Something that's been a constant on Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers thus far has been that the Ranger teens don't really have major character flaws. Is Zack a bit cocky? Sure, but it hasn't been an issue for him. They're always pretty sweet and happy with each other, with a distinct lack of conflict between them. This is why episodes like Power Ranger Punks are both a welcome change and also a disappointment; on the one hand, it's fun to see the Rangers acting out-of-character and having problems with each other. But on the other, it's all caused by a spell, making the conflict a false one. This is a trope that Power Rangers will employ many, many times throughout its run, with varying degrees of success. Punks is mostly fun with some so-bad-it's good elements tossed in, but it's also not exactly great.
The Ranger teens are playing volleyball in the park when they are attacked by putties. Little do they know that Baboo has been brewing a "punk potion," which apparently changes the Rangers into obnoxious idiots. After the fight, Kimberly and Billy take a drink of their water, spiked with Baboo's potion. They're suddenly pissed off by anything that moves, and storm off after insulting the others. At school, Billy and Kim pick on other kids, fraternize with Bulk and Skull, and wear hilariously hideous clothing (actually I take that back; you rock them short shorts and 80s hair, Kim!). At the command center, Zordon deduces that the two are under a spell, and the only way to break it is to use the "singing squash," which is basically a mandrake except... no, wait. It's just a mandrake. While the other Rangers are busy fighting Rita's Terror Toad, Alpha is sent to another dimension to retrieve the sentient vegetable. Will Billy and Kim be cured of their punkishness before the floppy toad gobbles up the other Rangers?
I kind of love how weird Power Ranger Punks is, between terrible Putty fight, the wacky "punk" outfits Billy and Kim wear, and the craziness of the Terror Toad scenes. I know that the face-hit shots had to be edited out of the early Putty fights, but my god this has to be the absolute worst one. The choppy slow-motion, the awful close-ups, the poorly-timed sound effects... it's all just awful. But once again, the cast brings their A-game and the Sentai footage is strange and awesome. Amy Jo Johnson and David Yost seem to be having fun playing their punk alter-egos, even if some of the dialogue they spout is kind of... bad. I like Skull's reaction to Kimberly asking him out, and you can't help but feel bad for him when she backs out of it later. This will be done much better in Season 3, but we'll get to that later.
So ignoring the terrible footage mixture of Baboo pouring the droplets of punk potion with a city backdrop when the Rangers are in a grassy park, I like that it was him who came up with the plan. It's good to see Rita's minions acting on their own, and it gives me some hope that their personalities might develop beyond what they've been so far. Also, why do I love the Terror Toad so much? Well, he eats the Rangers. This isn't exactly out of left field at this point, but what's odd (and even kind of creepy) is the way eats them; their legs kicking wildly as they try to escape, his puppety teeth chomping on them as they go down... The first time I saw it was on my friend's Lord Zedd's Monster Heads VHS tape when I was about six, and I honestly found it a bit disturbing. Very nice finisher though; it was cool to see that Kimberly can land the finishing blow with the Power Bow.
Mostly notable in the episode has got to be a little flashback Zordon shows the Rangers about the singing squash; we get to see a little glimpse of Zordon when he was human! This isn't something that's ever referenced again, so it's great to see. This is really creative use of the Sentai footage, re-purposed from Barza, the Zyurangers' mentor on that show. It adds a little something to Zordon's character, and that's pretty cool. We also get to see that Alpha 5 has some kind of defense mechanism, and manages to take out some Putties all on his own. The dimension he travels to might look like shit (garbage bags on the floor and fog machines blasting) but at least Alpha gets to play hero.
So while not totally unmemorable, Power Ranger Punks isn't exactly a great episode. It's fun for sure, but not much more remarkable than the average episode. The show is still finding its groove, between proper usage of Bulk and Skull, decent putty fights, and the lack of actual character conflict, there's much room for improvement. The charm that comes from the Japanese footage and Saved by the Bell-style high school scenes is still strong, and when it comes to Season 1, that's all one can reasonable expect.
Mighty Morphin' Score: 7/10
Power Rangers Score: 5/10
