I hate this episode. I really really hate this episode.
So we get the best opening shot ever, and that's the only good thing in the entire episode. We open with a close up of Billy's gorgeous gorgeous eyes looking through the grate over the secret room where Zordon and Alpha are creating the white ranger. They can't hear him talk for the fish in their ears, and he leaves to go tell the others.
Back in Billy's garage, he tells them about the new ranger. Instead of being all excited and "OMGSOAWESOMENEWRANGERYAY!", they're being emotastic and worried. They don't want somebody new intruding into their group and they feel it's a slap in the face to Tommy to give somebody else new powers. Uh, did nobody stop and think that hey, rather than tell yet another person their secret identities, Zordon just might, possibly, be making this new power for, gosh, I don't know... Tommy? Really? Nobody came to this EXTREMELY LOGICAL conclusion? Apparently not, because everybody is really depressed and even Jason, in his cautious optimism, just looks constipated.
Meanwhile, in Skull's garage/basement/wherever they happen to be, Bulk and Skull are still trying everything they can think of to open the space dumpster. Skull gets an idea and drags Bulk off to Ernie's. They head off, and Rita lifts the lid from inside the dumpster proclaiming her need to get out of there. Uh... if Rita can open it from inside, why can't Bulk and Skull lift it off from outside? And wouldn't there be some kind of magical lock in place preventing Rita from lifting it from the inside? Doesn't that defeat the purpose of locking her up in the first place, if she can just throw off the lid and walk away at any time?
In Billy's garage, they've all been pacing and looking sad. Zordon finally contacts them to tell them about the new ranger, and they all teleport to the Command Center to listen. They still look upset and I just don't get WHY. So Zordon calls down the white light and the white ranger comes floating down from above. It's very dramatic-Jesus-like and I want to slam my head against something repeatedly. He takes off his helmet and Billy smiles and says he can't believe it. Really, Billy? In your super intelligent overly logical brain did it never once occur to you who would be in that suit? *sigh*
And then we see Kim faint. Nobody else sees her faint, but she faints. She FAINTS people. She sees Tommy and PASSES THE FUCK OUT. This is why I hate this episode. Does she, the one who has beaten more monsters on her own than the rest of the team combined, not have the fortitude to STAY CONSCIOUS when surprised with Tommy? SERIOUSLY? WHAT THE HELL SHOW?
(and now that I've rewritten that four times and calmed down enough for just that bit, I'll move on)
So then we see that it's Tommy in the white ranger outfit. Well colour me surprised. Or not. Everybody is all excited and shocked and acting like idiots. Tommy pushes them aside because nobody else saw Kim faint, but he's worried. He calls her princess, lifts her from the ground, and tells her to wake up. And miraculously, she wakes up. And can't believe it's Tommy. She's sure she's dreaming. I bruise my forehead slamming it against the desk. Luckily I thought to move the keyboard out of the way first.
Zordon then tells them that Tommy was the obvious choice to be the NEW LEADER of the Power Rangers. Hold the phone! New LEADER? Leader? Really? What, Jason suddenly isn't capable? He's not good enough anymore? Tommy is infinitely better at being leader than Jason and so he gets to just usurp the role?? WHY? I can see Tommy taking over once Jason leaves and the Stone Canyon Trio move in. But right now? While Jason is still doing an awesome job of being leader? WHAT THE HELL SHOW?!?!??!!
Luckily they cut back to Bulk and Skull before I can YET AGAIN go into rage blackout. Bulk and Skull are using a massively large can opener trying to open the dumpster. We can only assume Ernie had such a large can opener because he needed it to open the massive tin of fish it took to create this episode.
So back at the Command Center, Zordon appraises them of the monster and some putties, Rita getting out of her dumpster, and the need to go take care of this. Oh but wait, the zords were damaged and Billy didn't fix them. Zordon sends Billy and Trini to go fix the zords, Tommy to deal with the monster, and Jason, Kim, and Zack to deal with a bunch of putties. So Tommy jumps around, his zord damages a lot of land, and we meet Saba, the talking sabre. I like Saba. He can be annoying, but I don't care. I like him anyway. So Tommy kind of fails at controlling his zord and it falls over. He makes a comment about having never had a partner before so they'll just have to learn to work together. Excuse me? Never had a partner before? What, did you beat all those monsters in season 1 and the first half of 2 all on your own there, Tommy? Nobody else helped you? You didn't have multiple learn to cooperate already episodes? *sigh*
So he eventually figures out how to work the zord and then he makes it fight by doing martial arts in the cockpit. It's ridiculous, but not quite as bad as firing weapons inside equating to firing weapons outside (I'm looking at you, RPM). Tommy really sucks at this and then somehow ends up on the side of a mountain. I don't even... whatever.
Jason calls his zord and we wonder a)how the zords were fixed so quickly and b)who told Jason. But apparently both happened because Jason goes to fight alongside Tommy, and ends up with his thunderzord riding Tommy's zord. Oh show. They battle in a pathetic jousting match and then separate to combine with the other zords and form a new Megazord. The new Megazord can shoot Kim's zord at enemies with effects reminiscent of Tron. And now I want to go watch Tron. They win the battle, the Megazord and Jason's zord shake hands for some reason, and then we cut back to Bulk and Skull.
So Bulk and Skull eventually collapse from the effort and while they aren't looking, Rita throws off the lid and climbs out of the dumpster. She yells at Bulk and Skull and they pass out from fright. But alas, her escape isn't meant to be because the rangers are there too and they put her back in her dumpster, toss the lid back on haphazardly, and then leave with the dumpster. The boys go send it back into space while Kim and Trini hang out in Skull's garage/basement/whatever. They wake up and nobody questions why Kim and Trini are there, but whatever. The girls are mean about Bulk and Skull hallucinating a little witch.
At the Youth Center, they are having a surprise party for Tommy. They talk, loudly, about Tommy being a ranger again and Jason gets confused when trying to compare Tommy's surprise being more surprising than their surprise party. In walk Ritchie and Curtis. Ritchie has apparently won a trophy at a martial arts tournament that none of the rangers took part in, and the Angel Grove economy keeps on spinning. He shows off some moves for them and manages to kick a large sheet cake that Ernie just finished decorating. It goes flying and lands on Bulk and Skull, who just walked in. They promptly turn and walk right back out while everybody laughs at them.
*sigh* Did I mention I hate this episode?
List time:
5 fish. There isn't enough gefitle fish in the world to explain away this episode.
Billy speak: borderline, but the closest we get is "All the energy is being concentrated into the creation of a new Ranger."
Covered in food: Bulk and Skull covered in cake.
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Saturday, January 30, 2010
Episode 77 - White Light - Part 1
First, a bit of housekeeping. We changed the tag "Green Ranger era" to "Tommy era." Just in case anyone is wondering.
So. Tommy. Yeah. I hate this episode.I loved it when I was ten. But the thing that actually is going to cause the rage blackout happens in part 2, so I'll try not to rant about it that much.
The episode opens with Bulk and Skull (who are decked out as explorers on a safari, IDEK) demand to know where their sandwiches are. Trini snarkily calls them out on their rudeness, as she is awesome.
Kimberly bounces in, all excited because Tommy has sent her a letter (I guess he remembered which Ranger he's actually dating) telling her that he'll be back at the end of the week. I have no idea what happens next, because we held an all caps conversation about this.
second_batgirl: SERIOUSLY, WHERE WAS HE?
queenriley: okay, WHERE THE HELL DID HE GO IN THE FIRST PLACE????? Does he not have SCHOOL???
second_batgirl: APPARENTLY NOT
queenriley: I can't imagine school gives sabbatical for "I lost my ranger powers"
So we finally decided that they have to be on summer vacation or something. We already know that Miss Applebee teaches everything, so I guess that works? (Alternately, the administration knows that they're Rangers and does give a sabbatical for "I lost my powers.")
Anyway, at the Command Center it turns out that Zordon and Alpha are going to work on a project, so they shut down the Command Center without telling the Rangers. Do they not remember what happened the last time Zordon shut down? (I guess since Alpha isn't going to go rescue baby!Dillon this time, they didn't feel the need to call them.) Zedd, who is as awesome at surveillance as Rita was, immediately notices something weird, and then gives us a fish filled explanation about how the Morphin Grid is maintained by a balance of Zedd and Zordon. Right. I guess it's also supported by some giant fish. So Zedd decides this would be a great time to a) capture Tommy again and b) send down a monster named Nimrod.
Back on Earth, Zack, Curtis and Jasosn are playing sports and damn, Jason has nice arms. Then Rita's garbage pail crashes on Earth, and Bulk and Skull decide this is the sign that will tell them who the Power Rangers are. Right. I'm not entirely sure why it took 17 episodes for her to land on Earth. Maybe some fish were blocking her path.
At his uncle's lake, we see Tommy getting out of the lake. Wow, for a moment both of us thought he was naked. Those swim trunks were remarkably close to the color of his skin. Anyway, gratuitous shirtless soaking wet Tommy is gratuitous. And then he gets teleported out by someone in a flash of white light. Hmmm.
Zack wanders over to get a football, and he finds the statue covered in slime, so he calls the others. They are all concerned by the slime, but none of them bother to inspect the back of the statue, which has the monster's head on it. The Rangers soon discover that Zordon isn't answering their communicators, so they teleport to the Command Center which is totally shut down. However, Billy manages to access what we're guessing is the footage from the security cameras, so they teleport down to his lab to check it out.
While in the lab everything starts to shake, so they realize that a monster is attacking. It's Nimrod, and it's two helpers AC and DC. I love this show so much. Midway through the battle Billy teleports to the Command Center to go figure out what Zordon and Alpha are up to. He enters the same code he saw Alpha put in, and falls through the door of light. Instead of ending up in the main room where Alpha and Zordon are, he lands in the room above them, which conveniently has a grate for him to look through. Zordon and Alpha fail at noticing his presence, but Billy is able to see that there's another Ranger....
To be continued. Tomorrow.
Fish: 3.5 The fish sure nudged a lot of plot points into place today.
Billy speak: There was a lot of borderline comments, but the only thing of note was "The activity disc is showing the combination of controls that Alpha coordinated."
Covered in: I did mention soaking wet Tommy and the lake, right?
So. Tommy. Yeah. I hate this episode.
The episode opens with Bulk and Skull (who are decked out as explorers on a safari, IDEK) demand to know where their sandwiches are. Trini snarkily calls them out on their rudeness, as she is awesome.
Kimberly bounces in, all excited because Tommy has sent her a letter (I guess he remembered which Ranger he's actually dating) telling her that he'll be back at the end of the week. I have no idea what happens next, because we held an all caps conversation about this.
second_batgirl: SERIOUSLY, WHERE WAS HE?
queenriley: okay, WHERE THE HELL DID HE GO IN THE FIRST PLACE????? Does he not have SCHOOL???
second_batgirl: APPARENTLY NOT
queenriley: I can't imagine school gives sabbatical for "I lost my ranger powers"
So we finally decided that they have to be on summer vacation or something. We already know that Miss Applebee teaches everything, so I guess that works? (Alternately, the administration knows that they're Rangers and does give a sabbatical for "I lost my powers.")
