Episode 279 - Dark Spectre's Revenge Part 1

Welcome back, dear readers! We've missed you and this blog!

Today on Power Rangers, Astronema is being a Good Girl and Andros is showing her around the ship. Andros shows her the replicator synthetron. He pulls out a plate of the weirdest combination of food and she is totally not hungry.

Which is good because she gets called to the bridge (they call her Karone!), and the others are all standing there looking stern, then they pull a Scrooge and make her an honorary Power Ranger. DAW!

Meanwhile, Ecliptor is having a Terrible Horribly No Good Very Bad Day, what with being assaulted and strapped down to a torture bench (bondage pron!). Darkonda is freaking TERRIFYING. I would not want to be kidnapped by that guy. He reports to Dark Spectre and is totally ready to go get Astronema back from the rangers.

Back on the MegaShip, Karone has rid herself of the awesome coloured hair and is now just regular, blonde, shy Karone in her Ranger jumpsuit. She's cute, but I miss the hair.

And we're back on Earth with Bulk and Skull! They're roasting marshmallows! I LOVE THEM SO! The Professor is stargazing and sees an asteroid and Bulk and Skull assume excitement. Except this is a huge asteroid and it's going to destroy the entire Earth. I think I've seen this movie a few times.

The MegaShip ends up on a collision course with the asteroid. Everyone lurches to the right on cue. Dark Spectre is totally driving that asteroid and demands Astronema be returned. Andros says the first intelligent thing in a long time and says Karone doesn't belong to anybody. DAMN STRAIGHT! They decide to go blow up the super big asteroid. Tiny lasers don't do much damage to it (OMG ACTUAL SCIENCE IN THIS SHOW?!?!?!?! BE STILL MY BEATING HEART!). Darn, where's Bruce Willis (I'd be happy with Morgan Freeman as President as well) when you need him?

TJ is given the explosives to destroy the asteroid while Andros holds back the Quantrons. In this Mega Asteroid Movie, however, nobody is going to die. Because it's Power Rangers Meet the Mega Asteroid. Which is awesome.

And we get MORE actual science, because the explosives do jack shit! The asteroid is still heading to Earth and it's barely damaged and it's HUGE. The rangers scramble to find a solution, when Karone is SUPER AWESOME and finds the only answer. She has to go back to Dark Spectre. It's the only way to stop the asteroid. And she's totally willing to do it because SHE IS THE BEST EVER.

Meanwhile, Bulk and Skull attempt to sneak into Nasada with the Professor. They need to go tell them about the GIANT FREAKING ASTEROID headed for Earth. Because apparently the super powerful telescopes didn't pick it up, but the amateur telescope did. Whatever, it's a Mega Asteroid movie, so I don't care how implausible that is. But they are warning people! Because they are awesome! And want to help! Good job, guys.

Karone has made it back to Darkonda's ship and is ready to destroy the asteroid. Except she's confronted by Ecliptor who has been altered. He's not totally evil and is going to hurt her! But he can't! He's her fake!Daddy! Oh Ecliptor, honey. He overpowers her and she loses communication with the rangers. All the cries.

Andros doesn't even time to mourn because Nasada is asking for help dealing with the asteroid. They've already tried that, dude! But they're going to try again. Because they're Power Rangers.

Nasada makes a statement to "Angel Grove and the world", further proving Angel Grove is it's own country. He brings up the asteroid crash of 65 million years ago (OMG MORE SCIENCE FOR THE WIN! I DON'T THINK I CAN HANDLE THE ACCURACY THIS SHOW IS GIVING ME NOW) and how we're looking at more world wide destruction on that scale. The Professor tells everybody to panic, which is horrible advice. Stand up and take your impending demise in stride, people. It will be so much better for you all.

Except the rangers on the case and they use EVEN MORE GOOD SCIENCE by using the MegaZords to push it off course, because THAT is the real life only solution to averting destruction by an asteroid! It doesn't even take much! OH MY GOD THIS SHOW! COULD IT BE ANY BETTER? I DON'T THINK SO! *anime hearts for eyes*

Bulk and Skull and the Professor are going to use a Nasada space ship to go into space. It's... not the best idea? But it's all they have. At least they're trying. So they manage to launch the space ship without any help at all. They hurtle towards the asteroid. The MegaZords are pushing the asteroid at full power. Will they make it?

To be continued...

1 fish. OMG ONE FISH. The actual science in this episode outweighs ANYTHING ELSE that could be wrong with it.

episode 248 - Parts and Parcel

FINALLY WATCHING ON NETFLIX.

So Bulk and Skull have jobs as delivery guys. TJ is really proud of them for always working, even though Cassie points out that it's never the same job twice. They deliver a blender to Lt. Stone, but when they open the box it's open. They're freaking out, because the daytime thief keeps stealing from the packages they're supposed to deliver, and their boss has threatened to have them arrested for stealing if they don't figure out where the stuff is.

