YOPR: 56. On Fins and Needles
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: Ego tripping.
Why it matters: The relationship between Jason and Tommy is highlighted multiple times following the latter’s introduction in “Green with Evil,” and it’s notable that this is the second time that their co-existence is threatened by their individual personalities and pre-dispositions to “alpha dog” status. Sure, this time around, it’s through the work of Rita’s magic, but what she’s conjured merely has enhanced the worst parts of who they are – and how they perceive the other. Friendships are complicated, especially within a team setting where you’re more or less forced to befriend people with whom you might not be in accord. I think, deep down, Jason and Tommy have a mutual respect for one another that – had Jason’s character not been written out of the show about halfway through season two – would have eventually given way to a friendship that could’ve been the bedrock of the entire show through to whatever the characters’ alternative conclusions might’ve been. Instead, we’re party to a bond that never feels 100% sincere; one gets the impression that, under Rita’s spell, this is as honest as either ever actually is with the other.
Episode MVP: Teamwork. With four episodes remaining after this one, it’s heartening that the team behind Mighty Morphin Power Rangers felt compelled to continue preaching the value of teamwork on a micro-level within a show that has the concept baked into its fiber. It’s a subtle decision – and, arguably, a lazy one – but it also would’ve been way easier to just go with the flow and have viewers presume that, after a couple early hurdles, these teenagers have all their problems with one another sorted out and everything’s hunky dory. Being in high school is hard enough without becoming an adult while saving the world. I don’t particularly care that the tension here is contrived via a sorceress; the message to kids watching at home is no less effective.
A good quote: “The Power Rangers were doing just fine before you showed up.” – Jason
Rating: 5/5 tickets to a fight