Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers: Season 1, Episode 11, "No Clowing Around"

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

Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers: Season 1, Episode 10, "Happy Birthday Zack"

"Do I look any older to you today?"

So were you starting to worry that Zack wasn't going to get a focus episode? I mean I wasn't, because I use to rent the Happy Birthday Zack video tape from the library once a week.  Well finally, here it is: an episode that is quintessential Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers not for being particularly dramatic, but simply for being a solid execution of nearly all the things I love about the show.  I've mentioned before that as a young kid, I only saw the show's first season via those video rentals, so is it nostalgia talking or is this episode just too much fun to resist?  I think it's a combination.  Yes, I can recall fond memories of Billy and his foam-spewing cake machine, but I also recognize some solid cast chemistry and a slightly-better monster-of-the-week than usual when I watch the episode with adult eyes.  After so many episodes that are awkward and uninteresting, it was nice to see one that made me smile.

The Ranger teens are busy at the Youth Center after-hours decorating for Zack's surprise birthday party the next day.  Bulk and Skull come in to cause problems and do other bully-like things, but the teens know how to handle them.  The next day, everyone acts like they forgot Zack's birthday, which understandably bums him out.  Rita sees an opportunity to give Zack her own birthday present; the Knasty Knight, armed with a super-powered sword.  On his own, Zack fights the monster and Goldar but loses badly.  Zordon and Alpha get the other Rangers in there, but they can't beat him either.  The Knight fries their weapons and deflects their energy blasts, and before the Rangers can even stand back up, Rita makes him grow. Can they defeat the Knasty Knight in time for Zack's surprise birthday party?!

I like this episode a lot for several reasons, but chief among them are the character interactions in the first half.  Sometimes early PR drags a bit during the civilian scenes and then things get more interesting in the battles, but here I really liked how the rangers played off each other in the juice bar (especially Amy Jo, who's starting to show that she's the best actor on the show).   The teens' scenes may be a bit goofy, but they're also very charming.  Plus, Bulk and Skull got to be a bit meaner than usual, with Bulk blowing his nose in Trini's banner and picking Billy up like he was a toy. When Kimberly tells Zack that she forgot her poodle's birthday, I just liked his reaction.  It may be a childish reaction, but it was still well done.

The Knasty Knight is a solid monster as well, and it was nice to see that Finster had to put more effort into creating him than any previous clay creature.  Rita doesn't even wait until the Rangers get the upper hand before she makes him grow; quite a rarity.  The plan to defeat the Knight might not make a whole lot of sense, but at least it's Zack who comes up with it.  Similarly to the Pudgy Pig, it was cool to see a villain actually give the Rangers a good fight since the Rangers can usually whoop monsters and putties without breaking a sweat.  Speaking of putties, there was no putty fight in this episode.  Honestly, I think it helped with the pacing, plus we got to spend more time with the characters.

For the most part, the show is holding up in terms of its aesthetics (music, Sentai fights, zord battles), but one thing I cannot stand is that "comedic" fast motion.  It was kind of funny when Gilligan's Island did it, but it doesn't work here.  As far as the writing goes, I think everything came off pretty naturally.  Although we shouldn't expect much character development (it's a cartoon, remember?), it still might have been nice to learn something new about Zack.  I didn't like him whining about no one remembering his birthday, but I suppose giving him some vanity could be considered a character flaw.  I'm really stretching here, I know, but there's not much to work with.  It fits with his cocky personality anyways.

 It was fun to watch the Ranger teens dance at the party at the end while Billy deals with the deadly cake-o-matic.  Just watching these people hang out and have a good time with that cheesy birthday song in the back is a perfect encapsulation of what Mighty Morphin' is: innocent, fun, and likable.  When you compare this episode one to others that focus on random people (or have no focus at all), I think the quality difference is noticeable.  It's just a better show when it focuses on the main characters, like most television shows.  Happy Birthday Zack is pretty much the standard for a Power Rangers filler episode that keeps tight pacing, lets the characters be themselves, and has fun with every aspect.