TJ is all "Yeah, Bulk and Skull are NOT THIEVES" and volunteers to help them. BECAUSE HE IS THE BEST.

It's like this episode is apologizing for the last one.

So TJ, Bulk and Skull put on a lot of black clothing and go hide in a warehouse to stake it out. Bulk and Skull say they're hungry, so TJ leaves to go find some food.

Divatox is yelling at Porto about some remote control that will allow them to attack with all the toys.

TJ is about to head back to Bulk and Skull when he gets word of an attack. Bulk and Skull hear something but they panic and hide, missing the daytime thief.

Carlos, Ashley and TJ (and everyone is really hot in this episode, holy crap) fight some Pirahnatrons unmorphed, but the mooks make off with a phone. TJ arrives back at the warehouse to find it completely trashed, and Bulk and Skull panicking. TJ is really frustrated with them for not seeing the thieves, but he's also really sympathetic and frustrated.

Ashley and Cassie dress Skull up in drag and do his makeup, while TJ has now recruited all the other Rangers to help. HE IS THE BEST. This is not a bad plan, really. Skull calls Bulk cutie! SHIPS THEM SHIPS THEM SHIPS THEM.

TJ is really good at plans and strategy.

And then we find out who the thieves are. Pirahnatrons. What does Divatox want with the stuff? What? Poor Skull is terrified, but Bulk runs to his rescue. THEY ARE THE BEST. TJ goes off with Bulk and Skull while the other Rangers handle the Pirahnatrons.

I LOVE THIS EPISODE. The Rangers are NOT BULLIES. THEY ARE GOOD PEOPLE AND GOOD FRIENDS. And also, ALL THE UNMORPHED FIGHTING.

Bulk and Skull are freaking out because their boss is not going to believe them, so they're going to jail. UM BOYS, YOU LIVE IN ANGEL GROVE. TJ tells them to meet in the youth center in 2 hours, and they're like "WE WILL BE IN JAIL" so TJ tells them to hide. He will clear their names. BECAUSE HE IS THE BEST.

The Rangers figure out that while the stuff stolen isn't valuable, that Divatox is probably trying to build something. And with that, Divatox unleashes her toys. The Rangers morph, and it's time for a fight scene. The Blue Senturian is there with his toy, but is getting beaten up, so the Rangers summon their toys. Rygog is using a ton of power and sparking, so the Rangers do something that lets them get back up after being knocked down, blah blah blah. They win.

Bulk and Skull are wearing horrible disguises when their boss shows up with police to have them arrested, when the POWER RANGERS teleport in to prevent it. TJ instead thanks them for their service in helping stop Divatox.

Bulk and Skull tell Cassie and Ashley how great TJ is, and they tell him that TJ said the same about him. Bulk looks so HONORED and gives TJ a giant hug and my heart explodes with JOY. JOY. AMAZING.

You guys, Bulk and Skull are big damn heroes. TJ treats them with respect.

Bulk and Skull get the best character development and I love them.

Fish: 1.5 This was AMAZING.

Episode 245 - Carlos and the Count

Still not watching on netflix. Still SUPER PISSED OFF about that.

However, in this episode we have VAMPIRES.

Seriously, I love vampires. Except of the sparklepire variety. And seriously, this is a MUCH better vampires in high school story than that is.

So Bulk and Skull have a scary movie festival. There are going to be a lot of vampire movies. This is one of Bulk and Skull's better jobs, actually! And super fun!.

Elgar actually has a fairly good suggestion, when Divatox is complaining about how much she hates Vampires. Instead, he suggests Lunar Bats, because apparently there are bats in space? Sure, why not. So Divatox sticks out her tongue and snares one, which she turns into Count Nocturne.

Seriously, Carlos and Justin are the best of friends, they are super adorable. I am in favor of Carlos being the best big brother ever, because it doesn't take over the season. As Carlos is walking home, he hears something and assumes it is Justin pranking him. SO CUTE. Except instead it's Pirahnatrons, and we get a NIGHTTIME UNMORPHED FIGHT. This is like the greatest thing ever. The screen is super dark, so it's actually hard to see what's going on. Then he's attacked by the monster and bitten, with Bulk and Skull as witnesses. They decide that they have no choice but to become vampire hunters. HOOK UP WITH BUFFY, YOU GUYS.

So vampire!Carlos is SUPER HOT. SUPER HOT. Ashley approves of his new look, because he's SUPER HOT. And then she invites him to the blood drive. He is obviously super excited about this.

Bulk and Skull come tracking Carlos, and they're trying to protect Justin, when Principal Caplan sees them, and is all "I thought you graduated. DETENTION." And they go.

Justin starts to get suspicious of Carlos when he notices the sunglasses and how badly Carlos reacted to the garlic that Skull had given him, and he begins to go research vampires. TJ and Cassie ask him why he's researching vampires, and he's all "I just am."

Ashley asks Carlos if he's ready to grab a bite, and CLEARLY HE WANTS TO BITE HER.

