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tobiasdrake · 4 years

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Power Rangers Turbo E27 – One Last Hope

Recap

Last time on Power Rangers Turbo, Divatox’s brother General Havoc showed up with an army of Chromite soldiers and his new Zord Metallosaurus. They fucked the Turbo Rangers sideways and then made off with the Turbo Megazord, leaving the team to mope about the planet’s future.

Up in the fancy new Space Base, Havoc has wasted no time having his Chromites reverse-engineer the Megazord’s tech. His men are hard at work incorporating Turbo technology in Metallosaurus.

Porto interrupts Gasket’s gloating to deliver some vital news. He was perusing the Megazord’s database looking for actionable data and discovered that Zordon fucking planned for the Phantom Ranger to show up right from the very beginning. There’s a ton of shit about this guy that even the Turbo Rangers don’t know about buried in the Megazord’s files.

Yeah, as far back as when the old team was building these cars from whatever scraps were lying around Billy’s workshop, Zordon was already planning to round the team out with the Phantom Ranger. He just never got around to telling anyone about it ‘cause suddenly an opportunity to peace out and leave these Earthling fuckers to their own fate appeared, so it didn’t matter anymore.

Then, some time later, he showed up on Earth ready to help out and none of the Power Rangers were actually the people Zordon asked him to come in and provide support for. This poor asshole’s gone to great lengths to connect to the Morphin’ Grid through a brand new method, made whatever preparations needed making, crossed an interstellar distance to come to Earth, and not one fucking person, not Zordon or Tommy or anybody he was actually supposed to support, was here to greet him when he showed up.

Skittish? Of course this guy’s skittish. This poor guy legit has no idea who any of these people are or why they’re suddenly the Power Rangers now. No one told him that Zordon and Rocky quit and everyone else got fired.

And the Phantom specs? Those were left buried somewhere in the system files, up to and including the device that connects him to the Morphin’ Grid. Porto’s found detailed information about the Phantom Ranger’s Power Ruby, up to and including where to find it. Like the Zeo Crystal, it sits at a specific location and remotely empowers the Phantom Ranger from a distance.

General Havoc wants to draw the Phantom out into the open and demonstrates his new addition to the Space Base’s armaments: a neutron laser! Out of nowhere, Divatox shows up and jumps on the weapon, sliding the barrel around towards Havoc.

“DIDI!” the general exclaims. “Get off of my artillery!”

But Didi isn’t listening. “Oooooh! What does this button do?” She flips a switch, firing the laser. It ricochets harmlessly around the holding bay.

“Okay, that was a whoopsy doodle and I’m glad it’s not hiting anyone but wow. It’s not even scratching the support beams. How much did you pay for this glorified pen laser? Maybe think about installing some real guns next time, brother dearest.”

The Rangers report to the Power Chamber for debriefing. “So that’s the situation,” Ashley concludes. “We lost the Megazord and the Turbine Laser is completely useless so as soon as Divatox decides to attack with a kaiju monster, we’re all pretty much fucked.”

Justin asks, “What about the Phantom Ranger? He said there was still hope. What do you think that means?”

Dimitria explains, actual dialogue, “That will be revealed only when the Phantom Ranger chooses to tell you.”

Carlos rolls his eyes. “Yeah, ‘the answer to your question will come when your question’s answer arrives’. Real fucking helpful, Dimitria. Thanks.”

T.J. turns and addresses the group. “Look, guys. I know it’s rough. Might even seem hopeless. But we all became Power Rangers for a reason.”

Cassie raises her hand. “I didn’t. You guys basically kidnapped me while I was wasted.”

“Most of us became Power Rangers for a reason. Because we believe in something. We’re inspired by something. The five of us, united to common cause around a single unifying hope. We are, together, empowered by our faith in a righteous cause. We stand for—”

“You have no idea where you’re going with this, huh?”

“No, I kinda lost the plot somewhere. This leadership stuff is hard.”

Ashley pats T.J. on the arm. “I liked your speech.”

Meanwhile, General Havoc has returned to Earth, piloting his newly upgraded Metallosaurus. He finds a nice spot to park and put his feet up, then peruses a map Elgar made to determine his plan of attack.

As you can see, if you take Stone Canyon past the Hospital and then take a left, you should see the Angel Grove building on your left. If you hit P. Park, you’ve gone too far.

T.J. takes Lightning Cruiser out to look for General Havoc. Typically Cassie rides with him but Ashley was the one who was actually nice to him back at the Power Chamber so he opts to take her instead. They swoop through the city for a short time before they find Metallosaurus headed for downtown.

