Season One: Episodes Seven, Eight, Eleven, and Thirty.

Note: these four episodes featured a child of the week encountering a monster, so I made this entry about them. As with "A Pig Surprise," one of these happens after Tommy and Scorpina are introduced. There appears to be no overall arc in the first season, apart from Tommy's appearance as the Green Ranger. Instead, it's mostly self-contained single episode stories. So some episodes listed on the DVD in order might not be chronological, as far as we can tell. 

                          Big Sisters.

                Which came first, the chicken, the witch, the eggs, or the child?

Sentai Notes: 

     In Zyuranger, there's a subplot involving a pair of dinosaur eggs, the last of their kind, and they are watched by a race of humans with monkey characteristics. The episode arc involving Chunky Chicken had them coming upon these people and the efforts of Bandora to capture a girl to grab the eggs. They wind up lost at sea, only to return many times.  At the end of the series, baby dinosaurs hatch out of the said eggs. 

Strategy Notes:

    Rita tries a new strategy in defeating the Power Rangers: acquiring a hostage for a bartering tool. She has Maria kidnapped by putties so she can obtain the Power Eggs. The putties even divide themselves to divert Trini and Kimberly in their attack while the rest grab Maria and leave. 

   Unfortunately, Rita doesn't exploit this thoroughly. First, her minions get the eggs quickly and then make off with them. This allows the Rangers to get the eggs back and throw them into the sea, thus robbing Rita of this new power source. Thinking they still have them, Rita has Chunky Chicken prepare to cut the rope holding Maria up in the air. 

    Of course, the Rangers derail that move by bringing their zords in to catch Maria and send her away in the Radbug. 

    The introduction of the Radbug is another note of strategy, to be use in case the teleportation system goes down. 

Biblical and Mythological Homage:

   Sentai counterpart to Chunky Chicken is Dora Cockatrice, a mythical beast that behaves like the basilisk, born from the egg of a rooster. The King James Bible has cockatrices mentioned a few times, supposedly a translation of the Hebrew word "tsepha". The main connection in both Zyuranger and Power Rangers is the fact it is born in a monster making machine set up and operated by Finster, a male leprechaun. 

   The powers around the Power Eggs allowing only the touch of a child recalls one to the Book of Revelation, where St. John notes none in Heaven or on Earth were worthy of opening the seals, except the Lamb of God (Jesus). The difference is, in Revelations, the Seals opened release the Apocalypse upon the world (four of the seals each release the Four Horsemen). Here, nothing happens after the chest is opened and the eggs are exposed. 

   Another allusion is how it ties in the story of Pandora with that of Eve, being both women who brought evil to the world through their innocence and disobedience. The opening of the chest with the eggs is set by Rita to be the end of the Power Rangers, who prevent anything catastrophic by sending the chest into the sea. Also, Maria is forced rather than tricked into opening the box. Most obvious Biblical allusion is Maria's name, a reference to Mary. 

Misc. Note:

    Not much to go on. Maria's arc is basically a girl wants attention so she acts bad. Then she gets kidnapped by Rita, rescued by the Power Rangers, and becomes a celebrity on the evening news. The whole time, she never develops. She doesn't even appear in the Juice Bar for the free chili Ernie was giving. 

Thoughts.

    "Food Fight" was the episode that really got Power Rangers on the map, whereas this one is one of the lesser episodes. Even giving Chunky Chicken a Southern accent and say, "It's finger-lickin' good" wouldn't have improved it. The plot of the Power Eggs doesn't go anywhere and it's abandoned after this episode. Maria doesn't evolve as a character and barely does much, except become a hostage. The only good thing to come out of the episode are the following: the Radbug, the sight of those boys fleeing the locker room when the kid turns on the hot water, and seeing Bulk covered in hot chili. 

    The Radbug is an old school Volkswagen beetle, similar in appearances to Herbie from The Love Bug, minus the decal and having add-ons like the Deloreon from Back to the Future. Where the latter goes up to 88 miles an hour just to go through time, the Radbug can go up to 3,000 miles an hour (yes, 3,000 mph) while also flying. It's a cool concept and it provides another way into the Command Center when the teleportation system is down. 

     The way Trini and Kimberly have volunteered to be big sisters to a girl they lose in the opening shot really says something. I also thought it's generally one big sibling per child in such programs. At least we see one funny scene in the picnic where Kimberly inquires if the twelve year old girl has a boyfriend. Maria is still in her boys are gross stage, which makes Kim laugh and say, "she'll learn." These days, most would insist Kim not say that, either in case Maria never gets a boyfriend and says she doesn't want one, or maybe Maria might be a Lesbian instead. 

