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So we start off at the Juice Bar where Zack is performing some magic show for a bunch of kids. Though I don't really see what juggling has to do with magic. According to Zack:
Zack: blah blah hand-eye coordination blah blah reflexes, and also, it's a great way to impress the ladies.
Uh, I'm pretty sure kids that age still believe in cooties. I get that Angela is standing right there, but keep your hormones in check, Zack.
Bulk and Skull arrive, they try and fail to juggle, they slip and slide on something on the floor, then Zack scares them off with rubber snakes. I continue to wonder just what the hell is wrong with Bulk and Skull. They are so obviously fake that you'd have to be a ridiculously serious coward to be scared of them. It just boggles my mind what they'd become within a few seasons.
Angela comes over and congratulates Zack on a show well done. Zack pulls some flowers out of his cape, which earns a peck on the cheek from Angela. And like I said in that one Billy episode, by 90's kid show logic, that means they're steady. And the other Rangers agree, apparently.
After Rita spouts nothing about her next plan, the other Rangers decide to head to the mall, but Zack stays behind to hang out with Angela. Rita orders Finster to make her new Peckster monster, so I guess that explains the "fowl" in the title. The others are wandering by a playground when Putties attack. By the way, I'm not skipping over anything, it goes back and forth like this pretty fast. While the Rangers are fighting the Putties, we cut back to Angela and Zack. I do like the interactions here between the two. It seems a bit more awkward, but it's an indication that there's a real romance developing between the two.
Of course, there's news of a monster attack on TV, so the courting is quickly quelled. Zack offers to do some more tricks to calm down the kids, so we get a bit where Bulk and Skull make Zack disappear. Bulk has to say "Iyamac Oon" and wave a wand while Zack hides behind a curtain and he'll disappear. Saying "Zack" will make Zack reappear. So Zack hides behind the curtain and Bulk starts chanting the phrase, only to discover, once he says it really fast, that Zack called him a goon. I have to admit, that's pretty clever. Zack does disappear, which gives him the opportunity to sneak out and contact Zordon, who fills him in on the monster situation. Zack morphs and goes to find it.
Zack fights some Putties while the other Rangers...fight some Putties. Yeah, that was pointless. The Peckster appears and I think they were trying to go for a warped Woody Woodpecker thing here, since he has this really annoying laugh that sounds almost like Woody's. They fight for a bit and the Peckster escapes. Afterwards, Zordon tells Zack to return to the Juice Bar so the kids don't get suspicious. He does so while the others finish off the Putties. After a Queen reference from Jason for some random reason, Zordon contacts them and they teleport to the Command Center.
Once there, Zordon fills them in and explains why Zack and Tommy won't be helping them right away (Zack's busy with the kids, Tommy's low power). They morph and go to fight the Peckster. They run into some Putties along the way and start fighting. We then move back to the Juice Bar, where Bulk and Skull basically make the kids miserable by existing. Bulk asks Angela out on a date to the "submarine races". Uh...what?
Angela: I'd rather give mouth-to-mouth resuscitation to a hippopotamus in a mud pit.
Skull: *mimes stabbing himself in the gut*
Bulk: So, that's a no then?
Have to give Angela points for creativity there.
Bulk suddenly "senses" Zack, and goes over to the curtain and pulls it back, revealing Zack. I guess since he said his name, it "worked". They get another report in regards to the monster attacks, and Zack, seeing both the black ball in his hands and a black balloon, suddenly gets an idea. Back at the fight, the Rangers finish off the Putties, only to get attacked by Peckster. OK, maybe he's a reference to Scratch from The Adventures Of Sonic The Hedgehog. Either way, he's annoying. He smacks the Rangers around, shooting feathers out of his mouth (OK...) and creating gusts of wind with his wings. Just when it seems like he's going to finish them off, Zack appears with balloons in his hands. He dares Peckster to pop them, which he does so with his beak. Once he hits the black one, however, his beak gets stuck in the black ball from earlier. Uh, sure, why not? I'm just going to assume the ball belonged to the Juice Bar and not the kid. That'd just be mean. Zack blasts Peckster with his Blade Blaster, which pisses Rita off. So she makes Peckster grow and the Rangers summon the DinoZords and form the MegaZord.
What really shocks me is that the MegaZord brings out the Mammoth Shield. Yeah, when was the last time they did that? It's mainly used to deflect Peckster's pecking, which works. Until Peckster starts whipping up a whirlwind, knocking the MegaZord over. It retaliates by firing its head lazer at it. Again, something it rarely uses! Why is it suddenly using weapons it hasn't used since the first few episodes? Anyway, this leaves enough of an opening for the Rangers to summon the Power Sword and finish it off. The kids at the Juice Bar celebrate and Rita gets pissed.
Back at the Juice Bar, Zack arrives in a damn fine suit, ready to take Angela out for a night on the town. Fancy dinner, slow dancing at a club, candlelight, the works. The plans are quickly canceled, however, when Angela arrives with the kids for a cartoon special at the movies. Zack still agrees to go, charmer that he is, though he's a bit disappointed when he discovers that they're watching a five-hour special on Angela's favourite cartoon character: Woody Woodpecker. The group laughs and Zack facepalms as the episode ends.
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OK, I'll admit it, this one was a little bit better than the previous filler episodes. There still wasn't much of anything connecting the subplot and monster, but the comedy moments make up for it, as they're worth a good chuckle. It is dragged down a bit by one particularly bad child actor, but I didn't mention him earlier because he hardly says much of anything. What he does say though is baaaaaaaaad. The romance between Zack and Angela is developed a bit, but I think this is the last time it's brought up. I could be wrong, though, we'll have to see. Overall, not bad.
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In all honesty, does Peckster look more like roadkill than a woodpecker, or is it just me?
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