T.J. declares, actual dialogue, “He’s blocking our tracking system!”

“Why?!” Ashley asks. “He’s piloting a two-hundred-foot robot dinosaur. Does he actually think we won’t be able to find him?!”

“His Zord is very powerful. That doesn’t mean he’s smart.” T.J. calls the others to update them on Metallosaurus’s location. “Alright. Let’s go win the world’s easiest game of hide and seek.” Lightning Cruiser makes a strafing run on Metallosaurus, whipping past the colossal titan and causing some light damage to its chest panels.

Meanwhile, Bulk and Skull’s Monster Tours haven’t been going so well. Lt. Stone is furious with them for promising in the brochure that tour groups will see a real alien attack in progress or get to meet a Power Ranger. They, however, were just playing the odds. Indeed, despite being previously grump about the tour not living up to its promise, the tour group dissolves in a panic as soon as they spot Metallosaurus.

It’s Angel Grove. With each day that passes in this city, the likelihood of witnessing an alien invasion approaches 1.

Lightning Cruiser swoops around for another strafing run. However, Divatox manages to nail them right out of the sky with the neutron laser!

“That was AWESOME!!! Porto, take note; I owe my brother an apology. Apparently the safety was on earlier.”

Badly damaged, Lightning Cruiser plummets from the sky. T.J. manages to put it in landing mode before a potentially catastrophic landing. Storm Blaster pulls up beside them, dropping off Justin, Carlos, and Cassie.

Without missing a beat, T.J. goes straight to Plan B. Throwing up his hand, he declares, “We need Turbine Laser power, now!”

Throwing up her hand, Cassie declares, “That did not work at all last time!”

The Rangers deploy the Turbine Laser. They take aim. They fire! Like a fateful dragon-slaying arrow anticlimactically fired from some rando’s bow, the plasma bolt sails through the air and slips into the exact spot that Lightning Cruiser had fired upon before. The bolt explodes, rocking the Metallosaurus!

“YES!” T.J. screams, pumping his fist in the air.

The smoke settles, leaving Metallosaurus only mildly damaged. He returns fire with optic beams that tear up multiple city blocks, reducing streets and chunks of buildings to rubble while fast approaching the Rangers.

“Yep,” Cassie says just before the beams reach them. The Rangers are blown away, slamming into cars and screeching across exploding pavement.

See all those particles in the beams? Those are all the fucks Metallosaurus doesn’t give about their useless Turbine Laser.

The Rangers struggle to peel themselves off of the rubble. Their Turbo suits are still holding, so that’s something. As the team collects themselves and regroup after that devastating humiliation, Divatox sends down a half-dozen Piranhatrons. Just for good measure.

After a brief fight scene where the martial arts are all pretty solid but nothing really stands out as a particularly awesome holy shit moment, the Rangers manage to overcome the Piranhatrons. They return to the task at hand: the colossal Mechagodzilla tearing up the city. Everyone stares up through the smoke and ruin trying to figure out what they can possibly do to combat this behemoth.

Everyone except Cassie. She squints to the left. “Is that you, Jizzpipe?”

The Phantom decloaks and approaches the team. “Rangers, drop what you’re doing and come with me.”

T.J. protests, “But what we’re doing is really important!”

The Phantom gestures at the titanic weapon of mass destruction. “What do you think you’re actually going to accomplish here? Are you going to climb up there and bite his kneecaps off?”

T.J. considers. “Do you think that would—”

“No.” The Phantom opens a square portal in the fabric of reality.

“Whoa, what’s that?!”

“It’s a secret shortcut the developers hid in the level. This will take us to World 8. We beat that, we win the game. It won’t even matter that we didn’t complete this boss fight.”

“We can’t just run away,” T.J. argues, staring down at the hole. “I don’t know what we can do to stop Metallosaurus but we have to try. We’re Power Rangers. It’s our duty to stay and—WHOA!”

As T.J. tumbles helplessly into the hole, the others turn to stare at Cassie standing triumphant over the hole. “What?” she asks coyly. “This was faster.”

The Rangers drop through the hole and land in the sewers below, an oddly appropriate destination for a space-warp hole in the street. Cassie offers T.J. a hand and helps him to his feet. T.J. grouses, but Cassie shrugs and tells him, “Now we’re even.”

Carlos exclaims, actual dialogue, “Man! You could have warned us about that last step.”

Very confused, the Phantom Ranger turns to him. “What did… what did you… it was a giant hole of ambiguous destination. How were you not expecting a drop?” He shakes his head. “I can’t deal with this right now. Everyone come with me. I’ve got shit to show you.”