Anyway, at the Command Center it turns out that Zordon and Alpha are going to work on a project, so they shut down the Command Center without telling the Rangers. Do they not remember what happened the last time Zordon shut down? (I guess since Alpha isn't going to go rescue baby!Dillon this time, they didn't feel the need to call them.) Zedd, who is as awesome at surveillance as Rita was, immediately notices something weird, and then gives us a fish filled explanation about how the Morphin Grid is maintained by a balance of Zedd and Zordon. Right. I guess it's also supported by some giant fish. So Zedd decides this would be a great time to a) capture Tommy again and b) send down a monster named Nimrod.
Back on Earth, Zack, Curtis and Jasosn are playing sports and damn, Jason has nice arms. Then Rita's garbage pail crashes on Earth, and Bulk and Skull decide this is the sign that will tell them who the Power Rangers are. Right. I'm not entirely sure why it took 17 episodes for her to land on Earth. Maybe some fish were blocking her path.
At his uncle's lake, we see Tommy getting out of the lake. Wow, for a moment both of us thought he was naked. Those swim trunks were remarkably close to the color of his skin. Anyway, gratuitous shirtless soaking wet Tommy is gratuitous. And then he gets teleported out by someone in a flash of white light. Hmmm.
Zack wanders over to get a football, and he finds the statue covered in slime, so he calls the others. They are all concerned by the slime, but none of them bother to inspect the back of the statue, which has the monster's head on it. The Rangers soon discover that Zordon isn't answering their communicators, so they teleport to the Command Center which is totally shut down. However, Billy manages to access what we're guessing is the footage from the security cameras, so they teleport down to his lab to check it out.
While in the lab everything starts to shake, so they realize that a monster is attacking. It's Nimrod, and it's two helpers AC and DC. I love this show so much. Midway through the battle Billy teleports to the Command Center to go figure out what Zordon and Alpha are up to. He enters the same code he saw Alpha put in, and falls through the door of light. Instead of ending up in the main room where Alpha and Zordon are, he lands in the room above them, which conveniently has a grate for him to look through. Zordon and Alpha fail at noticing his presence, but Billy is able to see that there's another Ranger....
To be continued. Tomorrow.
Fish: 3.5 The fish sure nudged a lot of plot points into place today.
Billy speak: There was a lot of borderline comments, but the only thing of note was "The activity disc is showing the combination of controls that Alpha coordinated."
Covered in: I did mention soaking wet Tommy and the lake, right?
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Episode 76- Beauty and the Beast
Otherwise known as Kim Is Uber During Blatant Contract Disputes.
We can sum this episode up in the short bit of conversation:
TSB: I'm watching the Power Rangers episode where Zedd tries to make Kimberly his queen
Friend of TSB: Your show is so cheerfully fucked up :P
And so it is, Friend of TSB. So it is.
We start the episode with Billy looking very buff sitting at the Juice Bar with Kim. She's showing off her brand new blue mirror that Tommy got for her. Billy comments on how quiet it is without Tommy and I'm still wondering where he went. I mean, he still lives in Angel Grove. He still attends Angel Grove High School. He's still in all their classes. He didn't drop off the face of the planet there, guys. He's just not a ranger. If they're missing him, it's their own fault for not hanging out with him.
Anyway. So they lament the lack of Tommy and then Kim, scanning the newspaper, gets the idea to go see Madam Swampy the fortune teller. Yes, they spell it that way, which I know is legitimate, but without the 'e' on the end, all I can think of is the type of Madam that runs a House of Ill Repute. Ahem. Anyway, Billy tries to dissuade Kim by explaining the lack of scientific evidence for such fortune telling, but she is bound and determined. He agrees to go with her, but he wants to stop by his house to pick up his rollerblades first. As soon as they leave, Bulk and Skull see the ad and decide to swing by Madam Swampy and see if she'll tell them who the Power Rangers are. Skull is wearing an awesome civil war style hat. I just had to point that out.
So Billy apparently takes forever to get his rollerblades (TSB is sure it's because they stopped to make out, but I can't really get behind that theory since I don't ship Billy/Kim... I see it, but I don't ship it) because Bulk and Skull beat him and Kim to the fortune teller. She demands $5 but they can't pay. All they have is a fake bug, a marble, and a bit of plastic. She tells them they'll get what they pay for, thrust a "map" at them, and sends them on their way. They believe the map (which is on an orangish-pinkish coloured piece of paper, so not exactly inspiring on the whole legitimacy thing) will lead them to happiness and set off following it, not bothering to look at the other side.
Shortly after they leave, Kim shows up. Billy isn't with her, so she heads in on her own. Before she can even go in the door, Goldar and a bunch of putties show up. Goldar tells her he's going to make her his queen, she resists, and then he pulls out some magic powder (again with this stuff?). It makes her pass out and Goldar totally cops a feel while holding her. They teleport away and her bag and mirror are left on the ground. Zedd takes that opportunity to turn the mirror into a monster, contradicting previous episodes yet again.
Meanwhile, Billy and Zack are rollerblading in the park. Billy gives a convenient excuse for the lack of Jason in this episode. He's apparently on a fishing trip in the mountains. Billy also has really nice arms and ought to be shirtless, but instead they put him in a skimpy tank top. I suppose it will do as far as eye candy is concerned. If we can't get him shirtless, we'll deal with scantily clad. While I was distracted by Billy Being Pretty, Zordon contacts them and says there is trouble. They teleport to the Command Center where they meet up with Trini and discover Kim has been captured and is in a cave... somewhere. But Zordon doesn't know where. But he was watching them on the Viewing Globe. Yet he still doesn't know where they are.
So they're supposed to find Kim, but there is a putty attack in the park and Ritchie and Curtis are in trouble (only they're not, because they were totally handling themselves in that fight, being set up as replacements like woah). So Zack is going to go help them while Billy and Trini go find Kim. And Jason isn't there because he's on his fishing trip. And I just wonder why he can't escape the fishing trip for a bit? I mean, they get out of school all the time. Can't he just claim a spastic colon and go lock himself in a bathroom or something? Oh but wait, Zordon gives a flimsy and nonsensical excuse. Somehow the mountains are shielding him from Zordon's communication waves (since when?). Oh Angel Grove geography. Make less sense. I dare you.
So Billy and Trini teleport to the cave we all know and love, but we're apparently not supposed to recognize it as they claim it's never been seen before. Yet it's the same cave everybody gets thrown in when kidnapped, ranger and civilian alike. So we have the WORST VOICE ACTING EVER with somebody who doesn't sound anything like Thuy Trang and is doing an accent we can't even figure out where it's supposed to be from. I spend the rest of the episode trying my best to ignore it.
Meanwhile, Kim wakes up. Goldar does some more magic on her and she's supposed to be under a spell, to be their queen. They've even put her in Rita's old clothes. She's not affected, however, but is smart enough to realize she can't let them know that. So she does the best Rita impression EVER. It's impressive. She squawks and orders and makes demands. She talks back to Goldar and it is AWESOME.
Billy and Not-Trini rush in and she lets them know she's not really under a spell. She even, at one point, comments that she should have been an actress. I find this especially amusing since Amy Jo Johnson is arguably the most successful actress of the entire group, having gone on to have a good number of notable and popular roles in mainstream television. Anyway, Trini manages to get Kim's morpher while Billy distracts Goldar by... pushing him. Or something. Kim morphs, Goldar and the others leave, and then the threesome go to the park to fight the putties and the mirror monster. Y'know, that monster that Zedd made earlier that's just been standing around twiddling it's thumbs. I seriously forgot about it until they went to fight it. They meet up with Zack and Jason, who apparently managed to convince his fellow fisherpeople that he had a spastic colon and needed to vacate for a bit. So they fight off putties and the monster, apparently being non-confrontational, tries to leave. But Zedd won't let him. Zedd makes him grow instead.
I think we all know what happens after that. Zords. Small fight. Mirror destroyed. While I glossed over the fight, I did spend a bit of time marveling at the city planners of Angel Grove. They somehow managed to design downtown, the city center, with conveniently large spaces just the right size for a MegaZord to waltz through without needed to step over or around buildings. And seeing as how the MegaZord towers over even the tallest buildings, that's some MASSIVE walking space.
Back at the Youth Center, Kim laments that she can't find her mirror. Curtis shows up with it in hand and totally macks on her. Oh Curtis, stop being Zack 2.0 please. It's not impressive. Then Bulk and Skull show up, having followed the map all the way to the Juice Bar. They're disappointed, however, to find only Zack, Kim, and Billy and not the Power Rangers as they were expecting. Billy gets hold of the map and points out the other side. There is a coupon for a free muffin. Ritchie even points out the free muffins. He pauses after saying "free muffins" and then waits patiently for Bulk and Skull to each take one. They bite into them and only then does Ritchie add the important part of that deal. The muffins are free with the purchase of lunch. They spit out the muffins (ew) and then can't pay for them or lunch, so Ritchie and Ernie (who just sat idly by while all this was going on) hand over aprons so Bulk and Skull can wash dishes to pay for the food they were told was free when it really wasn't. Good job, upstanding moral characters.
List time:
2.5 fish. The plot was pretty solid, overall, and there were really only a few issues... mainly Zedd turning a non-living thing into a monster (which has been stated he can't do), and Jason's mountain interference before his spastic colon (cookies to anybody that catches where I got the spastic colon reference).
Billy speak: "There's no scientific data to support such practitioners" is as close as we got.
Covered in food: nobody really, unless you count bits of chewed muffin when Bulk and Skull spit out their free-but-not-really muffins.
We can sum this episode up in the short bit of conversation:
TSB: I'm watching the Power Rangers episode where Zedd tries to make Kimberly his queen
Friend of TSB: Your show is so cheerfully fucked up :P
And so it is, Friend of TSB. So it is.
We start the episode with Billy looking very buff sitting at the Juice Bar with Kim. She's showing off her brand new blue mirror that Tommy got for her. Billy comments on how quiet it is without Tommy and I'm still wondering where he went. I mean, he still lives in Angel Grove. He still attends Angel Grove High School. He's still in all their classes. He didn't drop off the face of the planet there, guys. He's just not a ranger. If they're missing him, it's their own fault for not hanging out with him.
Anyway. So they lament the lack of Tommy and then Kim, scanning the newspaper, gets the idea to go see Madam Swampy the fortune teller. Yes, they spell it that way, which I know is legitimate, but without the 'e' on the end, all I can think of is the type of Madam that runs a House of Ill Repute. Ahem. Anyway, Billy tries to dissuade Kim by explaining the lack of scientific evidence for such fortune telling, but she is bound and determined. He agrees to go with her, but he wants to stop by his house to pick up his rollerblades first. As soon as they leave, Bulk and Skull see the ad and decide to swing by Madam Swampy and see if she'll tell them who the Power Rangers are. Skull is wearing an awesome civil war style hat. I just had to point that out.
