To start with, TSB will be going on vacation next week, so there will be no recaps. Alas.
Finally we get the Zack episode I lamented at missing due to the mislabel! Even better than that, it's a Tommy-less Zack episode! Yay!
So we start off with Angela breaking up a fight between two kids while Zack, in a stunning display of actual continuity, puts on a magic show. He's pretty good. Bulk and Skull interrupt, however, and make fools of themselves in attempting to upstage him. All while Bulk has a Twinkie in his mouth. *sigh* Zack is then really mean and surprises them with some fake snakes. Snakes. I thought he was afraid of snakes. But I guess he got over it. Or they forgot.
So Angela tells him that was brilliant (really? Seemed more mean to me...) and then kisses him on the cheek. Okay, so that part was adorable. She walks off and the other rangers walk up and make fun of Zack for it. They're kind of mean about it, but it's borderline between playful and cruel, so I'll let it slide. Jason seems somewhat jealous and tells Zack not to do anything that he wouldn't do and we're left with the unsaid "Like kiss a girl" hanging in the air. They go to the park and Zack stays behind to hit on Angela. Meanwhile, Rita also seems to want to get in on the Zack action and swears she'll show him what a real peck on the cheek is like. Man, Zack is quite the hot commodity here!
In the park, Jason says something about putty and suddenly they are surrounded by putties. Kim poses a lot, Jason has very pretty arms, Trini is awesome, and David Yost is very pretty and obviously a gymnast.
Moving on, Angela asks Zack why he never told her he was so good with kids and Ernie's reaction to his response is PRICELESS. Zack says he doesn't like to brag and Ernie nearly chokes on his drink and walks away mumbling about how something has affected his hearing. Hehehhe. Angela tries to ask him out and Ernie keeps trying to get his attention. They finally look over and there is a news report about a giant monster bird thing attacking downtown. Ernie clearly knows Zack is a power ranger. The kids all gather 'round and Zack reassures them, but they don't look all that worried actually. One little girl says she's not worried because she knows the power rangers will save them. Awwwww.
So in order to get away, Zack has the brilliant (actually so, this time) plan to have Bulk make him disappear. It's awesome and works, except he's really mean and tells Bulk the magic words are "Iamag Oon" so when he says it, Bulk calls him a goon. Douchebag of the Day awarded to Zack! Grrr.
So Zack disappears and Zordon calls him with impeccable timing just as he reaches the hallway and is completely out of sight and earshot. He ends up having to fight the bird monster by himself because the others are tied up with the putties... still. We discover the monster's name is the Peckster. And I spend approximately five minutes giggling. The Peckster (teehee) runs away undefeated and Zack goes to the Command Center, where he discovers he must go back to the Youth Center because the (completely calm and not at all worried) children need him. Um... okay then.
So he gets back just in time for Bulk, who has up to this point refused to say "Zack" lest he bring him back from whence he sent him (where he saw lots of beans, I'm sure), get goaded into saying "Zack". One kid was very pouty. Everybody oohs and ahs as if it were real magic. Even the adults/teens. Mmkay.
At the part the putties disappear and the rangers go to the Command Center. They have to go fight the Peckster (teehee) and are told Zack will join them when he can and Tommy will not be called, lest his powers fail. And that is blissfully the only mention we get of him this episode.
So they're fighting, and the kids and Zack are watching on the tv, and Zack spies a bunch of balloons. Pouting Inappropriately Young Friend is sure the power rangers will save the day and Zack, in reassuring him (why? he was fine), spies some balloons. He sees Pouting Inappropriately Young Friend's black ball and gets an idea.
He teleports, morphed, into the fight and somehow talks the Peckster (teehee) into popping all the balloons in his hand. The last one, a black one, is really the ball in disguise (that looks nothing like a ball until the bird goes after it and then it looks nothing like a balloon) and the Peckster (teehee) gets his beak stuck. Oh show. I just. Okay, I'll be honest. I dissolved into audible fits of giggles and missed a lot of the ensuing fight. Because the Peckster gets his mouth stuck on a ball. I'm still giggling.
Basically, the Peckster grows (guffaw!), the zords are summoned, we see two things we've never seen before and will never see again (the Mammoth Shield and some laser that comes out of their head), and then the Power Sword Saves Them All. Again. Per usual. Whatever. Oh, and somewhere in there Zack gives a motivational speech about not giving up. I was still too busy laughing. Sorry.
Pouting Inappropriately Young Friend says the black power ranger used his head before his fists, JUST LIKE ZACK, and clearly this is a very smart Inappropriately Young Friend. Clearly he, like Ernie, knows Zack is the black ranger.
Later, Zack comes in all dressed up. He cleans up nice! It's a goofy suit and he even manages to make it look good! He's got grand plans to take Angela out for dinner and dancing, but she shows up with a gaggle of kids and tells him they're going to a 5 hour Woody Woodpecker review at the local cinema. Zack is upset, obviously, but goes along. We also discover I'm apparently the only person in the world who, as a tiny child, would have gladly sat through 5 hours of Woody Woodpecker. What? I loved him! And Underdog. Don't judge me!
List time!
4.5 fish. It was ridiculous, I'm sorry! It managed to both do a massive call back continuity nod AND ignore continuity altogether at the same time! But at least it was AWESOMELY ridiculous!
Billy speak: "What an effusive display of affection."
"Look at the abundance of feathers on that overstuffed ornith!"
Covered in food: Nobody!
Showing posts with label jason/zack. Show all posts
Showing posts with label jason/zack. Show all posts
Monday, November 9, 2009
Monday, November 2, 2009
Episode 55- Second Chance
This was an incredibly boring and pointless episode. It... ugh. Should have had a beer. Would have made it easier. I think I'd rather suffer through Devon's Not-Actually-A Ghost again than watch this episode one more time.
