also get the Rangers are bullies tag, because that was just cruel.
Lists!
2 fish! This episode was actually pretty consistent, and except for the ridiculousness about the float being made overnight at the end, it wasn't that bad. Even with Tommy! We're amazed.
Covered in food: Do flowers count? Everyone gets covered in flowers.
Questions: How DID Tommy get into Billy's garage?
Saturday, August 1, 2009
Episode 23- Itsy Bitsy Spider
In celebration of the new livejournal community and my return from sporadic internet access during my week at a place not-my-home, we decided to do a Saturday update!
We start this episode with another petition run by Trini. This time she has Billy helping her attempt to get other teenagers interested in civic action. They're trying to get enough signitures to convince the city council to keep an old statue in the park. Apparently they want to tear it down and replace it with a grill. The statue isn't all that big and neither are park grills, so we're not sure why there is only one spot in the entirety of the park that could hold the pit and it's right where the statue happens to be. Apparently the statue had a myth behind it, a myth about a woman who protects humans from bad insects. She has a flower in her hair to remind humans that not all bugs are bad. It's really a rather ugly statue, actually. To illustrate this, they are standing in front of a table full of small containers holding bugs and spiders. Zack lets us know he's afraid of spiders. Good to know there, Zack. I'm sure that will prove very important information in an episode about you that's called Itsy Bitsy Spider.
Bulk and Skull, meanwhile, aren't sure why bugs would be helpful to humans and decide to be really mean by throwing all the bug containers on the ground. The bugs escape and pandemonium ensues in the hallway. Kids are running and screaming in all directions and poor Zack ends up with a tarantula on his shoulder. He freaks out and Tommy comes to his rescue. Does Tommy pick up the spider? No, of course not. He doesn't even brush it off. Instead, he waits until the spider jumps off Zack's shoulder (I didn't know tarantulas jumped... somebody correct me if I'm wrong here) and then hits him really hard with his binder. Way to be a friend, Tommy!
Later that day, after having changed clothes (we don't know why... nod and smile), the gang meets up to brainstorm a way to replace all the bugs that went missing. Billy introduces them to Jack, his lab mouse. We're not sure why and Jack is so cute we don't care that it makes no sense. Kim wants Jack to be her pet which is just so sweet and awesome I couldn't not mention it. Bulk and Skull, in rare form this episode, throw a notebook at Billy to get him to drop the mouse. Jack runs up Skull's pants leg and tickles his way up to Skull's collar. Billy rescues Jack and off they go to catch more bugs.
Meanwhile, Rita has made a replica of the statue Trini and Billy are trying to save. Inside her evil Spider Monster (which really looks more like an overstuffed tick... I know they're in the same family, spiders and ticks, but they don't look THAT much alike) will wait until called to leap forth and hand the Rangers their collective rear-ends. Or at least that's the plan. To aide him in his endeavor, Rita has placed spiders and moths all over the statue. Why moths? Because they are made of sleeping powder and make humans fall asleep of course! This is apparently supposed to be obvious, but it isn't, so we nod and smile and move on.
We then see Trini, Kim, Jason, and Billy in the middle of a field. They've gathered together to collect bugs. Jason looks rather handsome in a simple outfit and Kim and Trini are a little matchy, but adorable! Billy, however, is wearing the type of safari gear one would buy for a small child to play dress up. He's cute though, so we forgive him. We discover that Tommy has a martial arts class he couldn't miss and Zack is teaching Hip Hop Kido. Why they would even invite Zack is beyond me. The poor boy is afraid of bugs! That would be like inviting Billy to stay on an underwater planet populated entirely by fish! Oh... wait.
Meanwhile, at Zack's Hip Hop Kido class, we discover he's teaching a small group of young boys. He demonstrates some moves, asks some kid to copy him, and then tells him he did alright but needs some funkier music. We love Zack so much but that's really not the way to teach martial arts. He LEAVES THE KIDS ALONE and Rita unleashes her sleeping powder moths. They all fall asleep and Zack discovers them in a pile on the grass. He's unable to wake them so he contacts Zordon right away. First Ranger ever to use his head in a crisis! He doesn't run to the other Rangers; he uses his communicator to ask for help! Good for you, Zack. You may fail as a teacher and at your child minding responsibilities, but at least you know who to contact in case of emergency.