So Billy apparently takes forever to get his rollerblades (TSB is sure it's because they stopped to make out, but I can't really get behind that theory since I don't ship Billy/Kim... I see it, but I don't ship it) because Bulk and Skull beat him and Kim to the fortune teller. She demands $5 but they can't pay. All they have is a fake bug, a marble, and a bit of plastic. She tells them they'll get what they pay for, thrust a "map" at them, and sends them on their way. They believe the map (which is on an orangish-pinkish coloured piece of paper, so not exactly inspiring on the whole legitimacy thing) will lead them to happiness and set off following it, not bothering to look at the other side.
Shortly after they leave, Kim shows up. Billy isn't with her, so she heads in on her own. Before she can even go in the door, Goldar and a bunch of putties show up. Goldar tells her he's going to make her his queen, she resists, and then he pulls out some magic powder (again with this stuff?). It makes her pass out and Goldar totally cops a feel while holding her. They teleport away and her bag and mirror are left on the ground. Zedd takes that opportunity to turn the mirror into a monster, contradicting previous episodes yet again.
Meanwhile, Billy and Zack are rollerblading in the park. Billy gives a convenient excuse for the lack of Jason in this episode. He's apparently on a fishing trip in the mountains. Billy also has really nice arms and ought to be shirtless, but instead they put him in a skimpy tank top. I suppose it will do as far as eye candy is concerned. If we can't get him shirtless, we'll deal with scantily clad. While I was distracted by Billy Being Pretty, Zordon contacts them and says there is trouble. They teleport to the Command Center where they meet up with Trini and discover Kim has been captured and is in a cave... somewhere. But Zordon doesn't know where. But he was watching them on the Viewing Globe. Yet he still doesn't know where they are.
So they're supposed to find Kim, but there is a putty attack in the park and Ritchie and Curtis are in trouble (only they're not, because they were totally handling themselves in that fight, being set up as replacements like woah). So Zack is going to go help them while Billy and Trini go find Kim. And Jason isn't there because he's on his fishing trip. And I just wonder why he can't escape the fishing trip for a bit? I mean, they get out of school all the time. Can't he just claim a spastic colon and go lock himself in a bathroom or something? Oh but wait, Zordon gives a flimsy and nonsensical excuse. Somehow the mountains are shielding him from Zordon's communication waves (since when?). Oh Angel Grove geography. Make less sense. I dare you.
So Billy and Trini teleport to the cave we all know and love, but we're apparently not supposed to recognize it as they claim it's never been seen before. Yet it's the same cave everybody gets thrown in when kidnapped, ranger and civilian alike. So we have the WORST VOICE ACTING EVER with somebody who doesn't sound anything like Thuy Trang and is doing an accent we can't even figure out where it's supposed to be from. I spend the rest of the episode trying my best to ignore it.
Meanwhile, Kim wakes up. Goldar does some more magic on her and she's supposed to be under a spell, to be their queen. They've even put her in Rita's old clothes. She's not affected, however, but is smart enough to realize she can't let them know that. So she does the best Rita impression EVER. It's impressive. She squawks and orders and makes demands. She talks back to Goldar and it is AWESOME.
Billy and Not-Trini rush in and she lets them know she's not really under a spell. She even, at one point, comments that she should have been an actress. I find this especially amusing since Amy Jo Johnson is arguably the most successful actress of the entire group, having gone on to have a good number of notable and popular roles in mainstream television. Anyway, Trini manages to get Kim's morpher while Billy distracts Goldar by... pushing him. Or something. Kim morphs, Goldar and the others leave, and then the threesome go to the park to fight the putties and the mirror monster. Y'know, that monster that Zedd made earlier that's just been standing around twiddling it's thumbs. I seriously forgot about it until they went to fight it. They meet up with Zack and Jason, who apparently managed to convince his fellow fisherpeople that he had a spastic colon and needed to vacate for a bit. So they fight off putties and the monster, apparently being non-confrontational, tries to leave. But Zedd won't let him. Zedd makes him grow instead.
I think we all know what happens after that. Zords. Small fight. Mirror destroyed. While I glossed over the fight, I did spend a bit of time marveling at the city planners of Angel Grove. They somehow managed to design downtown, the city center, with conveniently large spaces just the right size for a MegaZord to waltz through without needed to step over or around buildings. And seeing as how the MegaZord towers over even the tallest buildings, that's some MASSIVE walking space.
Back at the Youth Center, Kim laments that she can't find her mirror. Curtis shows up with it in hand and totally macks on her. Oh Curtis, stop being Zack 2.0 please. It's not impressive. Then Bulk and Skull show up, having followed the map all the way to the Juice Bar. They're disappointed, however, to find only Zack, Kim, and Billy and not the Power Rangers as they were expecting. Billy gets hold of the map and points out the other side. There is a coupon for a free muffin. Ritchie even points out the free muffins. He pauses after saying "free muffins" and then waits patiently for Bulk and Skull to each take one. They bite into them and only then does Ritchie add the important part of that deal. The muffins are free with the purchase of lunch. They spit out the muffins (ew) and then can't pay for them or lunch, so Ritchie and Ernie (who just sat idly by while all this was going on) hand over aprons so Bulk and Skull can wash dishes to pay for the food they were told was free when it really wasn't. Good job, upstanding moral characters.
List time:
2.5 fish. The plot was pretty solid, overall, and there were really only a few issues... mainly Zedd turning a non-living thing into a monster (which has been stated he can't do), and Jason's mountain interference before his spastic colon (cookies to anybody that catches where I got the spastic colon reference).
Billy speak: "There's no scientific data to support such practitioners" is as close as we got.
Covered in food: nobody really, unless you count bits of chewed muffin when Bulk and Skull spit out their free-but-not-really muffins.
Monday, January 25, 2010
Episode 75 - Orchestral Maneuvers in the Park
We're back! It's been a not-so-great two weeks (I had a car accident this morning, and is just back from the funeral) and how do we make ourselves feel better? Clearly, the answer is to watch a fish filled episode.
We open at the Juice Bar, where Richie is working in Ernie's job. I miss Ernie, why is he not there today? Curtis shows up, and attempts to have a personality that isn't an exact clone of Zack by telling everyone that he's going to be performing in a jazz concert at the Youth Center that day, except he's worried that his trumpet won't show up in time since it's still on the moving van coming from St. Louis.
And that would be where the episode lost me. Look, my younger brother is a musician. He's at a conservatory for college. He plays the double bass which is freaking huge and it goes with him everywhere, because if you care that much about music then you do not go that long without practicing! And you certainly don't trust the instrument to a moving van. So, I'm already calling fish and we're not even two minutes into the episode.
Zack tells Curtis not to worry - maybe he could use their uncle's trumpet! Their uncle was apparently a famous musician, and for some reason the trumpet is at Zack's house. Really? Zack is a dancer, not a musician. Wouldn't the trumpet, you know, go to Curtis who actually plays the instrument? More fish!
Zack, Kimberly, and Billy go to Zack's house (which we sadly don't get to see) to retrieve the trumpet. Instead, they walk through the park, where Zack is just carrying the trumpet. It isn't in a case or anything. Cue music related rage - that is not how you handle an instrument. Especially when you are walking through Angel Grove Park and have a fairly high chance of getting jumped by putties that would require you to put the trumpet on the ground!
Which... well, guess what happens. Zedd has a plan to put a spell on the trumpet that will make the Rangers hallucinate their old foes, and then they will wear themselves out fighting the illusions. Okay, a few things about this plan. Not that it isn't a good plan, but why is Zedd using all of Rita's monsters? Why doesn't he just send out a bunch of real monsters of his own? They always have enough trouble taking on one monster, just make six or seven of them and send them down at the same time! And why are his illusions solid?
So, the three of them fight the Putties, and while they're fighting another Putty shows up to sprinkle magical fairy dust on the trumpet. Nice plan! Also, for some reason Zack isn't wearing any black - we guess he's the yellow Ranger this episode.
Meanwhile, Bulk and Skull have a plan to figure out who the Rangers are. They're going to make castings of their bootprints, and then have everyone in Angel Grove step in them. Nice plan! There is so much wrong with that plan I can't even figure out where to begin. Let's start with the obvious - the Rangers wear boots. I feel that I've said enough on that subject, so instead I will point out that Bulk came up with this plan because of Cinderella - the movie where the prince is surrounded by all the babes to try on a shoe. *DEAD* Then Bulk makes Skull do all the work, and we spend the next few minutes debating whether it should be Cinderskull or Skullerella. Oh, and then Bulk gets covered in concrete. I thought we'd moved passed this stage.
Back at the Youth Center, Curtis is performing with the magical trumpet, and the actors are really bad at pretending to play. The Rangers all seem to enjoy it, and as he plays they get covered in the fairy dust. After the concert, the best exchange ever occurs.
Billy: Your musical prowess far exceeded my expectations.
Trini: He means you were incredible.
Except that totally isn't what he meant. He meant that he thought that Curtis wasn't going to be that great. Oh, Billy, please continue to snark at people who can't understand you. ♥
Anyway, then the trumpet disappears, because it's been captured by Zedd. Instead, everyone figures that maybe someone walked off with it. I guess Angel Grove has a problem with kleptomaniacs or something. The five Rangers go walking through the park, and then they get attacked by a bunch of old monsters!
Roll call! Fighting Flea! Slippery Shark! Praying Mantis! Grumble Bee! Rhinoblaster! Soccadillo! Saliguana! Stag Beetle! (For the record, I object to this list. If it was going to be a best of their foes, why is the Terror Toad not on it?)
Anyway, so they have a long fight, and Bulk and Skull come and watch and make plans to capture the footprints after. Zordon finally notices what is going on and teleports them out. Kimberly says that the fighting was worse than the mall the day after Christmas. Kim, honey, we think you mean the day after Thanksgiving. (Not that the day after Christmas is a day we would go to the mall either. But then again, I try to avoid the mall during the entire holiday season.) Zordon tells them to go fight the real monster (which he had been previously insisting that there weren't any monsters on Earth, except this one was there the whole time) and then they go and there's a long Zord summoning, and they fight it and the world is safe again.
At the Youth Center, Billy returns the trumpet to Curtis, who is very pleased. Then Bulk and Skull show up with their concrete impressions of the Rangers's footprints. I'm really impressed that they're carrying it, but I guess if Bulk can do 1010 bench presses we shouldn't be that surprised. Zack arranges for a crowd of people to trample them so they drop it. Oh, Power Rangers, never change.
Fish: 3.5. We're being generous since we haven't watched an episode in two weeks.