So we start out in the Youth Center with Jason and Zack on a date. It's adorable, but that's the last interesting thing that happens. A bunch of kids run off all happy to have made Ernie's soccer team. Why Ernie is running a soccer team, we have no idea. There is one little boy who is very sad. Or rather, we suspect he's supposed to be very sad, but really he's just wooden and expressionless. I think the kid from Phantom Menace could act better than this kid. Anyway, Boy Who Can't Act, also named Roger, didn't make the soccer team. Jason suggests he practice. Ernie says if it was up to him, he'd hold another try-out (why this will help, I have no idea). Zack throws logic into an episode that lacks any and says it IS up to Ernie, who then says "Oh yeah" and sets up for a second try-out.
At school the following morning, Zack wants to do soccer tricks in the hallway. Bulk and Skull take the soccer ball. Kim is mean to Bulk (something about nobody seeing him on a soccer field... it was cruel, we'll just leave it with that). Bulk manages to kick the ball right into Ms. Applebee as she comes around the corner. She gives them detention. Zack chastises them for doing soccer tricks in the hall... which he was just about to do too... and I want to bang on the keyboard, but won't because I like my computer and don't want to break it.
Oh, and somewhere in there, Tommy slammed his wrist and communicator against the wall and broke it. He goes to first period, which he doesn't have with the other rangers but does have with Bulk and Skull (and what in the world do their timetables actually look like? I can't figure it out). His communicator keeps beeping and Ms. Applebee takes away his "pager", yet doesn't question that it looks like a watch and not the little heavy boxes with the tiny screen that pagers used to be. Oh goodness. Pagers. Dear readers, we feel very old right now.
After school that day, Jason and Zack practice soccer in the park with their Inappropriately Young Friend, aka Boy Who Can't Act. The kid is bad. They encourage him and instead of actually showing him how to do things, they just keep throwing the ball at him. So then they get attacked by putties. And then they get attacked by Rita's not-fully-charged Soccadillo. Oh show. The best part is the putties get together and start playing soccer with the Soccadillo. That was actually really cool. Not as cool as pumpkin!putties, but still pretty neat.
Zordon calls the other rangers in and Trini goes to stand by Boy Who Can't Act while Billy and Kim go after the putties. I'm a little confused as to the logic here. I mean, I know Trini is mostly Informed Ability, and she's only shown as being awesome in her (very very few) focus episodes, but I certainly doubt a novice and a girl with no martial arts training would be more skilled fighters than somebody who takes specialized martial arts classes with her own personal trainer.
Anyway, they get their rear-ends kicked by the Soccadillo (okay, so I know everywhere else lists it with only one c, but since it's a word smush and soccer has two c's, I'm going with that). They teleport to the Command Center and we're left wondering what they did with the kid. We can only assume they gave him some fish and went about their merry way.
They morph and go fight in the Inexplicable Abandoned Rock Quarry again. They blast and blast and apparently forget it's an ARMOURED mammal, so the firepower really isn't going to work against it. Meanwhile Tommy is trying to get his communicator back from Ms. Applebee and is surprised to discover it did not, in fact, magically fix itself while locked in her desk drawer all day. Zordon teleports him into the fight and they call Zords. Yada yada yada, Power Sword Saves Them All, explosion, the end.
Back at the Youth Center we discover every kid made it onto the soccer team because Ernie couldn't bear to let anybody down and made a second team. Bulk and Skull tell Boy Who Can't Act that he really didn't have to practice after all and he says he did, but frankly, they're kind of right. He would have made the team regardless of his actual skill level because EVERYBODY made the team no matter what. But Skull decides to show off, has something sticky on his hand, gets the soccer ball stuck, knock both Bulk and himself over, and then get covered in milkshake.
And I'm just glad it's over.
4.5 fish. It made little sense and was just BORING.
Billy speak: "Looks like a member of the dasypodidae family. [beat] An armoured mammal."
Covered in food: Bulk and Skull in milkshake.
Times I had to go back and edit out where I accidentally typed football instead of soccer and didn't catch it until the end: twice
So we start out in the Youth Center with Jason and Zack on a date. It's adorable, but that's the last interesting thing that happens. A bunch of kids run off all happy to have made Ernie's soccer team. Why Ernie is running a soccer team, we have no idea. There is one little boy who is very sad. Or rather, we suspect he's supposed to be very sad, but really he's just wooden and expressionless. I think the kid from Phantom Menace could act better than this kid. Anyway, Boy Who Can't Act, also named Roger, didn't make the soccer team. Jason suggests he practice. Ernie says if it was up to him, he'd hold another try-out (why this will help, I have no idea). Zack throws logic into an episode that lacks any and says it IS up to Ernie, who then says "Oh yeah" and sets up for a second try-out.
At school the following morning, Zack wants to do soccer tricks in the hallway. Bulk and Skull take the soccer ball. Kim is mean to Bulk (something about nobody seeing him on a soccer field... it was cruel, we'll just leave it with that). Bulk manages to kick the ball right into Ms. Applebee as she comes around the corner. She gives them detention. Zack chastises them for doing soccer tricks in the hall... which he was just about to do too... and I want to bang on the keyboard, but won't because I like my computer and don't want to break it.
Oh, and somewhere in there, Tommy slammed his wrist and communicator against the wall and broke it. He goes to first period, which he doesn't have with the other rangers but does have with Bulk and Skull (and what in the world do their timetables actually look like? I can't figure it out). His communicator keeps beeping and Ms. Applebee takes away his "pager", yet doesn't question that it looks like a watch and not the little heavy boxes with the tiny screen that pagers used to be. Oh goodness. Pagers. Dear readers, we feel very old right now.