Cassie and TJ are all "Justin, you know there's no such thing as vampires" and of course that's when the monster shows up to attack them. Cassie's melodramatic "Vaaaaaaampires" is pretty amazing and I love it.

There's an unmorphed fight scene, which is also great, and Justin explains to TJ and Cassie that he thinks Carlos is a vampire, and they have to go protect Ashley. TJ and Cassie are SO CONFUSED.

Ashley invites Carlos to grab a bite again, because CLEARLY she wants him to bite her. And just as he's about to, Justin and the others show up and interrupt. Justin uses his knowledge of vampires to prove that Carlos is one, since he has no reflection, and Ashley is SO UPSET. She loves him. Anyway, they try to convince Carlos to go to the Power Chamber, but instead he turns into a rubber bat and flies away. BEST WORST SPECIAL EFFECTS EVER.

They figure out that Carlos is going to the blood drive, and Bulk and Skull try and fail to explain that something is going on. Ashley and TJ manage to catch Carlos and teleport him to the Power Chamber, where Alpha drugs him with a temporary antidote. He's still under the spell.

It's amazing, they remember they have a mentor. Not that I'm complaining about the lack of Dimitria, because seriously, DIMITRIA. UGH.

The Rangers all morph and go fight, and the monster tries to put Carlos back under his spell, but Carlos defies him. It's like everything I love.

Anyway, the monster grows, and they have to use all the toys for some reason, and Carlos briefly struggles with how it wants to put him back under the spell, and then they blow it up. They make a big deal about combining the two Megazords, but whatever, it was still a fairly dull fight. And it went on FOREVER.

Elgar gets thrown into space, and somehow he survives. That is not fair.

The Rangers are all excited for the monster movies, and Bulk and Skull have switched to werewolf movies. They are traumatized when they think the delivery guy is a werewolf. They are the CUTEST.

Fish: 2. THIS EPISODE WAS AWESOME.

Fic we want: VAMPIRE!CARLOS. Bulk and Skull: VAMPIRE HUNTERS.

Episode 197- King for a Day Part 2

THIS is the episode where I think Kat's character was handled the BEST. Seriously, she should have been like this ALL the time. Plus, Bulk and Skull are BIG DAMN HEROES!!!!!!!!!!!!

So last time on Power Rangers, Tommy had induced amnesia and thought he was king of the Machine Empire. He was in an arena. Fighting Jason. And a billion shippy fics were born.

Jason wants to save Tommy with the power of friendship. He says "Tommy" a lot and this seems to trigger something, and I keep screaming at Tommy to just look at how he's dressed because HELLO! POWER RANGER! Tommy, unfortunately, is not very smart.

In a cell, Bulk and Skull are discussing The Way Things Are with Fish Hat guy. He is a master warrior from his planet. Gasket is collecting warriors from every planet for his arena and he just assumes Bulk and Skull are warriors as well. They do not correct him. Best part of this exchange?
Fish Hat Guy: "What planet are you from?"
Bulk and Skull: "We're from Earth."
Fish Hat Guy: "Oh, I'm sorry to hear that."
BWAAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHA. HE KNOWS.

On the moon, Rita and Zedd are watching. Rita makes a comment about as soon as the rangers destroy each other, they'll rule the Earth. Except they WON'T. And the moment they realize that is SAD. They are so distraught! Zedd realizes there is only one way to win, and that's take out the Machine Empire. And the only way to do that is to HELP THE RANGERS. It physically pained him to say this, and Rita fainted, but he's RIGHT.

Tommy and Jason are fighting and Billy is trying desperately to get the other rangers there to help. He gets them as far as the lake where Tommy first was kidnapped and that's it. He loses the signal. They can't go anywhere. So they stand around near the lake helpless, hoping Billy will do his usual and pull a miracle out of thin air to get them there. He doesn't. Instead, FINSTER DOES IT FOR HIM. Finster has been working on his own teleportation device and convinced Zedd that five rangers are more annoying than one, and he should teleport the other rangers to help win back Tommy. Zedd takes credit, of course, and Finster blows out his machine doing it. BUT HE DID IT. FINSTER TELEPORTED THE RANGERS TO JASON AND TOMMY. BECAUSE HE IS AWESOME. (and now we feel Billy and Finster should bond. Best friendship ever y/y/mfy?)