Mighty Morphin' Score: 8/10

Power Rangers Score: 6/10

Also, as a side note: Batman confirmed as part of the Power Rangers Universe.  Thanks Ernie... thanks...

Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers: Season 1, Episode 9, "For Whom the Bell Trolls"

As a fan of Power Rangers, I forgive a lot of things.  I don't scoff at the rubber monsters.  I don't roll my eyes at the empty model buildings.  I don't demand layered, thought-provoking content from the writers.  But when you pull the "it was all a dream" trick on me? Uh-uh, no way, unacceptable, get out of my face.  For Whom the Bell Trolls is an episode that takes up too much space in a season that is 80% space.  It hardly deserves a review, but it's a part of the show just like any other.  So whoop-de-do, yipee, here we go.  To the wonderland of the strange, the dull, and the all-around pointless.

It's hobby week at Angel Grove High, and Trini starts off the festivities with her collection of cultural dolls.  Her favorite (because it belonged to her mother) is Mr. Ticklesneezer.  Spying from her moon palace as usual, Rita gets the idea to mess with Trini through her dolls since she never got to play with them as a child.  She turns Mr. Ticklesneezer into a monster and he starts to capture things in his magic bottle.  Nothing's safe, including... a motorcycle! A tower! Planes, trains, and an automobile that just so happens to contain Billy and Trini!  Will the other Power Rangers be able to save them before the demented troll can give the bottle to Rita?

 "GOODIES!"

Well who the hell cares, because it was all a god damn dream.  Trini dreamed the majority of the episode up for no reason other than that the writers probably didn't know what to do with Ticklesneezer at the end due to him not really being "evil." Other than that, this isn't much different from other Power Rangers episodes in terms of weird content or danger, so pulling the dream nonsense on us is just baffling.  This leaves the episode with a plot hole bigger than Ticklesneezer's grin; Rita implies that her next big plan is going to involve Trini's dolls IN THE REAL WORLD, but then the whole execution is done IN THE DREAM.  None of it happened.  I guess Rita was just making an empty threat.  Lovely.

"It was all a dream..."

So let's talk about Mr. Ticklesneezer, who's name rolls off the tongue like a brick off a plateau. In his creepy toy form, he looks like a Troll doll infected with Joker toxin, and as a monster, he just looks like a really tired elf.  I know that he's not really a "bad guy," but he's so doofy and silly that the threat never feels real.  His gimmick is really unclear at first as well; is he capturing everything in one bottle and the stuff disappears?  No, we find out at the very end that he actually has tons of magic bottles, but whatever.  I really didn't care by that point.  Also: a monster that blinks AND his mouth moves? Don't blow the budget, guys...

 On the upside, I liked the bits of teen interaction throughout the episode, (Jason breaking boards? Bad ass.) and I always like Billy and Trini together for some reason.  Bulk and Skull were pretty funny too, though it was nothing to write home about.  The putty fight by the train station was pretty nifty; it's always good to see a new location and the action was great.  Hobby week could have given us some more information about the rangers, but we kind of just get stuff we know about them already; Kim likes gymnastics, Billy likes science, Trini likes culture... although I have to say, Ms. Applebee was hilarious during that scene.  Her face when Billy's volcano erupted! That had me rolling when I took the screenshot for this review. Also, does she not notice that her desk is covered in Billy's lava?

It's kind of everywhere.  You see it?  Right there?  Never mind. 

I always like little Easter eggs left in as a result of using Sentai footage, and this one is just nuts: there's a giant-size kid in the zord battle for just a few seconds, holding on to the Megazord's leg, and it is glorious in it's absurdity. They did a decent job cutting around it right until then, but man, once you see it you can't un-see it.  It won't be the last Japanese kid that sneaks his/her way into Power Rangers, but this might be the most entertaining of them all.  And thank God there was something entertaining about this episode, because it really stunk besides that.  Terrible monster-of-the-week, un-exiting plot, and a giant middle finger to the audience at the end gets this episode right down to the bottom of the barrel.