The Phantom races off down the tunnel with the Rangers in pursuit. Cassie catches up to Carlos and taps him. “Good work. I think you just got more words out of him than everything he’s said to me combined.”

Unfortunately, Metallosaurus’s footsteps are so heavy, they collapse the sewer tunnels beneath it. As it continues raining devastation upon the city, the Rangers come upon their destination only to find the passage blocked by a concrete cave-in. “It’s okay,” the Phantom says. “I got this.” He pulls his blaster and starts cutting.

T.J. steps up and claps him on the shoulder. “No. We’ve got this.” The Rangers draw their own blasters and join in the cutting.

Actual dialogue. “Get away from my laser! This thing isn’t a game!” Divatox checks herself, then sighs in frustration. “Give me a token, I’m all out.”

I died. This joke killed me. It was that good.

General Havoc’s destruction continues unopposed for several minutes. But then a massive earthquake shakes the city. Havoc scratches his head. “I don’t think that was me?” Gigantic cargo loaders emerge from a secret bunker and open to reveal huge new vehicles.

“Well, holy shit. T.J. was right. We did do number one. Thanks, Phantom Ranger.”

“Inside these carriers, you will find brand new Zords. They’re like your old Turbozords, except good. Because I actually designed and built them.”

“Do we know you?”

“You don’t, no.”

The Carriers unload the Rescuezords. Ashley drives Star Racer! Justin drives Siren Blaster! Carlos drives Thunder Loader! Cassie drives Wind Rescue! And T.J. drives Lightning Fire-Tamer, which is a bit of a mouthful.

Man, those names are awesome and really capture the imagination. Ashley racing through the stars on a streak across the galaxy. Cassie arriving on the wind to save lives and whisk people off to safety. T.J. taming the flames started from a strike of lightning. Carlos loading up the very thunder. And Justin making obnoxious WEE-WOO-WEE-WOO sounds.

…okay, I have no idea what Thunder Loader’s supposed to mean and Siren Blaster really makes Justin sound like the most annoying member of the group.

With the Turbo theme blaring, the Rangers deploy their new vehicles and drive dramatically off to save Angel Grove and the Earth itself from General Havoc.

Man, if the Phantom Ranger is who I’ve decided he is because the show never fucking answers that question so you can’t stop me, then his choice of Zord is very appropriate. He pilots the loading dock that Zords emerge from.

Bulk and Skull head back up to top floor of their now evacuated building with trays full of food. The place is empty but Bulk is sure they have the right place, due to positioning of the bookcase, the window, and the colossal alien dragon tank barely visible through the blinds. And I just want to take a minute to note that the blinds were not closed when we saw this window last.

Last time we saw this window, the rest of the tour had fled for their lives. Lt. Stone was the last person in this office, seeing Metallosaurus unhindered through the window. Lt. Stone was kind enough to draw the blinds before pissing himself and fleeing for his life. Lt. Stone may have some, uh, weird plant fetishes but his etiquette is amazing.

T.J. rolls Lightning Fire-Tamer right up to Metallosaurus and sprays his cannons for all they’re worth. Metallosaurus is driven away from the skyscraper Bulk and Skull are trapped in. As the Zord waggles its arms against the spray, General Havoc declares, “That is very annoying!” He grabs his binoculars and spies T.J. driving this new armored tank of a vehicle. “OKAY WHEN AND HOW.”

Havoc fires Metallosaurus’s optic beams. The explosions shake Lightning Fire-Tamer, but its armor holds. “Wow!” T.J. exclaims. “That guy wasn’t kidding. These are like our Zords except good.”

“Check this shit out!” Justin cries out before ramping Siren Blaster straight into Metallosaurus’s fucking mouth.

“Ha! Take tha—wow, look at those chompers. Okay, I’m gonna be honest, I did not think this through.”

Metallosaurus smacks Siren Blaster out of the air. Justin tumbles end over end but manages to stick a landing on a ramped building. Siren Blaster and Wind Rescue circle Metallosaurus, distracting him while Thunder Loader moves into position. Justin and Cassie peel off, luring Metallosaurus away as Thunder Loader dumps colossal ball bearings in his path. That’s right, they Home Alone’d this motherfucker. Havoc falls for it hook, line, and sinker and Metallosaurus plops right on its ass.

