YOPR: 14. Foul Play in the Sky
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: Stakes … on a plane!
Why it matters: There’s a ton happening here. We get unfamiliar sets, another one-off character and a situation primarily centered on a single character – really, it’s “Peace, Love and Woe” except nowhere near as offensive to one’s tastes. A simple premise – the only pilot aboard a small aircraft unknowingly consumes a sleeping potion – allows for one of the finer focus episodes. It’s inconsequential, really, to the actual episode, but the best moment might be a brief reflection Kimberly makes as the plane passes over the mountains where the Command Center is located (and, presumably, disguised). A flashback to the first episode functions on at least two levels: it acknowledges the show’s internal continuity in a manner not common for kids’ TV at the time, and calls to mind that Kimberly was skeptical about becoming a Power Ranger. It’s fleeting – the harrowing flight sequence takes off soon after – but poignant; despite the show’s best efforts to suggest otherwise sometimes, these characters are more than just cookie-cutter stereotypes with access to a universe of power.
Episode MVP: Power Bow. For the second time in three episodes, the signature weapon of the Pink Ranger delivers the final blow to the Monster of the Day, so this could be a bit of a “repeat achiever” award. I get that the producers are confined to the Sentai footage available, but it’ll never not be cool that Kimberly (and Trini) were so frequently at the forefront of MMPR’s stories and battles; enough can’t be said about how revolutionary it was for kids’ TV to show female superheroes on equal footing with their male counterparts.
A good quote: “I think now’s a good time for me to faint.” – Bulk
Rating: 4/5 Bryan Cranston ADR sessions
