Why is Kimberly on the box? Shouldn't it be Trini? Oh well.
So rounding out the series of "episodes I watched on VHS and are therefore classics," we've come to No Clowning Around. It's an episode that's notable for nothing much other than that we finally get to see the Ranger teens A.) not fighting in another friggin' rock quary and B.) hanging out in a place other than the Juice Bar. And don't get me wrong, I like the quarries and Juice Bars, but I still need a change of scenery once in a while. And we get a good one here; a carnival, featuring a creepy, child-napping clown that can turn people into cardboard cutouts. I take what I can get. Bottom line? It's an enjoyable episode that actually generates some tension and some creepiness, courtesy of none other than Pineapple the Clown.
Creepin'
The Ranger teens are having fun at the local carnival, playing on stilts and enjoying the rides. We are introduced to Sylvia, Trini's younger cousin, who makes fast friends with Pineapple the Clown. Little does everyone know that Rita has set a trap; the carnival is littered with Putties disguised as clowns and Pineapple is actually (in Finster's own words) the horrible Pineoctopus. He leads Sylvia away from the others and turn her into a cardboard cutout before Trini can get to him. The other clowns assault the Rangers, which leads to some theme park-style fights. When Pineapple shows off his true form, the other Rangers morph and try to take him down. Can Trini get her cousin back to normal and take down the Pineapple with pedophile-like undertones?
"Clown, back off."
I'll say this for No Clowning Around, there's no shortage of imagination when it comes to the utilizing the carnival setting. Clowns, rides, and cotton candy all integrate themselves perfectly into the episode, giving us great visuals (the famous credits scene with Bulk and Skull, the clowns turning into Putties), a story with actual tension (the scene where Trini can't find Sylvia amid the chaos is really well-edited), and fight scenes that utilize the setting (my favorite being Jason turning on a upside-down swinging ride with a putty on the outside, but there's no doubt that the whole Putty fight is the best we've seen so far). Hell, even the Zord battle is entertaining! We finally get to see the individual Zords get to do some damage, with the Mastodon doing some freeze-ray steam and the Triceratops launching horn grappling hooks. I want more of this!
The episode paints carnivals as a frightening place, full of optical illusions and chaos. And when you're a little kid, you may see it that way. I really liked the creativity on the part of the American writers and production crew; it was like all the budget saved from the last 10 episodes went to this episode, and it shows. I love little things like Pineapple suddenly jumping fifty feet away from Billy in the span of a cut, Trini's panic as she searches for Sylvia in the park, and even the silliness of the cardboard cutouts. It may not make much sense, but it is pretty original. And let's talk about Pineapple for a moment; in short, I love him. He's probably the most charismatic of Rita's monsters we've seen so far, and his mannerisms are a touch disturbing. Even the way he melts into the Pineoctopus is unsettling, at least for Power Rangers. And come on, the "stranger danger" metaphor? I thought it was pretty well done, and am surprised even to this day that Power Rangers was able to incorporate a theme while blending it seamlessly into the episode's story.
While I usually detest the child actors on this show, I must admit that Sylvia isn't too terrible. I'm glad she's out of commission for the last half of the episode just the same, but we're not talking Maria levels of terrible here. I've said it before and I'll say it again: in Zyuranger, the child characters were introduced so randomly and their relationship to the other Rangers was inexplicable. In Power Rangers, there's always an explanation for why they're hanging out with Sylvia: she's Trini's cousin, and they took her to the carnival. Done. Simple. And what's better is that the episode isn't about Sylvia, it's about Trini. We get to see how she acts in a parent-like situation and how she can protect the ones she loves. It also helps that Thuy Thrang does a great job with portraying the horror of seeing her cousin turned into a cardboard cutout.
"I think she's a bit... board..."
I get the feeling that this episode was originally going to feature Bones, since his Sentai footage shows him gallivanting at a carnival exactly like the one the Rangers are at in this episode. I'm guessing something happened with the scheduling of the carnival or something and the writers just had to adapt whatever footage was next when the park was available, but it does seem a shame. As soon as the Rangers morph, they're at some outdoor theater that's nowhere near the fair to have a Putty fight that I'm pretty sure we've already seen. Not a great transition. Also, is the whole carnival Rita's trap? It continues afterward, so I guess the only ones in on the attack were the clowns. It's muddled, but its negligible.
"It won't hurt a bit! But it might hurt a lot."
No Clowning Around is, in many ways, a Season 1 filler at its best, and probably the best episode the series has seen since the premier. I liked seeing the teens play on the stilts ("My big, strong hero! Mwah!"), and something about the way the setting and story interacted was just so natural. I know it must seem like I'm giving the episode tons of credit for getting the bare minimum amount of content right, but honestly, that's been a problem for Season 1 thus far. It's taking its sweet-ass time finding its tone and flow, and with Clowning, I'm seriously hoping it's gotten close to finding it.
Mighty Morphin' Score: 9/10
Power Rangers Score: 7/10
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