Billy speak: "I've always been fascinated by the intricate rhythms in jazz."
"Your musical prowess far exceeded my expectations."
"How do you explain the phenomenon that just took place?"
Covered in concrete: Bulk.
We open at the Juice Bar, where Richie is working in Ernie's job. I miss Ernie, why is he not there today? Curtis shows up, and attempts to have a personality that isn't an exact clone of Zack by telling everyone that he's going to be performing in a jazz concert at the Youth Center that day, except he's worried that his trumpet won't show up in time since it's still on the moving van coming from St. Louis.
And that would be where the episode lost me. Look, my younger brother is a musician. He's at a conservatory for college. He plays the double bass which is freaking huge and it goes with him everywhere, because if you care that much about music then you do not go that long without practicing! And you certainly don't trust the instrument to a moving van. So, I'm already calling fish and we're not even two minutes into the episode.
Zack tells Curtis not to worry - maybe he could use their uncle's trumpet! Their uncle was apparently a famous musician, and for some reason the trumpet is at Zack's house. Really? Zack is a dancer, not a musician. Wouldn't the trumpet, you know, go to Curtis who actually plays the instrument? More fish!
Zack, Kimberly, and Billy go to Zack's house (which we sadly don't get to see) to retrieve the trumpet. Instead, they walk through the park, where Zack is just carrying the trumpet. It isn't in a case or anything. Cue music related rage - that is not how you handle an instrument. Especially when you are walking through Angel Grove Park and have a fairly high chance of getting jumped by putties that would require you to put the trumpet on the ground!
Which... well, guess what happens. Zedd has a plan to put a spell on the trumpet that will make the Rangers hallucinate their old foes, and then they will wear themselves out fighting the illusions. Okay, a few things about this plan. Not that it isn't a good plan, but why is Zedd using all of Rita's monsters? Why doesn't he just send out a bunch of real monsters of his own? They always have enough trouble taking on one monster, just make six or seven of them and send them down at the same time! And why are his illusions solid?
So, the three of them fight the Putties, and while they're fighting another Putty shows up to sprinkle magical fairy dust on the trumpet. Nice plan! Also, for some reason Zack isn't wearing any black - we guess he's the yellow Ranger this episode.
Meanwhile, Bulk and Skull have a plan to figure out who the Rangers are. They're going to make castings of their bootprints, and then have everyone in Angel Grove step in them. Nice plan! There is so much wrong with that plan I can't even figure out where to begin. Let's start with the obvious - the Rangers wear boots. I feel that I've said enough on that subject, so instead I will point out that Bulk came up with this plan because of Cinderella - the movie where the prince is surrounded by all the babes to try on a shoe. *DEAD* Then Bulk makes Skull do all the work, and we spend the next few minutes debating whether it should be Cinderskull or Skullerella. Oh, and then Bulk gets covered in concrete. I thought we'd moved passed this stage.
Back at the Youth Center, Curtis is performing with the magical trumpet, and the actors are really bad at pretending to play. The Rangers all seem to enjoy it, and as he plays they get covered in the fairy dust. After the concert, the best exchange ever occurs.
Billy: Your musical prowess far exceeded my expectations.
Trini: He means you were incredible.
Except that totally isn't what he meant. He meant that he thought that Curtis wasn't going to be that great. Oh, Billy, please continue to snark at people who can't understand you. ♥
Anyway, then the trumpet disappears, because it's been captured by Zedd. Instead, everyone figures that maybe someone walked off with it. I guess Angel Grove has a problem with kleptomaniacs or something. The five Rangers go walking through the park, and then they get attacked by a bunch of old monsters!
Roll call! Fighting Flea! Slippery Shark! Praying Mantis! Grumble Bee! Rhinoblaster! Soccadillo! Saliguana! Stag Beetle! (For the record, I object to this list. If it was going to be a best of their foes, why is the Terror Toad not on it?)
Anyway, so they have a long fight, and Bulk and Skull come and watch and make plans to capture the footprints after. Zordon finally notices what is going on and teleports them out. Kimberly says that the fighting was worse than the mall the day after Christmas. Kim, honey, we think you mean the day after Thanksgiving. (Not that the day after Christmas is a day we would go to the mall either. But then again, I try to avoid the mall during the entire holiday season.) Zordon tells them to go fight the real monster (which he had been previously insisting that there weren't any monsters on Earth, except this one was there the whole time) and then they go and there's a long Zord summoning, and they fight it and the world is safe again.
At the Youth Center, Billy returns the trumpet to Curtis, who is very pleased. Then Bulk and Skull show up with their concrete impressions of the Rangers's footprints. I'm really impressed that they're carrying it, but I guess if Bulk can do 1010 bench presses we shouldn't be that surprised. Zack arranges for a crowd of people to trample them so they drop it. Oh, Power Rangers, never change.
Fish: 3.5. We're being generous since we haven't watched an episode in two weeks.
Billy speak: "I've always been fascinated by the intricate rhythms in jazz."
"Your musical prowess far exceeded my expectations."
"How do you explain the phenomenon that just took place?"
Covered in concrete: Bulk.
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Episode 74- Missing Green
Just a quick blogger note to let you guys know there will be no recaps for the next week or so. I wouldn't expect one until Tuesday the 26th at the earliest. Due to a death in the family, I'll be out of town for the next week and a half and unable to recap.
So. This episode. Missing Green. Otherwise known as Jason-attempts-to-look-emo-but-just-looks-constipated-because-he-misses-his-boyfriendfriend. Aka: Jason is Very Very Pretty.
This episode is weird. Just... weird. It's also blatant contract dispute time!
We start off in the Youth Center with Zack giving Jason some pointers for an upcoming martial arts expo. Jason is really messing up, though, because he just keeps seeing the target as Tommy and can't manage to kick it. He feels guilty for not getting the green candle in time and as such, is going to let the economy of Angel Grove fail. Bad Jason.
Meanwhile, Zedd devises a plan to use Jason's guilt against him. He also calls Goldar out on being a turncoat. And he does it in the most awesome way. Oh, Zedd.
Back at the Youth Center, Kim, Trini, Billy, and Zack are talking. Zack is worried about Jason. Kim decides they should find Tommy to help make Jason feel better. I don't know why they have to FIND Tommy, but I don't have time to dwell on that since they said ranger right in front of Bulk and Skull and the duo actually NOTICED. That's right, secret identity fail that was actually OVERHEARD! So Bulk and Skull are going to follow them by borrowing Bulk's aunt's bright yellow taxi.
Zack drives a big red SUV for some reason. They're trying to find The Lake of No Name except Kim can't remember where it is and they're lost. They pull over and look at a map that is apparently of Angel Grove, but it still doesn't make much sense. But Goldar shows up before they can figure out where they are! Bulk and Skull somehow COMPLETELY MISS the foursome morphing right in front of them. I don't even know how, but they didn't see it. Goldar taunts them a little and then immediately transports them to a cell in the dark dimension. There are four candles in the colours of the kidnapped rangers and he's using the last of the green candle to light the others. There is a fishy explanation and... it really doesn't work that way. Or it didn't last time. Nod and smile.
Meanwhile, Zordon has taken initiative and called Jason! He explains what's going on and then gives Jason an awesome pep talk about what makes him a good leader and tough decisions and yada yada yada. Holy crap, Zordon for the WIN! Zordon FTMFW even! I don't even quite know what to do with that. Jason is very demanding (and it's so incredibly incredibly hot, despite the fact that he really couldn't act here) and insists Zordon find his friends because the trophy isn't worth winning if he can't share it with his friends (and we know he really means Tommy, but whatever, he was all kinds of forceful and I got all flustered).
Anyway, Zedd has turned the trophy for the martial arts expo into a monster, completely contradicting himself from a mere two episodes ago where we discovered he could only turn things into monsters if they were alive. Jason morphs and goes to fight this monster and ends up entangled in the tentacles, despite us never actually seeing the monster in the same shot as the red ranger. It's also blatantly obvious that we've entered contract dispute episodes because the voiceover for Jason here is definitely not Austin St. John. It doesn't sound anything like him at all! And he spends most of the episode morphed.
There is a random battle where the monster grows and Jason calls the red dragon thunderzord and it's very confusing, but the zord beats the monster and it returns to it's previous trophy state and location. Jason teleports into the dark dimension and fights Goldar. He manages to knock over the candles and gets the keys from Goldar to let the others out. Unfortunately, they're all weak and stuff because of the candles. So in some weird fishy scene, Jason takes all the power coins, puts them on top of the now upright candles, and uses his power coin to... do something but I'm not sure what. Basically it was like lightning went from his coin to the others and then the candles disappeared and everybody got their powers back. Uh... okay then. He gives them their coins back, they all leave by jumping through some invisible vortex or something (my head is going to fall off I'm nodding and smiling so hard here), but Goldar grabs Jason by the leg and insisting he won't let him go that easy. The show outright admits that Goldar's entire purpose revolves around Jason. Wow. Way to point that out, show!
So they all end up in the Command Center and Alpha is exciting because they've located Tommy. He is indeed at The Lake of No Name. He's writing JASON a letter. Not his girlfriend or anything, but JASON. He's also writing it by holding the paper upright in front of his face, but I'm going to ignore that fact. Because he's writing a letter to JASON and he's saying everything he's writing and good holy hell it's the slashiest thing this show has ever done. I don't even ship them! Oh, and Tommy is wearing all white.
Back at the Youth Center, Bulk and Skull show off a picture that was supposed to be of the rangers but was actually of a birds nest that fell on top of them. They go off to come up with another plan to discover the identity of the power rangers while Jason and the rest of the team go inside for the martial arts expo. Jason is VERY pretty and SHIRTLESS. I suddenly like this episode an awful lot. Jason does some interesting moves and the judges immediately award him first place and the trophy. He dedicates it to Tommy. For some reason. That I'm sure has nothing to do with sex. Or at least I'm sure that's what the show wants us to think. Or maybe not... because it's really kind of undeniable here.
Mostly I'm just happy he's shirtless and SHINY. He's glistening with sweat. It's very lovely.
List time!
4 fish... there were a lot of contradictions with previous episodes. I mean, A LOT.
Billy speak: none
Covered in food: Bulk and Skull were covered in eggs.
So. This episode. Missing Green. Otherwise known as Jason-attempts-to-look-emo-but-just-looks-constipated-because-he-misses-his-
This episode is weird. Just... weird. It's also blatant contract dispute time!
We start off in the Youth Center with Zack giving Jason some pointers for an upcoming martial arts expo. Jason is really messing up, though, because he just keeps seeing the target as Tommy and can't manage to kick it. He feels guilty for not getting the green candle in time and as such, is going to let the economy of Angel Grove fail. Bad Jason.
Meanwhile, Zedd devises a plan to use Jason's guilt against him. He also calls Goldar out on being a turncoat. And he does it in the most awesome way. Oh, Zedd.
