Episode 145 - I'm Dreaming of a White Ranger

Hey, it's Kim!

Wait, what is she doing here? Kim is in Florida! (Although it is really nice to see her. Kim!)

Ok, we know that a lot of fandom is under the impression that Kim has come back from Florida to spend Christmas with the Rangers, leading to approximately 87,000 Tommy/Kim fics from this time period and it's referenced in every single fic ever that deals with the breakup about how everything was fine at Christmas and she didn't mention any other guy, and you know what?

Because this episode takes place before she goes to Florida. Air date orders are weird but we had a long discussion (read: rant) about it during the episode, and we came to the decision that it is a flashback. It's still better than the other Christmas episodes. (One day, Queenriley and I will hang out, have a lot to drink and recap Alpha's Magical Christmas. This is not that day.)

So! It's time for the Holiday Special! Mostly Christmas, but they remember that Hannukah exists! (No other holidays are celebrated in Angel Grove.) The episode begins with Aisha conducting a choir of tiny children who can't lip sync, while Kimberly plays the guitar.

Somewhere in the background, Ashley is standing at a crafts table behind some guy.

The party at the youth center is apparently to help the underprivileged kids in Angel Grove. In Angel Grove speak, this apparently means that sometimes parents are too busy working to attend a kid's recital.

Tommy walks in with a poinsettia. Then he notices our inappropriately young friend of the week, so he asks her to help him. She can't act. She really can't act.

Kim has a sad. This is her first Christmas away from her mom, but she's really glad that she's staying with Aisha. Aww, they are such BFF, I love them.

Bulk and Skull come in, and we find out that they're going to be Santa and helper for the party. That is adorable! Bulk will make a great Santa. Although he seems to be seriously lacking in Christmas spirit.

Kim is trying to jump to hang up the mistletoe. Kim, honey, there's this thing called a ladder. We short people have to use one. Of course, that would prevent Tommy from coming to her rescue, and we can't have that. Tommy leans in to kiss Kim, when Skull walks by, interposes himself between Kim and Tommy, and kisses Kim on the cheek.

My Skull/Kim shipper heart is torn between thinking that is adorable and being really pissed at Skull for kissing her without permission. I am leaning towards being pissed at him. Not acceptable, Skull! Bulk also clearly considers kissing Kim, but a glare from Tommy stops him.

Up on the moon, Zedd is ranting about the evils of Christmas. Considering that Zedd has already been coded as Jewish once before, this has... really unfortunate implications. Especially when his plan to destroy Christmas apparently consists of sending evil dreidels down to brainwash children.

Hey, marketing department? If you want to start selling evil dreidels, I will totally buy one.

Plus, we get to find out that not only does Batman exist in Angel Grove, but so does Santa. (As Santa also exists in the DCU, I should not be surprised.) Man, kids in Angel Grove must need serious therapy. On the other hand, the parents have some seriously amazing threats to work with to get kids to eat veggies.

A bunch of the tiny children sing O Hannukah, except for the inappropriately young friend, who also has a sad. As previously mentioned, all she wants for Christmas is for her dad to come hear her sing. He is too busy working. Kim gives her advice on how to handle her dad (tell him how much she loves him so that he'll come watch her show! Because he has no way of knowing otherwise!)

And um, I'm not really sure if the show considered how it looks to have Kim solving the problems of an African American family? But it's a little bit on the fail side.

Up at the North Pole, we have the most annoying elves ever. Rito shows up and ties up Santa, and informs the Elves that they will all make Evil Dreidels instead. The main elf has a really annoyingly high pitched voice. It's awful.

Tommy and Kim are about to kiss under the mistletoe when Zordon calls. Hey, Zordon just cockblocked Tommy and Kim! That totally makes this episode worth it. The Rangers all head to the Command Center where Zordon explains the problem, and everyone is horrified that Santa is being messed with. Then Zordon spouts some nonsense about a cross current of holiday magic up at the North Pole will prevent them from morphing, but they decide to go anyway.

They are all seriously underdressed for the North Pole, even if Aisha pulled a jacket out of thin air. Rocky complains that he's cold. Don't worry, Rocky! Adam and Aisha will be glad to warm you up.

