Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers: Season 1, Episode 4: "A Pressing Engagement"

When Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers first aired, there was no precedence.  Yes, there were the Japanese monster movies that got dubbed into English and had footage reshot and spliced in.. but television is a different beast.  Creating character arcs, story arcs, coherency... it takes a lot of creativity and even great shows can have inconsistencies due to the different people working on any given episode, actor availability, and budget restraints.  So as simple as Power Rangers' final product is as a narrative, it does take a tremendous amount of creativity to look at fight scenes and write a story around them. Unfortunately, A Pressing Engagement lacks such creativity.

The episode finds the tens at the Juice Bar, where Jason is trying to beat the bench-pressing record currently held (inexplicably) by Bulk.  Wackiness interferes, and Jason doesn't break the record, and proceeds to feel bad about it while Zack and Kim console him.  This gives Rita the idea to separate Jason from the others while he's still feeling down using King Sphinx's mighty wings.  She sends him down to the park to "take it over," and Zordon promptly alerts Jason, Zack, and Kim.  They fight him for a bit, along with some putties, but are blown back to the Juice Bar (because heaven forbid they were sent to some other location unmorphed).  The Sphinx teleports himself and Jason to the desert, and the two duke it out for a bit.  Trini and Billy, who are just chilling in Billy's garage during all of this, are informed of the situation and the group teleports to the Command Center.  Zordon tells them to use the Power Crystals activated from their coins to help locate Jason.  They teleport the crystals to him and then that let's them... teleport to him?  It's actually a bit confusing.  Cue zord battle!

More than anything, A Pressing Engagement just feels... lazy.  Everything feels half-assed, with element like the Power Crystals being wholly underdeveloped as a concept.  Jason trying to break a bench-pressing record is totally in-character for him, but the previous record being held by Bulk?  I don't know.  I can't picture Bulk being committed to anything that exhausting (unless he cheated, which is totally likely).  The shenanigans at the start of the episode with Zack crashing into Kimberly's bubble gum... balloon... thing were really awkward and painfully unfunny.  Why not have Bulk sabotage Jason or something?  Especially since he enters the scene a bit later and does fuck all.  At least I did get a chuckle out of Ernie eating a sandwich and being easily distracted while counting Jason's presses.

The morphed fights are nice, and I like King Sphinx's design, but he's about as memorable in this episode as he was in the toy commercials.   When I would watch those ads as a kid I thought he and Goldar were brothers or something, given their similar designs.  But it turns out he's just another disposable villain.  The Megazord fight drags on longer than it should, and while normally I like longer fights, it feels like most of the battle features the Megazord in tank mode, which is pretty limiting.  Fun fact: after viewing Zyuranger I found that this episode is actually supposed to be the introduction of the Megazord, so it makes much more sense in that show's context.  But we've already seen the Megazord in action in the first episode (as well as the Power Crystals), so building up its introduction here just feels like filler.  The cinematography in the later half of the ground battle is wonderful, especially the shot of Jason calling to the Tyrannosaurus with the water brightly glistening behind him... I think I need a poster of that.  It's about as beautiful as early Power Rangers gets.

I don't expect Power Rangers to deliver thought-provoking character drama, but this episode left a lot to be desired.  Jason doubts himself, but it all rings false.  Picture this: after the first time he can't break the record, he tries again and fails because he gets tired.  His own body fails him. That would have been more interesting than Kim's gum popping onto Zack or whatever the hell happened.  Then he could start to doubt himself to Zack about being a leader in battle.  It's resolved when he realizes that his strength as a leader is dependent on his team, and that's what unlocks the Power Crystals. Also, having Kim and Zack get blown back to the Juice Bar was pretty silly, and really shows that the production crew and writers were wearing their tiny budget on their sleeve.

So it's not the greatest episode due mostly to its lack of coherency.  I don't even understand the title; is it a bench-pressing pun? Groan.  But there's also not enough going on to get angry about it either.  The cast tries, but they're let down heavily by the direction, and it's clear now- only four episodes in - that Rita's scenes are mostly composed of recycled footage.  It's just a showboat of mediocrity all around.

Mighty Morphin' Scale: 4/10

Power Rangers Scale: 2/10

Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers: Season 1, Episode 3: "Teamwork"

"Why don't we show a little teamwork and get this place cleaned up?"