After school that day, Jason and Zack practice soccer in the park with their Inappropriately Young Friend, aka Boy Who Can't Act. The kid is bad. They encourage him and instead of actually showing him how to do things, they just keep throwing the ball at him. So then they get attacked by putties. And then they get attacked by Rita's not-fully-charged Soccadillo. Oh show. The best part is the putties get together and start playing soccer with the Soccadillo. That was actually really cool. Not as cool as pumpkin!putties, but still pretty neat.
Zordon calls the other rangers in and Trini goes to stand by Boy Who Can't Act while Billy and Kim go after the putties. I'm a little confused as to the logic here. I mean, I know Trini is mostly Informed Ability, and she's only shown as being awesome in her (very very few) focus episodes, but I certainly doubt a novice and a girl with no martial arts training would be more skilled fighters than somebody who takes specialized martial arts classes with her own personal trainer.
Anyway, they get their rear-ends kicked by the Soccadillo (okay, so I know everywhere else lists it with only one c, but since it's a word smush and soccer has two c's, I'm going with that). They teleport to the Command Center and we're left wondering what they did with the kid. We can only assume they gave him some fish and went about their merry way.
They morph and go fight in the Inexplicable Abandoned Rock Quarry again. They blast and blast and apparently forget it's an ARMOURED mammal, so the firepower really isn't going to work against it. Meanwhile Tommy is trying to get his communicator back from Ms. Applebee and is surprised to discover it did not, in fact, magically fix itself while locked in her desk drawer all day. Zordon teleports him into the fight and they call Zords. Yada yada yada, Power Sword Saves Them All, explosion, the end.
Back at the Youth Center we discover every kid made it onto the soccer team because Ernie couldn't bear to let anybody down and made a second team. Bulk and Skull tell Boy Who Can't Act that he really didn't have to practice after all and he says he did, but frankly, they're kind of right. He would have made the team regardless of his actual skill level because EVERYBODY made the team no matter what. But Skull decides to show off, has something sticky on his hand, gets the soccer ball stuck, knock both Bulk and himself over, and then get covered in milkshake.
And I'm just glad it's over.
4.5 fish. It made little sense and was just BORING.
Billy speak: "Looks like a member of the dasypodidae family. [beat] An armoured mammal."
Covered in food: Bulk and Skull in milkshake.
Times I had to go back and edit out where I accidentally typed football instead of soccer and didn't catch it until the end: twice
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Episode 15- Peace, Love, and Woe
I'd like to start this recap off by saying a high fish episode CAN be an awesome episode. It's just a ridiculous episode. Our first five fish episode is both.
We start with some teens decorating the Youth Center for an upcoming dance. Other teens, mainly the Rangers, continue with normal Youth Center activities anyway. Jason is instructing Trini in some martial arts move, Kim is doing gymnastics, and Bulk is skateboarding. In the Youth Center. I wasn't sure that would be allowed, but apparently Ernie has no rules for his business establishment. Trini doesn't pay attention, kicks Bulk, and he goes straight for Ernie who is carrying a cake. Ernie really ought to know better than to carry a cake around the Youth Center by now. Just as every time before, Bulk runs into him and they get covered in cake. Surprise surprise surprise. Or not.
Rita orders Squat and Baboo to get back to work but we're not entirely sure what they do for her other than praise her. Finster agrees to make her Madame Woe and we cheer. Madame Woe is awesome!
Meanwhile, back at the Youth Center, the Rangers are razzing Billy about his lack of date to the dance. Zack tells Billy he'll teach him some dance moves to impress the ladies and Billy replies with Billy speak. He's not interested in using dance moves to attract women. He has his massive and beautiful brain for that. Trini knows that's what real women find attractive and says as much. "Billy doesn't want to dance JUST to attract girls." She really stresses that JUST. Billy then runs into a girl, quite literally. She is absolutely adorable and they both use the same sophisticated manner of speech. Aw. The other Rangers look on approvingly. They are so invested in his love life, it's almost unnerving! Billy and Adorable Smart Girl see her dropped Necklace of Extreme Significance and bump heads attempting to get it. Aw, cliche romantic interest move! We discover she was also a graduate of the Accelerated Baby Genius program and the adorable factor just went up by about ten points. She asks Billy to the dance and it's so freaking cute I can hardly stand it.
I should mention that a lot of dirty innuendos get thrown around:
Billy: "I'm not really interested in engaging feminine attentions through bodily gyrations"
Adorable Smart Girl: "I'm afraid neither one of us was monitoring our designated entrance or exit"
Plans to "discuss the weather"
And Zack is hanging ALL OVER Jason. No, really, he is. He's resting his hand on Jason's shoulder and is DRAPED across his back. I think this is the most action any Ranger has ever gotten, including Tommy. They were like this the entire 2 minute scene!
Rita calls Madame Woe to her and tells her one Ranger will be in the park that afternoon and should be taken, that the rest will follow. She totally PWNS Zordon on monitoring the Rangers. She knows about their dates and Zordon can't even be bothered to figure out if they're under a spell before 24 hours has passed! Madame Woe goes to said park and, instead of finding Billy, finds Adorable Smart Girl. Her Necklace of Extreme Significance falls to the ground as she is captured. Shortly thereafter, Billy shows up with flowers. Aw, he brought her flowers! He is distraught to discover no Marge (she finally has a name! And we found out before the episode ended too!). He is attacked by putties, however, and calls the other Rangers over. Apparently four putties can hold off five Rangers for a few minutes, or long enough for Billy to discover the Necklace of Extreme Significance on the ground. He's about to explain when Zordon calls them to the Command Center. He was unusually timely this episode and I must applaud him for his first ever lack of fail. I love Zordon but wow does he fail at monitoring them most of the time.