Back at the Youth Center, Kim, Trini, Billy, and Zack are talking. Zack is worried about Jason. Kim decides they should find Tommy to help make Jason feel better. I don't know why they have to FIND Tommy, but I don't have time to dwell on that since they said ranger right in front of Bulk and Skull and the duo actually NOTICED. That's right, secret identity fail that was actually OVERHEARD! So Bulk and Skull are going to follow them by borrowing Bulk's aunt's bright yellow taxi.
Zack drives a big red SUV for some reason. They're trying to find The Lake of No Name except Kim can't remember where it is and they're lost. They pull over and look at a map that is apparently of Angel Grove, but it still doesn't make much sense. But Goldar shows up before they can figure out where they are! Bulk and Skull somehow COMPLETELY MISS the foursome morphing right in front of them. I don't even know how, but they didn't see it. Goldar taunts them a little and then immediately transports them to a cell in the dark dimension. There are four candles in the colours of the kidnapped rangers and he's using the last of the green candle to light the others. There is a fishy explanation and... it really doesn't work that way. Or it didn't last time. Nod and smile.
Meanwhile, Zordon has taken initiative and called Jason! He explains what's going on and then gives Jason an awesome pep talk about what makes him a good leader and tough decisions and yada yada yada. Holy crap, Zordon for the WIN! Zordon FTMFW even! I don't even quite know what to do with that. Jason is very demanding (and it's so incredibly incredibly hot, despite the fact that he really couldn't act here) and insists Zordon find his friends because the trophy isn't worth winning if he can't share it with his friends (and we know he really means Tommy, but whatever, he was all kinds of forceful and I got all flustered).
Anyway, Zedd has turned the trophy for the martial arts expo into a monster, completely contradicting himself from a mere two episodes ago where we discovered he could only turn things into monsters if they were alive. Jason morphs and goes to fight this monster and ends up entangled in the tentacles, despite us never actually seeing the monster in the same shot as the red ranger. It's also blatantly obvious that we've entered contract dispute episodes because the voiceover for Jason here is definitely not Austin St. John. It doesn't sound anything like him at all! And he spends most of the episode morphed.
There is a random battle where the monster grows and Jason calls the red dragon thunderzord and it's very confusing, but the zord beats the monster and it returns to it's previous trophy state and location. Jason teleports into the dark dimension and fights Goldar. He manages to knock over the candles and gets the keys from Goldar to let the others out. Unfortunately, they're all weak and stuff because of the candles. So in some weird fishy scene, Jason takes all the power coins, puts them on top of the now upright candles, and uses his power coin to... do something but I'm not sure what. Basically it was like lightning went from his coin to the others and then the candles disappeared and everybody got their powers back. Uh... okay then. He gives them their coins back, they all leave by jumping through some invisible vortex or something (my head is going to fall off I'm nodding and smiling so hard here), but Goldar grabs Jason by the leg and insisting he won't let him go that easy. The show outright admits that Goldar's entire purpose revolves around Jason. Wow. Way to point that out, show!
So they all end up in the Command Center and Alpha is exciting because they've located Tommy. He is indeed at The Lake of No Name. He's writing JASON a letter. Not his girlfriend or anything, but JASON. He's also writing it by holding the paper upright in front of his face, but I'm going to ignore that fact. Because he's writing a letter to JASON and he's saying everything he's writing and good holy hell it's the slashiest thing this show has ever done. I don't even ship them! Oh, and Tommy is wearing all white.
Back at the Youth Center, Bulk and Skull show off a picture that was supposed to be of the rangers but was actually of a birds nest that fell on top of them. They go off to come up with another plan to discover the identity of the power rangers while Jason and the rest of the team go inside for the martial arts expo. Jason is VERY pretty and SHIRTLESS. I suddenly like this episode an awful lot. Jason does some interesting moves and the judges immediately award him first place and the trophy. He dedicates it to Tommy. For some reason. That I'm sure has nothing to do with sex. Or at least I'm sure that's what the show wants us to think. Or maybe not... because it's really kind of undeniable here.
Mostly I'm just happy he's shirtless and SHINY. He's glistening with sweat. It's very lovely.
List time!
4 fish... there were a lot of contradictions with previous episodes. I mean, A LOT.
Billy speak: none
Covered in food: Bulk and Skull were covered in eggs.
Saturday, January 9, 2010
Episode 73- Green No More Part 2
Oh god. I have been blinded by the fish. I wanted to like this episode, because it's the last episode of the green ranger era, except a)it puts us one step closer to the white ranger era and b)the sheer amount of fish in this episode is overwhelming.
So we start out with Tommy hiding by a Very Convenient boulder. The monster, who's name I can't remember, is taunting him and wandering around trying to find him. I still haven't figured out WHAT the monster is supposed to be, but it just looks like a deformed koopa troopa to me. I kept wanting Tommy to jump on it's back and then send it sliding across the big open field. Tommy does eventually attack and then runs away, finding a ravine to hide in.
Meanwhile, nobody can get through to Zordon and Zordon can't get through to anybody else. Apparently Zedd has put some kind of force field around the Command Center. It is slowly compressing and Zordon reveals this will eventually cause it to implode. Um. Okkaaayyyy...
So Zedd determines that his evil plan is going so well, he's going to taunt the rangers by letting them go so they can stand by and watch thekoopa troopa monster tear apart Angel Grove. Apparently the evil rangers are supposed to do something eventually, but mostly they just stand there in the worst costumes ever. So Zedd releases the rangers and teleports them to the park. They can't morph for some reason. I don't know why, I don't know how, but whatever. They can't contact Zordon so Billy says they should all go to his lab so he can somehow break through the energy barrier. *sigh*
Meanwhile, Goldar shows up in the field to take over taunting Tommy. He's going to make Tommy pledge his allegiance to Zedd and the side of evil. He's going to do this with a handy little device that looks like an electric can opener with tubing. This device is so evil, it's going to work like the Mirror of Regret (which we haven't gotten to yet, I know, but just roll with me here). It's going to make Tommy want to join the side of evil because it's going to show him his past! The device delves deep and shows Tommy all the battles he's won and just how awesome he is. That's right. It shows him what a good job he's done FIGHTING EVIL. And this is going to make him want to join Goldar how? What? I don't get it.
Back at Billy's lab, Billy has really nice arms. And he's showing them off. Oh, and he's doing something technical with a computer, but mostly I just looked at his arms. The others are watching the news on tv and apparently it's been 24 hours since the monster started attacking? Only it really hasn't? But okay. Billy managed to lock on to the force field.
Back in the random field, Goldar is basically pulling a "Say my name, BITCH!" and Tommy's all "yeah, okay, you're..." and Goldar gets hopeful because really he'll take a Jason substitute if he absolutely has to, but then Tommy kills that hope by switching tactics and basically calling him a stupidhead. He does the most predictable kick, Goldar can't block anything for the fish in the shot, and then Tommy gets his hands on the electric can opener and zaps Goldar... somewhere. He then uses it to send a message to himself in the past. Only he doesn't send a message to himself. Instead he picks up a message of himself and said message HANDS HIM HIS COMMUNICATOR. That's right. A non-corporeal RECORDING handing over a physical object. Mind, there was no explanation for why Tommy didn't have his communicator in the first place, but I'm too distracted by the NON-CORPOREAL RECORDING passing over a physical object.
Amazingly, it works now and Tommy teleports himself to Billy's lab. Everybody is happy to see him, they all make it to the Command Center, and then there are even more fish. Because only a non-ranger can get through to Zedd's cave undetected. And Tommy, being drained of all his power, goes. And nobody sees him. So he destroys thekryptonite crystal. And the evil rangers demorph, have their spells broken, and teleport out of there all at once. Zedd cries in dismay.
Tommy joins the others back at the Command Center and then everybody, and I mean EVERYBODY, morphs. Yes, including Tommy. Y'know, the non-ranger that was able to get into the base. The guy who had his powers drained completely by thekoopa troopamonster's arse. He morphs. The show tries to distract you from the insane fish by giving a really long zord summoning sequence, but no worries, I'm on to them. I still see the fish everywhere. They're really piling up in this episode.
Somehow Zordon knows to use heat and then cold water to destroy the monster, but Tommy has to be eaten to do it. He hides in some watermelons, gets eaten, and then pulls a mega-heat blaster out of NOWHERE. Apparently he got it from Billy. What? When did he make that? How did he get it from Billy since he only found out what to do mid-fight? I'd do a headdesk here, but the fish are overflowing from this episode and I'm afraid I'd smack into one.
So Tommy blasts with heat from within, then Zack blasts with water from without, and then the monster dies. La la la.
Back at the Youth Center, the new bullies in town come walking in and Jason decides the best way to beat the bullies is to be their friends. Why they never try this with Bulk and Skull, I don't know, but my head hurts too much to think about it. So Jason gets up and pays for the sodas for the bullies. I'm too overcome by the fact that somebody paid for something ($4.50 for 5 sodas... damn but the 90's were cheap) to pay much attention to the rest of the episode, which apparently ended with a handshake.
List time:
*pushes fish out of the way* 5 fish. If our scale went higher, this would be higher.
Billy speak: "My communicator locked onto the electric force field surrounding the command center."
Covered in food: nobody
So we start out with Tommy hiding by a Very Convenient boulder. The monster, who's name I can't remember, is taunting him and wandering around trying to find him. I still haven't figured out WHAT the monster is supposed to be, but it just looks like a deformed koopa troopa to me. I kept wanting Tommy to jump on it's back and then send it sliding across the big open field. Tommy does eventually attack and then runs away, finding a ravine to hide in.
Meanwhile, nobody can get through to Zordon and Zordon can't get through to anybody else. Apparently Zedd has put some kind of force field around the Command Center. It is slowly compressing and Zordon reveals this will eventually cause it to implode. Um. Okkaaayyyy...
So Zedd determines that his evil plan is going so well, he's going to taunt the rangers by letting them go so they can stand by and watch the
Meanwhile, Goldar shows up in the field to take over taunting Tommy. He's going to make Tommy pledge his allegiance to Zedd and the side of evil. He's going to do this with a handy little device that looks like an electric can opener with tubing. This device is so evil, it's going to work like the Mirror of Regret (which we haven't gotten to yet, I know, but just roll with me here). It's going to make Tommy want to join the side of evil because it's going to show him his past! The device delves deep and shows Tommy all the battles he's won and just how awesome he is. That's right. It shows him what a good job he's done FIGHTING EVIL. And this is going to make him want to join Goldar how? What? I don't get it.
Back at Billy's lab, Billy has really nice arms. And he's showing them off. Oh, and he's doing something technical with a computer, but mostly I just looked at his arms. The others are watching the news on tv and apparently it's been 24 hours since the monster started attacking? Only it really hasn't? But okay. Billy managed to lock on to the force field.
