YOPR: 55. Second Chance
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: Everybody gets a trophy.
Why it matters: Soccadillo doesn’t seem like a monster that gets a lot of love within the Power Rangers fandom, and that might mostly have to do with the episode in which it exists rather than the creature itself; he isn’t the most exciting of the “Zyu2” creatures but he’s one of the more unique. Even the most steadfast proponent of participation trophies would have to concede that the premise on which this episode is built – a single kid’s discouragement over not getting selected to a soccer team coached by an owner-operator of a local juice bar – is paper thin; it gets off on a mediocre foot and never recovers despite a good effort. This is the second straight episode in which the Putty Patrollers are given a bit more to do other than act as mobile punching bags for the Power Rangers, and there’s some continuation of Jason and Zack as confidence-builders for kiddos. It isn’t offensively bad, but it’s probably the worst of the post-”Doomsday” episodes.
Episode MVP: Sports. Kudos to the MMPR writers for their foresight; in 2023, soccer is as popular as it’s ever been. I say this without having done any research, but I imagine in 1993 that the sport had a stronger foothold in California – where Power Rangers was scripted and filmed through 2001 – than elsewhere in the U.S. The show’s relationship with traditional sports is not in your face but also not distant, which to this former sportswriter is a significant strength and a point of differentiation when it comes to the Power Rangers versus other popular superheroes; we’ll explore this a bit more in a couple episodes.
A good quote: “That’s right, it is up to me.” – Ernie
Rating: 2/5 “pagers”