Billy is sad, they attempt to cheer him up, and then discover that they can combine their Power Coins to focus all the power into one Ranger. It has never been mentioned before and never mentioned since, so we like to call this Captain Plot Device. They go and fight and are almost immediately sucked into a Madame Woe's alternate dimension. Wait. What? We call FISH and move on. Billy is all "Oh look it's my girlfriend!" and she's all "Oh look it's the Power Rangers and I totally don't recognize your voice Billy the Blue Ranger."
Somehow Madame Woe can control the elements as well. We're scratching our heads but call fish and move on yet again. Twice in under a minute. That doesn't bode well for this episode. Billy determines they need to get back to their own dimension and they... combine their powers into one ("Morph to the power of one!" reminds us very much of "By your powers combined, I am Captain Planet!") and give it all to Billy. He... breaks free of the alternate dimension. We're not sure how, he just did. He somehow manages to YELL across to the alternate dimension and THEY HEAR HIM. Um... what the what what? Fish again, and moving on.
Billy grabs Madame Woe by the neck and pulls the Big Blue Crystal off her forehead. He CRUSHES it in his hand as if were made of fine powder and suddenly the alternate dimension fades and the Rangers and Marge are brought back to their own dimension. What? He can crush crystals in his hand? It brought them back? What? We yell FISH FISH FISH a lot and beg for the fight to be over already. The Rangers all fight, yet their power is still all in Billy, so we're not sure how. We just want it end, preferably sooner rather than later.
Thankfully it is over and we're brought to the Youth Center for the dance. The Rangers are decked out in atrocious outfits consisting entirely of their individual Ranger colours. Because that's not conspicuous or anything. Marge tells Billy all about the wonderful, heroic Blue Ranger and Billy is looking very boastful for somebody who's Ranger identity is supposed to be a secret. Billy gets the first heterosexual kiss of the show here (Jason and Zack having gotten the first kiss overall in Episode 13.)
We are then treated to horrible comic relief in the form of Bulk grossing us out by paying Ernie (for the cake he destroyed earlier) with money from his overly smelly feet. Ernie passes out into the new cake and, when revived by the Ranger teens, takes the smelly money and goes dancing. On the plus side, it's one of the few times we ever see anybody pay for anything in this show.
And that's the end of that.
Lists:
This is a solid FIVE fish episode. First ever. The morphed scenes are just too ridiculous to even consider going lower.
Billy Speak: "I'm not really interested in engaging feminine attentions through bodily gyrations"
Trini Translation: "Billy doesn't want to dance JUST to attract girls."
Billy Speak: "My priority is to complete my experimental weather analyzing device in my laboratory."
Marge Speak: "I'm afraid neither one of us was monitoring our designated entrance or exit."
Billy Speak: "It's Marge. She never reached the primary destination point we assented to."
Trini Translation: "Marge never showed up here as planned."
Billy Speak: "With alacrity."
Trini Translation: "He means we've got to move fast."
Covered in food: Bulk in cake once at the beginning, and Ernie in cake once at the end.
We start with some teens decorating the Youth Center for an upcoming dance. Other teens, mainly the Rangers, continue with normal Youth Center activities anyway. Jason is instructing Trini in some martial arts move, Kim is doing gymnastics, and Bulk is skateboarding. In the Youth Center. I wasn't sure that would be allowed, but apparently Ernie has no rules for his business establishment. Trini doesn't pay attention, kicks Bulk, and he goes straight for Ernie who is carrying a cake. Ernie really ought to know better than to carry a cake around the Youth Center by now. Just as every time before, Bulk runs into him and they get covered in cake. Surprise surprise surprise. Or not.
Rita orders Squat and Baboo to get back to work but we're not entirely sure what they do for her other than praise her. Finster agrees to make her Madame Woe and we cheer. Madame Woe is awesome!
Meanwhile, back at the Youth Center, the Rangers are razzing Billy about his lack of date to the dance. Zack tells Billy he'll teach him some dance moves to impress the ladies and Billy replies with Billy speak. He's not interested in using dance moves to attract women. He has his massive and beautiful brain for that. Trini knows that's what real women find attractive and says as much. "Billy doesn't want to dance JUST to attract girls." She really stresses that JUST. Billy then runs into a girl, quite literally. She is absolutely adorable and they both use the same sophisticated manner of speech. Aw. The other Rangers look on approvingly. They are so invested in his love life, it's almost unnerving! Billy and Adorable Smart Girl see her dropped Necklace of Extreme Significance and bump heads attempting to get it. Aw, cliche romantic interest move! We discover she was also a graduate of the Accelerated Baby Genius program and the adorable factor just went up by about ten points. She asks Billy to the dance and it's so freaking cute I can hardly stand it.
I should mention that a lot of dirty innuendos get thrown around:
Billy: "I'm not really interested in engaging feminine attentions through bodily gyrations"
Adorable Smart Girl: "I'm afraid neither one of us was monitoring our designated entrance or exit"
Plans to "discuss the weather"
And Zack is hanging ALL OVER Jason. No, really, he is. He's resting his hand on Jason's shoulder and is DRAPED across his back. I think this is the most action any Ranger has ever gotten, including Tommy. They were like this the entire 2 minute scene!
Rita calls Madame Woe to her and tells her one Ranger will be in the park that afternoon and should be taken, that the rest will follow. She totally PWNS Zordon on monitoring the Rangers. She knows about their dates and Zordon can't even be bothered to figure out if they're under a spell before 24 hours has passed! Madame Woe goes to said park and, instead of finding Billy, finds Adorable Smart Girl. Her Necklace of Extreme Significance falls to the ground as she is captured. Shortly thereafter, Billy shows up with flowers. Aw, he brought her flowers! He is distraught to discover no Marge (she finally has a name! And we found out before the episode ended too!). He is attacked by putties, however, and calls the other Rangers over. Apparently four putties can hold off five Rangers for a few minutes, or long enough for Billy to discover the Necklace of Extreme Significance on the ground. He's about to explain when Zordon calls them to the Command Center. He was unusually timely this episode and I must applaud him for his first ever lack of fail. I love Zordon but wow does he fail at monitoring them most of the time.