Mighty Morphin' Scale: 2/10

Power Rangers Scale: 1/10

I can't bare to give it my lowest Mighty Morphin' score, because without it, I could never have made this meme:

Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers: Season 1, Episode 8: "I, Eye Guy"

Maybe I spoke too soon about Power Rangers making better use of its child characters than Zyuranger.  Normally, PR repurposes child characters from the source footage to be a rangers’ cousin, someone in a class they teach, or it has something to do with charity.  So it’s a bit perplexing when a kid just shows up out of nowhere and the teens are all hanging out with them like they're all friends. Case in point: Willy in I, Eye Guy. 

The ranger teens are hanging out in Billy’s garage with Willy, an improbably brilliant child who is presenting his new invention at the science fair that day. He’s created a pair of virtual reality glasses that simulate the feeling of a roller coaster, but due to Bulk and Skull’s antics at the fair, Willy’s invention is disqualified.  Feeling sad, he wanders off to the lake, where Rita’s new monster made entirely out of eyeballs traps him in his main eye, which appears to be a dimension where he’s put through astronaut training… or something.  The rangers fight Eye Guy to get Willy out, with Billy feeling the most responsible for the plight due to his and Willy’s special bond.  They have a special handshake after all.

And there’s your first problem with the episode: who the hell is Willy?  It’s never stated if it’s Billy’s brother, friend, neighbor, or if he’s on the science fair committee and he’s just helping one of the students out.  A little setup goes a long way, and a throwaway line like the kind they had in Big Sisters about Maria would have solved the problem.  At least Willy is an improvement over Maria, goofy costume and dubbed voice not withstanding. 

In addition, the story is fine overall, in spite of some over-the-top stuff from Bulk and Skull where their clothes are disintegrated by a student’s ray gun.  Yeah, ok.  Early Mighty Morphin’ is a straight-up cartoon, but personally, this was just too much to take in (though Bulk and Skull dressed in drag is never not funny).  Silly as the scene was, we got to see Billy stand up to Bulk and Skull a little, which was nice to see.  Character development? Couldn't be...

On the action-oriented side of things, we have a terrible putty fight (one of many) that suffers from horrendous editing due to the “no hits to the head” rule that the production team was only informed about after filming a large number of episodes.  The awkward cuts, the sound effects from off-screen where the rangers are punching the putties in the face, and the tight close-ups make for a very poor bit of action.  The morphed scenes though? Pretty awesome.

I love Eye Guy's design: it's weird, yet creative.  On an unintentionally eerie note, the little girl from Finster’s flashback only seen getting sucked in by Eye Guy's main eye (brought to us by the Japanese footage) never gets brought up again.  So is she... dead?  That’s creepy stuff for PR, and it helps makes the monster a little more sinister. But the episode itself couldn’t be more campy; Eye Guy delivers countless eye-related puns and the sight of Willy spinning around on that giant centrifuge was pretty hilarious.  That poor child actor.

So while this certainly wasn’t a great episode due to Willy’s randomness and the cartoonish shenanigans at the science fair, it was still enjoyable.  Even though by this point I’m growing a bit tired of watching that exact same Zord summoning sequence and transformation, I still watch it every time because that music is just so damn good (I agree with you there, Linkara!).  Also, good on the production team for showing Willy rolling out of the monster’s dust at the end rather than just having him be fine at the end with no explanation.  Overall, the show is still not there yet in terms of finding its groove, but it is interesting to watch the show slowly get closer and closer.