Santa is tied up in the center of the workshop with a giant bow stuck in his mouth. Everyone is concerned about Santa. This is ridiculous.

Back in Angel Grove, inappropriately young friend tells Bulk and Skull that Kimberly is missing. They pat her on the head and tell her not to worry. She is clearly not buying it.

The Rangers figure out that if they can't use their powers, then neither can Rito. Because apparently only good can win here at the North Pole? But in that case, why can't the Rangers morph? And how did Rito win in the first place?

The fight in this episode might be the most amazing thing ever. Kim and Aisha recruit the annoying elves to help, and then they lure Rito outsider. (Goldar has joined them for some reason). Did I mention that Rito is wearing a santa hat? Because it's awesome.

And then the Rangers beat them in a snowball fight. This might actually be the greatest thing ever. SNOWBALL FIGHT. And then they chase them into the workshop and the elves scatter marbles on the floor and they tie them up. This is possibly the most ridiculous thing ever. I love it. Rito and Goldar get tied up, and then returned to the moon. Why the Rangers don't just destroy them, I have no idea. (Right. Kids show. Destroying monsters of the week = ok, killing Goldar and Rito = not.)

Then the Rangers help Santa finish making presents. I think some other stuff might have happened in this scene, but Adam had suspenders that were falling off him and it was really hot and possibly there was a lot of capslock.

On the moon, Rito gave Goldar a present, and I ship those two so much it's ridiculous.

At the Youth Center, Bulk is actually a fairly good Santa! And Skull is his reindeer! Some really greedy kid has a whole list of stuff he wants, including an autographed picture of the Rangers. Don't we all, tiny child. Don't we all.

The Rangers all come in and pass out the toys that Santa gave them.

Inappropriately young friend's father shows up, and he tells her he loves her and will spend time with her, and then tells her that they should have hot chocolate, but she tells him to hold on so she can go thank Santa for getting her dad to come. Bulk's heart grows three sizes larger and he returns all the presents and oops, wait, wrong story!

Speaking of parents, Kim's mom and the step-artist show up as well. They got a last minute flight. Awww.

They sing one final Christmas Carol, and then break the fourth wall to wish everyone a Merry Christmas.

Fish: 2.5. Holiday magic, what?

Fic we want: How the Bulk stole Christmas. SERIOUSLY.

Episode 136 - A Different Shade of Pink Part 3

Before the recap, a little bit of housekeeping. We are hopefully going to settle into a Wednesday/Saturday schedule for the recaps. However! I will be going to Morphicon in 2 weeks, and the weekend after that is Dragon*Con, so... who knows when we're going to update? It should be interesting, anyway.

If you're at Morphicon, you should come find me and say hi!

Anyway. Previously, on Power Rangers - Amy Jo Johnson uses these last few episodes to audition for ER, and Rita wants to send Ninjor as a message in a bottle.

The episode opens with the Rangers angsting about the choice they've been given - they can hand over Kat or Ninjor will be drowned. Zordon says that this is the toughest choice they've ever faced. Really? What about the time they had to choose between their power coins or the teens at the world peace conference? Or their coins or their parents? Basically, they have been in this situation before.

Up on the moon, Zedd and Rita are bickering. The honeymoon is over. Awww. And on Earth, Kat is showing how she is ridiculously insightful, as we get another long explanation of her backstory. It's really touching, and Kat clearly knows what is best for Kim as she gets her to admit to being scared. Then she runs off to go offer to sacrifice herself to save Ninjor, and Queenriley and I both start shipping Rocky/Kat at the same time.

In the park, the Rangers bring Kat to trade for Ninjor. However, they have Kat protected in a force field, and Rita cheated anyway - no Ninjor in the jar. There's a nice fight scene, until one of the Tengas breaks the force field projected, and Kat gets kidnapped. And she screams for Tommy. :( :( :( Billy is blaming himself for Kat being captured. Awww.

