YOPR: 4. A Pressing Engagement
On April 19, MIGHTY MORPHIN POWER RANGERS: ONCE AND ALWAYS premieres on Netflix. I’m writing about all 60 episodes of MMPR’s first season in the lead-up to that premiere.
If you’d like to follow along on this rewatch, entirety of MMPR’s first season is available for free (with ads) on YouTube.
One-sentence synopsis: Rita thinks Jason is weak, so she attempts to separate the Red Ranger from his team to end him.
Why it matters: The entire episode is built around a paper-thin idea – Jason’s trying to beat the Angel Grove Juice Bar bench press record – and it’s executed comically: the existing record is a little over 1,000, and Jason shows no signs of struggle until he’s close to breaking it. OK. Witnessing this through her magical telescope, she decides to have Goldar and a new monster, King Sphinx, go 2-on-1 against him. Power Rangers being separated from one another is a trope present in the franchise to this day, and this is already the second instance in MMPR; however, this particular separation functions as something of a precursor to a forthcoming arc in which Jason’s relationship with Goldar is fleshed out, so there’s some depth that can be found in it. Overall, it’s a sloppy one in part because of how its source footage was adapted (I haven’t even mentioned the Power Crystals *facepalm*), but that same footage does a lot of the heavy lifting on the way to this episode’s inevitable conclusion.
Episode MVP: The Red Ranger running gif. This meme is most often used to decry work-related stressors, or to signal one’s departure from the office. Outside of King Sphinx – an incredibly well-designed monster used in a lot of early merchandise and whose adapted version, unfortunately, is severely lacking in personality traits – it’s had the most lasting impression on pop culture.
A good quote: “Your outstanding performance will have a lasting legacy.” – Billy
Rating: 2/5 bubblegum bubbles
Previously on “Yesterday on Power Rangers”