Mighty Morphin' Score: 6/10

Power Rangers Score: 4/10

Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers: Season 1, Episode 7: "Big Sisters"

As I now know, Zyuranger plots tended to focus on random child characters that the rangers would inexplicably befriend.  They typically only appeared for only one episode, have a simple character arc (sometimes), and were typically never seen again.  The show was very rarely about the rangers themselves, which was a bit disappointing.  However, most Power Rangers episodes based on Zyuranger fight footage changed the focus so that the rangers were at the forefront, which ultimately made the show better off in spite of the lack of Zyranger’s darker themes and style.  However, there are a multitude of episodes where the Power Rangers writers (likely due to footage demands) decided to focus on random kid characters anyway, just like Zyuranger.  The results were often nauseating. 

The first, and arguably worst, example of this is found in Big Sisters, an episode that is bafflingly insipid.   Trini and Kimberly have volunteered for a big sisters program, wherein the two of them hang out with a twelve-year-old girl named Maria for the day.  Maria, a monstrous little brat whose voice seems to be coming from another dimension, gets kidnapped and forced by Rita’s Chunky Chicken monster to open up an ancient box that contains the Power Eggs (it can only be opened by innocence, so it’s a wonder how Maria qualifies). What do the Power Eggs do, you ask? Well, you see, they’re very powerful.  The rangers’ communication and teleporting is down for some reason, so they instead travel via the Radbug: Billy’s new invention that will allow them to travel to the Command Center by flying there (with the aid of… the Northern Lights?).  The rangers engage in a battle with Chunky, Goldar, Squatt, and Baboo, which results in the Power Eggs being tossed into the ocean (the one next to the mountainous desert).  After Maria is nearly dropped to her death by the Chicken, the Rangers catch her using the Megazord and she drives off in the Rad Bug to safety.   Now it’s time to take care of the scissor-wielding birdbrain.

 The episode is clumsily stitched together, with the Radbug coming out of nowhere in addition to being extremely goofy.   The Power Eggs idea is underdeveloped (we don’t even see Maria open the box), and the way the box is tossed into the ocean, in the MIDDLE OF THE DESERT, it just lame.  Also, there’s no reason why Goldar or the flying chicken couldn’t have just hopped in and gotten the eggs.  Couldn’t even say “Zordon teleported them somewhere far away,” or something? But none of these issues compare to the biggest problem with the episode.

 Nothing works about Maria at all, except perhaps that the crew actually pulled off using the Sentai footage with her counterpart well enough (though I was instinctively waiting for her to shout “tasukete!” when she was hanging on the rope).  From her introduction (pulling a corny prank where she shuts the hot water off on the guys showering at the Juice Bar) to her downright creepy looks, Maria is a nightmare come to life.  We learn nothing about her, she doesn’t change (she might even be more obnoxious by the end), plus her wig and dubbed voice are terrible.  What an awful, awful character.

 There are a few things I noticed about Big Sisters that were interesting, even if they don’t necessarily make the episode any better.  This is the first time we hear about The Morphing Masters, which may or may not be tied to the show’s overall mythology later on.  This is also one of only a few times that Rita comes down to Earth using her flying bicycle, and while it does look pretty silly, I like how the effect of her flying over trees is all done in-camera.  I also noticed that this might be the only time all the rangers are shown taking out their Power Coins and forming their Power Crystals in their zords (usually it’s just Jason).  It makes for a pretty dynamic sequence, and I wish it had been used more often.  And like it or not, we can’t forget that this is the introduction of the Rad Bug, which does become more important later on. Also, first time the rangers do that pyramid formation attack thing? Super cool.

In conclusion, Big Sisters is the worst episode the show I’ve encountered thus far in my re-watch.  Bulk and Skull do absolutely nothing except getting chili dumped on them at the very end, meanwhile Maria gets an interview on what I assume is Angel Grove’s public access news station, declaring that she’s “the most popular kid in class.”  The episode’s fights aren’t any better or worse than we’ve seen already, and Chunky Chicken, in Goldar’s own words, is a just a lame monster overall (not helped by the fact that we just had a “Pudgy Pig” only last episode, making me wish that they’d gone with at least one more “Fat + Animal” monster throughout the series’ run).   But hey, for damn near rock bottom it’s still pretty entertaining.