Billy is sad, they attempt to cheer him up, and then discover that they can combine their Power Coins to focus all the power into one Ranger. It has never been mentioned before and never mentioned since, so we like to call this Captain Plot Device. They go and fight and are almost immediately sucked into a Madame Woe's alternate dimension. Wait. What? We call FISH and move on. Billy is all "Oh look it's my girlfriend!" and she's all "Oh look it's the Power Rangers and I totally don't recognize your voice Billy the Blue Ranger."
Somehow Madame Woe can control the elements as well. We're scratching our heads but call fish and move on yet again. Twice in under a minute. That doesn't bode well for this episode. Billy determines they need to get back to their own dimension and they... combine their powers into one ("Morph to the power of one!" reminds us very much of "By your powers combined, I am Captain Planet!") and give it all to Billy. He... breaks free of the alternate dimension. We're not sure how, he just did. He somehow manages to YELL across to the alternate dimension and THEY HEAR HIM. Um... what the what what? Fish again, and moving on.
Billy grabs Madame Woe by the neck and pulls the Big Blue Crystal off her forehead. He CRUSHES it in his hand as if were made of fine powder and suddenly the alternate dimension fades and the Rangers and Marge are brought back to their own dimension. What? He can crush crystals in his hand? It brought them back? What? We yell FISH FISH FISH a lot and beg for the fight to be over already. The Rangers all fight, yet their power is still all in Billy, so we're not sure how. We just want it end, preferably sooner rather than later.
Thankfully it is over and we're brought to the Youth Center for the dance. The Rangers are decked out in atrocious outfits consisting entirely of their individual Ranger colours. Because that's not conspicuous or anything. Marge tells Billy all about the wonderful, heroic Blue Ranger and Billy is looking very boastful for somebody who's Ranger identity is supposed to be a secret. Billy gets the first heterosexual kiss of the show here (Jason and Zack having gotten the first kiss overall in Episode 13.)
We are then treated to horrible comic relief in the form of Bulk grossing us out by paying Ernie (for the cake he destroyed earlier) with money from his overly smelly feet. Ernie passes out into the new cake and, when revived by the Ranger teens, takes the smelly money and goes dancing. On the plus side, it's one of the few times we ever see anybody pay for anything in this show.
And that's the end of that.
Lists:
This is a solid FIVE fish episode. First ever. The morphed scenes are just too ridiculous to even consider going lower.
Billy Speak: "I'm not really interested in engaging feminine attentions through bodily gyrations"
Trini Translation: "Billy doesn't want to dance JUST to attract girls."
Billy Speak: "My priority is to complete my experimental weather analyzing device in my laboratory."
Marge Speak: "I'm afraid neither one of us was monitoring our designated entrance or exit."
Billy Speak: "It's Marge. She never reached the primary destination point we assented to."
Trini Translation: "Marge never showed up here as planned."
Billy Speak: "With alacrity."
Trini Translation: "He means we've got to move fast."
Covered in food: Bulk in cake once at the beginning, and Ernie in cake once at the end.
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Episode 13- No Clowning Around
We start out this episode really happy because it's a Trini-centric episode, but the happiness is short lived. This is the creepiest, weirdest episode I think I've watched thus far. I spent most of it unsure what was going on, actually.
It opens at some kind of carnival or fair. It looks like it might be fun with a ferris wheel and carousel (I love carousels), but there are clowns. And clowns are creepy. If you didn't think they were creepy before, you will after this episode.
Zack is walking around on some rockin' stilts and we're impressed. He's awesome! Billy throws out some typical Billy-speak and then Zack shows off by dancing. He's not half bad either... until he falls over. He is caught by Jason in what is probably the most romantic pose ever to happen in the entirety of Power Rangers. Seriously, Zack literally falls into Jason's arms, is encompassed by him, and lowered safely to the ground in Jason's warm embrace. Zack sing-songs "My big strong hero" and then kisses Jason on the cheek. I'm not even kidding, it's actually there on screen. Zack and Jason, in this scene, get more action and romance in this one scene than anybody in Power Rangers does until Tommy shows up. Zack/Jason is totally canon, and probably the only thing in Power Rangers I didn't ship until... um... well, now. But now I do and we wants fic!
Moving on we see Trini running to catch up to the gang with her Random Relative of the week, Cousin Sylvia. We meet the creepy clown who's name is Pineapple and we struggle to not make Pennywise references. Yeah, it didn't work. Pineapple the Clown offers to teach children juggling, but Billy kind of takes over and jumps at the chance. He sucks at it though so his eggs (why they're juggling with raw eggs I don't even know) end up flying through the air and landing on Bulk and Skull in what proves to be their only appearance all episode. Sylvia wants to stay and juggle with leering Pineapple the Clown, but Trini reminds her they need to stick together and drags her off to attempt a human pyramid. It fails and Sylvia, apparently unimpressed, runs off to see Creepy the Clown again. She looks to be about 10 years old. She really ought to know better by that point.
Trini ends up in a minor state of panic until she finds Random Relative Sylvia with Creepy the Clown. Trini tries to pull her away, but Pineapple gets grabby with the little girls and won't let go of Sylvia. He turns her into a cardboard cutout and then runs away. Yeah... I don't even know what's going on at this point.
It ought to be noted that while Trini ran off to find her wayward cousin, the rest of the Rangers just up and went on a park ride. They didn't help look for the missing kid. Trini catches up to them, their fun time now over, and shows them Cardboard Cutout Sylvia. She is sent to Billy's garage to use one of his devices to turn her back into a human and we just have to stop and love the fact that Billy has a machine to turn cardboard into people. In his garage. Because he's Billy. I could smush him.