Something one must know about Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers is that it was made at a time when educational children's programming was becoming mandatory for networks to show.  To meet that requirement, they often had to shoehorn in PSA-style messages to their otherwise action-heavy, Saturday morning children's shows or tack on an actual PSA at the end.  So how was Power Rangers, a show so action-heavy that it caused widespread controversy, to handle this dilemma?  Thank God they didn't go the "special announcement the end of the episode" route, but what we got was also pretty cringe-inducing.  The Power Rangers became very involved with volunteer park clean-ups. That's great and everything for people who assume that kids copy everything they see on TV, but when I was a kid, I only wanted to copy stuff on TV that I thought was cool.  Did anyone ever use their Power Ranger toys to reenact the numerous park clean-up episodes?  I highly doubt it.

Teamwork is sort of a lousy episode for multiple reasons, but it's also an interesting one.  With the show still finding its footing, several things happen that would rarely if ever occur again.  Kimberly and Trini are sponsoring a petition to clean up a local waste dump, and while they're getting plenty of signatures, they can't seem to get any volunteers; not even Jason, Billy, or Zack.  Meanwhile, Rita reveals that she's the one who set up the waste dump (um, what?) and plans to pollute the Earth.   Kim and Trini get attacked by putties, but the others can't help them because Rita has sent down the Mighty Minotaur.  Zordon declares that it's time to bestow upon the rangers their new Power Weapons, and so for the first time, they call upon the Power Axe, Power Bow, Power Daggers, Power Lance, and Power Sword.  The weapons combine to form the Power Blaster and the rangers take the Minotaur down with ease.

I'm gonna harp on the biggest problem with the episode, which is that Rita's plan doesn't make any sense.  The waste dump that Kim and Trini just happen to be petitioning against is one that Rita set up?  When and why did she set up a waste dump?  It's obvious that the writers just needed an environmental-themed episode and it didn't really matter how it was incorporated.  They could have just as easily had Rita be inspired by the waste dump to pollute the Earth, but even then, the rest of the episode has nothing to do with stopping pollution or even mentioned.  To make this an environment-friendly PSA was ill-advised from the start.

And what a shame too!  This is a really big moment in Power Rangers history: the introduction of the very first set of weapons.  Unfortunately, the rangers are simply handed them without much reason beyond that they were loosing the battle.  It may have made more sense if Billy and Alpha were just finishing them or something and they were ready to be used, but hadn't been tested yet.  I know that's very cliche, but it's better than the non-explanation the episode gives.  In any case, I love the look of the weapons and the Power Blaster is all kinds of awesome.  As with the suits and zords, this might be my favorite set of weapons the show ever produced (okay, maybe Time Force beats them by just a smidgen).

The fast-motion comedy is still employed to add campy fun, but I always wind up grimacing whenever it happens.  I can handle corny when it comes to this show, but this is just too much.  However, the fight footage is lovely as always, and the casts' interactions are pretty solid.  When the other guys are telling Kim and Trini that they can't do the cleanup, there was some surprisingly good acting; the guys feel bad that they can't help, but it's also clear that they don't really wanna do it.  And the girls don't get pissy over it; they have perfectly natural reactions. 

Thus we come to some things about the episode that I don't consider bad or good, just interesting.  First off, this is the first time there's any extensive use of the American suit footage, and that has weird results.  There's a shot of morphed Jason where his helmet and his suit are completely different colors, then in the command center the suits seem to be shiny like the Zyuranger costumes.  I love the look of them, but I don't believe they were used extensively in later episodes.  Also, and this being the only time it happens, the rangers speak to each other while they're teleporting.  That's... just... weird.  This is also the first time we hear the famous morph call, "It's morphin' time!" delivered by Jason without much intensity.  Rita's wand throw isn't the typical stock footage that will be used later on, but it works just fine.  I'd also like to note that using strictly Japanese footage for the villain scenes lends them an otherworldly feel that I've always liked but could never articulate until now.  This is also a rare time that the zords don't combine to form the megazord immediately, instead fighting separately (which I really, really liked).  Kim even gets to decimate some putties with the Pterodactyl!

So despite there being plenty to like in this episode, I have to say it's not a very good one.  The pollution message being shoehorned-in, the unceremonious way the rangers get their new weapons, and the lame fast-motion bring the episode down too many pegs to count.  Let's not forget that this was shot after the producers found out that the teens couldn't be seen punching putties in the face, so some awkward fight-scene editing hurts the episode even further.  There are too many "firsts" for the episode to be skip-able though (including the first introduction of Mr. Kaplan), so thank goodness for that Sentai footage and the actors' charm.