For the first time, Havoc is legitimately ruffled. “Okay, no. This is officially stupid and it ends now.” As Metallosaurus climbs to its feet, Havoc fires its optic cannon wildly. The beam rips through the building Bulk and Skull are trapped in, cutting it cleanly in half horizontally. The top half topples, but Star Racer’s tractor mode is able to catch the building half. Ashley hands it off to Carlos’s Thunder Loader.

HAHAHAHAHA WOW This scene would not have made it to broadcast in a post-9/11 United States. It’s been twenty years and we’re still very sensitive about shit like this.

Metallosaurus tries to push over the rest of the building, but Ashley jams Star Racer’s tractor up against it. This one Rescuezord is able to exert enough force to match Metallosaurus’s strength and keep the building standing.

While Ashley keeps Metallosaurus busy, Cassie wheels Wind Rescue around to take advantage of Havoc’s exposed flank.

“Wait, the manual says there’s… holy shit, you guys, my Rescuezord has a missile probe! And I know right where to stick it. This one goes out to all of you alien dipshits everywhere.”

While Metallosaurus hops around uncontrollably from the giant metal probe up its ass, it accidentally knocks a large concrete globe from its pedestal. T.J. uses his water cannons to stop the globe and return it to sender; the globe collides with enough force that it somehow sends Metallosaurus flying back into space, violently colliding with the Space Base and exploding. The Space Base is unharmed.

With the day saved and their shnazzy new Rescuezords loaded up, the Rangers take a well-earned break at the Youth Center. There, Bulk and Skull’s takeaway from their near-death experience is to continue giving Monster Tours but protect themselves with bike helmets and hockey pads. Honestly, I’m kinda impressed.

Look into these eyes. This is what dignity looks like!

On the Space Base, General Havoc and Divatox have a quiet moment of commiseration over Earth being the fucking most all the time. “Well, at least we still have their Megazord,” Divatox says, a reminder to the audience more than anything.

We close on a straight minute of the Phantom Ranger’s face. He doesn’t do anything. He doesn’t say anything. He just stands there all imposing. WHOO-OO! The end.

The Good

Oh, man, this episode was intense. We’ve had episodes where the Rangers lose their Megazord and then the aliens can attack whenever before, but this is the first time in a long time I’ve really felt the tension in that. Metallosaurus’s unstoppable assault on Angel Grove was some good shit.

Divatox in general has been a perfect antidote to the high stakes and deathly serious plotline transpiring in this episode. She’s basically comic relief today, but she’s much needed comic relief and she plays that role perfectly.

Divatox is the Elgar to General Havoc’s Divatox and it’s kind of amazing? And it provides just enough levity to tide the episode over to the climax, when the Rescuezords blast right through the tension, trample the darker tone into roadkill, and proceed to obliterate the architect of the dark atmosphere and gloom, Metallosaurus, entirely through slapstick hijinx.

It’s tonal whiplash, but it’s the good kind of tonal whiplash. The darker tone highlights Havoc’s unambiguous victory over the Power Rangers, while the more light-hearted and comedic tone returns with a vengeance to signal the Rangers rising from the ashes and reclaiming their city.

Also, I don’t know if the writers meant this to be funny, but I love the big square hole into darkness that the Phantom Ranger summons. It looks like some kind of swirling vortex, perhaps to a pocket dimension or to some mysterious location or maybe to another planet entirely. But no, it just dumps them in the tunnels below. It wasn’t a portal, it was a portable hole. That’s hilarious.

Lastly, I want to note that the Zord fight was really cool for the fact that we got to see the individual Zords in action. Fights like this are very unique; most episodes jump straight into Megazord action as soon as a fight breaks out. The Megazord doesn’t really feel like a combined super mode for the Zords to use in emergencies; it’s the default state of the Zords, and the individual Zords only ever see action in rare exceptions.

The Bad

The Rescuezords are kind of an ambiguous plot point. They’re the sort of thing that could be building towards an amazing identity reveal for the Phantom Ranger. But they’re not, is the thing. That plot point never gets answered. As a result, they’re less of a cool bit of foreshadowing and more of a confusing Ass Pull, similar to the Gold Ranger’s ancient alien Zord having comprehensive schematics for how to link up with the various Zords that Billy built from scrap months before.

The answer to the Gold Ranger’s identity failed to satisfactorily explain why Pyramidas has Billyzord schematics loaded into it and is already configured for merging with the Billyzords. The lack of answer to the Phantom Ranger’s identity similarly fails to explain why he has all these Zords on-hand for the Turbo Rangers to use.