Meanwhile, Bulk, Skull, and Fish Hat Guy defeat a cog and escape. The plan is to travel to the control room and destroy the mind wipe device, thus restoring Tommy's memories. Then they're going to destroy the force field device and allow EVERYBODY to escape and go home. Good plan, guys! Except there are lots of cogs near the control room. Fish Hat Guy locks himself in to destroy everything, leaving Bulk and Skull outside to fight the cogs. AND THEY DO. AND IT IS AMAZING. They handle more cogs unmorphed and without the benefit of any special power flowing through them than the rangers EVER do MORPHED. BECAUSE BULK AND SKULL ARE AWESOME AND I LOVE THEM AND THIS IS THE BEST FIGHT OF THE WHOLE SERIES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So the five rangers attempt to restrain Tommy and convince him he's on their side. It's not working too well. Until Kat pulls the MOST AWESOME MOVE EVER. She DEMORPHS. Right there. Mid fight. She refuses to fight any longer and just demorphs, trying to convince Tommy that she is his friend, not his enemy. She stand there while he attempts to attack her, but he can't do it, because part of him KNOWS. She hugs him tight and talks to him, willing him with the sheer power of friendship, that he is GOOD and they are GOOD and it's OKAY. AND I LOVE HER FOR IT. IT WORKS. Tommy starts to remember. Jason demorphs to help Kat. Tommy remembers more. The others join in. Tommy is struggling with this, and almost attacks again. Instead he fully realizes himself, demorphs, and stands with his friends! Yay for the power of friendship! Seriously, this is one of my favourite tropes.

So the rangers can't morph and they can't teleport out and Gasket comes down to start monologuing them. Except Bulk and Skull and Fish Hat Guy WON. They destroyed everything, in a big explosion, and the force field vanishes. The rangers bid their farewells and teleport the hell out of there. Bulk and Skull aren't sure Fish Hat Guy made it out, but he comes striding out of the fire and it is awesome. They're so happy to see him! He congratulates them, they do the grunt, and they congratulate him. Except they have no way home, so he honours them by taking them home himself. AWWWWWW.

Back on Earth, Bulk and Skull regale Emily with their tales of heroics. She doesn't believe them and even taunts them about it. It makes me sad. So they go tell Jason, Kat, and Tommy. Who DO believe them! And talk about how the rangers would surely thank them. Except Tommy and Kat, in attempting that whole Secret Identity thing, come across sarcastic. Bulk and Skull stomp off, upset that nobody believes them, even though the trio call after them that they do believe them and please don't go. They were actually trying to be nice this time which is a very welcome change from similar interactions in MMPR!

2 fish. Anything fishy is completely overshadowed by the awesome that is Kat AND Bulk and Skull!

(I really need a good Bulk and Skull icon)

Episode 191- The Scent of a Weasel

Let me start off by saying most of this episode was incredibly boring to me. I don't like fashion. I don't UNDERSTAND fashion... as in it literally makes no sense to me no matter how hard I try. For me, clothes are meant to keep you warm and they HAVE to be comfortable. If it's not comfortable, it's not worth it. And very little clothing is actually comfortable. So I don't get fashion and I don't get fashion shows or models or anything like that. Don't bother trying to explain it to me. I won't get it, it would be a waste of time. Nod and smile and enjoy the fashion bits yourself, mkay?

So we start off with a charity fashion show. We have no clue what the charity is and all it seems to really be doing is promoting a perfume, but whatever. Some dude with a bad French accent is using local talent in the show with one supermodel. Rocky is part of this local talent. He runs into other people. Poor Rocky.

Detective Stone is in charge of guarding the supermodel. He puts Bulk and Skull on the job which is actually a really good idea for a change. Bulk kind of fails, but Skull is actually in the show as a skunk and does a good job watching out for her. He accidentally knocks over a huge bottle of the perfume and it spills all over the supermodel, who now STINKS. Skull apologizes and they have the most adorable exchange ever and I LOVE THEM SO GUYS, OKAY? BEST PART OF THIS WHOLE EPISODE. (Also, Jason Narvy is definitely the best actor of the whole entire series EVER)

Meanwhile, the stinky supermodel gives Machina an idea. She makes a skunk monster that makes people smell. 5 year old children everywhere ignore the rest of the episode and focus on the Fart Monster. The rangers can't smell the bad through the helmets, but they got skunked and Billy has to try to find a remedy.

There is also some subplot of a thing hurtling towards Earth and Billy keeps trying to make contact with it instead of actually trying to protect the Earth from it and y'know, I appreciate his alien fetish and all, but there comes a time when not blowing up the Earth is more important than making contact! It turns out it's a wheel zord from Trey. It's just like Tommy's except Jason gets to pilot this one. Joy.

There is a boring fight where the rangers blow up the skunk monster by exploding his butt, and the show totally lost the 5 year old children completely here. He grows, they fight, they win, yada yada boring.

At the fashion show, Jason decided to impress Emily (whom he's entirely smitten with, by the way) by volunteering to model. They put him in golf pants, but at least he's wearing red. Supermodel thanks Detective Stone for putting Skull in charge of her safety. He did a great job and even got the smell off her by bathing her in lots of tomato juice. At the end of the show, he promotes the perfume and she kisses him. AWWWWWWW.

2 fish. It was pretty low, all things considered!

Fic we want: Emily totally breaking up with Jason because she has a crush on the Gold Ranger. You know it could happen.

Episode 167 - Instrument of Destruction

Double recap tonight! To try and make up for being so behind.

