Episode 38 - A Bad Reflection On You

First, l'shana tova to anyone on this community who celebrates. Queenriley and I decided to start the new year by watching an episode of Power Rangers, which we think worked out pretty well. Especially considering what a great episode this was. You guys, we've found our first ONE FISH episode. Not 1.5. Just ONE.

We open with Rita's best plan yet, and honestly, we're amazed it's taken her 38 episodes to think of it, because it is a great plan. Under the command of Scorpina (which is awesome in and of itself) and the new monster whose name we never actually caught, probably because we were too busy being pleased by the plan, a group of Putties are going to be turned into duplicates of the Rangers. We know that this same plot happens almost a dozen times (and we're going to count them!) throughout the show, but it is awesome, and we love evil twin episodes.

And we have to say, they are rocking the evil look. Billy in a wifebeater with his overalls rolled down? YUM. Seriously, David Yost has nice arms. They also have on sunglasses, because all of Rita's spells involve glowing eyes. She needs to work on that.

The Rangers are all brandishing tools of some sort (and there's a minor moment of serious fail when you realize that Zack is the one with the crowbar. At least he doesn't menace anyone with it) which they use to take apart a water fountain and add laundry detergent into it. We're just going to say this once and move on - science doesn't work like that. But there are some amazing moments, and Amy Jo Johnson and David Yost are clearly having fun reviving their Power Punks personas. We also get a repeat of the Skull asking out punk!Kim, and her doppelganger agrees to go out with him. Oh, Skull, we feel so bad for him. Because Kimberly keeps saying yes and then breaking the dates. We almost can't blame him for continuing to ask her out, because she does say yes sometimes. Also, twin!Billy totally shoves one of his geek friends up against a locker, and is it hot in here or is it just me? *fans self*

Anyway, Principal Caplan is the one to use the water fountain, and he ends up covered in foam, and I guess we aren't retiring the covered in [whatever] category any time soon. The fake!Rangers take credit and get thrown in detention, and they leave. The real Rangers get out of class right after, and they try to help the Principal, but are thrown into detention anyway. They're all confused, it is pretty adorable.

And can we just say, that is not how detention works. What they are actually describing is in-school suspension. And even in-school suspension you get supervised the whole time, and you have to do the work that you're missing by not being in class. But Principal Caplan just leaves them there. Angel Grove should really hire a second teacher.

Bulk tells Jason to get out of his seat. Jason asks him if his name is on it, and Bulk says yes. "Buulk." I'm really hoping that this is how his last name is actually spelled, or else seriously, how did nobody ever test Bulk and Skull for some sort of learning disability? Kimberly breaks the date with Skull, and at this point the Rangers should realize that there's some sort of spell going on. Kimberly just ignores it and pulls out a book with a pink cover. Oh, Kim, I really hope you're reading a trashy romance.

Bulk has a detention survival kit, which includes an enormous lunch sent by his mother. We get it, show, you think that the only reason people are fat is because they can't stop eating. Shut up already. We're totally creating a fatphobia tag now. *rage*

On the plus side, at least Bulk appears to have parents who actually care. We could try to do some analysis, but we're afraid it would just be depressing. Meanwhile, poor Skull has no lunch, and we're now convinced that Skull has a lousy home life. He asked Bulk for some of his food, and Bulk gives him the soda.

The soda promptly explodes, and everyone laughs at Skull. I guess this episode is getting the Rangers are Bullies tag. And then Skull aims the soda at Bulk, who also gets covered in soda, and Bulk retaliates by throwing a pie at Skull. Oy. Skull even THANKS him for it.

Meanwhile, stage 2 of Rita's plan is in full swing. Since the Rangers are otherwise occupied in detention, Rita has her evil Rangers morph and start attacking a very Japanese section of Angel Grove. (Hi there, sentai footage!) Fake!Jason even yells out "No mercy!" as they leap into the square. And they start firing on school children. Wow. Pretty great way to ruin the Rangers' reputations quickly.

Back in detention, Bulk has pulled out a tv. He and Skull are watching cartoons before it is interrupted with live footage of the Power Rangers destroying Angel Grove. This is how the Rangers find out. Can we say epic Zordon fail? The Rangers are compared to the same hoodlums that they used to fight. I'm not really sure that monsters count as hoodlums. Bulk and Skull think this is awesome. We really can't wait for season 2 and their endless quest to figure out who the Rangers are.

The Rangers realize they need to get out of detention, and just walking out doesn't work. Apparently they can't just teleport either, but they're going to need to immediately morph. Zack comes up with the idea of a magic trick (which is consistent with his character at least! He'll pull this trick again later) that will make them disappear. Bulk and Skull have to cover their eyes, put their fingers in their ears, and count backwards from 10. The Rangers morph and teleport out.

Okay, look, I said it earlier, but Bulk and Skull really need to be tested for dyscalculia right now. Or something. They should be able to count backwards from ten. Also, with Jason's new enthusiasm at yelling "It's Morphin Time!" they should still have been able to hear them. Teleportation is quiet. Do that first, THEN morph.

Anyway, the Rangers go to the square and fight their doubles. The fake!Pink one actually pulls off a pretty good plan, yelling for Trini to help her. Of course, it turns out to be the real Kim that Trini hits, but Kim fights back, and they hit the fake!Kim and she transforms back into a putty. The same thing happens with the other fake Rangers, except it turns out that fake!Jason is actually a monster. And we get a great fight - this time they use their blade blasters and the power weapons. No Zords at all! We missed this stuff. It's been a while since we've had a non-zord fight!

The people of Angel Grove come to see the Power Rangers and tell them that they saw the whole thing and they knew the Rangers would never betray them. Riiiiiiiiight.

Back in detention, Bulk and Skull are trying to figure out where the Rangers have gone. Giving up, they figure they can rat them out to Caplan. Just as they bring him in, the Rangers teleport back in, and they totally throw Bulk and Skull under a bus. The Rangers are forgiven for 'their' prank, and there's no mention of anyone ever calling their parents. Right.


Lists!
One fish. The only complaint we have about the episode is the ridiculous science. But really, most of the nitpicky stuff we have to say is so consistent with earlier episodes that we can't really complain as much, because that is just how this universe operates. We'll still point it out, of course. And we have to congratulate Rita on an excellent plan.

Covered in food: Caplan gets covered in foam. Skull gets covered in pie and a soda. Bulk gets covered in soda.

Billy speak: "Not even Skull is that mentally deficient"
"What a remarkable display of early neanderthal socio-contact."

Evil Billy speak: Pasta la pizza.

Kimberly speak: "And to think I always liked mirrors"