Episode 128- A Ranger Catastrophe Part 1

Last time on Power Rangers was the BESTEST EPISODE EVER OMGYAY! And so this time we get... incredibly boring.

We start out by learning that Aisha volunteers at the local animal shelter. She loves the animals and loves helping out, and the shelter is understaffed and underfunded anyway, so they love having the help. I like this aspect of Aisha. Very noble.

Later, as she's walking in the park with Kim, they discuss the love of animals. Kim stumbles upon a stray cat just kind of milling about the park. A very white, very CLEAN, stray cat. I don't know why this didn't clue them in that it wasn't, in fact, a runaway kitty. But we'll just move on for plot purposes, yes?

Aisha carries it around for awhile, including through the Youth Center and to the outdoor cafe of the Juice Bar, and I cry foul! One does not bring a pet into a restaurant! Service animals, yes, of course. But not a pet. Health and safety, you see. Bulk and Skull, as junior police patrolmen, agree and attempt to find the correct codes to make Aisha leave. They don't, but they're adorable at trying to enforce the rules. Aisha and Kim take the cat to the shelter and Aisha gets all excited because if the cat isn't claimed within a certain timeframe, she has permission to adopt it herself. She really wants this cat.

There is a problem with this, though. This cat was planted by Rita. She calls all her dimwits, to which Rito responds enthusiastically, and then explains her dastardly plan. It's no ordinary cat, you see. It's an EVOL Cat born in the pits ruled by Basement Cat.

Rito is sent down to scare away potential pet adopters from the animal shelter, and Bulk and Skull manage to catch him in the act. They bravely attempt to arrest him, hoping to make themselves famous, but he is big and mean and threatening and they back away rather quickly in fear.

Meanwhile, not-really-a-cat is being pampered in the shelter by Aisha. She spies Rito, however, and has to run outside to be all badass and take him on herself. Because she's awesome like that. Zordon, in a rare moment of attentiveness, notices and calls the others to help. They rush to aide Aisha, even though she didn't really need help, and a very boring fight ensues. The not-really-a-cat turns into Human!Kat to observe the fight and is caught by the vet in charge of the animal shelter. Thinking quickly, Kat convinces the lady that she's there to adopt a puppy to help her be not lonely in a new town, seeing as she's all Australian and far from her friends.

When the fight is over, Rocky runs off in search of an overly large sandwich, with Adam and Billy hot on his tail. And I mean that in just about every possible way.

Aisha, Kim, and Tommy head into the animal shelter and Human!Kat quickly vanishes to turn back into not-really-a-cat. Time is up and Aisha gets to take not-really-a-cat home. She's so excited! We're so bored.

Aisha names the cat PC, for Park Cat, since they found it in a park. Really? That's the best you could do, Aisha? That's... the lamest name ever. I can deal with PC, that's fine. I had a turtle named PC (but it was short for an actual name!). But at least make it stand for something legitimate or meaningful! Anyway, Kim comes home and leaves the door open, and not-really-a-cat-now-with-a-bad-name! runs out the door and down to open windows, where she promptly leaves the house and transforms into Human!Kat. Aisha and Kim search desperately for the lost not-really-a-cat-now-with-a-bad-name.

Human!Kat is met by Rita, who tells her to go steal Tommy from Kim. Rita transforms a dumpster into a hot car (with a cool, but not the coolest ever, vanity plate that says PURRRFECT) and sends Kat down to the Youth Center. Tommy is milling about, waiting for Kim, when Ernie realizes he failed to deliver the message that Kim would be late. Tommy is interrupted by Kat. She claims car trouble and gets Tommy outside, where he does something under the hood that leaves him and his sparkly white clothing completely clean, and then oohs and aahs over the car. Kat offers to let him drive "just around the block" and he accepts, even though he's supposed to meet Kim. He really falls so easily for the damsel in distress act. They go for a drive, but Rita zaps them into some vortex/alternate dimension thing, and Kat acts frightened and clingy, for which Tommy also falls. Oh Tommy. Could you BE any easier?

Zordon, in yet another glaring moment of attentiveness, notices that Tommy has been kidnapped, finds him, and then contacts the other rangers. Kim is jealous of the girl he's with (can't really blame her!), they wonder at how they'll get him back, discover that Rito is on Earth again, and then we cut to the To Be Continued screen.

That's not much of a cliffhanger.

And all I learned from this episode is that Steve Cardenas really really needs to stop overacting.

1.5 fish. It wasn't really fishy. Just very boring.