And, mind you, he just got these things. He did not have them when he showed up to give the Rangers their cryptic message of hope. If he did, he would have been like, “Come with me, I have Zords for you.” No, the only explanation for his behavior that makes sense is if the Rescuezords were just completed when he showed up to pull them out of the Metallosaurus fight.

Either he’s been building them or they just arrived. Either way, where did they come from and who is this guy? Mysteries without an answer aren’t mysteries; they’re just vague hand-waves.

I miss Billy. “Billy did a Billy and now we have new tech” was a great reusable explanation for all weapon and Zord acquisitions throughout Zeo.

Also, let’s talk about the Power Ruby. Because the episode doesn’t. Porto, at the start of the episode, explains that they’ve discovered the source of the Phantom Ranger’s power. Havoc and Divatox plan to lure him away as part of their overarching plan to deal with him permanently.

This plot point is then immediately dropped and doesn’t come back up again for the rest of the episode. I don’t know if they’re planning to revive it at a later episode but if they are, then it’s a reveal that would have been better saved for that episode, where the information would serve a tangible purpose.

This episode isn’t about the Phantom Ranger or the Power Ruby. This episode is about the shnazzy new Zords. They’re just going to have to remind the audience what the Power Ruby is when they bring it up again later, if they ever do. That was time that could be better spent trying to provide some explanation for why the new Rescuezords exist.

Best Ranger: Ashley Hammond, Yellow Ranger

I wanted to give this to Cassie because Cassie probed an alien. That’s just great. It’s especially serendipitous given how I’ve been characterizing her, too.

But actually, Ashley deserves the recognition. Everyone got to have a cool moment against Metallosaurus except, uh, one particular Ranger. But Ashley didn’t just get to land a cool hit on him. She rescued. She saved half of a building from being smashed into rubble with Bulk and Skull inside (plus who knows how many other people), then stopped Metallosaurus from tipping over the other half.

While everyone else was getting cool pot shots in on Havoc’s Zord, Ashley successfully shielded lives from harm. And I cannot stress this enough, her new Zord was able to match the vastly larger Metallosaurus’s strength due to its very stable design.

Worst Ranger: Justin Stewart, Blue Ranger

Justin tried to take down Metallosaurus by delivering his Rescuezord directly into the colossal dinosaur’s huge chomping teeth. This went exactly as terribly as you might imagine.

#power rangers #power rangers turbo #dragon review power rangers

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thesnootyushers · 7 years

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Following on from Turbo: A Power Rangers Movie, we now move on to the worst series in the entire franchise. Power Rangers: Turbo. God this entry is rubbish. So let’s get it over with.

So, the series starts with a three part episode called ‘Shift into Turbo’ with Rocky who will leave the series after this, appears to help ease the transition and facilitate Justin’s introduction. It also takes the part of the audience who maybe hadn’t seen the Turbo Movie through the events, as his friends relate the story through a five minute montage.

Throughout this three part episode the main four are graduating High School and must start finding their way in the world. Zordon and Alpha are also leaving to return to Eltar. In their place they leave Alpha 6 and Dimitria (a sorceress/sage from the planet Inquiris). Divatox comes to earth to get revenge on The Rangers by taking over Earth.

There are a few more episodes of filler as The Rangers adjust to Alpha 6 and Dimitria. Then comes The Blue Senturion.

He arrives Earth from the future with the Millennium Message. This is a warning that the United Alliance of Evil including, Rita Repulsa, Lord Zedd, The Machine Empire and Divatox, would conquer the universe and divide it up amongst themselves.

Divatox had kidnapped him and turned him evil, after she found out what actually was the Millennium Message. Blue Senturion attacked The Power Rangers, but The Rangers turned him good again. He could not play all of the Millennium Message for The Rangers because it had been damaged.

The Senturion proves to be an excellent ally and helped The Rangers on many occasions. He stays until the end of the season.

Turbo also brings us two new characters, Carlos a soccer player in High School and a Cheerleader Ashley. Who feature in the next big episode ‘Passing of the Torch’. After a visit from her mother, Mama D, Divatox is inspired to take down The Power Rangers by removing their leader.

While heading to the outskirts of Angel Grove to go camping with Adam, Tanya, and Justin, Tommy and Kat are ambushed by an army of Pirahnatrons (Divatox’s footsoldiers), with Tommy being captured to be dumped into the Vortex of Eternal Doom and Sorrow, while the others fight the Flamite at their campsite. Luckily, a pair of young teens in the midst of moving to Angel Grove, T.J. and Cassie, spot the disturbance and come to The Rangers’ aid.