Jason grabs a megaphone and starts calling out for the evacuation of the carnival. Instead of questioning a random teenager telling them to run, the residents of Angel Grove just run away. Either they know he's a Ranger (probably) or they're very well trained to hide at the slightest inkling of a monster attack. Billy ought to have gone to help Trini, but instead ends up leaving the others to deal with putties while he chases after Pineapple on his own. We think he might have a clown fetish. We marvel at the ingenuity of the Rangers using their environment to help beat the putties. They did an awesome job of improvising with the carnival rides.
Meanwhile, Alpha is in Billy's garage helping Trini reanimate Sylvia. He discovers all the water has been removed from her body, thus turning her into cardboard. Um... wha??? Again, I don't even know. We were yelling FISH by 10 minutes into this episode. That's never a good sign. He dumps some buckets of water on the cardboard, she comes back to the life, Alpha runs and hides, and Trini apologizes for what I don't know.
Trini runs to assist in the fight, they summon the Zords, and then Billy throws his Triceratops horns at the overgrown clown that now resembles some kind of deformed plant. He calls himself the Pinoctopus. He neither resembles a pineapple nor an octopus, so I'm just left scratching my head.
Zack uses his Zord to freeze the Pinoctopus and we see a nice background shot of a glacier. Which is amusing since the Mastodon Zord was standing next to the other Zords on... grassy flatland. Mmkay. Angel Grove geography is just weird. That not being sufficient, they form the MegaZord and Billy suggests something akin to lasers. That's good, but not good enough apparently, as Jason so harshly points out, and so they do... something? and defeat the Pinoctopus. It looked like somebody pulled a wire out of the ground and made dirt fly up and then he exploded, but we're not entirely sure what it was supposed to be. Again, no clue what's really going on, so fish fish fish.
The day is saved, Random Relative Sylvia thanks Trini for teaching her not to run off (seriously? she's ten and nobody taught her this before?), and then Billy is adorable on not-stilts. Credits roll. The end.
I'm still scratching my head and not sure what I just watched.
List time!
Covered in food: Bulk and Skull covered in raw egg
Billy!speak (and lots of it!):
"Remember to keep your center of gravity correctly proportioned."
"I estimate we'll lose structural integrity in about 8.3 seconds."
"We're in imminent danger of collapse!"
"She's been subatomically transduced into a two dimensional space."
"The quasitronic molecular generator in my garage could be the answer."
"Bipedally ambulate to the nearest convenient outlet."
"According to my calculations a multi-phased energy blast should overload him and bring on his destruction."
Overall we give this episode 4 fish due to the sheer rediculousness of the water turning a cardboard person back into a person, Billy's clown fetish, the weird battle, creepy grabby clowns, and the overall wtf-ery of the entire episode.
It opens at some kind of carnival or fair. It looks like it might be fun with a ferris wheel and carousel (I love carousels), but there are clowns. And clowns are creepy. If you didn't think they were creepy before, you will after this episode.
Zack is walking around on some rockin' stilts and we're impressed. He's awesome! Billy throws out some typical Billy-speak and then Zack shows off by dancing. He's not half bad either... until he falls over. He is caught by Jason in what is probably the most romantic pose ever to happen in the entirety of Power Rangers. Seriously, Zack literally falls into Jason's arms, is encompassed by him, and lowered safely to the ground in Jason's warm embrace. Zack sing-songs "My big strong hero" and then kisses Jason on the cheek. I'm not even kidding, it's actually there on screen. Zack and Jason, in this scene, get more action and romance in this one scene than anybody in Power Rangers does until Tommy shows up. Zack/Jason is totally canon, and probably the only thing in Power Rangers I didn't ship until... um... well, now. But now I do and we wants fic!
Moving on we see Trini running to catch up to the gang with her Random Relative of the week, Cousin Sylvia. We meet the creepy clown who's name is Pineapple and we struggle to not make Pennywise references. Yeah, it didn't work. Pineapple the Clown offers to teach children juggling, but Billy kind of takes over and jumps at the chance. He sucks at it though so his eggs (why they're juggling with raw eggs I don't even know) end up flying through the air and landing on Bulk and Skull in what proves to be their only appearance all episode. Sylvia wants to stay and juggle with leering Pineapple the Clown, but Trini reminds her they need to stick together and drags her off to attempt a human pyramid. It fails and Sylvia, apparently unimpressed, runs off to see Creepy the Clown again. She looks to be about 10 years old. She really ought to know better by that point.
Trini ends up in a minor state of panic until she finds Random Relative Sylvia with Creepy the Clown. Trini tries to pull her away, but Pineapple gets grabby with the little girls and won't let go of Sylvia. He turns her into a cardboard cutout and then runs away. Yeah... I don't even know what's going on at this point.
It ought to be noted that while Trini ran off to find her wayward cousin, the rest of the Rangers just up and went on a park ride. They didn't help look for the missing kid. Trini catches up to them, their fun time now over, and shows them Cardboard Cutout Sylvia. She is sent to Billy's garage to use one of his devices to turn her back into a human and we just have to stop and love the fact that Billy has a machine to turn cardboard into people. In his garage. Because he's Billy. I could smush him.
Jason grabs a megaphone and starts calling out for the evacuation of the carnival. Instead of questioning a random teenager telling them to run, the residents of Angel Grove just run away. Either they know he's a Ranger (probably) or they're very well trained to hide at the slightest inkling of a monster attack. Billy ought to have gone to help Trini, but instead ends up leaving the others to deal with putties while he chases after Pineapple on his own. We think he might have a clown fetish. We marvel at the ingenuity of the Rangers using their environment to help beat the putties. They did an awesome job of improvising with the carnival rides.