Back in the random field, Goldar is basically pulling a "Say my name, BITCH!" and Tommy's all "yeah, okay, you're..." and Goldar gets hopeful because really he'll take a Jason substitute if he absolutely has to, but then Tommy kills that hope by switching tactics and basically calling him a stupidhead. He does the most predictable kick, Goldar can't block anything for the fish in the shot, and then Tommy gets his hands on the electric can opener and zaps Goldar... somewhere. He then uses it to send a message to himself in the past. Only he doesn't send a message to himself. Instead he picks up a message of himself and said message HANDS HIM HIS COMMUNICATOR. That's right. A non-corporeal RECORDING handing over a physical object. Mind, there was no explanation for why Tommy didn't have his communicator in the first place, but I'm too distracted by the NON-CORPOREAL RECORDING passing over a physical object.
Amazingly, it works now and Tommy teleports himself to Billy's lab. Everybody is happy to see him, they all make it to the Command Center, and then there are even more fish. Because only a non-ranger can get through to Zedd's cave undetected. And Tommy, being drained of all his power, goes. And nobody sees him. So he destroys the
Tommy joins the others back at the Command Center and then everybody, and I mean EVERYBODY, morphs. Yes, including Tommy. Y'know, the non-ranger that was able to get into the base. The guy who had his powers drained completely by the
Somehow Zordon knows to use heat and then cold water to destroy the monster, but Tommy has to be eaten to do it. He hides in some watermelons, gets eaten, and then pulls a mega-heat blaster out of NOWHERE. Apparently he got it from Billy. What? When did he make that? How did he get it from Billy since he only found out what to do mid-fight? I'd do a headdesk here, but the fish are overflowing from this episode and I'm afraid I'd smack into one.
So Tommy blasts with heat from within, then Zack blasts with water from without, and then the monster dies. La la la.
Back at the Youth Center, the new bullies in town come walking in and Jason decides the best way to beat the bullies is to be their friends. Why they never try this with Bulk and Skull, I don't know, but my head hurts too much to think about it. So Jason gets up and pays for the sodas for the bullies. I'm too overcome by the fact that somebody paid for something ($4.50 for 5 sodas... damn but the 90's were cheap) to pay much attention to the rest of the episode, which apparently ended with a handshake.
List time:
*pushes fish out of the way* 5 fish. If our scale went higher, this would be higher.
Billy speak: "My communicator locked onto the electric force field surrounding the command center."
Covered in food: nobody
Episode 72 - Green No More - Part 1
Hey, we're reaching the end of the Green Ranger era! Sadly, not of the Tommy era. But whatever. Today on Power Rangers - Tommy is emo, there are some hot bullies, and Zedd discovers kryptonite.
I actually remembered nothing about this episode, so it's all new for me. And amazingly it wasn't that bad!
We open with Tommy playing basketball. You can tell that he's emo, because he's having trouble making the shot. Kimberly shows up (her outfits are really cute this season), having asked Jason where Tommy was. I kind of love that Kimberly needed to ask Jason for this piece of information. They have a discussion about Tommy's powers, which are failing fast. Tommy's hair is ridiculous, and I feel the need to point that out.
Suddenly, a ghost!Tommy appears. He's from the future, and he tries to give a warning, that somehow involves communicators. Oh, Tommy. Meanwhile, Zedd is still obsessed with Tommy. He's putting Goldar's obsession with Jason to shame.
Meanwhile, at the school, Zack and Billy discuss Zack's cousin Curtis, who isbeing set up to be Zack's replacement moving to Angel Grove. He's basically Zack. Seriously, same character, same dancing, whatever. Apparently they only have one characterization available. They introduce Curtis to Ritchie, and the two decide to be boyfriends BFF. Tommy tells Zack and Billy about the guy who looked just like him, and I start all-capsing about how of course he looks like him, he IS HIM. Tommy, read more scifi. Or go to a movie. Or something.
Meanwhile, Bulk and Skull get beaten up by a new team of bullies. There are five of them, and they are all color coded for your convenience. Gee, I wonder what this is being set up for? (Also, the red one is hot, and we're sure we've seen the blue one before somewhere, but imdb is failing us.) The new bullies also threaten some kid name Stewart, and you would think that Billy would be more active in protesting this, but he just stands there and watches. Fail.
On the moon, Lord Zedd has apparently discovered Kryptonite. Seriously, it is a glowing green rock that drains people's powers. There is absolutely nothing else that it can be. Nothing.I just realized that this might make Tommy Superman and then my brain started to hurt.
After school, the Rangers (except for Trini, who is off visiting relatives) go to the beach. Zack and Jason show off their arms, while Kimberly and Billy look for shells. Just as Kimberly finds a new shell, the bullies appear, and suddenly we're in a Jets vs Sharks throwdown with the Rangers telling the new bullies about how they don't know the rules yet, and the bullies saying they make the rules. Then Lord Zedd teleports out the bullies, because he thinks they should work for him. They just stand there, and I'm not sure if they're under a spell or what.
The whole group teleports to the Command Center, and Zordon tells them that Lord Zedd has sent down a very powerful monster. Tommy insists on fighting with them, even though he can only hold up for one more fight. Now, if they were being smart they would save his powers for when they desperately need him, but Tommy insists on going now, because it has to be all about him. (My attempt to fanwank this is that he just wants it to be over, and he can't stand the constant not knowing if its going to be his last battle or not, but this may just be giving him too much credit. Then again, I've been in comics fandom for a while, so I've gotten really good at rationalizing.)
Zedd's shell monster thing has already grown, so we get the world's longest Zord summoning sequence. The monster beats them, and then goes back to Zedd, who is all annoyed because it hasn't completely destroyed Tommy yet. So the monster teleports Tommy to a field, and his powers immediately failed. Okay, so here's where we get into the fish - if they could do that before, why didn't they? (... To give the show some credit, I really appreciate the shots of JDF's ass. I am shallow, what?)
The other Rangers try to contact Zordon, but they can't. Zedd teleports them to a cave and imprisons them in a force field, and holds up the glowing chunk of Kryptonite, and tells them their powers won't work. He then debuts his Dark Rangers, who are in the most horrible versions of a costume I have ever seen in my entire life. I could make a better costume than that, and I can't sew. Zedd threatens to send out his Dark Rangers, and then we get a to be continued sign....
Fish! 3. Outside of the "5 evil people move to Angel Grove at once" and the "seriously, why couldn't they do any of this before?" it wasn't that high fish an episode. Especially for a Tommy Centric one.
Billy speak: "Y'know, it's quite possible that he appeared through a rift in the space time continuum."
I actually remembered nothing about this episode, so it's all new for me. And amazingly it wasn't that bad!
We open with Tommy playing basketball. You can tell that he's emo, because he's having trouble making the shot. Kimberly shows up (her outfits are really cute this season), having asked Jason where Tommy was. I kind of love that Kimberly needed to ask Jason for this piece of information. They have a discussion about Tommy's powers, which are failing fast. Tommy's hair is ridiculous, and I feel the need to point that out.
Suddenly, a ghost!Tommy appears. He's from the future, and he tries to give a warning, that somehow involves communicators. Oh, Tommy. Meanwhile, Zedd is still obsessed with Tommy. He's putting Goldar's obsession with Jason to shame.
Meanwhile, at the school, Zack and Billy discuss Zack's cousin Curtis, who is
Meanwhile, Bulk and Skull get beaten up by a new team of bullies. There are five of them, and they are all color coded for your convenience. Gee, I wonder what this is being set up for? (Also, the red one is hot, and we're sure we've seen the blue one before somewhere, but imdb is failing us.) The new bullies also threaten some kid name Stewart, and you would think that Billy would be more active in protesting this, but he just stands there and watches. Fail.
On the moon, Lord Zedd has apparently discovered Kryptonite. Seriously, it is a glowing green rock that drains people's powers. There is absolutely nothing else that it can be. Nothing.
After school, the Rangers (except for Trini, who is off visiting relatives) go to the beach. Zack and Jason show off their arms, while Kimberly and Billy look for shells. Just as Kimberly finds a new shell, the bullies appear, and suddenly we're in a Jets vs Sharks throwdown with the Rangers telling the new bullies about how they don't know the rules yet, and the bullies saying they make the rules. Then Lord Zedd teleports out the bullies, because he thinks they should work for him. They just stand there, and I'm not sure if they're under a spell or what.
The whole group teleports to the Command Center, and Zordon tells them that Lord Zedd has sent down a very powerful monster. Tommy insists on fighting with them, even though he can only hold up for one more fight. Now, if they were being smart they would save his powers for when they desperately need him, but Tommy insists on going now, because it has to be all about him. (My attempt to fanwank this is that he just wants it to be over, and he can't stand the constant not knowing if its going to be his last battle or not, but this may just be giving him too much credit. Then again, I've been in comics fandom for a while, so I've gotten really good at rationalizing.)
Zedd's shell monster thing has already grown, so we get the world's longest Zord summoning sequence. The monster beats them, and then goes back to Zedd, who is all annoyed because it hasn't completely destroyed Tommy yet. So the monster teleports Tommy to a field, and his powers immediately failed. Okay, so here's where we get into the fish - if they could do that before, why didn't they? (... To give the show some credit, I really appreciate the shots of JDF's ass. I am shallow, what?)
The other Rangers try to contact Zordon, but they can't. Zedd teleports them to a cave and imprisons them in a force field, and holds up the glowing chunk of Kryptonite, and tells them their powers won't work. He then debuts his Dark Rangers, who are in the most horrible versions of a costume I have ever seen in my entire life. I could make a better costume than that, and I can't sew. Zedd threatens to send out his Dark Rangers, and then we get a to be continued sign....
Fish! 3. Outside of the "5 evil people move to Angel Grove at once" and the "seriously, why couldn't they do any of this before?" it wasn't that high fish an episode. Especially for a Tommy Centric one.
Billy speak: "Y'know, it's quite possible that he appeared through a rift in the space time continuum."
Monday, January 4, 2010
Episode 71- The Song of Guitardo
I admit, I remembered absolutely nothing about this episode except for the title. For some reason, that stuck with me over 15 or so years, but the details of the plot just floated away. And part of me is very glad to have discovered this episode, and very mad at the same time. How an episode can be both rage inducing AND sickly sweet I don't know, but this one is. My poor brain, it's so befuddled.
Anyway, we start the show with Kim playing guitar in the Youth Center. Aw, a Kim episode! Zack is with her and compliments her music. She is writing a song, apparently, and in the best friendship acting of this show, she asks him for help with the lyrics. People, it is ADORABLE.
Zedd is spying, as he always does, and decides the guitar is the perfect thing to make a monster. Except, well, asExposition Monkey Goldar points out in the only thing he says or does in the entire episode, Zedd can only make monsters out of living things. And guitars are made of wood which is no longer living. Zedd waves him off saying where there is wood, there are insects and he can make a monster out of those. Mind, guitars don't generally have insects in them, so where he came up with that, I don't know, but okay then. He somehow determines a cicada would be likely to be in a guitar (nod and smile, people, it makes this show SO much easier) and devises a spell to make Guitardo, the cicada monster.