This episode is significant because the time has come for the four veteran rangers to pass on their powers to a successor of their choosing. They have chosen T.J., Ashley, Cassie, and Carlos to take up their respective mantles as the Red, Yellow, Pink, and Green Turbo Rangers, with Justin remaining at their side as the Blue Turbo Ranger.

In this series we also meet The Phantom Ranger. He is from Eltar, Zordon’s home planet, his power source is an Eltarian Crystal. He seems to be close to Cassie. He sticks around for a few episodes, although we never find out his identity. Phantom Ranger gives The Rangers new Rescuezords to help them recover their stolen property. This gives them even greater power as now there are two sets of Zords (and two sets of toys to sell).

On the villain front, we meet General Havoc, who is Divatox’s brother and has built her a space base and also a Zord called Metallosaurus. He uses it to capture the Turbo Megazord and plans a trap to steal the Phantom Rangers Crystal to control the stolen Megazord.

In another stroke of merchandising genius, we also see the introduction of two sentient cars that help The Rangers one of which can turn into a hovercraft for The Red Ranger. They are called Lightning Cruiser and Storm Blaster. They are not Auxiliary Zords and can’t join the Megazord but The Rangers can pilot them when needed.

The season finale is a two part episode called ‘Race into Space’ in which Divatox enlists the imposing Goldgoyle, a Zord sized monster and thug for hire to destroy The Rangers once and for all. Though The Rangers destroy him it is at the cost of both Megazords and also their Turbo weapons. When they teleport back to the Command Chamber they are spotted by Divatox’s henchmen who learn the chambers location.

Dimitria tells The Power Rangers that Eltar has fallen to evil forces. The Rangers want to go and help Zordon but Dimitria tells them that they are the last line of defense from evil and that she and the Blue Senturion will leave Earth at once to help Zordon. Outside the Power Chamber, teams of Piranhatrons assemble. Divatox send her forces to attack. The Rangers detect the attack and prepare. Alpha tells The Rangers that there are too many of them, but T.J. tells him to open the outer doors. Alpha wishes them luck as the team charges outside.

Outside the Power Chamber, The Rangers fight swarms of Piranhatrons as Lighting Cruiser and Storm Blaster lend their assistance. Soon, the Piranhatrons overwhelm Lightning Cruiser and Storm Blaster and take them captive.

The Piranhatrons, led by Elgar, use a battering ram to force their way inside the Power Chamber while another team of Piranhatrons scale the Power Chamber’s walls and get on the roof. The Rangers try to fight off the Piranhatrons, but are overwhelmed by the sheer numbers and are barely able to defend themselves and protect Alpha. Elgar enters the chamber and sees the energy tube wide open. Realizing that neither Zordon or Dimitria can return to Earth if he destroys it, Elgar picks up a hammer and throws it at the tube, smashing it to bits. Elgar then places detonators all over the Power Chamber. Outside, Divatox waves goodbye to the Rangers as she detonates the bombs inside, destroying the Power Chamber completely.

Later, Elgar and Divatox commence a search for The Rangers’ bodies, with The Rangers hiding amongst the wreckage of the chamber. Suddenly, a flaming ball of light approaches Divatox and informs her that Zordon has been captured and that she is to leave immediately for the Cimmerian Planet. The messenger then tells her that the order was directly from Dark Specter. Fearful of this name, she agrees and tells The Rangers that she’ll soon be back as she and her forces leave for the Cimmerian planet.

The Rangers decide to follow Divatox into space and save Zordon. Alpha from the wreckage has saved the Power Decoder, which he explains is crucial for their journey into space.

After helping his fellow Rangers get into space, Justin tells them that he can’t go with them as he wants to stay on earth. The Rangers brace themselves, as they head off into the unknown on their mission to save Zordon….

This is an awful series and one that almost nailed the coffin shut on the entire franchise. The response was so poor and ratings fell so hard that the next series was going to be the last.

The first reason was the movie, it was really poor and people brought the baggage from that into the new series. The second reason was they totally abandoned the Zeo powers without any real explanation. Thirdly and most infuriatingly, The Blue Ranger from Rocky to Justin following an injury to actor Steve Cardenas.

Casting a twelve year old actor to play Justin was a major mis step and turned the character into one of the most hated in all of The Power Rangers universe. To explain how he is always with the Rangers they make him a child prodigy, who gets transferred to High School.

When he morphed however he grew into an adult and then reversed back into a child when he powered down. It was stupid. As kid it I thought it was stupid, I hated it. I was filled with fury, the likes of which I would not feel again until 2001 (this would not be at Power Rangers but at a character in another show).

