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

Legends of Power, WEEK 50 - A Countdown of The Greatest Power Rangers Stories

   Welcome to the first of a 50 week long column. Once a week, there will be a new Power Ranger story that was seen on the series post on here as among the best. Before we get started, I wanted to break down how this list is tabulated.

     Between looking over each series and diving into the episodes of each show, we are gonna look at  the best that Power Rangers has to offer. There will be  at least one episode of each series, Save for Megaforce, on this list. So be prepared. Some of the stories you will see will not be surprises. Some of the stories in this list most definitely will.

   Remember, while this list is somewhat subjective, fan comments and votes are STILL viable. For the next 50 weeks, we will be counting down an episode each week. So, grab your morphers and let's rock.







           













 MIGHTY MORPHIN MUTANTS


   Ah. Yes. We start with the first season. And oddly enough, we start with the second to last episode of the very first season. Mighty Morphin Mutants has a lot of great things going for it as to why it made the countdown.:

 - We have The Rangers fighting against a team of Evil Rangers

 - We got a character subplot and slight development for Tommy: with his forgetfulness.

 - It's a six on six ranger fight with the evil Rangers led by a crayfish monster.

 - Some damn good fighting scenes.

 - One of the funniest Bulk and Skull scenes in Power Rangers History.

 - One of the best and longest Zord battles in PR history.


Mighty Morphin Mutants is probably the second best instance of evil rangers for the first season .... heck, for the entire run of Mighty Morphin. The episode felt like a movie for the most part and it was Glorious. Yet, there are several things that make this episode hit #50.

   - The Tommy Subplot seemed kinda of there. You could have substituted it with a different subplot and the episode would have been just as good for the first season.

 - Heavy Use of Zyu2 footage is both a good and bad in this episode.

 - We NEVER see what happens to the evil Pink and Yellow Rangers. We just *Assume* they were destroyed but we see them go flying.

 - It's season 1 acting. What do you want?


Overall, why not the best episode ever, Mighty Morphin' Mutants was an enjoyable ride with an almost cinematic like feel to it. Check out Mighty Morphin' Mutants to see what I mean.

But till then, Happy New Year's and welcome ... It's gonna be a bumpy and awesome ride.


- Frankie Rodriguez
 Broken Infinite E-I-C/Founder/President
 Power Rangers Fan 20 years and Counting.


Next Week: It's So Bad It's Good Kind of Episode