In the park the following day, the rangers are having a picnic.Initially Intended Jason Replacement Ritchie, dressed ALL IN RED as usual (I don't think we've ever seen him NOT in red... real subtle there show), rides by on his bike. Trini invites him to join, but he has to unpack from moving. Sad.
Meanwhile, Bulk and Skull are just around the corner attempting to draw the attention of the power rangers. Bulk is dressed like a dragon/monster thing and Skull looks absolutely ravishing in a pink princess dress. He does the most amazing voice, too! Anyway, they run around screaming, attract the unmorphed rangers, get a lesson on crying wolf, and then blow them off and continue to run around screaming. It's amazing.
Just in time for the fakest insect ever to land on first Skull and then Bulk, Zedd's spell is ready! So he mumbles a bit and turns the insect into a monster, which lands right on Bulk's shoulder. Poor guys, the monsters always seem to materialize right on them.
In an unprecedented fit of actually paying attention, Zordon notices the monster IMMEDIATELY and calls the rangers! It's unheard of, this actual "looking out" business! So apparently they've analyzed the monster and are going to tell them all about it, but first Tommy has to step off to the side with Alpha to be evaluated for power levels. What, they wait until a crisis to worry about this? So much for planning. Way to ruin your moment of Win, Zordon. So apparently this monster can control minds. And has turned Kim's guitar into his weapon of mind control, as he uses music to do his evil thing. Tommy's powers aren't up to a fight, so he gets left behind so he doesn't endanger the other rangers.
So the others morph and go confront Guitardo. They try to concentrate on their own thoughts and block out his mind control powers, but they fail. Zack goes first, followed quickly by Billy, Jason, and Trini. They end up floating in the air for some reason. Because apparently this isn't really mind control and is just... um... levitation? I don't even know. My best theory is they're standing on large invisible piles of fish.
Anyway, Kim is left on her own to fight this monster. This really oughtn't be a problem seeing as she's fought solo and taken down monsters singlehandedly before. But no, instead she freaks out, Tommy morphs, and comes to her rescue. He pulls her out of the way just in time. Out of the way of what, I'm not sure, since mind control isn't really directionally based like that? But okay.
We wonder why Tommy then leaves Kim alone to go fight Guitardo on his own, because Tommy is THE MOST PRONE to mind control. He's PROVEN he's susceptible in the past. And Kim is too awesome to stand around and twiddle her thumbs! She can solo a monster and Tommy is weak and losing his powers! What the hell, show? We capslocked this for a few minutes in chat because, really? Continuity!Fail like woah. So Tommy goes to some fair thing to fight the monster, only he kind of gets taken over pretty quickly. But wait! He uses his dragon dagger and figures out music breaks the spell, so he'll fight music with music!
The mind control affects him anyway and this somehow makes him fall into an ever deepening hole in the ground. Um... mind control? How is it making a hole in the ground? Cement is not sentient. It's not even alive. It doesn't have a mind to control, so how is the hole being created? We decide it's a bunch of fish drilling into it and move on. Kim finally runs up and uses her bow as a harp to stop the monster from further sinking Tommy. She tells Tommy music will defeat Guitardo and we have to wonder how she knows this. Was she standing around watching? We like to think she was as that would hint to her being in on Zordon's plan to sabotage Tommy. We like this theory.
So Kim beats the monster by using Tommy's tiny little dagger as an arrow in her bow. I... don't even want to know how that works? Because physics? Really doesn't work like that. Like, at all. But the dagger destroys the monster and all is well, and we didn't even have a zord fight, so I'm okay with it!
Back at the Youth Center, the rangers are completing their picnic. It's apparently pouring down rain now and Ernie just let them into his food service establishment with their own food and drink, and invited them to spread out and enjoy themselves... without purchasing a thing from him. That's not the way to make money and keep your business open, Ernie. But way to be nice. Bulk and Skull come in and Bulk has his helmet stuck to his head. Billy offers to help remove it if they promise not to pretend to be in danger anymore. They promise (with fingers crossed) and Billy genuinely and nicely helps them. They barely have time to walk away before Tommy starts talking about losing his powers. Loudly. In the middle of the crowded Youth Center. Secret identities. I thought they had them?
Anyway, he fails at being Emo Ranger, and then Kim pulls out her guitar and cheers him up by singing a song she and Zack wrote for him. Aw! It's about the sweetest thing EVER, especially when Zack JOINS IN THE CHORUS! OMGSOADORABLE! I melted. The only thing that could have made me go "DAWWWW" any harder is if they'd somehow had a bunch of kittens frolicking about.
So it was both rage inducing and adorable at the same time and my head is going to explode from the contradiction.
Lists!
3 fish. Much less fishy than yesterday, though some big continuity fails there.
Billy speak: none really, though he does mention focusing on your own thoughts to block out Guitardo's mind control.
Covered in food: Nobody, but Bulk does get a monster materializing on his shoulder
Anyway, we start the show with Kim playing guitar in the Youth Center. Aw, a Kim episode! Zack is with her and compliments her music. She is writing a song, apparently, and in the best friendship acting of this show, she asks him for help with the lyrics. People, it is ADORABLE.
Zedd is spying, as he always does, and decides the guitar is the perfect thing to make a monster. Except, well, as
In the park the following day, the rangers are having a picnic.
Meanwhile, Bulk and Skull are just around the corner attempting to draw the attention of the power rangers. Bulk is dressed like a dragon/monster thing and Skull looks absolutely ravishing in a pink princess dress. He does the most amazing voice, too! Anyway, they run around screaming, attract the unmorphed rangers, get a lesson on crying wolf, and then blow them off and continue to run around screaming. It's amazing.
Just in time for the fakest insect ever to land on first Skull and then Bulk, Zedd's spell is ready! So he mumbles a bit and turns the insect into a monster, which lands right on Bulk's shoulder. Poor guys, the monsters always seem to materialize right on them.
In an unprecedented fit of actually paying attention, Zordon notices the monster IMMEDIATELY and calls the rangers! It's unheard of, this actual "looking out" business! So apparently they've analyzed the monster and are going to tell them all about it, but first Tommy has to step off to the side with Alpha to be evaluated for power levels. What, they wait until a crisis to worry about this? So much for planning. Way to ruin your moment of Win, Zordon. So apparently this monster can control minds. And has turned Kim's guitar into his weapon of mind control, as he uses music to do his evil thing. Tommy's powers aren't up to a fight, so he gets left behind so he doesn't endanger the other rangers.
So the others morph and go confront Guitardo. They try to concentrate on their own thoughts and block out his mind control powers, but they fail. Zack goes first, followed quickly by Billy, Jason, and Trini. They end up floating in the air for some reason. Because apparently this isn't really mind control and is just... um... levitation? I don't even know. My best theory is they're standing on large invisible piles of fish.
Anyway, Kim is left on her own to fight this monster. This really oughtn't be a problem seeing as she's fought solo and taken down monsters singlehandedly before. But no, instead she freaks out, Tommy morphs, and comes to her rescue. He pulls her out of the way just in time. Out of the way of what, I'm not sure, since mind control isn't really directionally based like that? But okay.
We wonder why Tommy then leaves Kim alone to go fight Guitardo on his own, because Tommy is THE MOST PRONE to mind control. He's PROVEN he's susceptible in the past. And Kim is too awesome to stand around and twiddle her thumbs! She can solo a monster and Tommy is weak and losing his powers! What the hell, show? We capslocked this for a few minutes in chat because, really? Continuity!Fail like woah. So Tommy goes to some fair thing to fight the monster, only he kind of gets taken over pretty quickly. But wait! He uses his dragon dagger and figures out music breaks the spell, so he'll fight music with music!
The mind control affects him anyway and this somehow makes him fall into an ever deepening hole in the ground. Um... mind control? How is it making a hole in the ground? Cement is not sentient. It's not even alive. It doesn't have a mind to control, so how is the hole being created? We decide it's a bunch of fish drilling into it and move on. Kim finally runs up and uses her bow as a harp to stop the monster from further sinking Tommy. She tells Tommy music will defeat Guitardo and we have to wonder how she knows this. Was she standing around watching? We like to think she was as that would hint to her being in on Zordon's plan to sabotage Tommy. We like this theory.
So Kim beats the monster by using Tommy's tiny little dagger as an arrow in her bow. I... don't even want to know how that works? Because physics? Really doesn't work like that. Like, at all. But the dagger destroys the monster and all is well, and we didn't even have a zord fight, so I'm okay with it!
Back at the Youth Center, the rangers are completing their picnic. It's apparently pouring down rain now and Ernie just let them into his food service establishment with their own food and drink, and invited them to spread out and enjoy themselves... without purchasing a thing from him. That's not the way to make money and keep your business open, Ernie. But way to be nice. Bulk and Skull come in and Bulk has his helmet stuck to his head. Billy offers to help remove it if they promise not to pretend to be in danger anymore. They promise (with fingers crossed) and Billy genuinely and nicely helps them. They barely have time to walk away before Tommy starts talking about losing his powers. Loudly. In the middle of the crowded Youth Center. Secret identities. I thought they had them?
Anyway, he fails at being Emo Ranger, and then Kim pulls out her guitar and cheers him up by singing a song she and Zack wrote for him. Aw! It's about the sweetest thing EVER, especially when Zack JOINS IN THE CHORUS! OMGSOADORABLE! I melted. The only thing that could have made me go "DAWWWW" any harder is if they'd somehow had a bunch of kittens frolicking about.
So it was both rage inducing and adorable at the same time and my head is going to explode from the contradiction.
Lists!
3 fish. Much less fishy than yesterday, though some big continuity fails there.
Billy speak: none really, though he does mention focusing on your own thoughts to block out Guitardo's mind control.
Covered in food: Nobody, but Bulk does get a monster materializing on his shoulder
Sunday, January 3, 2010
Episode 70 - Welcome to Venus Island
Hi! We live! I am back from vacation, and now we have a lot of recaps to catch up on! We're behind on the schedule, which is totally my fault. But! We will catch up, so expect quite a few recaps this week. And probably a post on the reairing of season 1, once we actually catch more than 15 minutes of it.
So. This episode. "Fish do fishy things that require a lot of fish to accomplish their fishy fish."
The episode opens on the beach, where Trini, Kimberly and Tommy are building a sandcastle with an inappropriate young friend named Halle or Haley. I hope that this girl secretly grows up to be a genius and make fun of Tommy on Dino Thunder. Haley tells them that there's a princess in the castle sleeping and waiting for a prince to rescue her. Kimberly says that's romantic. Oh, Kimberly, really? Sleeping Beauty is not an active character. Please don't be telling little girls that they should just wait around waiting for a prince to come and kiss them and rescue them. Let them rescue themselves! And be active!