In my later years I realised it was the writers way of trying to appeal to a younger demographic and bring them back into the franchise. All it did however was annoy nearly all of its fan base, with the younger kids not caring either.

They also replaced Zordon, The Rangers mentor and Alpha, the snarf -like side kick in the first episode of the series. This was a massive change as these two were two of the longest serving characters.

I did not care for their replacements. Dimitria was Zordon’s friend but she didn’t control the Morphing Grid. She hadn’t fought Evil for a millennia. Even as a child, I was outraged. How dare she come in and start changing the way things were done!

Alpha was replaced with Alpha 6 and he was soooo much worse. They looked identical but Alpha 6 used some sort of jive talk. Remember when I talked in vol. 4 about racial stereotypes? this was probably the most offensive one. Especially since it made no sense, he is an alien robot, why do they try and make him sound like Vanilla Ice doing a Biggie Smalls impression. It was awful and another nonsensical change. Looking back after all these years with(slightly) more mature eyes and a lifetime of following the franchise I never understood why Dimitria and Alpha 6 were introduced.

Now, onto the villains. Divatox* was also an unusual choice. She wasn’t really scary, She came across as a bit of a Cougar. I fancied her, even as a child. Unlike previous villains she was a pirate, so world domination seemed like an unusual goal. She doesn’t seem evil just spoiled and bratty. Even Rita, though she would get angry, had a scariness about her, she was magical and dark and radiated power. Towards the end however when Divatox hired Goldgoyle, that was a good move, it fitted with what her character is supposed to be.

Her henchman are useless. Elgar, her nephew, is Power Rangers version of Jar Jar Binks. Absolutely bungling, comic relief. He can even be beaten by a non morphed Justin, one on one. He can be beaten by a twelve year old. So why he was continuously given jobs to do is beyond me. While the other villains henchmen were also played for comic relief or bungled but they could all hold their own in a fight and any that couldn’t we never saw fight. eg. Squat and Baboo, two of Rita’s crew, were never put into a situation where there was combat.

Elgar

Only Goldar and Rito ever got into a fight with The Rangers. Usually, a single Ranger alone could not take them, it usually needed them all. Rita although she never did enter the battle physically I believe she would have been a contender, just the way she carried herself and what she could do with magic made her a viable threat. Divatox was a Yummy mummy in a metal breast plate and a half mask that never fitted properly.

So given that Divatox is a luke warm villain, It annoyed me how she was the one to beat The Rangers. It should have been Zedd and Rita. They were more powerful, conniving, sneaky and opportunistic. It just didn’t sit right. Another way of alienating the fans.

I want to take this opportunity to address a major cast change that happens 20 episodes in. After the actors playing Tommy and Kat wanted to leave, the writers and show runners then decided to replace the entire veteran cast. The in universe explanation was decent in that The Rangers were no longer teenagers and deserved their own normal lives. It echoes what Zordon said to Kimberley when she left two years earlier.It just came out of nowhere. It should have been built up, as should the replacement Rangers. Introduce them, show us why they are worthy, let us become familiar with them. Instead Ashley and Carlos get one episode before they take over and TJ and Cassie are introduced in the actual episode where the powers are transferred, it’s too quick. After having a massive overhaul in the early episodes, to then spring four totally new people on us is mad. Whats more Tanya chooses Ashley as her replacement but hasn’t even met her.

Previous power transfers have usually had a lot more build up. Tommy got five episode arc when he first arrived on the scene. Adam, Rocky and Aisha had six episodes before they had the power transferred. Katherine had a whole story arc. Tanya was the exception but it was only one character so it wasn’t as bad. The Gold Ranger had several story arcs dedicated to him.

It was yet another ridiculous change (see a pattern?) that made no sense. Even the in-universe reasoning is flawed. Why would you totally remove experienced soldiers who have years of experience and replace them with four untrained teenagers? In the MMPR pilot episode, Zordon had no choice when Rita escaped. He was desperate and needed to act quickly. Those five grew and learned how to be Rangers. You could have had Adam or Tanya (who’s actors hadn’t expressed views to leave) stick around for a bit just to act as a trainer or advisor, much like Billy did in the previous series.

In reality it was a case of writers and producers being at sea with a show that was failing. Two cast members had expressed interest in leaving, both Katherine and Jason David have said they assumed it would of been at the end of Turbo. So they could have stayed around longer. Yet the producers panicked and decided to once again mix up the status quo and just replace all the veteran cast. The reasoning was a new cast would mean new audiences could jump in and not get lost with the old characters backstories. They could just start afresh.

