YOPR: 27. Wheel of Misfortune
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: You never know what evils a family relic might harbor.
Why it matters: “For Whom the Bell Trolls” first offered the notion that any item the Power Rangers hold dear could be transformed into an evil creature, and frankly makes a more compelling story out of it; accidental evildoer Mr. Ticklesneezer just has infinitely more depth than a demonic spinning wheel with no lines. However, by this point in the series you can tell that the entire cast has reached a nice comfort level with one another, and their performances in an episode with a stage-acting component really bring that to light. Amy Jo Johnson, especially, thrives – Walter Jones comes off as the most natural all-around performer, but AJJ is its best thespian. Her “improved” deliveries as the girl opposite Rumpelstiltskin in the final scene feel straight out of an unstaged moment; her frustration is visible but not overstated. It’s not a surprise at all that Johnson went on to have further TV jobs; she earned it.
Episode MVP: Bulk. The best moment of this episode, for my money, occurs less than three minutes in, when – in a dismissive overreaction to a valid complaint from Kimberly – he opts into distracting those present by swiftly spinning her grandmother’s old spinning wheel, causing it to malfunction (and blow off Principal Kaplan’s wig). Bulk doesn’t express regret or offer an apology – he even fails in an attempt to calm Kimberly – but visibly, you can tell that he’s distraught. Is that a response derived from worry about getting in trouble, or because he’s genuinely concerned that he did something to unintentionally harm a classmate? Given the character’s progression, I choose to lean into the latter and mark it up as our first real moment of growth – quiet as it is – observed in the huskier half of the show’s unforgettable comedy duo.
A good quote: “Hey Putties, help me, I’m starting to feel sick. Really sick.” – Tommy
Rating: 3/5 pouting teenagers