Up on the moon, Zedd and Rita decide that they're going to throw Kat in the jar with Ninjor and wash them both out in the Sea of Sorrows, except they can't do anything until the tide comes in. So Kat is locked up in a cell, where she tries to steal the keys from Squatt and Baboo. She almost succeeds, but the guard changes. She massages Rito (making an amazing face in the process) until he falls asleep, and she escapes. She grabs the pink power coin (in a glowing pink box) which alerts Alpha that the coin is in the hands of good again. Kat taunts Rita for a bit, until she's teleported out by Billy's amazing insta-tech. Kim is very glad to have her coin back.

At Angel Grove community pool, a stunt person who is supposed to be Kat does an awesome dive, showing Kim that conquering your fears is possible. Kim decides to participate in the competition, and does an awesome job. Also, Aisha clings to Rocky. This important for everyone. Kim's routine is pretty great, and she gets a high schore. At the youth center, Ernie throws her a party, and the coach offers her a spot at his gym in Florida so he can train her properly for the Pan Globals.

This is not an offer you turn down.

At the Command Center, Kim tells the other Rangers she isn't going to accept because she has her responsibilities as a Ranger, and they all encourage her to go. Zordon even tells her that when she comes back she will be a greater Ranger than before. WHEN SHE COMES BACK. MAKE IT HAPPEN. Even Tommy encourages her, and some of my objections to the ship fade away, because he's being ridiculously sweet.

Kim was clearly hoping that the Rangers would tell her to go, because she had made arrangements for Kat to take over if they'd convinced her to go. The power is transferred to Kat, and really, there needs to be so much more Kim/Kat fic in the world. Make it happen!

Also, Adam wonders if Kat is really free of the spell, and then there is epic sadface on my part. Adam! Not cool! Especially when TOMMY is on the team. JUST SAYING.

Fish: 1.5. Only because we aren't sure why Rita just didn't grab Kat in her sleep.

Fic we want: KAT/KIM. And Kat/Rocky!

Episode 135 - A Different Shade of Pink Part 2

Previously, on Power Rangers - Kat proves that she is wicked awesome by breaking the spell placed on her by Rita, and Kimberly falls off a balance beam.

We begin in an episode of ER - Kat called an ambulance, which rushed Kim to the hospital. Kat explains to the doctors that Kimberly fell off the beam and hit her head. If you watch the episode, it is clear that no, Kimberly did not in fact hit her head, but we guess for dramatic purposes she needs to have a head injury.

And then she wakes up and has amnesia and thinks she's dating Billy. Who wants to write me that fic?

Anyway, Kat feels guilty that Kimberly is hurt even though a) it is not her fault and b) she was under a spell, which she broke on her own, proving that she is way more awesome than Tommy because she didn't need someone to break a sword to remove the spell. Up on the moon, Rita and Zedd discuss the situation, and agree that Kat's act of supreme goodness has broken the spell permanently.

Back at the hospital, Tommy is on a payphone to Kim's mother in France and we discover that Kim's mother can't get a flight to the states. Billy and Tommy also have a discussion where they finally start to get suspicious of Kat, as they are not sure why she was at the Youth Center so late at night, but they are glad she was.

Meanwhile, Bulk, Skull & Lieutenant Stone are spying on Kim's coach, as they are convinced he is a spy. Then they get pushed down a laundry chute. Whatever. Kim's coach expresses concern for Kim. Aww.

Adam/Rocky/Aisha are off on a date in the park when Billy calls to let them know that Kim has woken up and the doctor says that she'll be just fine. We don't know why they weren't at the hospital to wait for their friend, but we can only assume they were busy comforting each other. Rito shows up to attack them, and they are very annoyed at being interrupted. It's Ninja Ranger time!

... Ok, we clearly entered the Twilight Zone or something, because Tommy is being really sweet. He brought Kim a bear! He expressed concern! We are not yelling at him to shut up! What madness is this? Why am I suddenly thinking Tommy is being good for Kimberly? My worldview is shattered. SHATTERED. Zordon calls and interrupts the moment and expresses his concern for Kim, who is sorry for worrying him. Zordon was actually paying attention for once, and the SCT are being overwhelmed. Billy and Tommy morph in the hospital room and then teleport straight out of there. Secret identities they are doing it wrong.