There are not enough words to express how much I love this episode. It has so many things I love! Adam is a writer! Bulk and Skull have character development! The cogs are completely hilarious! Basically, the only way it would have been better for me would be if Adam made out with either Tanya or Rocky. (Or both.)

So! The episode begins with skipping Cogs, who are doing their best to replace the Zputties in my heart. They are skipping to the beat of mysterious piano music. Apparently the only other person in the school is Adam, who chases them through the school, trying to figure out a) what they're up to and b) what's with the music. It turns out that they've been sent by Sprocket, since it's Queen Machina's birthday, and he and King Mondo need a present. Clearly, some people appreciate good music. The Mysterious Cloaked Piano Player runs away, and then the Cogs run away from Adam.

Later, the Worst Guidance Counselor Ever (Ms. Rodriquez) confronts Adam in the hallway, and says she wants to make some changes to his schedule. It seems that he's already taken creative writing twice (and he points out that he got an A in it both times) and she wants him to be more well rounded, so she's changed his schedule so he's taken classical music. Adam does not look too pleased, and Bulk starts mocking him, and Skull joins in at Bulk's urging, CLEARLY overcompensating for something. Tommy and Kat defend Adam (who really looks annoyed - I would be too!) and say it's good that he's branching out. Except it wasn't his choice.

I'm not really sure why Worst Guidance Counselor Ever is changing his schedule in the middle of the semester, or why she gets to do it without consulting him, but that is why she's the Worst Ever.

By the way, this episode is entirely responsible for my fanon that Adam's real career is scifi/fantasy writer, and that he just runs a dojo in his spare time because he can.

Anyway, it turns out that Skull's schedule is also changed, so he shows up in the classical music class, and gets to play the drums, while Adam plays the piano. I find it necessary to point out that Jason Narvy is ridiculously hot in this episode. We get to meet ANOTHER new teacher named Mr. Hams, but he keeps managing to mix up his word order, so I'm just going to call him Mr. Music. He says that there will be a recital that they can go to for extra credit after school that day, and then tells them to play around with their instruments. Adam plays chopsticks. For some reason, everyone is really impressed.

Later, Adam turns down a chance to go to the youth center with Tommy and Kat because he has to go practice the piano. Except then he hears the same music and the Cogs show up, so they all morph in the middle of the hallway, and a hilarious fight scene occurs. Adam dances with a cog! Then he surfs on one! It's amazing. But The Mysterious Cloaked Piano Player gets away again.

I'm not sure why they morphed in the middle of the hallway though. I mean, there have to be a ton of people around. And doesn't Angel Grove have security cameras, or did Billy set up a program to delete the evidence? Who knows.

Adam goes to play the piano, playing something way too advanced for a beginner, and then finds a note in the keys that says piano lessons at the symphony at 4:30, so he assumes it's The Mysterious Cloaked Piano Player, and goes chasing after him. Jackpot! The Mysterious Cloaked Piano Player is there, but he's surrounded by Cogs. So, as The Mysterious Cloaked Piano Player faces him, Adam morphs. He is so bad at this secret identity thing. He defeats the cogs, and goes back to the school, where he unmasks The Mysterious Cloaked Piano Player. It's Skull.

There is some seriously amazing acting on the behalf of Dr. Jason Narvy here. (Speaking of him having a doctorate, I so want the AU where he's the mentor for the DT team, but more of that waaaaaaaay in the future.) Skull didn't tell anyone because he doesn't want anyone to laugh at him! He's afraid that Bulk won't love him anymore! Skull needs ALL THE HUGS. ALL OF THEM. Adam encourages him, and it's completely adorable, and they should totally go make out a lot.

Anyway, Skull goes to his piano lessons, and Mondo turns a piano into a monster, and there are some awful music related puns, and there's a fight where Adam gets captured and Tommy has to rescue him, and then they call the Zords. And the Defender Wheel. And their jet cycles. I guess they were really trying to plug all the toys this week. Monster is defeated, so we're going back to the important part, which is how Bulk and Skull are freaking awesome.

That evening, all of the Rangers are attending the recital, even though Adam is the only one who is getting extra credit. Mr. Music announces that there's a late addition to the program, and then can't believe that Skull's name is on the list. Everyone in the audience is completely horrible, except for Adam, who starts clapping. Skull comes out, and he's all dressed like Liberace, making him my favorite forever. Everyone is shocked at how awesome he is, and they keep talking during the concert. FAIL.

Then Bulk comes in, asking who the dork is, until he sees it's Skull. He's practically moved to tears. When Skull finishes playing, he let's out his trademark laugh, and then gets a standing ovation, which he totally deserves.

Bulk comes up to Skull, and Skull looks terrified. Bulk asks why Skull didn't tell him, and Skull says that Bulk said that music was for dweebs. Bulk tells him that if he said that, he was wrong, and oh my god, so much character development. Bulk grew as a person! Because he loves Skull!

Seriously, this episode is amazing, and they need ALL THE HUGS. ALL OF THEM.

