YOPR: 39-40. Doomsday
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.
39-40. Doomsday
One-sentence synopsis: Not quite a finale.
Why it matters: Originally, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers was ordered as a 40-episode series, and “Doomsday” was written as its finale. Of course, history played out much differently: the show became an outrageous success and has continued for 30 years. It’s not strange that additional seasons of Power Rangers were ordered, but what is unusual is that its first season was extended by an additional 20 episodes, taking it into the next calendar year and neutering its would-be finale. It’s difficult to imagine this two-parter as what it was intended to be, in part because it doesn’t really feel like the end of something despite plenty of dressing that suggests otherwise – there’s a climactic battle, a celebratory event of the Power Rangers organized by Angel Grove’s citizens and not one, but two callbacks to the teenagers’ jumping chant. It’s a fine two-parter, but as a conclusion? It just falls a little flat.
Episode MVP: Agency. Part two starts with the heroes making a choice that Zordon doesn’t exactly endorse, and ends with him presenting them with an opportunity to re-evaluate being Power Rangers. It’s a nice mirror of the first episode, where the same choice was offered in a pool of skepticism and unfamiliarity. Here, the teens make the same decision they did months ago despite having much awareness about the situation and how it affects their daily existence. This sequence is quietly profound: the notion of superheroes having a fair chance to give up their duty and go back to having regular lives isn’t something the genre typically dabbles in much, largely because most of its heroes are genetically modified and/or motivated by a memory that would make them feel guilty if they hung up their cape. These Power Rangers are just high school teenagers who were in the right place when Zordon went on a scouting mission for “five overbearing and over-emotional humans.” Others could wield the Power Coins – and will in due time – but they, for now, choose to keep fighting the good fight. That’s cool.
A good quote: “Do you see that? I’m winning.” – Rita
Rating: 3/5 sinking Titanuses
