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So we start off at the Juice Bar with Trini practicing with some older guy, but is surprisingly having a hard time with it. Whoever this guy is, he's training Trini in Praying Mantis-style kung-fu. And...that's about it.
You know, watching any Trini-centric episodes really make me wonder just what the thought process was at Saban at the time. For whatever reason, Trini's character gets the least development out of all of the Rangers, and she always seems to get the shaft in terms of spotlight. Out of the few episodes that feature her, except for High Five, and maybe No Clowning Around, her character traits are usually either a) token Asian girl who knows martial arts, or b) enviro-nut who delivers the show's forced message. And this is not the fault of Thuy Trang, who does a fine job of playing the character. It's the character's direction that really bugs me at times. She's supposed to be the Team Mom, and that could lead to decent character interactions. Instead, she just comes off as bland and preachy at times. How sad is it that I prefer a fanfic adaptation of the character more than the real version? Sure, it made her a tad on the manipulative side, but it was something! And don't get me started on the almost constant changing of her origins. Yes, she's supposed to be Chinese, but I refer you to the episode with her uncle/Billy's teacher, who used Japanese honorifics. And yeah, you could pass that off as interracial relations, but that would require forethought from Saban, and I don't see it.
Anyway, now that I'm done with that nice, long aside, we cut to Bulk and Skull, who are of course mocking the idea of praying-mantis kung-fu. Bulk then gets the potentially offensive idea of imitating their own insect of choice and charging people to learn their "kung-fu style". Meanwhile, Rita watches Trini practice and of course, decides to create a mantis monster to take her on. Yay, petty Rita again. This episode is going to be sooooooooo good.
Back at the Juice Bar, Trini continues to practice, but keeps having a hard time and starts to get a bit frustrated. Her master (I think his name is Lin?) gives her a real praying mantis to study to better understand this brand of kung-fu. She meets up with the others and Jason asks her why she suddenly wanted to learn this style. Trini said that it emphasizes fairness and honour, which is something she wants to live up to. Bulk and Skull return and announce themselves as the only masters of cockroach-style kung-fu. OK Bulk, if you want to use this as a money-making scheme, wouldn't it make more sense to use an insect that's more, you know, appealing to the general public? They act like idiots, oh, and Zack freaks out because of the bugs. Yeah, forgot that minor plot bit, didn't you?
We move to the park where Trini is practicing alone, until Zordon contacts her and informs her of a nearby disturbance. She investigates and it's the Mantis monster, as expected. She morphs and the Mantis challenges her to one-on-one combat. And I won't address the stereotypical Asian voice the Mantis has. They fight for a bit with the Mantis getting the upper hand. The others arrive and help Trini, leading the Mantis to retreat, but not before berating Trini for a supposed lack of honour. Rita gloats due to her plan working, that being to trick Trini into facing the Mantis alone, which will destroy her. OK, so maybe there's a bit of character development here, but I somehow doubt it.
At the Command Center, Trini is wondering if it would've been better to face the Mantis alone, thereby keeping her honour. Alpha does an analysis of the Mantis and surprise, surprise, it's a master of mantis-style kung-fu. Billy speculates that it challenged Trini since she's the best fighter of the team. Uh, since when? I thought Jason was the best fighter of the group? Oh, wait, is he the best KUNG-FU fighter of the group? *sigh* No, this isn't stereotypical in the slightest.
While Trini practices some more, Rita sends her a note, which Ernie delivers to Trini, wondering how it appeared on his table. After an antic with Bulk and Skull, Trini arrives at a desolate quarry or whatever and the Mantis reappears, challenging her to a rematch. Trini doesn't trust the Mantis to play fair, since it's one of Rita's monsters, but the Mantis gives its word that it'll fight fair. The others read the note that Trini got and go to investigate. As the fight between Trini and the Mantis begins, the others are attacked by Putties. While they fend them off, Trini starts to get the upper hand in her fight with the Mantis. However, the Mantis summons some Putties to help it.
Trini: What about YOUR honour?!
Mantis: I have no honour! Like you said, I'm one of Rita's monsters!
A-DUH! Anyone else see this coming?
Trini eventually scores a few hits on the Mantis while the others fend off the Putties. Zordon contacts the others to inform them of Trini's situation, so they morph and join her in fighting the Mantis. The Mantis smacks the Rangers around before Rita makes it grow, so the Rangers summon the DinoZords and form the MegaZord. The fight here is just bad. They mindlessly brawl a bit, Trini spouts some kung-fu crap, they summon the Power Sword and finish it off. Rita blames everyone but herself.
At the Command Center, Zordon congratulates Trini for at least trying to play fair, the others promising to always watch her back when they need to, blah blah, friendship. We then move back to the Juice Bar where Trini practices with her master again and does much better this time. After that, Bulk and Skull act like idiots as usual, crash into stuff, group laughs, episode ends.
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You know, I might not have such disdain for this episode if it wasn't so incredibly stereotypical. Sure, some will say that this does count as character development for Trini, but I'm willing to bet the thought process was "well, she's one of them Asians, so she must care about honour and stuff!". The whole episode seems to mock the concept of kung-fu as a whole. Yes, there's the intentional stuff, like Bulk and Skull, but there's also the fact that the Mantis sounds stereotypically Asian. It really makes me raise my eyebrow at whether or not there was something wrong with the development team at Saban. And I'm sure some will say I'm just being negative, and I might be, but that doesn't make me wrong. Avoid this episode.
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Another thing about the Mantis: for some reason, the Rangers kept referring to it as a "he", but it was clearly voiced by a female. What the hell is going on with this show?
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