Kat comes into Kim's room and confesses everything while the other Rangers are fighting. She is all concerned that they will hate her forever for what she did while under the spell. In further proof that we've entered the twilight zone, two amazing things happen - continuity and characterization. Kimberly (and then the other Rangers) tell Kat about how Tommy began a Ranger, and how strong Rita's magic is, and that they could never hate her for what she did. It is actually really touching, and someone should write me Kim/Kat fic. Kim also says that she is not going to try out for the competition anymore, she's done with gymnastics. Everyone is confused by this, even though it is obvious that Kim is just terrified after falling. Characterization, you are doing it... quite well! Good job, show!

Rita and Zedd are now officially annoyed, so they send down some garbage monster to kidnap Kat. The monster gets them when they're all leaving the hospital, and the Rangers morph and the monster just stands there with Kat until she escapes. Then they call the Shogun Zords, which at one point get trapped in a garbage can, but they immediately break out. It's pretty dull. Except they have a flaming sword! I approve of that.

Rita confronts Billy/Kat/Tommy at the lake and tell them that if they don't turn Kat over to her, then they will destroy Ninjor forever. He is still trapped in a bottle, even though he has managed to get out of bottles before.

Why Rita doesn't just kidnap Kat while she sleeps we... really don't know.

To be continued!

Fish: 1 Any fish we had were counteracted by the characterization and continuity of awesome in this episode.

Episode 134- A Different Shade of Pink Part 1

Oh show. This is both a happy and sad episode, and I both love and hate episodes like this. It's the end of Kim being a Power Ranger, which is really sad since Kim is AWESOME! She will be missed. But, we get Kat, who can be pretty great in her own right. This also means that Billy is (very very soon) the only original ranger left on the team. It's only a matter of time. :(

So we start off with Kim and Tommy in the Youth Center. Kim is doing gymnastics while Tommy watches. A middle-aged man walks in wearing a shirt that is so bad it's crossed into cool. He introduces himself as Gunther Schmidt. Tommy is duly impressed. Gunther is also duly impressed with Kim's routine, though I have to admit, it wasn't all that impressive. Anyway, she is all star struck and Gunther wants to speak to her coach, of which she has none, so he agrees to train her himself in what little spare time he has. He seems a nice guy!

Rita observes and, after calling Kim a Mallrat, makes plans to muck up her life... in a very uncomfortable place. Like the back of a Volkswagon.

So Kim, all excited about her chance at Pan Globals, calls a meeting in the Command Center. Rocky determines it's very serious and Kim starts to mention Gunther Schmidt. Apparently Tommy has already told them all everything about what Kim wanted to talk about. She didn't even get to share the good news herself! Not cool, Tommy, not cool. But the others are very happy for her (being good friends for a change! They must have taken relationship seminars) and Zordon is sure she can balance training and rangering. He is very supportive of them following their dreams instead of rangering and I totally approve of this. A definite Zordon!Win here!

So we get an awesome training montage where Kim does some much more impressive routines and there is lots of gratuitous running (of which we wholeheartedly approve). She brings Gunther to the Youth Center for one of Ernie's protein smoothies, and Bulk and Skull overhear a news broadcast on a spy in the area. He's middle-aged, greying hair, 5'11", and speaks with a heavy accent. Gunther Schmidt is middle-aged, greying hair, 5'11" (ish), and speaks with a heavy accent. Of course Bulk and Skull are sure he's the spy and they intend to find out! But first we get a fantastic Bill Clinton joke. :D

Kat, meanwhile, is slowly but surely breaking the spell. She's remembering her past as a diver. This is one aspect of her story I had completely forgotten and I'm quite happy to rediscover it. It's an interesting back story.

Rita decides Kim has had enough training and sends down tengas, Rito, Goldar, and monsters. The others won't call Kim until they absolutely have to, and they are overwhelmed pretty quickly. Zordon calls Kim and she eventually begs off training, after a lecture about priorities from Gunther, and goes to rescue Tommy. She saves the day and returns to the Youth Center just in time to get called back to the fight yet again! She passes out after all the rigorous fighting, but still manages to beat the bad guys WITHOUT a power coin. Because she's just that UBER.

