Legends of Power, Week # 40: Guess Who's Back

LEGENDS OF POWER, WEEK # 40:
Return of an Old Friend
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers



     I liked to point out that this 2 parter was a major step for Mighty Morphin and in PR history. Why is that? Well, besides the obvious, allow me to break it down to you.

    In a stroke of genius by Rita, she actually kidnaps the parents of all the rangers and then makes them "willingly" give up their power coins ... after Goldar puts Billy under a spell to do Rita's doing ... which in this case, was collect the Dragon Dagger. Billy did that. Jason, Zack, Trini, Kimberly & Billy ended up trading in their power coins. Goldar unleashed the Dragon Zord on the populace. And Rita was celebrating. It was a near complete victory.

Near Complete. 

   Rita forgot one detail that made this story all the more interesting. Jason and the gang turned in THEIR power coins ... yet, Rita did not ask for the Green Power Coin. She asked for the Dragon Dagger. She got the Dragon Zord running amok. She knows there are some powers left int he coin cause of seeing Jason using the Dragon Shield. Yet, She DID NOT ask for the Green Power Coin.

    *shakes my head*

   Honestly, if Rita had asked for the Green Power Coin as well, Mighty Morphin would have possibly ended with Rita winning it all. But she didn't. And in Jason's and Zordon's clever foresight, they used the coin, got Tommy and infused it with some of Zordon's power for a temporary fix.

     And Tommy came back hard. He got the others power coins, he got back control of the Dragon Zord. He took down the Puddies. And the Rangers saved their parents. It was pretty damn epic 2 parter for back in the day.

    This also marked the return of the Green Ranger ... till the first 3rd of season 2. We got lots of Zyu2 footage going on. And was the beginning of the last part of the first season. For the first time, Rita got really personal. Her plan was near flawless. This plan was better than the one in Doomsday. It attacked the Rangers personally. Billy was turned evil. The Rangers lost their powers and had to relay on Tommy, whose powers were definitely in flux to get the Power Coins back.

    It was a great jump on point as well. As this part of the series really meshes Tommy with the team, while his first run as Green Ranger ... he was definitely very much a sixth ranger. 


    Return of an Old Friend was exciting, somewhat smartly written and a rollercoaster of a 2 parter. Tommy's return has fans losing their damn minds in excitement. And it was the debut of the now classic Go Green Ranger Go song that many fans still listen to this day.

  So, why is this # 40 and not much higher? A few reasons. First, Rita's fail at full victory for not asking for the Green Dragon Coin. Second, Rita had the Rangers parents. She should have hurt one of them in order to get a complete surrender. Third, the beginning of the bad cloth shield for American Footage.

  Otherwise, this was a solid story that really pushed the Rangers and brought back Tommy in grand fashion, much like how he came in.  And that is it for this week. Till next time, May the Power Protect You.


NEXT: The Episode With the Most Imfamous Ranger Line In History