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We start off at an airport, which I guess would indicate the theme of this episode. We see some guy in shades drinking a pop while waiting for someone (and I can't help but notice that they wisely had the can's front facing away from the camera). We move to outside of the airport's main office as Kimberly is talking with Trini over the phone, saying she's going flying with her uncle today. The guy from earlier walks up to her and lets her know that they're leaving soon.
Wait...that guy is Kimberly's UNCLE?! Are you kidding me?! The guy looks like he's in his early twenties, for crying out loud! And I know Kimberly's supposed to be a high school student here, but they only look a few years apart! I'd be less surprised if the guy was Kimberly's boyfriend instead of her uncle! And the fact that he seems to be checking Kim out through the episode doesn't help matters (leave all incest comments at the door, thank you).
We move to the Juice Bar as we see Jason just going to town on the punching bag. Dude, relax! It's a ton of dirt wrapped in leather! It can't hurt anyone! Zack's busy watching the "girl of his dreams", Angela. We'll be seeing more of her as we move along, serving as Zack's main love interest. This time, though, Zack goes over to talk to her, and gets promptly shot down. For the first of many times.
We cut to the moon where Rita is spying on Kimberly. She develops a plan to slip a sleeping potion to her uncle Steve, ensuring that the plane will crash. Then, with one Ranger gone, she'll send a monster down to deal with the rest. A better plan than usual from Rita, keeping things simple while attacking indirectly. When it comes to evil plans, always follow the KISS rule: Keep It Simple Stupid.
We move back to the airport as Squat pours the sleeping potion into Steve's drink, before quickly teleporting away. We then see Bulk and Skull, who are sitting on a nearby bench, watching the planes fly by. Bulk reveals his desire to be a pilot himself, which leads to this bit of dialogue:
Skull: You know, I've got the mind of a pilot.
Bulk: Oh yeah? What makes you think that?
Skull: 'Cause Mr. Kaplan says I'm an airhead.
I could comment on the fact that KAPLAN said that, but it'd ruin the brilliant bit of comedy there.
Anyway, the two see Kimberly with Steve and run over. She tells them she's going flying and they ask to come along. Despite their borderline criminal acts in the past, Kimberly tries to nicely tell them no, which eventually leads to Steve just letting them come along. We then get a goofy bit where Bulk has trouble getting into the plane. See, it's funny because he's fat. Finally, all four buckle in and take off. Apparently, Bulk and Skull would be terrible pilots as they seem to have a fear of heights, though Bulk tries to pass it off as a "fear of crashing". The group enjoys the view as Steve drinks the poisoned drink.
We cut to the moon where Rita decides to bring out the monster, rather than doing the SMART thing and making sure that Kimberly is actually dead. But, then again, that seems to be a problem with all evil villains, so we'll ignore it. Goldar explains that this monster will be called Snizzard, a half snake, half lizard monster that can shoot other snakes like arrows and drain the energy of his enemies. Snizzard looks OK, I guess. I'll let you decide this one for yourself.
We move back to the plane as it flies over the mountains near the Command Center. Kimberly almost lets slip that she's been there before, as she has a flashback to the first episode, with her meeting Zordon, fighting the Putties, and become a Ranger for the first time. Soon, however, the potion starts to kick in as Steve starts feeling dizzy. This, naturally, causes Bulk and Skull to panic. They panic more when Steve finally faints.
We move to the moon as Rita assumes that Kim's pretty much gone. Again, not a smart move, but expected of a typical villain. Finster creates the Snizzard and Rita declares victory.
Back at the plane, Bulk and Skull panic more while Kimberly tries to think of a solution. Bulk and Skull panic so much that they also faint. This gives Kim the opportunity to call Alpha and Zordon for help. She explains the situation and Alpha tells her to just teleport out of there. But, of course, she can't because that would pretty much kill Steve, Bulk, and Skull. It's then that Rita sends Snizzard down to attack. Alpha calls the other Rangers to the Command Center, while also helping Kimberly keep the plane steady. Zordon quickly fills them in, and also explains that Kimberly can't fly forever due to the low fuel tank. Alpha will help Kimberly land while the others fight Snizzard. So the four morph and head to the fight.
They fight Snizzard for a bit (surrounded by Easter Island idols, for some reason), and try to blast them with their lazers. The apple on Snizzard's head just reflects the blasts back at them, and Snizzard retaliates.
Back on the plane, Alpha helps Kimberly turn the plane around, but gets a distress call from the other Rangers. He fills Kimberly in on what's happening to them, while Kimberly gets closer to the Angel Grove airport.
Back at the fight, Snizzard summons other snakes to strangle the Rangers and drain them of their power. This makes them easy targets for Snizzard to pound on some more, further addressing the need for Kimberly's help. You know, because she's not doing anything important, like LANDING A PLANE.
Speaking of the plane, we get a short comedy bit where Bulk and Skull wake up, realize that Kimberly is flying the plane herself, panic again, and faint again. "A woman, flying a plane? Surely you jest, good sir!"
Yeah, that's gonna get me some negative feedback...
Anyway, Alpha continues to help Kimberly land the plane, assuring her that she can do anything she sets her mind to. Kimberly calms down enough to make the landing on the runway, just as Steve wakes up and stops the plane. Almost as soon as the plane fully stops, Kimberly bails as the paramedics arrive. She runs off to a hidden location and contacts Alpha. Rather than give her a minute to breathe, he tells her to hurry and help the other Rangers. Because it's not like she LANDED A PLANE or anything. But time rests for no superhero, and so Kimberly morphs and joins the fight.
Snizzard brings out some Putties to fight Kimberly, but she displays some solid bow skills and takes them all out. She then frees the others, hits Snizzard a couple of times, and decides to play William Tell with him and shoot the apple on his head, which is apparently his weakpoint, and finishes him off. Rita is of course pissed at her lackeys for screwing up a perfectly good plan.
We move back to the airport where Bulk and Skull are revived by the EMTs. Steve checks up on them, but they panic and run off, happy that they're still alive.
We move to the Juice Bar as Bulk and Skull arrive. Kimberly is flirting with some guy, who's impressed with the fact that she, you know, LANDED A PLANE. Jason and Zack, who happen to be nearby, mock the two, and as Zack gets up he bumps into Angela, who drops some milkshakes she was holding onto Bulk and Skull. Group laughs and we end the episode.
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Now that we're done, I noticed something. The four other Rangers are fighting a giant snake monster while Kimberly tries to land a plane. Hmmm...
Anyway, this was a MUCH better episode than what we've seen lately. While the monster wasn't that impressive and we missed out on the MegaZord, it was a good plan from the villains as they actually tried to KILL one of the Rangers for once. Kimberly got a little bit of character development in this by gaining some self-confidence, and the message here was a good one and didn't feel tacked on. Plus, it was just cool to see Kimberly completely dominate the fight with the monster. A big step forward, especially in comparison to the last few episodes.
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You know, if they were having such a hard time with Snizzard, they could've just asked Samuel L. Jackson for help. Seems like a no-brainer.
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