Fish 2: Worst Guidance Counselor Ever. Also, that was some major secret identity fail.

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.

Episode 130- Changing of the Zords Part 1

Sorry it's been so long, guys. Vacations, illness, and family got in the way. But we are back! And we're back with... new zords? Already? Um... well... okay then! Let's spend the whole opening admiring the awesome PRETTY of the cast, shall we? Because that's pretty much what we do at the beginning of every episode.

So this episode starts with Kat, Kim, and Aisha in the Youth Center. Kat comments on their remarkable skill at shopping and we wonder if the mall in Angel Grove has any merchandise left. Kat heads home and gets all mooney over Tommy on the way. She's jealous (under a spell) and wants Kim out of the way so she can have Tommy for herself (did I mention under a spell?). I hate these infidelity subplots (but at least she's under a spell?)

Later, Kim invites Kat to the lake to hang out. Kat doesn't want to go, but then Tommy asks if she's going and suddenly she wants to. Kim is a bit suspicious (understandably so) but they head out anyway. Kat says she'll meet them there.

Finster, meanwhile, has found himself some old forgotten Zords. Or more to the point, he has found where he can find some zords. So he takes Squatt and Baboo and they go in search through dense jungle, making some awesomely hilarious quips on the way, until they sit down to rest and stumble upon the zords.

At the lake, Bulk and Skull have been put in charge of keeping the area clean and safe. Skull sees some kids who appear to be drowning and they rush to the rescue, shedding clothes as they run. I LOVE this sequence. The music, the running, the slow mo, the rush to rescue poor children in desperate need of help. Of course, then I want to smack the little shits for laughing at Bulk and Skull when they jump into the lake because the kids were faking it the whole time. Where are there parents? They ought to be punished for that.

Rita stops Kat in the park. She asks Kat to steal a power coin for her, which Kat gladly agrees to. At the lake, Rita sends down some Tenga warriors to create a diversion. Frankly, the diversion wasn't really necessary. The power coins were all in the bags which were all left carelessly lying about on a table for anybody to pillage. But the Tengas are there and they're wreaking havoc and Kat manages to steal Kim's coin. She also steals a picture of Kim and Tommy.

Kim, in fighting the Tengas, suddenly feels very weak. Her vision goes all blurry. She screams for Tommy (sigh) and he races to protect her by... putting his arm across her chest? Really? I can see the merit in doing so to prevent an airbag from exploding in her face, but I'm not quite sure how that will save her from the Tengas. Anyway, the Tengas run away since Kat has the coin, and the rangers go to morph. Kim can't find her coin and only NOW do they feel the need to contact Zordon. Who, of course, has no idea what's going on.

Zordon explains that Ninjor, when recharging the power coins, tied it into their life forces, so with Kim's coin gone, she's growing weaker and weaker. If they don't get it back, it could kill her. But that happens later, and I spend most of the episode wondering why in the world she's having all these side effects when that never happened in any of the multiple other episodes they lost their coins.

Goldar goes down to Earth and Tommy vows to fight him alone. Kat is told to steal the falcon zord and she's all too happy to comply. She's a very effective evil, I must say, far more so than any of the other rangers when put under an evil spell. She manages to zap Tommy and take the falcon zord (which then looks like an owl, but ends up being a real falcon on Zedd's arm? Okay...). Ninjor, in trying to help, gets trounced by Goldar and then captured. This is pretty bleak and Tommy is sure it's the end. He is upset that Zedd has beaten the power rangers, but really... uh... Zedd hasn't. Not yet. There are still FIVE OTHER RANGERS. FIVE. The Power Rangers is not a solo Tommy-only show here. Even if he wishes it were.

Anyway, Zordon then explains Kim could die as she faints because she's so weak and this would be a totally awesome ending!

Except it's not over yet. Instead we get Kat in a tree (and I really want to call a handsome fireman to come get her out of the tree, and then we want a follow up with Kat on a hot tin roof). She rips the picture of Kim and Tommy in half, throwing away the Kim part and proclaiming that Tommy will be hers. I hate infidelity subplots. *sigh*

2 fish. It wasn't that fishy, it was just bad in general.

Episode 100- Rangers Back In Time Part 2

It's the 100th episode! Happy 100th episode, everybody!!! It's only fitting that the 100th episode is also FULL of fish. Like, full to overflowing with fish.

Last time on Power Rangers, our rangers were adorable Tiny Children that had been captured in a photograph. Because the monster of the day captures people inside photographs. Remember that fact. It'll be important later. Goldar is sent down to get the picture but the wind blows it away before he can grab it. Blows it right into Bulk's eagerly waiting hands, that is. And, like the TOTALLY AWESOME Tiny Child that he is, Bulk starts to run off so he can give the photograph to a grown up. Because that's just what you do when you see six children disappear into a photograph. Or, at least, it's what you SHOULD do.