I understand this model from the production crew, but then why not start with this. It would be a better way of establishing the new cast. You could even, although it wold have been risky to do so, establish them in the Turbo Movie.

The final episode, which in my opinion is the only good episode in the entire series. Hell its a fantastic episode. To see the Command Centre just get torn apart is brutal. Then when the tube of Zordon and Dimitria was smashed I was stunned.

The first wave outside the Command Chamber is awesome. The swarms of Phiranhatrons attacking and The Rangers running out to face them makes for a striking image. It proves how brave these Rangers are. The other Rangers had never been tested against such odds. Whats even better is when they are losing and must retreat back inside the chamber. Carlos and Justin are both scared. It struck a chord. They should be, they have no Zords, no Zordon, no Dimitria and no Turbo weapons while outside is an army of evil Aliens. It’s honest, it’s human, its believable but even in spite of their fear they stay to fight.

When Alpha 6 tells T.J he will teleport them all to safety. T.J responds with ” No Alpha, we will protect this place until the bitter end”….I was welling up as a child. I still get the feels now. They hadn’t been Rangers long, but by god they were doing the best job they could, they were even ready to die for it.

The second wave of attack when the Piranhatrons break in is devastating. It is a very well written, filmed and edited scene. You see the swarms of enemies pouring in and dropping down. There are explosions, smoke and sparks in the periphery and the Rangers are fighting for their lives. The screen is packed with enemies just suffocating the rangers. I also love how The Red Ranger gives up one of the outer doors he is protecting to save Alpha. Just diving over a panel and wiping out the enemies attacking the little robot. Sadly I cannot find any images for it.

The cliffhanger ending also really worked, we were left wondering on so many things: What had happened to Zordon? Who was Dark Spectre? Why was Divatox so afraid? What would The Rangers do in space? What about their Powers? It ended on a such a down note.

To repeat this is a bad series, there are too many changes and things that aren’t clear or have no place and purpose. I have not even mentioned The Phantom Ranger or General Havoc.

What is interesting is the Sentai this is based on, called Carrangers, is a Parody of all the previous seasons. It is meant as joke/homage to the series. It is important to note that the Japanese Super Sentai series started in the Seventies. The series Mighty Morphing was adapted from, was the 17th season overall.

Some of the American writers wanted to stick with this idea and do more comedy/parody the other half wanted a more serious theme to fit with its maturing audience. Here lies the problem I can see elements of both throughout. Justin in particular, some of the monsters, the Blue Senturion and Divatox are all very kiddish and silly. The ending however seems serious in tone. If the writing/production staff didn’t know what kind of story they were telling then its audience definitely wouldn’t. What we got was a messy mockery of everything we had come to expect.It also explains changes, directions and shake ups that came across as stupid. Its a shame because Zeo did a good job giving the series real credibility.

Like with Zeo all the Sentai footage was used, which was lots of cars crashing into each other. Lots of people hated the Turbo Zords. I liked them. I will admit it was two sports cars and three 4×4 trucks each in a Ranger colour but they were fine. I loved the Rescue Zords which were more individual and just looked cooler.

Rescue Zords

Turbo Zords

Megazords

The Turbo morphers used morph into Turbo Rangers were a car key and wrist ignitions. See what I mean about parody?. This is something else that turned people off the series. They preferred the mystic animals/dinosaurs as opposed to cars.

Over 42 years of Japanese Sentai Series and 23 years of Power Rangers, there are only so many themes you can have for Zords, without repeating yourself. Animals and cars would be used many times again in future Power Rangers series as would Dinosaurs. They had all been used numerous more times over in Sentai. I will be honest the Zords never bothered me, I always had more investments in the costumes.

With plummeting viewership, large downturn in merchandise sales and a mauling by TV critics. The show was told the next series would be the last. Since the original idea back in 1992 was only supposed to be 40 episodes they had come a long way.

So the writers decided to go out with a bang and do as much as they could with what they had. They got rid of Justin and once again went back to the drawing board. What came next would be arguably one of, if not the best, entry, in the franchise. That, however is a story for another day…

*A fun fact about Divatox, the actress who played her in the Turbo film, Hillary Shepherd Turner, fell pregnant before the series started filming and was replaced until mid season. The actress who played her for the first 25 episodes, Carol Hoyt, also played Dimitria.

The Power Rangers Legacy: Volume 5 Following on from Turbo: A Power Rangers Movie, we now move on to the worst series in the entire franchise.

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