He won't leave the kids, but he does run to the statue and discovers it crawling with bugs. He's a little freaked out, but manages to look closely enough to realize it's not the same statue. The flower has been replaced with a snake. Zack morphs and it releases the Spider Monster. It is only here he suspects Rita is at fault. Seriously? A bunch of kids fall asleep under suspicious circumstances due to sleeping powder moths and you don't suspect Rita until a missing flower gives it away? Wow. He doesn't even get to battle the Spider Monster before Goldar shows up and fights. The other Rangers morph and join him in battle. Rita goes straight to growth mode and the Spider Monster becomes a giant.
We have to take a minute and appreciate Rita's ability to throw her staff FROM THE MOON and NEVER miss the target. She somehow manages to account for wind, velocity, distance, descent, and protects it from burning up in the atmosphere on it's way in. That is one amazing power.
So the Rangers call their Zords in what seems like the longest Zord summoning sequence in quite awhile. They form the MegaZord but immediately get electrocuted... by a spiderweb. They decide they can't do it alone without having really engaged in battle, and Zordon calls Tommy in. He's in the park, showing off again. Not in a class like they said, but rather just doing some moves all on his own. Okay then. The MegaZord somehow separates while Tommy is calling the DragonZord and they decide to fight with their individual Zords. Zacks promises to show the Spider Monster what Mastodon Power is all about. He doesn't get the chance though and we're left disappointed and wondering. The Zords come together again to form the Dragon MegaZord. They beat the Spider Monster and the kids magically wake up. Somehow the real statue returns and all is well again.
Back at school, we discover the petition was accepted by the city council and the statue has been saved. No word on where the bbq grill will go. Tommy then puts a fake spider on Zack's shoulder to trick him after Zack says he's over his fear of spiders. So thoughtful, Tommy. We'd just LOVE to have you as a friend.
List time!
Overall, 3.5 fish. It probably deserves 4, but it's a Zack episode (so much love!) and it features Hip Hop Kido and for once in the entire series, somebody uses their brain and calls for help immediately using the communicator Billy provided them for just that purpose.
Billy Speak: "The forest spirit provides a buffer against harmful arthropods."
Trini Translation: "It's to protect all of us against bad insects."
Covered in food: None! But just about everybody ends up covered in bugs.
Questions to ponder: Just what IS Mastodon Power all about, Zack?
Where was Kim and what was she doing during that entire battle? She summoned her Zord and then... nothing.
We start this episode with another petition run by Trini. This time she has Billy helping her attempt to get other teenagers interested in civic action. They're trying to get enough signitures to convince the city council to keep an old statue in the park. Apparently they want to tear it down and replace it with a grill. The statue isn't all that big and neither are park grills, so we're not sure why there is only one spot in the entirety of the park that could hold the pit and it's right where the statue happens to be. Apparently the statue had a myth behind it, a myth about a woman who protects humans from bad insects. She has a flower in her hair to remind humans that not all bugs are bad. It's really a rather ugly statue, actually. To illustrate this, they are standing in front of a table full of small containers holding bugs and spiders. Zack lets us know he's afraid of spiders. Good to know there, Zack. I'm sure that will prove very important information in an episode about you that's called Itsy Bitsy Spider.
Bulk and Skull, meanwhile, aren't sure why bugs would be helpful to humans and decide to be really mean by throwing all the bug containers on the ground. The bugs escape and pandemonium ensues in the hallway. Kids are running and screaming in all directions and poor Zack ends up with a tarantula on his shoulder. He freaks out and Tommy comes to his rescue. Does Tommy pick up the spider? No, of course not. He doesn't even brush it off. Instead, he waits until the spider jumps off Zack's shoulder (I didn't know tarantulas jumped... somebody correct me if I'm wrong here) and then hits him really hard with his binder. Way to be a friend, Tommy!
Later that day, after having changed clothes (we don't know why... nod and smile), the gang meets up to brainstorm a way to replace all the bugs that went missing. Billy introduces them to Jack, his lab mouse. We're not sure why and Jack is so cute we don't care that it makes no sense. Kim wants Jack to be her pet which is just so sweet and awesome I couldn't not mention it. Bulk and Skull, in rare form this episode, throw a notebook at Billy to get him to drop the mouse. Jack runs up Skull's pants leg and tickles his way up to Skull's collar. Billy rescues Jack and off they go to catch more bugs.
