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.