Then Trini sees Richie, and adorkable music plays, and she has such a crush. Awwww. (I don't understand why they felt the need to give her a different love interest when they had Billy, but whatever.)
Meanwhile, Bulk and Skull have a cunning plan to figure out the Power Rangers identities - they dress up as Z putties (actually, their costumes are pretty good) and they figure that the only people who would stop them would be the Power Rangers. So they go stomp on some kid's sand castle, and then the kid beats them up. Good times! Of course, then Lord Zedd is all annoyed that Bulk and Skull are demeaning his putties, so he sends Goldar down to kidnap Haley for some unknown reason.
At some point, the Rangers notice that Haley has disappeared. They run over, just in time to see Goldar teleport away with her. Goldar has dropped a bottle that has some message from Zedd in a weird language. Also, Kimberly's shorts are unbuttoned. What exactly was she doing with Tommy and Trini?
Back on the moon, Zedd is pissed at Goldar for losing the message in the bottle. Goldar claims he lost it in the fight. What fight? When was there a fight? He just teleported out! Did he lose to a little girl? Because that would be awesome! Zedd changes his mind and decides this is for the best, because now the Rangers will just go do something and then hand over Tommy. Oh, Zedd, your obsession with Tommy is pretty amazing.
Anyway, the Rangers teleport to the Command Center, and Billy uses some nifty scanning technology to figure out that the message was actually Goldar's instructions to take Haley to Venus Island.
So. Here's where the fish come in. Why was Zedd so mad that Goldar lost the instructions? Goldar already did what he was supposed to do! Why didn't he just tell Goldar what to do? And if Zedd's grand plan was to make the Rangers go to Venus Island, then why didn't they just make that the random note? Also, why are they trying to turn a tiny child evil anyway? (Oh, yes, the plan - Zedd is going to turn Haley evil. Or Tommy will surrender himself and be evil instead. At least I think that was what they were trying to do - we kept yelling about fish.)
Anyway, Zordon explains about Venus Island. Apparently it's an island that Zedd can summon, that only exists when Zedd wants it to. Zordon doesn't know where it is. But they can follow the trade winds at sunset and that will lead them there. Everyone is all confused and wondering how to follow the the wind. Billy goes to his lab to invent something, and comes up with a weather balloon. Meanwhile, Zordon keeps saying that the island is getting more and more unstable. He can tell that, but he can't figure out where the island is. Sure.
Jason, Trini and Billy go to launch the weather balloon at sunset. Apparently the clip Billy made for his sensor is too heavy, so Jason steals Trini's scrunchie, and uses that to attach it instead. Cue the drama! They teleport to the Command Center, and Zordon says that the weather balloon is now over the Atlantic. The Atlantic? Seriously? Angel Grove is supposed to be in California, right? How did it get to the Atlantic?! And then they check a map, and look, there's an island! Why is an island that can only be summoned by Zedd on their map? And how come it isn't marked? I don't know.
Also, I still have no idea what Zedd's plan was. If he wanted Haley as bait, shouldn't he have made it easier for the Rangers to find her? And if he wanted to turn her evil then.... no, why would he want to turn her evil?
Tommy says he's going to go along on this mission, and everyone points out that he's too weak. He promises to teleport back if Zedd attacks. Which brings up the question of why he would go along if he's not going to help fight.
On the island (which looks remarkable like the Island of Illusion, Trini comments that the flowers look weird. Maybe that's because they're made of paper. Just a suggestion. Zedd sends down the Invenusable Fly Trap (best name ever) to attack them. Tommy morphs anyway. Because he is a lying liar who lies. The Invenusable Fly Trap traps everyone in its stomach but Tommy and Trini, and they teleport out so that Zordon can tell them what to do.
Tommy has a giant emo fit about how he will go surrender himself to rescue Haley, and that he'll try and resist Zedd (because that worked so well last time) and to tell everyone he's sorry. Blah blah blah. Just as he's about to go, Alpha pipes up with a solution - the monster should be vulnerable to heat. Sounfortunately Tommy doesn't need to go surrender himself. Instead, he and Trini teleport down and start talking about heat.
This apparently lets the other Rangers (who are just sitting in the monster's stomach) figure out that they need to create heat, so they use the power of fish to charge their power coins and then they punch the monster and then they're free. Then they all summon the power weapons and blow up the monster.
Back on the moon, Zedd tells Goldar that he couldn't outsmart a fish sandwich. Because the fish are clearly ruling this episode. Then Zedd starts to sink the island. But before it sinks into the ocean (which Billy can tell because there is an earthquake) they find Haley in a cave. Tommy is going to go surrender himself, but Trini stops him. Instead she goes and shoots the barrier thing which evaporates. Haley wakes up, and Tommy picks her up. She calls him a prince. Whatever.
At the Youth Center, Bulk and Skull are interrogating Haley about the Power Rangers. Somehow she seems to have seen Tommy and Jason without their helmets on! Except we don't know when this happened! They've hired a sketch artist to draw the people she's describing, but he ends up drawing some nobility instead. Everyone laughs. The Rangers all look relieved.
Lists:
Fish - five. Fishiest episode ever.
Billy speak - We're sure that there was some, but we were too busy yelling fish.
So. This episode. "Fish do fishy things that require a lot of fish to accomplish their fishy fish."
The episode opens on the beach, where Trini, Kimberly and Tommy are building a sandcastle with an inappropriate young friend named Halle or Haley. I hope that this girl secretly grows up to be a genius and make fun of Tommy on Dino Thunder. Haley tells them that there's a princess in the castle sleeping and waiting for a prince to rescue her. Kimberly says that's romantic. Oh, Kimberly, really? Sleeping Beauty is not an active character. Please don't be telling little girls that they should just wait around waiting for a prince to come and kiss them and rescue them. Let them rescue themselves! And be active!
Then Trini sees Richie, and adorkable music plays, and she has such a crush. Awwww. (I don't understand why they felt the need to give her a different love interest when they had Billy, but whatever.)
Meanwhile, Bulk and Skull have a cunning plan to figure out the Power Rangers identities - they dress up as Z putties (actually, their costumes are pretty good) and they figure that the only people who would stop them would be the Power Rangers. So they go stomp on some kid's sand castle, and then the kid beats them up. Good times! Of course, then Lord Zedd is all annoyed that Bulk and Skull are demeaning his putties, so he sends Goldar down to kidnap Haley for some unknown reason.
At some point, the Rangers notice that Haley has disappeared. They run over, just in time to see Goldar teleport away with her. Goldar has dropped a bottle that has some message from Zedd in a weird language. Also, Kimberly's shorts are unbuttoned. What exactly was she doing with Tommy and Trini?
Back on the moon, Zedd is pissed at Goldar for losing the message in the bottle. Goldar claims he lost it in the fight. What fight? When was there a fight? He just teleported out! Did he lose to a little girl? Because that would be awesome! Zedd changes his mind and decides this is for the best, because now the Rangers will just go do something and then hand over Tommy. Oh, Zedd, your obsession with Tommy is pretty amazing.
Anyway, the Rangers teleport to the Command Center, and Billy uses some nifty scanning technology to figure out that the message was actually Goldar's instructions to take Haley to Venus Island.
So. Here's where the fish come in. Why was Zedd so mad that Goldar lost the instructions? Goldar already did what he was supposed to do! Why didn't he just tell Goldar what to do? And if Zedd's grand plan was to make the Rangers go to Venus Island, then why didn't they just make that the random note? Also, why are they trying to turn a tiny child evil anyway? (Oh, yes, the plan - Zedd is going to turn Haley evil. Or Tommy will surrender himself and be evil instead. At least I think that was what they were trying to do - we kept yelling about fish.)
Anyway, Zordon explains about Venus Island. Apparently it's an island that Zedd can summon, that only exists when Zedd wants it to. Zordon doesn't know where it is. But they can follow the trade winds at sunset and that will lead them there. Everyone is all confused and wondering how to follow the the wind. Billy goes to his lab to invent something, and comes up with a weather balloon. Meanwhile, Zordon keeps saying that the island is getting more and more unstable. He can tell that, but he can't figure out where the island is. Sure.
Jason, Trini and Billy go to launch the weather balloon at sunset. Apparently the clip Billy made for his sensor is too heavy, so Jason steals Trini's scrunchie, and uses that to attach it instead. Cue the drama! They teleport to the Command Center, and Zordon says that the weather balloon is now over the Atlantic. The Atlantic? Seriously? Angel Grove is supposed to be in California, right? How did it get to the Atlantic?! And then they check a map, and look, there's an island! Why is an island that can only be summoned by Zedd on their map? And how come it isn't marked? I don't know.
Also, I still have no idea what Zedd's plan was. If he wanted Haley as bait, shouldn't he have made it easier for the Rangers to find her? And if he wanted to turn her evil then.... no, why would he want to turn her evil?
Tommy says he's going to go along on this mission, and everyone points out that he's too weak. He promises to teleport back if Zedd attacks. Which brings up the question of why he would go along if he's not going to help fight.
On the island (which looks remarkable like the Island of Illusion, Trini comments that the flowers look weird. Maybe that's because they're made of paper. Just a suggestion. Zedd sends down the Invenusable Fly Trap (best name ever) to attack them. Tommy morphs anyway. Because he is a lying liar who lies. The Invenusable Fly Trap traps everyone in its stomach but Tommy and Trini, and they teleport out so that Zordon can tell them what to do.
Tommy has a giant emo fit about how he will go surrender himself to rescue Haley, and that he'll try and resist Zedd (because that worked so well last time) and to tell everyone he's sorry. Blah blah blah. Just as he's about to go, Alpha pipes up with a solution - the monster should be vulnerable to heat. So
This apparently lets the other Rangers (who are just sitting in the monster's stomach) figure out that they need to create heat, so they use the power of fish to charge their power coins and then they punch the monster and then they're free. Then they all summon the power weapons and blow up the monster.
Back on the moon, Zedd tells Goldar that he couldn't outsmart a fish sandwich. Because the fish are clearly ruling this episode. Then Zedd starts to sink the island. But before it sinks into the ocean (which Billy can tell because there is an earthquake) they find Haley in a cave. Tommy is going to go surrender himself, but Trini stops him. Instead she goes and shoots the barrier thing which evaporates. Haley wakes up, and Tommy picks her up. She calls him a prince. Whatever.
At the Youth Center, Bulk and Skull are interrogating Haley about the Power Rangers. Somehow she seems to have seen Tommy and Jason without their helmets on! Except we don't know when this happened! They've hired a sketch artist to draw the people she's describing, but he ends up drawing some nobility instead. Everyone laughs. The Rangers all look relieved.
Lists:
Fish - five. Fishiest episode ever.
Billy speak - We're sure that there was some, but we were too busy yelling fish.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)