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So we start off outside the Juice Bar with Tommy moping around the basketball court. Kimberly comes to cheer him up as we get a recap of Zedd's actions for this subplot. Tommy also mentions that Alpha gave him a bioscan to determine if there was any hope of getting his powers back to full, the results of which we'll find out shortly. Lightning then starts striking the area, which results in Tommy seeing...himself? Yeah, some weird holographic copy of him suddenly appears, apparently from the future. The future him gives him some message about a final battle and his communicator, as well as to not give up, before disappearing, leaving Kim and Tommy, as well as the audience, confused as hell.
We cut to the moon briefly where Zedd promises that the Green Ranger will lose his powers today, and then the Rangers will be finished. We then move to the school where we're introduced to Zack's cousin, Curtis. And apparently, excellent dancing skills is genetic in Zack's family, because we meet Curtis while he's showing off his dance moves to a crowd. He even moonwalks, the bastard. And FUCK, Richie's there too. God, why can't this guy just go away? He and Curtis leave and Tommy walks in, explaining what happened to Zack and Billy. They're suddenly interrupted by spontaneous rolling garbage cans that have Bulk and Skull in them. They were placed in those cans and are promptly scared shitless of the group behind them. Five teenagers who are clearly bullies because most of them wear fingerless leather gloves. They are also wearing the original five's respective colours. I have a very bad feeling as to where this is going.
Apparently, my feelings aren't unfounded, as Zedd decides to take these supposedly nasty doppelgangers and make them into his Dark Rangers. Well, I'm sure another evil Rangers scenario could work considering it's Zedd at the helm, right? Er, right? There's also a green crystal that's apparently siphoning the Green Ranger power, which Zedd will use again Zordon and the Rangers. This sounds like just another plot from the past few episodes, which is a good way of luring the viewer into a false sense of security.
At the Command Center, Tommy gets the news from Zordon, and it isn't good. They're unable to restore his powers, meaning he's left with enough for one last battle. Tommy mentions the vision, which Zordon can't quite pinpoint a concrete meaning yet. He does determine, however, that since Tommy wasn't wearing his Green Ranger outfit despite being in the middle of a battle, it doesn't look good.
We then move to the beach where the Rangers, minus Trini, are hanging out. Kim explains that Trini's visiting her grandmother, hence her absence. I think the real reason was because Thuy Trang broke her leg and had to be written out for a couple of episodes. I'm not 100% sure on that, though. The doppelgangers show up to pretend to be tough, which leads to Zedd deciding to transport them to his "Otherworld" to transform them into the Dark Rangers. How much you want to bet this "Otherworld" doesn't get any mentions after this two-parter? They're teleported away as the Rangers wonder just what the hell is going on.
In this Otherworld, Zedd briefs the doppelgangers on becoming the Dark Rangers, as well as his newest plan, which is to create a monster to force Tommy to use up his powers. Unfortunately, he chooses to make one from some shells Kimberly was collecting, resulting in Turban Shell. Not only is this monster slow and very lame, but the fact that THIS guy is supposed to mean the end of Tommy is just bad.
At the Command Center, Tommy relays the test results to the others just before Turban Shell attacks Angel Grove, already in giant form. Trini arrives and Tommy obviously wants to help, not knowing it's just part of Zedd's plan. They eventually agree, and I like the more subdued "It's Morphin' Time" call by Jason, knowing that this will most likely be Tommy's last fight. They morph and head out to battle.
Once there, they see the giant Turban Shell and quickly summon the ThunderZords and form the Thunder MegaZord. And then Tommy summons the DragonZord! So, what happened to him not being able to control a Zord anymore? Aw, who cares, the DragonZord is back for one last romp! Thankfully, this means that its fight with Turban Shell isn't a choppy mess, unlike the fight with the Thunder MegaZord. Somehow, Turban Shell beats up the Zords enough to force the Rangers to eject, allowing it to retreat.
In the Otherworld, Zedd isn't too happy that Turban Shell made a run for it, so he forces it to go back and finish off Tommy. He then teleports Tommy to some field in the middle of nowhere so the two can fight. They do for a while until Turban Shell absorbs what's left of Tommy's powers and transfers it to Lord Zedd. Yep, this is how Tommy loses his powers. Just terrible.
Meanwhile, the Rangers find that they can't contact Zordon, and are suddenly teleported to the Otherworld, in a force field and demorphed. Zedd exposits about his plan to replace the Rangers with his Dark Rangers and we see them for the first time...and they look ridiculous. It's basically just recoloured Putty outfits with red eyes and mouth. How can they be expected to see out of those masks? Zedd exposits more while the Rangers try to convince the Dark Rangers to not follow Zedd. Naturally, it doesn't work. The episode ends with Tommy running away from the very slow-moving Turban Shell.
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For an episode that's supposed to lead into the end of Tommy's tenure as the Green Ranger, this isn't very good. The monster is lame, the subplot with the Dark Rangers seems forced, and it overall feels very underwhelming. Ah well, maybe the second part will be better.
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This is Turban Shell. This is supposed to be the one responsible for Tommy losing his powers. If you believe this at face value, I worry for your sanity.
So, these Dark Rangers are supposed to replace the Power Rangers. Ssssssssss....yeeeeeeeeah....
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