Mighty Morphin’ Score: 4/10

Power Rangers Score: 2/10

Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers: Season 1, Episode 6: "Food Fight"

"Come down here and fight like a pig!"

 Here we go, another “classic” episode of Power Rangers that made many, many rounds in my VCR when I was a kid.  Food Fight is sort of the epitome of a Mighty Morphin’ episode: teens have problem, Rita gets inspiration from their problem, makes a monster, the rangers defeat said monster, and then their problem is solved at the end of the day.  What makes Food Fight better than average is the pacing of the story and extended scenes on the moon palace; it's much more fun than listening to Rita screech her plan off screen while Goldar swings a sword at the camera repetitively, anyway.

The ranger teens are helping run a school food fair, trying to raise money for new preschool playground equipment.  Principal Kaplan oversees the festival and Ernie helps provide some Hawaiian specialties.  Bulk and Skull only show up to start a food fight, for which the teens promptly get blamed, and are put on clean-up duty.  But before they even start, Zordon sends them off to fight the Pudgey Pig monster, created by Rita after witnessing their food fight. The rangers’ weapons get swallowed by the pig, who then sends them into a vortex and proceeds to eat all the leftover food at the festival.  By the time the teens make it back, all the food is gone, except for (Trini notices) the food in the spicy section.  The rangers come up with a plan to trick Pudgy into eating a spicy radish so they can get their weapons back and kick the pig’s ass.

Like I mentioned, I love how many scenes there are featuring Rita and her crew.  Typically we only spend a few seconds in the palace out of plot necessity, but this time we got to see a little personality from Finster and Rita that was entertaining and actually kind of funny:

Finster: “I have a Pudgy Pig, my Queen, but it’s not my best work…”

Rita: "THEN MAKE IT YOUR BEST WORK!!!”

An unfortunate side effect of using solely Sentai footage for your villain scenes is that you’re extremely limited by what you can use because of the dubbing possibilities. I appreciate it when as much Rita footage as possible is used, which explains why I like this episode.

 The titular food fight is pulled off pretty nicely, and we get to see more fun from Bulk, Skull and their unnamed minions who I always wished we could see more of.  I’d like to think that Bulk and Skull built up so much bad karma for ruining the food fair that it caused them to be cursed with getting food thrown on them every week for the rest of their lives.  It might be cheesy as all hell, but at least the food fight was fun to watch.  Though we all have to agree that Kaplan is an idiot for making the rangers clean up the festival instead of Bulk and Skull (but they never do anyway, so it’s alright I guess).

The Pudgy Pig is a classic Mighty Morphin’ monster, and for good reason.  He actually does something that hinders the rangers: he takes away their weapons and threatens to eat the world’s food supply within two days, if Zordon’s calculations are correct. WHICH THEY ALWAYS ARE.  It was a decent way to tie the footage together via a food fair, and we get the first monster-on-Bulk-and-Skull action in the series history.  Ok, they just snarl at each other so I don't know if it's "action," but it's something.  The point is, the rangers' have to defeat the monster without their weapons, and while simple, it's definitely an effective plot device.  It's also good that there's no shoehorned Megazord fight at the end.  Not every single episode needs a Zord battle, especially since most of them are pretty inconsequential.

If there's a weakness that the episode has, it's that no one really learns anything or changes.  Maybe Kaplan could have given more than a half-assed apology at the end, maybe a bigger focus on Trini during the festival scenes... I don't know.  Something that could have given it some more substance when it comes to the characters.  Then again, as I'll say plenty of times on here, Power Rangers is a live-action cartoon.  Not like Batman: The Animated Series, I mean like Looney Tunes.  Part of the fun of the show (for kids) is that the rangers do the same thing every time, but they fight a different monster.  I'm not saying I approve of that (I'd much prefer character development and story arcs, but we'll get there in time), all I'm saying is that's what the writers were going for and that's what they achieved.  They were just fortunate to have the right cast to make their cartoon characters come to life much better than they were written, and besides the costumes, fights, robots, and awesome music, that was part of the reason it was such an earth-shattering success. 

