With so many "monsters of the day" the Power Rangers face week to week, there are bound to be times when I want to know more about one or want to see it come back later. One of those monsters is Madame Woe, from Peace, Love and Woe. She has a cool design, wasn't created by Finster, and seems to be a good match for the Rangers. Why Sentai disposes of so many potentially cool villains so quickly is beyond me, but I suppose it's to keep the episodes self-contained. In any case, it's unfortunate that we get a unique villain and just as things are getting good, she's gone with the wind. Oh, and Billy likes a girl this week.
Nobody puts Billy in a corner.
With a big dance! dance! dance! on the horizon, Billy's feeling a bit down because he's certain he'll never find a date. Zack tries to encourage him after Bulk gets covered in cake, but to no avail. Meanwhile, Rita gets the idea to send Madame Woe out to fight the Rangers, who actually appears to be a monster out on her own instead of a Finster clay-creation. As Billy leaves the Juice Bar to work on a "weather-analyzing device," he bumps into a girl named Marge, who appears to share Billy's habit of saying big words and obsessing over science. It's a match made in heaven, but when they attempt to meet up later that day, Madame Woe captures Marge thinking she's a Power Ranger. It's up to Billy and the other Rangers to travel to Woe's pocket dimension (full of trees, fog, and a nifty lake) to save Marge. Will Billy save her in time for the big dance? The suspense must be killing you.
"I'm not interested in engaging feminine attention through bodily gyrations."
Actual line from Billy. I love this show.
Peace, Love, and Woe is a pretty basic episode, that has some fun Sentai footage and at least gets one of the characters in a situation they've never been in before. So far, Billy has been the science geek and pretty much nothing else. So to see that he has other interests (hormonal or otherwise) is somewhat refreshing. I like Madame Woe as a villain, and even though it's not explained for one iota of a second, it's interesting that she's the first Power Rangers monster not directly created by the main villains. She has a cool power set, and the morphed fight with Billy was solid (although she's defeated pretty easily, and that close-up of her face in the American footage did not blend well). Her voice actress is clearly having some fun with the evil laughs, so that's a big plus.
Fear the power of my fog machine...
This putty fight wasn't nearly as bad as others have been, but it still wasn't great. The actors are clearly talented at doing the fight choreography, but it's not filmed or edited in a dynamic way. Not to mention the music is still the generic "Go Go Power Rangers" background music, which is just standard at this point. The fight footage from the Sentai footage fares much better, and it was cool to see Billy fight a monster on his own. He still can't fight worth a damn unmorphed, but that makes sense for his character.
Pretty in pink spandex...
The Rangers combining their coins to teleport Billy out of the dimension made absolutely no sense, and will likely never be referenced again, but I did like the visual of all the Rangers holding up their coins and shouting their animals out the way they do when they morph. It just reinforces my love for the aesthetics of this season... the helmets, the weapons, the coins and morphers... I love it all. The one big disappointment I have with the episode is that (spoilers) Marge never returns or is even mentioned again. Not that Billy and her had crackling chemistry or anything, but a recurring love interest for Billy might have been nice. Guess we'll never know.
We go swimming?
So this may not be essential Power Rangers, but it's mostly harmless. There isn't anything too stupid or something major that made me cringe like a lot of early MMPR, but it's not great either. The show is still finding its groove, with Putty fights still being mediocre and the Sentai footage either being used or a crutch or a major hinderance depending on the episode. Peace, Love, and Woe mostly works, and for Season One, that's a passing grade.
Mighty Morphin' Score: 6/10
Power Rangers Score: 4/10
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