Mighty Morphin' scale: 5/10

Power Rangers scale: 4/10

Mighty Morphin Power Rangers Season 1, Episode 2: "High Five"

"Hey, dirtbag! Leave him alone."

Due to my Day of the Dumpster review feeling a bit overstuffed, I decided to continue some general thoughts on this one.  How do you talk about the first season of Power Rangers and not talk about the kick-ass theme song?!  80s and 90s kids shows got many, many things wrong when it came to their stories and characters, at least in terms of holding up to adult standards.  But man, did they get their theme songs right, and for me, Power Rangers is near the top of the list for having the best kid's show theme of all time.  Actually, screw it, it's one of the best theme songs of all time period!  It's simple, catchy, and wonderfully energetic, which is exactly what the show needed to give it an edge that might be missing from the low-budget civilian scenes.  The background music follows suit as well, with Ron Wasserman delivering sold music that always suits the tone of the scenes; the Bulk and Skull theme is priceless, Rita's music has a mischievous flair, and the command center's ambiance is full of Importance. Say what you will about about the dialogue and the jumbled story structure, early Power Rangers sounds great.

Now, onto the episode at hand.  In a nutshell, High Five is a fun episode.  It is in some ways a "part two" to Day of the Dumpster, with the introduction of the communicators and the rangers being able to self-teleport being established for the first time.  Looking back at just how big a part teleporting played in the first six seasons, it's amazing to see its inception.  The story is about Trini and her fear of heights, which is nice to see since Power Rangers was supposed to be marketed to boys.  It's great that the show believes in focusing on the girls as much as the guys despite this being so early on.  There's little in the Sentai footage to suggest that this had to be a Yellow Ranger focus; in fact, it seems like it should have been a Red Ranger focus, judging by the solo Tyrannosaurus battle at the end.

The cast is finding their footing very quickly, especially considering how many episodes they were shooting at once.  They seem comfortable in their character's skins, and it's nice to see them kid around with each other.  Yes, they're dialogue is pretty corny, but they seem earnest enough for me to care about what's happening in the story.  The rope climbing stuff with Bulk and Skull was sufficiently stupid, but I did chuckle when it broke and the roof caved in on Bulk's head.  It's the way he puffs out the sheetrock dust, no doubt a suggestion of actor Paul Shrier, given what we know now about Bulk and Skull's gag preparation.

The civilian fight scenes are clearly just not there yet in terms of energy and choreography, made more obvious by the stupid looking "human tank mode" or whatever the hell the teens do to take out the putties.  It looked absolutely ridiculous.  I'm very grateful that this is a one-time thing.  I get that this is one of the first big putty fights, but it's awfully weird.  I didn't mind the rock climbing scene with Billy and Trini, especially when Trini calls one of the putties a "dirtbag." It almost feels like a swear word by Power Rangers standards.

Thankfully, the Sentai footage looks really great.  There's a fun fight with Bones in his weird dimension, with those those skeleton putty things were never used again.  What's up with that? Those things were neat!  Bones is the first in a long line of monsters that fall apart but can reassemble themselves, plus he has a cool voice.  I have a lot of nostalgia for him, given that this is one of the very few episodes that was available on video at the time (and I rented them from my the library so often that I might as well have owned them).  I always found it odd that it's Jason who finishes off the monster (not Bones, just some random Giant) rather than Trini, but it's still nice to see a Zord fight that doesn't resort to using the Megazord immediately.

And of course, we get our first use of the ultra-cheesy fast-motion "for comedic affect" gag that will remain a staple throughout early MMPR.  It happens a few times: Alpha freaks out and runs around the command center, the putties run away with cactuses on their asses, and Trini climbs the rope at the end.  It's another trend that didn't really stick after the first string of episodes, and thank God for that.

I'd go so far as to call this "classic" Power Rangers.  Corny, fun, and stocked with likable character moments, featuring nonsensical desert putty fights and Sentai footage that looks great but doesn't have anything to do with the story at hand.  It's well-paced enough to remain interesting, and never feels overstuffed because the story is simple and clear, which is exactly what one should reasonably expect.

Mighty Morpin' score: 8/10

Power Rangers score: 7/10