Meanwhile, Alpha is in Billy's garage helping Trini reanimate Sylvia. He discovers all the water has been removed from her body, thus turning her into cardboard. Um... wha??? Again, I don't even know. We were yelling FISH by 10 minutes into this episode. That's never a good sign. He dumps some buckets of water on the cardboard, she comes back to the life, Alpha runs and hides, and Trini apologizes for what I don't know.
Trini runs to assist in the fight, they summon the Zords, and then Billy throws his Triceratops horns at the overgrown clown that now resembles some kind of deformed plant. He calls himself the Pinoctopus. He neither resembles a pineapple nor an octopus, so I'm just left scratching my head.
Zack uses his Zord to freeze the Pinoctopus and we see a nice background shot of a glacier. Which is amusing since the Mastodon Zord was standing next to the other Zords on... grassy flatland. Mmkay. Angel Grove geography is just weird. That not being sufficient, they form the MegaZord and Billy suggests something akin to lasers. That's good, but not good enough apparently, as Jason so harshly points out, and so they do... something? and defeat the Pinoctopus. It looked like somebody pulled a wire out of the ground and made dirt fly up and then he exploded, but we're not entirely sure what it was supposed to be. Again, no clue what's really going on, so fish fish fish.
The day is saved, Random Relative Sylvia thanks Trini for teaching her not to run off (seriously? she's ten and nobody taught her this before?), and then Billy is adorable on not-stilts. Credits roll. The end.
I'm still scratching my head and not sure what I just watched.
List time!
Covered in food: Bulk and Skull covered in raw egg
Billy!speak (and lots of it!):
"Remember to keep your center of gravity correctly proportioned."
"I estimate we'll lose structural integrity in about 8.3 seconds."
"We're in imminent danger of collapse!"
"She's been subatomically transduced into a two dimensional space."
"The quasitronic molecular generator in my garage could be the answer."
"Bipedally ambulate to the nearest convenient outlet."
"According to my calculations a multi-phased energy blast should overload him and bring on his destruction."
Overall we give this episode 4 fish due to the sheer rediculousness of the water turning a cardboard person back into a person, Billy's clown fetish, the weird battle, creepy grabby clowns, and the overall wtf-ery of the entire episode.
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Episode 10 - Foul Play in the Sky
Honestly, until we started watching this episode, all I remembered was that this was the airplane episode. I thought it was going to be more like the Sweet Valley High book Crash Landing, which had not as wacky hijinks about someone losing control of a plane. (Although, that book would work really well as a Kimberly and Tommy story. I'm just saying.)
Anyway. Like all stories for tv where someone goes up in a tiny plane, the plot of this episode revolves around Kimberly having to fly a plane when the pilot passes out. In this case the pilot is her uncle Steve, who is actually fairly cute, and the reason he's passed out is because he's been given what we can only assume is liquid green iocane powder. We assume this because even though a giant vial of green liquid was poured into Steve's drink, he still drank the whole thing. Therefore it had to be odorless and tasteless. Coming along on the trip are Bulk and Skull, who are actually pretty awesome in this episode. The only reason they come along is... to yell a lot? Insert random commentary? Prove that her uncle is totally oblivious? (Okay, they are probably actually there to just make sure that Kimberly can't just teleport out.)
While flying, but before Uncle Steve passes out, we are introduced to Angel Grove's geography. First, let me make one thing clear - Angel Grove is not a city. Angel Grove is a suburb. That is not a city by any standard, and I'm not just saying that because I'm from New York. But seriously, they show a giant park and rows of houses and the youth center. Of course, it isn't like Angel Grove's geography has ever made any sense, considering that it is located by a rain forest, an ocean, a desert and a glacier. But we also get treated to a flashback of the series premiere when they fly over the mountains near the Command Center. (Zordon apparently stole a Romulan or Klingon Cloaking Device, and that's how nobody notices the Command Center. Or so we've decided.)
Uncle Steve finally succumbs to the green iocane drink, and he passes out. Bulk and Skull both faint as well, but it is pretty clear that Skull has only pretended to pass out because he still does whatever Bulk wants him to, so we can only assume that he hears what happens next. Instead of calling Air Traffic Control, Kimberly calls Zordon. Alpha talks her through landing the plane, which... well, mythbusters says it might be possible, but since Alpha didn't have a flight controller's view, we doubt it.
Moving back over to the rest of the Rangers, we get a very important character introduction this episode! Angela, aka the girl who keeps turning Zack down, because she is way too awesome for his bullshit. She is wearing a totally ridiculous outfit, but she's working two hula hoops at a time, which makes her way more awesome than anyone. (Zack's outfit is also ridiculous. Bulk and Skull have awesome boots, and Kimberly looks fabulous. Seriously, whoever picked out her outfit in this episode did a great job. She looks adorable.)
While Kimberly is attempting to not crash the plane, Rita sends down her most ridiculous monster yet - the Snizzard. Half snake, half lizard. Look, we don't make this stuff up, we just report it. For some reason, the monster is blue. Because apparently that's the color you think of when you think of snakes, clearly. The rangers are having lots of trouble beating the Snizzard (which sounds like a bad Harry Potter pairing name for Snape/Wizard) until Kimberly finally lands the plane. She runs away from the plane without offering any explanation, even though there are police and ambulances on their way. Nobody tries to chase or follow her or even get a statement or anything.
Kimberly morphs to join the battle, and then she then beats the monster all by herself, making the moral of this episode that Kimberly is amazing, and that girls kick a lot of ass. This is a moral that we both approve of. Kimberly is also the first Ranger to defeat a monster by herself, unless you count the Jason's Zord beating Bones way back in episode 2. (We don't. For the record.)