Meanwhile, Rita has made a replica of the statue Trini and Billy are trying to save. Inside her evil Spider Monster (which really looks more like an overstuffed tick... I know they're in the same family, spiders and ticks, but they don't look THAT much alike) will wait until called to leap forth and hand the Rangers their collective rear-ends. Or at least that's the plan. To aide him in his endeavor, Rita has placed spiders and moths all over the statue. Why moths? Because they are made of sleeping powder and make humans fall asleep of course! This is apparently supposed to be obvious, but it isn't, so we nod and smile and move on.
We then see Trini, Kim, Jason, and Billy in the middle of a field. They've gathered together to collect bugs. Jason looks rather handsome in a simple outfit and Kim and Trini are a little matchy, but adorable! Billy, however, is wearing the type of safari gear one would buy for a small child to play dress up. He's cute though, so we forgive him. We discover that Tommy has a martial arts class he couldn't miss and Zack is teaching Hip Hop Kido. Why they would even invite Zack is beyond me. The poor boy is afraid of bugs! That would be like inviting Billy to stay on an underwater planet populated entirely by fish! Oh... wait.
Meanwhile, at Zack's Hip Hop Kido class, we discover he's teaching a small group of young boys. He demonstrates some moves, asks some kid to copy him, and then tells him he did alright but needs some funkier music. We love Zack so much but that's really not the way to teach martial arts. He LEAVES THE KIDS ALONE and Rita unleashes her sleeping powder moths. They all fall asleep and Zack discovers them in a pile on the grass. He's unable to wake them so he contacts Zordon right away. First Ranger ever to use his head in a crisis! He doesn't run to the other Rangers; he uses his communicator to ask for help! Good for you, Zack. You may fail as a teacher and at your child minding responsibilities, but at least you know who to contact in case of emergency.
He won't leave the kids, but he does run to the statue and discovers it crawling with bugs. He's a little freaked out, but manages to look closely enough to realize it's not the same statue. The flower has been replaced with a snake. Zack morphs and it releases the Spider Monster. It is only here he suspects Rita is at fault. Seriously? A bunch of kids fall asleep under suspicious circumstances due to sleeping powder moths and you don't suspect Rita until a missing flower gives it away? Wow. He doesn't even get to battle the Spider Monster before Goldar shows up and fights. The other Rangers morph and join him in battle. Rita goes straight to growth mode and the Spider Monster becomes a giant.
We have to take a minute and appreciate Rita's ability to throw her staff FROM THE MOON and NEVER miss the target. She somehow manages to account for wind, velocity, distance, descent, and protects it from burning up in the atmosphere on it's way in. That is one amazing power.
So the Rangers call their Zords in what seems like the longest Zord summoning sequence in quite awhile. They form the MegaZord but immediately get electrocuted... by a spiderweb. They decide they can't do it alone without having really engaged in battle, and Zordon calls Tommy in. He's in the park, showing off again. Not in a class like they said, but rather just doing some moves all on his own. Okay then. The MegaZord somehow separates while Tommy is calling the DragonZord and they decide to fight with their individual Zords. Zacks promises to show the Spider Monster what Mastodon Power is all about. He doesn't get the chance though and we're left disappointed and wondering. The Zords come together again to form the Dragon MegaZord. They beat the Spider Monster and the kids magically wake up. Somehow the real statue returns and all is well again.
Back at school, we discover the petition was accepted by the city council and the statue has been saved. No word on where the bbq grill will go. Tommy then puts a fake spider on Zack's shoulder to trick him after Zack says he's over his fear of spiders. So thoughtful, Tommy. We'd just LOVE to have you as a friend.
List time!
Overall, 3.5 fish. It probably deserves 4, but it's a Zack episode (so much love!) and it features Hip Hop Kido and for once in the entire series, somebody uses their brain and calls for help immediately using the communicator Billy provided them for just that purpose.
Billy Speak: "The forest spirit provides a buffer against harmful arthropods."
Trini Translation: "It's to protect all of us against bad insects."
Covered in food: None! But just about everybody ends up covered in bugs.
Questions to ponder: Just what IS Mastodon Power all about, Zack?
Where was Kim and what was she doing during that entire battle? She summoned her Zord and then... nothing.
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