Mighty Morphin' Score: 8/10

Power Rangers Score: 6/10

Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers: Season 1, Episode 5: "Different Drum"

 While Power Rangers is not typically known for its deep writing or well-developed characters, it does have bright spots of depth here and there.  Different Drum is an interesting episode for its inclusion of a deaf character (not that she'd ever be seen again or anything) and making her deafness important to the story.  It's only dwells on the "lesson of the day" aspect of her character for a moment before it becomes a "very special episode" of Barney.  So is this episode actually deep?  Maybe not, but for the first time in the show's short run, I think it was trying to be.  If nothing else, it has a consistent theme and sticks with it.

While Kimberly is teaching a dance class at the Youth Center, she sees that one of her students (a deaf girl named Melissa) is having trouble keeping up with the other girls.  Meanwhile Billy tries to dance and shenanigans ensue.  Zack challenges Bulk to a dance-off, which naturally ends with Bulk covered in food after an impressive over-the-counter stunt.  On her moon palace, Rita demands that Finster make a monster that can control people with music.  He creates the Gnarly Gnome, and he promptly captures a few of the girls from the dance class and makes them practice a dance for Rita. Melissa witnesses all this happen, unaffected by the music due to her being deaf and all. After trapping them in a cave with an ordinary net, Melissa thankfully runs back to the Juice Bar to tell the ranger teens what happened instead of going to the police. Although considering Kimberly might be her only nearby friend who can understand sign language, I guess it's justifiable.  The rangers arrive on the scene and take on the Gnarly Gnome, who can apparently go invisible and cause awkward hallucinations.  Can the Rangers take him down? Will Billy learn how to dance?!  This episode's just too hot to handle.

Different Drum is an unusual episode for early MMPR due to its civilian scenes being more enjoyable than the sentai footage that usually spices things up.  I liked the teens' interactions (the dance-off between Zack and Bulk was great), and I give major props to Amy Jo Johnson for learning how to sign so professionally.  It makes me wonder if she had that skill beforehand and the writers decided to use her, but either way it's impressive.  That's not to say that Billy's mishap early on wasn't stupid as hell, but it was pretty funny to see him dance like a pro at the end.

The handling of the Sentai footage is pretty bizarre, considering that the Gnome has the power of invisibility for only one scene and never uses it in battle.  There's a scene where the Gnome, Squatt, and Baboo all take a nap for a few seconds before Rita screams them all awake, and it all feels like needless filler.  The Megazord battle is creative, but it's more disorienting than it is cool.  This might be the first time the teens get involved with a monster of the week without Zordon or Alpha notifying them of what's happened, which is odd but isn't necessarily a bad thing.  However, nothing tops the oddity of what happens during the ground fight: the rangers summon their weapons for the Power Blaster and call out their names.  But the names are completely different, never mentioned before of since this episode.  It must have been an early ADR session and they had to just go with it, but it's bizarre to say the least.  We have the Cosmic Cannon, Battle Bow, Dino Daggers, and the Mighty Mace (Jason still calls his the Power Sword).  It's a bit more creative than calling the weapons "Power [insert weapon name]," but at the same time, it's just too weird.  Having not seen this episode is quite some time, my jaw dropped when Zack called out "Cosmic Cannon!" and probably will every time I watch this one.

So while it get really messy when it comes to the second half, the first half is full of plenty of good stuff.  It's rare for Power Rangers to include real world issues like people with disabilities, so it's good to see the show pull it off cringe-free.  It's a shame that the Sentai footage is used so haphazardly, not to mention that the Gnome's powers are never really established and thus come off as random.  At least we get something memorable with the alternate weapon names, and a few good laughs from the ranger teens.  Paul Shrier is a brave soul for doing that counter hop.

Mighty Morphin' Score: 7/10

Power Rangers Score: 5/10