Zordon and Alpha are working on some kind of molecular descrambler to both get the rangers out of the photo AND turn them back into teenagers. Frankly, molecular descrambling just doesn't sound healthy to me, no matter how you slice it. Now, keep in mind that Zordon could have teleported the photograph directly to the Command Center. Barring that, he could have teleported Bulk and Skull with the photograph to the Command Center and then their memories would have been erased when the world was put back in it's rightful time. That would have been the smart thing to do. So did Zordon do that? Of course not! Instead, he sends Alpha to go rescue Bulk and Skull from Goldar and retrieve the photo. That's right, ALPHA is going to beat Goldar. Somehow.

Fish take over here and Alpha uses a freeze ray to stop not only Goldar, but the camera monster thing too. Bulk and Skull run off in fear and end up in the high school, where they bump into Principal Caplan who has Very Bad Hair (but not as bad as Tiny!Rocky). They tell Caplan the kids were caught in the photo, but he doesn't believe them. Caplan gives them detention and we're left wondering why a bunch of 8 year olds ran to a high school, why a high school teacher is giving obviously non-high school students detention, but most importantly, why in the world did nobody manage to come up with one tiny shred of a logical idea in regards to time travel for this episode? Seriously? Five minutes of an episode of Doctor Who could have given them something to make it even the slightest bit believable. But no. We get... this mess.

But I digress. Having dealt with the Fail!Principal, Skull is now sitting in detention drawing faces on the Tiny!Rangers in the photograph. Bulk takes it from him and draws something himself. I am blown away by how much Tiny!Skull looks like Pretending-To-Be-A-Teenager!Skull. It was about the only good casting of this whole episode. Alpha teleports into the room and both boys freak out thinking he's a martian. I would just like to take this moment to say I LOVE TINY BULK AND SKULL! Seriously, they were spot on AWESOMELY ADORABLE.

Alpha takes the picture and Bulk and Skull get put to sleep while Alpha gets the kids out of the picture. They have mustaches. It's great. We are only subjected to Rocky's horrible horrible hair for a moment because Alpha convinces them to let him SCRAMBLE THEIR MOLECULES so they'll be teenagers again. Science SO does NOT work like that.

They have to morph quickly and go fight Goldar and the camera monster. The camera monster grows and Tommy orders Rocky to go fight it ALONE. So he does. Because Rocky is awesome and capable like that, and he even does it without bragging about it, because he's not a smarmy bastard. Ahem. Anyway. Tommy takes on Goldar and a bunch of putties on his own. The others are off doing... um... something. We don't know what. Exchanging fashion tips? Discussing science projects? Doing each others makeup? Each others hair? Each other? We have our theories. They eventually show up and call their zords to go help Rocky.

Because, you see, the camera monster has taken a picture of Rocky's zord. And it didn't capture the zord. It just made a copy of the zord. Which... we think the fish switched something inside the monster or something because this monster? Soooo didn't work like that earlier. Anyway, they beat the monster and Tommy knocks out ALL the putties (while being a smarmy bastard about it). They threaten Goldar and he runs away, per usual.

Meanwhile, the planet's foundation is destabilizing... yes, I wrote that right. The planet's foundation is DESTABILIZING because of the EVOL Rock of Time. Oh show. Can you make any less sense? So the rangers go find the EVOL Rock of Time and have to fight some old monsters to get to it. They fight the Venus Fly Trap monster thing and the Mole Monster thing, and best of all, Billy tries, and FAILS, to take on the VULVA MONSTER! Adam has to help him. Guys, we totally missed everything else about this fight because we were all capsing about the Vulva Monster. I LOVE the Vulva Monster (take from that what you will). The only other thing I got about this fight is the Kim is the only person capable of handling the Vulva Monster.

The EVOL Rock of Time is destroyed, Earth is returned to it's normal time, and the rangers go back to school where Bulk and Skull are still in detention. Caplan asks them how their essays are coming along and they don't remember being given detention or essays. We're not sure why Caplan remembers. Except then he forgets what they were supposed to be doing and then makes them write stuff on the board because they practically live in detention anyway.

Oh show.

5 fish. Yeah...

No Billy speak. Nobody covered in food.

Episode 91 - When is a Ranger Not a Ranger?

I apologize in advance for how crazy this recap is. This episode was filled with fish, and also I got all the Sims 2 expansions, and it is entirely possible I feel the need the go build a new Adam/Rocky house. Like, immediately.

Anyway, this episode is filled with so many fish, and incredibly horrible science, but it is also the first Bulk and Skull are BIG DAMN HEROES moment, and I love them so much. SO MUCH.