                       I, Eye Guy.

              Look into my eye.

Sentai Notes:

     The Zyuranger counterpart to this episode, "Papa's a Vampire" features a subplot of a tomboy whose father is a police officer. The Sentai monster, Dora Argus, provides an illusion to the girl into believing her father's a vampire. Then, Dora Argus sends her into another dimension. For the most part, he's a small part in a larger tale. "Papa's a Vampire" centers on Tottobatto as the main antagonist because he is a vampire that never drank human blood, and would like some. Unfortunately, he is easily frightened away by a small girl. So, he uses Dora Argus to capture her and make it easy for him to suck her blood. Incidentally, Tottobatto is a corruption of "toothed bat." 

Strategy Notes:

     Rita kidnaps another child, Billy's cousin Willy. This time she isn't holding him hostage for barter, just for the sake of it. This backfires as the Rangers figure out how to defeat Eye Guy. They put together the Power Blaster and shoot him to pieces. Then Billy splits off on Zordon's advice to find the main eye, while the rest create a diversion. Billy destroys the eye, allowing for the Eye Guy to be defeated the conventional way. When Eye Guy is a giant, the Megazord's Power Sword is used to destroy the main eye. This allows Willy to be freed. 

Biblical and Mythological Homage:

     In Greek Mythology, Argus was a being with eyes all over his body. Having so many made it easy for him to see in all directions, making him really hard to surprise, thus the perfect watchman. At one point, Hera set him to guard Io, who had been transformed into a heifer. At Zeus' request, Hermes goes in and frees Io with trickery, offering entertainment and a boring story that put him to sleep. He closed the rest of the eyes and Io was then set free to become the namesake of Ionia. 

Misc. Note:

      Jason calls the Power Sword the "Mega Sword" again. 

     Willy is a boy genius, but doesn't notice his cousin and his cousin's friends are wearing colors like that of the Power Rangers and know the martial arts to beat the putties, yet never puts two and two together. With everyone else, I can understand, but Willy, a boy genius who creates a virtual reality simulation? 

     Bulk and Skull were real jerks in this episode, yet how many people today would laugh at the sight of them in girls' clothes? 

Thoughts:

    This episode is a big improvement over "Big Sisters," and not because the child of the week is a boy. Willy is actually more relatable than Maria, as he is the underdog. His name even rhymes with Billy's. So to have them working together on a science project is a delight, especially to see them create a virtual reality game where one can experience riding a roller coaster. 

    As with "Food Fight" and "Teamwork", this is another episode of Bulk and Skull coming in to mess things up, yet someone else gets the blame. Here, they attempt to wreck the science fair for being occupied with nerds. The teens teach them a lesson by having them wind up in a make over machine and (pardon the pun) come out off the closet in women's clothes and wigs. Yet, the attempt at teaching the bullies humility results in Willy disqualified. Unlike in the other two episodes, it's not Caplan who is unreasonable. It's the judge at the science fair. 

   The whole thing makes you feel sorry for Willy, being that he worked hard on something, then bullies come in to wreck his world, and he gets blamed for it. I could talk of how it really shows authorities and treatment of bullies, if this was solely on "I, Eye Guy", but there is hardly enough room for it here. And all the while, Willy is left doubting himself and that makes him easy prey to Rita. 

   Fortunately, it goes for the better, with Willy rescued and his disqualification removed when the judges try out his project. He even gets an apology from the judge. 

    The image of Bulk and Skull in drag may seem dated to some. Given the latest thing of transgender rights, the sight of people laughing at them shows how dated the show is when it comes to non-gender conformity. Of course, the defeat of the bullies remains universal (unless the concept of sensitivity means even bullies are allowed safe spaces and should be free of humiliation as much as their victims). When they return, they demand their clothes back, which are revealed to have shrunk in the drier. And, apparently, Bulk and Skull never learn their lesson, for they will bully people again in the next episode. 

    

               No Clowning Around.

                                                Beware of the clowns. 

Sentai Notes:

  The Sentai counterpart episode is called "The Great Sneeze Plot" as the Sentai version of Pine-octopus, Dora Endos, is sent to befriend a troubled boy, and then launch a few balls to make people sneeze (you might notice in the battle scenes of Goldar, Squat, and Bamboo silently sneezing when Pineoctopus is sending out his dust, also). The Yellow Ranger even gets infected, but is cured upon contact with water. Using this knowledge, the Zyurangers spray him with water and the T-Rex defeat the monster with his sonic blast. This explains the use of the wind by the Megazord as a finishing move, along with a goof of the Tyrannosaurus Zord blowing a vortex at Pineoctopus. 