Bulk and Skull attempt to observe Gunther by doing gymnastics, completely with spandex (lovely lovely spandex) and bathrobes. Skull does not like being upside down, however, and we hear it went very badly.

Tommy drives Kim back to the Youth Center, despite it being closing time, and drops her off, though he at least tried to convince her to let him stay for her safety. She refuses, but does convince Ernie to let her close up and practice. He leaves and she stays while Kat, lurking outside, remembers her past as a diver who injured herself and ruined the chance at the Pan Globals, and completely breaks the spell. OF HER OWN FREE WILL, PEOPLE! Kat broke the spell BY HERSELF because she was too strong for it to keep hold. I kind of love her a little right now.

Anyway, she rushes into the Youth Center just in time to see Kim fall. Kim is uninjured but passed out and Kat feels incredibly guilty while she tries to figure out what to do to help her. And we're left with a freeze frame and quite the cliffhanger!

Fortsetzung folgt. To be continued!

1.5 fish. It wasn't bad!

(also of note: Can anybody please throw your up-for-grabs Kat icons at me? I need a good one!)

133 - Follow That Cab!

Today, on Power Rangers - we celebrate Shark Week by getting shark cycles. Or, you know, Shark Week happens to fall on the same week that we get to the shark cycles. Whichever.

The episode opens at the Juice Bar, where we discover that Kimberly seems to think that taking cats to restaurants is totally acceptable behavior. Frankly, she is wrong about this. Tommy shows up, just as Kim lets out a shriek, and Tommy comments that he's glad to know that he has that effect on her.

Tommy is glad he can make Kim scream. Kid's show. Riiiiiiight.

It turns out that he has nothing to do with it - famous gymnastics coach Gunther Schmidt is coming into town to look for talented gymnasts to participate in his Pan Globals team. Hmm. I wonder how this will end? Tommy encourages Kim to go meet the coach since she idolizes him. (He is clearly supposed to be Bela Karolyi, just saying.) She decides to go, and asks Ernie to watch the cat.

... WORST PET OWNER EVER. However, she has enough sense not to ask Tommy to watch the cat. Of course, as PC is secretly Kat, she quickly runs off to report what Kim is up to to Rita. Rita and Zedd are planning to trap a Ranger inside a monster so that the other Rangers won't want to destroy it. This is actually a fairly cunning plan! Probably because Rito thought of it. His plans are usually good. The only other thing of importance in this scene is that when Rita calls Kat an evil girl, Kat flashes back to how awesome and good she was and manages to temporarily break the spell. She is pretty awesome.

Anyway, since there is apparently sometimes crime in Angel Grove, Bulk and Skull fail to recognize the most obvious car thief ever and actually help him steal Kim's car. Kim then demands they go after the guy, so they commandeer a cab, which is promptly turned into a monster.

Alpha summons the Rangers, after commenting that he hopes they aren't off scuba diving, and I nearly fall off my chair laughing. Oh, show. At least you remember these ridiculous things!

The Rangers need to chase after the cab, and they get shark cycles. Because they... need to sell more toys? The slowest chase scene ever happens, and then Zords are summoned. The show attempted to provide some drama by claiming that the process of removing Kimberly, Bulk and Skull from the monster could result in Kimberbulk, but we know that wouldn't happen - the show clearly doesn't have the budget for it. So they get rescued, the monster is destroyed, and this is really boring.

What I didn't mention in the preceding paragraph is that the monster is the Crabby Cabby, and he speaks in one of the worst fake Brooklyn accents I've ever heard. And I'm from New York. We are just going to pretend that it never happened.

Back at the Youth Center, Bulk and Skull have managed to locate Kimberly's car, and she hugs Bulk but not Skull. Poor Skull. :( Kimberly then decides she will try to meet her idol at the tryouts. The episode ends with her saying how much easier it would be to be a cat. I don't even know what to say about that.

Fish: 3. It was just... really mediocre.