So, we open in Ms. Applebee's classroom, where Adam is giving a report on kaleidoscopes. Apparently the Rangers are all in third grade. I'd point out that Angel Grove lacks quality education, but we knew that already. Besides, more importantly, Aisha is staring at Adam with a "damn, that boy is fine" expression on her face. I have my priorities when it comes to important things about this show. Ms. Applebee thanks Adam for his awesome report, and asks if anyone has any questions. Bulk and Skull raise their hands, and she sighs and asks if anyone has any intelligent questions, and we start raging about how she needs to be fired immediately as this is completely unacceptable behavior. Bulk says he has an intelligent question, and then asks something about a mountain, and Ms. Applebee asks if he has anything related to Adam's report, which he grumbles that he didn't understand. *bangs head on wall repeatedly* I used to teach high school, and this is just causing me to rage.

So let's talk about happier things, like this plot. On the list of tropes I love, convenient plot-related amnesia is probably up there toward the top of the list. And Zedd is fascinated by Adam's kaleidoscope and decides he will turn it into a monster that will make the Rangers forget who they are. \o/ So barely two minutes into the episode, he sends Putties down to fight the Ranger Trio (Kim/Billy/Tommy) and there is a really awesome fight until the monster is created. Oh noes, the three of them now have amnesia.

You guys, I want all the fic in the world about this. Amnesiac!Kimberly thinks Tommy is creepy and she's dating Billy! Tommy's evil personality reasserts itself! People trying to make them remember things! This should TOTALLY HAPPEN. And yes that deserves the caps.

Back at the Youth Center, Bulk and Skull are preparing a camouflage outfit thing so that they can spy on the Power Rangers. Rocky hypnotizes them, and seriously? The Stone Canyon Trio have only known Bulk and Skull for like, 30 seconds, so they need to stop picking up the worst habits of the old Rangers.

Zordon summons the Stone Canyon Trio to the Command Center, and Zordon fills them in on what happens, and then sends them down to get the other three Rangers. Why they didn't just teleport the others to the Command Center, I have no idea. By this point Kimberly has decided that Billy is totally a brain, and Tommy thinks Kim is really pretty, and if I shipped Tommy/Kim at all I would think that is really sweet, but since I don't, I'm going to just ignore it.

Rocky is all leaderish, and seriously, why doesn't he get more to do? Because he needs more episodes about him, since he's awesome, and really good at taking command. Insert comment about how Adam enjoys that here. He then confirms that yes, Billy is a brain. Aisha then tells Kim that they're best friends and they go shopping together every day. Kimberly is all "What the hell is wrong with me? Why am I so shallow?" and I just want to give both girls a hug. Aisha is all "Oh God, how is Zedd that powerful?" and I flash back to Island of Illusion with Kim being all "Bulk and Skull nice? RITA WILL WIN."

Adam doesn't bother to tell Tommy anything. HA.

Adam tries to explain Zedd, and the Ranger Trio are all freaked out, and would probably have run away, except Zedd screws up his own plan by sending Goldar down, causing them to run to the Stone Canyon Trio. (Kim holds out her hand to Aisha and is all "best friends, right?" and it is actually really sweet.)

Back at the Command Center, it's like a flashback to the first episode! Billy and Kim both repeat their dialogue from Day of the Dumpster and we start flailing since we're exactly that dorky.

Then there's some absolutely horrible science, that I'm not going to even dignify with a mention in this recap, except to say that Adam comes up with the plan that maybe if they expose the monster's beam to a prism everyone will get their memories back. I couldn't make this shit up if I tried. So Adam and Billy go to Adam's lab, while the other four go to try to find the monster, and Aisha and Rocky morph in the process.

They teleport right in front of Bulk and Skull, and Bulk and Skull are so damn awesome. They're totally shocked, as is to be expected, and I have no idea what really happened, because we were too busy allcapsing about how awesome they are.

The monster shows up, and then Adam and Billy teleport back in, and Adam instantly gets memory wiped. Aisha and Rocky try to go get the prisms Adam dropped and yell about how that will save them, and then they lose their memories too.

AND THEN.

Bulk and Skull decide that They Will Not Let The Rangers Be Hurt. So they go FACE DOWN A MONSTER because they are THAT AWESOME and they get to the prisms and all the Rangers get their memories back, but Bulk and Skull lose their memories, and seriously, why is there not fic where they get to keep their memories? Also, how awesome are Bulk and Skull? SO AWESOME.

Anyway, the Rangers summon Zords and defeat the monster, and everyone is all happy, and then they tell Bulk and Skull that they saved them, and there is much flailing.

Back at the Youth Center, Bulk and Skull are trying to tell the story, and nobody believes them, and someone asks why the Power Rangers don't show up and give them credit. Which they should be doing. Instead, Kim and Aisha go over and tell Bulk and Skull that they believe them, and say really nice things about them, and there is more flailing. And then Bulk and Skull try to ask them out, and the girls turn them down very nicely.

If the science in this episode didn't suck so hard, it would be so awesome.

Fish: 4.5. SCIENCE DOES NOT WORK LIKE THAT.

Billy speak: "There is a margin of merit in your plan of action, but the likelihood of bettering our situation is..."
"a fully sentient multi-functional automaton"

Fic people need to write: Bulk and Skull keep their memories, and all sorts of amnesia hijinks.