Wednesday, June 23, 2010

Power Rangers Season 1 Episode 14 - Power Ranger Punks

So, last time we endured one of the weirdest and worst episodes to date. In addition to a bad plot and blatantly annoying message, any part of it that had potential, like the monster, was quickly ruined by rather...suggestive means. Can this episode be better? Let's find out.

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So we start off with the Rangers taking part in the exciting activity that is volleyball. Actually, I'm just going to skip over this part, because nothing really happens here. Plus, it's short.

We cut to the moon where Baboo is playing mad scientist. Suddenly I have the urge to watch MST3K, even though I've never seen any episodes and know it has nothing to do with mad scientists. And no, I won't be starting a blog where I review MST3K episodes, because a) this is taking enough time as it is, and b) reviewing a review show is pointless. Anyway, Baboo proclaims that his "punk potion" will make Rita happy enough to earn him his own planet. Considering the name of this potion, I doubt it.

After more pointless volleyball, Putties attack the Rangers. OK, I try to stay away from technical commentary, and the fight scenes where the Rangers fight the Putties demorphed are rarely ever good, but this one is especially bad. Not only does it seem like the Rangers never actually hit the Putties, but the editing and cuts are just terrible. They move too fast to actually see anything happen, and it repeats the same sequence up to three times in a row! It seems more like a YouTube Poop than an actual scene from the show! Anyway, as the Rangers fight the Putties, Baboo flies overhead and drops some of his potion in the Rangers' water. After they beat the Putties, Kimberly and Billy drink some of the water. They flash red for a second and become "punks". This means that they growl, make faces, and talk in high-pitched faux growly voices. They immediately act like assholes to the other Rangers and walk off. The Rangers, being the brain surgeons they are, attribute it to "too much sun". I mean, it's not like they fight an evil super-witch who could be behind their friends sudden 180 in terms of attitude, right?

Speaking of said super-witch, we cut to the moon where Baboo brags about his plan. Rita ignores him and orders Finster to make a monster, and Finster chooses the Terror Toad. What this has to do with punks I do not know, but this doesn't give me a good feeling about this episode, particularly in terms of plot.

Back at the school, Zack, Trini, and Jason meet up and watch Bulk and Skull mess around with Bulk's locker. The duo then sees the "punk" versions of Billy and Kimberly enter. Naturally they need to prove their punkness by pushing around some other kid and asking for his lunch money. I wonder if anyone actually did that in high school? The two then walk over to Bulk and Skull, and Kimberly surprises everybody by asking Skull out on a date. Skull, naturally, agrees. Bulk, being the only one there with a brain in his head, asks what's going on with the two and why they suddenly changed so rapidly. Billy tells him to stop asking stupid questions and intimidates him to the point that Bulk turns into a blubbering child. Not that that was much of a stretch.

Alpha sees these events and panics that the two have gone punk. Because that's clearly worse than the fact that they've become assholes. Zordon has Alpha teleport the group to the Command Center and places Billy and Kimberly in a force field. Zordon fills them in and explains that the only cure for them is the sap from a plant known as the Singing Squash. Well, obviously! Zordon explains the one time he acquired the squash as Sentai footage that won't be used this episode plays. After that, the alarm goes off, due to the Terror Toad arriving on Earth. The other three Rangers morph and go to fight it.

The three get their asses kicked by the Toad, and we see just what it does. It spits out some weird yellow tongue that grabs someone, turns them into a ball of light, and then promptly eats said ball. He demonstrates this on Trini, which causes a picture of Trini's helmet to appear on his stomach. I don't really see what the point to that is, but it poses a minor threat. Jason and Zack blast the Toad with their Blade Blasters, but as usual, it doesn't do anything. Do those things ever work?

Meanwhile, Zordon finds a Singing Squash in a dimensional gap, and because the others are preoccupied in one sense or another, he sends Alpha to retrieve it. Alpha heads there but gets intercepted by Putties. Oh well, guess that's the end of the series. Alpha gets trashed by Putties, Kimberly and Billy stay punk, and the other Rangers get eaten by the Terror Toad. This was fun guys, but-

Wait, Alpha holds them off?

Yeah, apparently Alpha zaps the Putties with some electric shield or whatever, and gets the squash.

Back at the fight, Jason and Zack pull out their respective weapons, but it doesn't work at all. The Toad then eats Zack, leaving Jason to fight the Toad solo.

Back with Zordon, Alpha mixes a potion from the sap, which means he just drops green food colouring into water. Billy and Kimberly drink the potion and turn back to normal. Zordon fills them in on what's going on, and says that in order to beat the Toad, they need to destroy its horn, and then hit its weak point below its mouth. Gee, didn't think to explain this to the Rangers you already sent out, did ya? You really aren't very good at this mentorship thing, Zordon. The two morph and join the fight.

Naturally, Billy and Kimberly easily destroy the horn, but that only pisses the Toad off. He then shoots out an actual tongue, which lets him eat Jason, and later Billy. Kimberly shoots the weak point on his neck, which causes him to release the other Rangers. They all gang up on him and Kimberly finishes him off. Rita, of course, gets another headache.

Back at the Juice Bar, Kimberly is giving Trini some gymnastics pointers and Trini comments on her and Billy being back to normal. Bulk and Skull arrive, with Skull dressed up for his and Kimberly's date. Bulk suggests he go out with Trini to make it a double date, but Billy steps in. Bulk decides to show them up by beating them at volleyball. The duo shows a new level of ineptitude by falling through the volley net. Which, naturally, causes the group to laugh and the episode to end.

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Here's an interesting bit of trivia for you: This was the first episode to have the same plot as the Sentai it was based on. Which only confuses me more, because out of all the plots they could've picked, why this one?! It was just....dumb. The plot had no connection with the monster, and really didn't add anything to the episode as a whole. On top of that, the fight scenes were dull, and no MegaZord this time. Really, this episode only served the same purpose as the body switch episode did: to show off the fact that Amy Jo Johnson and David Yost were the best actors on the show to that point. And even there it was a dull job. Just avoid this one.

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The Terror Toad is as dull as everything else in this episode, and you'll soon forget him, no doubt.

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