The episode ends with Kimberly flirting with a guy who is not Tommy (we approve of him too!) and bragging about how she landed the plane. Zack says to Jason, "'tell me more you big strong hunk of a man, you!" and then I demand that the entire internet (or at least QueenRiley) should write Jason/Zack fic. Okay, Zack was trying to mock Kimberly, but that actually makes no sense, because she was the one telling the story. And then Bulk and Skull get covered with food, ruining what could have been a decent ending to the episode.
Fish: We actually had a running commentary during the episode about how many fish this episode should get. At one point it was as low as 2, at another it was as high as 4. We ended up going for a middle ground of 3 fish, because Kimberly and Angela are awesome. Also, considering everything, this episode still isn't as ridiculous as Big Sister or Teamwork. I mean, the whole having to land a plane thing has a tv tropes entry and everything!
Billy speak: None! He's barely even in this episode! I can't even remember if he talks.
Covered in food: Bulk and Skull. Of course.
Oh my God, we are so old moment: Kimberly uses a pay phone to call Trini. Life before cell phones. WHAT.
Question: Okay, so Bulk and Skull were only in this episode to prevent Kimberly from just teleporting out. But since they were both unconscious, why didn't Kimberly teleport them all out anyway?
Extra bonus question: Where in California do you think Angel Grove is located? Make sure your answer is close to a volcano/mountain range, a rain forest, a desert, the beach, and a glacier!
Anyway. Like all stories for tv where someone goes up in a tiny plane, the plot of this episode revolves around Kimberly having to fly a plane when the pilot passes out. In this case the pilot is her uncle Steve, who is actually fairly cute, and the reason he's passed out is because he's been given what we can only assume is liquid green iocane powder. We assume this because even though a giant vial of green liquid was poured into Steve's drink, he still drank the whole thing. Therefore it had to be odorless and tasteless. Coming along on the trip are Bulk and Skull, who are actually pretty awesome in this episode. The only reason they come along is... to yell a lot? Insert random commentary? Prove that her uncle is totally oblivious? (Okay, they are probably actually there to just make sure that Kimberly can't just teleport out.)
While flying, but before Uncle Steve passes out, we are introduced to Angel Grove's geography. First, let me make one thing clear - Angel Grove is not a city. Angel Grove is a suburb. That is not a city by any standard, and I'm not just saying that because I'm from New York. But seriously, they show a giant park and rows of houses and the youth center. Of course, it isn't like Angel Grove's geography has ever made any sense, considering that it is located by a rain forest, an ocean, a desert and a glacier. But we also get treated to a flashback of the series premiere when they fly over the mountains near the Command Center. (Zordon apparently stole a Romulan or Klingon Cloaking Device, and that's how nobody notices the Command Center. Or so we've decided.)
Uncle Steve finally succumbs to the green iocane drink, and he passes out. Bulk and Skull both faint as well, but it is pretty clear that Skull has only pretended to pass out because he still does whatever Bulk wants him to, so we can only assume that he hears what happens next. Instead of calling Air Traffic Control, Kimberly calls Zordon. Alpha talks her through landing the plane, which... well, mythbusters says it might be possible, but since Alpha didn't have a flight controller's view, we doubt it.
Moving back over to the rest of the Rangers, we get a very important character introduction this episode! Angela, aka the girl who keeps turning Zack down, because she is way too awesome for his bullshit. She is wearing a totally ridiculous outfit, but she's working two hula hoops at a time, which makes her way more awesome than anyone. (Zack's outfit is also ridiculous. Bulk and Skull have awesome boots, and Kimberly looks fabulous. Seriously, whoever picked out her outfit in this episode did a great job. She looks adorable.)
While Kimberly is attempting to not crash the plane, Rita sends down her most ridiculous monster yet - the Snizzard. Half snake, half lizard. Look, we don't make this stuff up, we just report it. For some reason, the monster is blue. Because apparently that's the color you think of when you think of snakes, clearly. The rangers are having lots of trouble beating the Snizzard (which sounds like a bad Harry Potter pairing name for Snape/Wizard) until Kimberly finally lands the plane. She runs away from the plane without offering any explanation, even though there are police and ambulances on their way. Nobody tries to chase or follow her or even get a statement or anything.
Kimberly morphs to join the battle, and then she then beats the monster all by herself, making the moral of this episode that Kimberly is amazing, and that girls kick a lot of ass. This is a moral that we both approve of. Kimberly is also the first Ranger to defeat a monster by herself, unless you count the Jason's Zord beating Bones way back in episode 2. (We don't. For the record.)
The episode ends with Kimberly flirting with a guy who is not Tommy (we approve of him too!) and bragging about how she landed the plane. Zack says to Jason, "'tell me more you big strong hunk of a man, you!" and then I demand that the entire internet (or at least QueenRiley) should write Jason/Zack fic. Okay, Zack was trying to mock Kimberly, but that actually makes no sense, because she was the one telling the story. And then Bulk and Skull get covered with food, ruining what could have been a decent ending to the episode.
Fish: We actually had a running commentary during the episode about how many fish this episode should get. At one point it was as low as 2, at another it was as high as 4. We ended up going for a middle ground of 3 fish, because Kimberly and Angela are awesome. Also, considering everything, this episode still isn't as ridiculous as Big Sister or Teamwork. I mean, the whole having to land a plane thing has a tv tropes entry and everything!
Billy speak: None! He's barely even in this episode! I can't even remember if he talks.
Covered in food: Bulk and Skull. Of course.
Oh my God, we are so old moment: Kimberly uses a pay phone to call Trini. Life before cell phones. WHAT.
Question: Okay, so Bulk and Skull were only in this episode to prevent Kimberly from just teleporting out. But since they were both unconscious, why didn't Kimberly teleport them all out anyway?
Extra bonus question: Where in California do you think Angel Grove is located? Make sure your answer is close to a volcano/mountain range, a rain forest, a desert, the beach, and a glacier!
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