Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers: Season 1, Episode 14: Foul Play in the Sky

It's no secret by this point that Amy Jo Johnson is the best actor out of the main five Rangers, and no surprise that she would go on to have the most successful acting career after she left the show.  But there was another Power Rangers alum who would go on to be known as one of the greatest television actors of all time.  He voiced two monsters during his tenure on PR, and the writers even gave Billy his last name.  That's right everyone, acclaimed sitcom and Breaking Bad actor Brian Cranston voiced a monsters on Power Rangers.  And although this is an enjoyable episode all on its own, that fact makes this episode all kinds of surreal.  Shout! Factory even did some promos for the Mighty Mophin' DVD boxset when it came out that featured Cranston, and they were all kinds of hilarious.  This is one of the very few times that any kind of big-name actor (post-show or otherwise) graced Power Rangers with their presence, despite the show's immense popularity in the mid-nineties.  But with a non-union show, what can you do?

Kimberly's Uncle Steve is a pilot, and today he's taking Kimberly out for a ride in his private plane.  But just before they leave, Bulk and Skull show up and beg to be taken along, which Uncle Steve doesn't mind (much to Kim's dismay).   But before they take off,  Rita orders Squatt to spike Uncle Steve's drink before takeoff.  That's one too many roofie stories for me, Power Rangers.  While in the sky, Steve passes out, leaving Kimberly to fly the plane on her own with some help from Alpha.  Meanwhile, Rita has Finster create the Snizzard monster (Cranston), a lizard creature that uses a snake-like bow and arrow.   The other Rangers are called into action, but Snizzard's snakes get them all tangled up.  Will Kimberly be able to land the plane in time to help the others?

There's a greater sense of danger in this episode than usual, pretty much thanks to Johnson's performance.   Her panic is played pretty straight, and her frantic acting makes you feel the tension. The entire plane situation is actually done pretty well; I was expecting the same plane-flying shot to be duplicated over and over, but was surprised to see so much variety.  Alpha's plane-flying instructions actually seemed legitimate (I know nothing about planes, it could completely wrong), and the script paces things nicely.  Is this a major point of character development for Kimberly?  Well, not exactly.  But it was noble of her to not want to just teleport out of the plane to save her life, since it would mean leaving her Uncle and Bulk and Skull behind.  It's good to see that the Ranger powers can't solve all their problems.  Plus, gotta love that she destroys the monster single-highhandedly at the end.

In fact, the Sentai footage once again looks pretty fantastic, with a unique Putty fight shot through a water fountain (and by Easter Island heads?), and Kim's energized bow shots are nice special effect.  Snizzard is just as silly as they come, with energy-sucking snakes and the whole bow and arrow/apple on his head that references the William Tell legend.  And also, you know, Bryan Cranston.  Bulk and Skull are used more creatively than usual here, although they do get food dumped on them once again.  Still not really funny guys.  In the downtime scenes, the cast chemistry shines once again, with Jason and Zack coming off like actual goofball friends in the Juice Bar.  Dialogue may not always be sharp between them, but they're all fairly likable.

I think this is another classic Season One episode.  It may not have a Megazord fight, but it's still got plenty going on to make it entertaining.  It handles the "real world" danger well and the monster has something extra-special.  Also, someone gets roofied again?!  There's something wrong here.  While Mighty Morphin' still has its flaws, it's still a fun time.

Mighty Morphin' scale : 8/10

Power Rangers scale: 7/10