YOPR: 3. Teamwork

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.

3. Teamwork

One-sentence synopsis: When faced with their toughest threat to date, the Power Rangers are reminded of the key to overcoming evil.

Why it matters: Like many superhero brands, Power Rangers for a time was pinned as a “boys’ show,” and while its marketing efforts during certain periods did little to discourage that label, there’s never been a point at which Power Rangers was ever written just “for boys,” even in the less-progressive early 90’s. We’re now three episodes in, and this is the second straight wherein female characters are central to the episode. The overarching “plot” – it’s thin, even for MMPR season one – has Kimberly and Trini focused on an anti-pollution petition, and separated from their male counterparts for the bulk of the show. The two groups eventually conjoin and are reminded of the value of teamwork in all aspects of their lives – in and outside of spandex.

Episode MVP: Deus ex machina. This episode, following the first couple, is kind of funky because of how the source footage was handled. In Zyuranger, the equivalent to the Dino Megazord doesn’t appear until the sixth episode, well after those heroes have vanquished their equivalent to Mighty Minotaur, the monster of the day in “Teamwork.” So, it comes across really weird when our Rangers need fancy “Power Weapons” to defeat their villain when they haven’t even tried to form their Megazord. 

A good quote: “It’s just dandy that you’re trying to clean up the environment, but is this dump site as bad as you say?” – Principal Caplan

(I think this is one of the weaker MMPR episodes as a whole, but it’s got a lot of memorable one-liners.)

Rating: 3/5 Industrial Waste Containers

Previously on “Yesterday on Power Rangers”

1. Day of the Dumpster
2. High Five