Strategy Notes:

    The way Pineoctopus comes in to attack is basically infiltration. He and several Putty Patrollers disguise themselves as clowns, since most people like them, and use it to get in real close. It's only when the Power Rangers warn everyone away that the "clowns" are forced to reveal themselves. 

     Kimberly uses a distraction at one point, pointing over a putty's shoulder and saying, "Hey look, it's Rita!" Classic move used by Marty against Biff. 

Biblical and Mythological Homage:

     None. Couldn't find what Endos is and don't recall anything of something that makes people sneeze in ancient stories. 

Misc. Note:

     Bulk and Skull continue to be jerks as they steal cotton candy from two girls who were playing a game at the fair. 

     Zack calls Jason his "big strong hero" and pretends to kiss him, like a damsel in distress, after he falls down off his stilts. Always a laugh. 

    The Power Rangers basically started a panic in the fair when there is no evidence of any attack in sight. If there was security detail nearby, all five would have been banned or life for this. Someone could have gotten hurt from the running around, or trampled to death. The fair could have gotten sued for the injuries. 

     Alpha sees Sylvia real again and quickly hides among Billy's projects. Somehow, that worked. 

    Zack says, "What a fruitcake" when referring to Pineoctopus at one point. "Fruitcake" is not only a dessert eaten on Christmas, but it's also a slang for a gay guy, and typically used in a negative way. If we are to infer that Zack claims the monster is gay (in tone to the nineties era teens saying "That is so gay"), this wouldn't fly well in the real world. Especially harsh in hindsight knowing the man playing the Blue Ranger is gay, and he endured a great deal of harassment over his orientation during the production of the show. 

   What might fly over everyone's head on the slang, before it became associated with the LGBT community, a person referred to as "fruitcake" was someone crazy. "Nutty as a fruitcake" was the expression used early in the 20th Century. It was around World War II that it became associated with gay men. If used in this context, Zack is claiming Pineoctopus is crazy, then. 

Thoughts:

     When in an amusement park, the episode will become amusing. In this case, the Power Rangers face a monster that appears in a fair and turns a girl into a cardboard cutout. In the harshest light, cardboard cutout is about the best way to describe Sylvia. Unlike Willy, she barely develops in the episode's plot. She basically only exists to give conflict to the episode. That makes her better than Maria in "Big Sisters."

    The idea of having the monster of the week come in disguise as a clown is a novel concept in this show. Now it allows for one of the tropes associated with evil to come in, possessing the ability to deceive. Not a very good way, though, as Pineapple the Clown has plenty of Joker vibes about him. And they didn't get Mark Hamil to dub him over, either. 

     The way Pineapple leads Sylvia away from Trini has all the earmarks of child predator. First he takes on form of a person that the child could trust: a circus clown. Unless the child was afraid of clowns, anyone could be caught off guard by the clown and go to him without fear. Then, he practically pretends to be a friend to Sylvia, a minor, in an attempt to turn her against her adult authority figures, represented by Trini (who is also a minor, even if the Power Rangers look too old to be in high school). Then, when the adults aren't looking, he leads her away, prompting Trini to chase them down. Then, he turns her into a cardboard image of her, a clear illustration of the child becoming sexually abused or molested, which in real life leave the child scarred for life. Again, to keep things G-rated, Sylvia suffers no affects from becoming a cardboard. Instead, Trini apologizes to Sylvia for not being a good babysitter, to which Sylvia admits she shouldn't have wondered off. I sometimes get bothered by the last, as it puts the blame on the child when he or she is kidnapped and sexually abused. "You should have listened to your guardians and not wonder off, then this wouldn't have happened." Perfect case of victim blaming. 

    On the other hand, the episode has plenty of shots of the fair and plenty of humor not related to clowns. Especially near the end when Billy tries walking on stilts that have him close to the ground. 

                       The Rockstar.

                       Sticks and stones can break my bones, but a mirror is fatal.

Sentai Notes:

    There's a great deal of similarities between this and the episode, "Smash It! The Mirror of Death" that there is hardly much to say. There is one difference, however. In "The Mirror of Death," it was Dan, the Blue Ranger, who gets hit by stones and pinned by the weight of the rocks. In "The Rockstar," it's Jason who gets stoned (ba dum tss). 

Strategy Notes:

    Barely much to go on. Jeremy (like his Sentai counterpart, Tadashi) finds the mirror and does his best to keep it away from the bad guys. He even uses it to destroy the Rockstar on his own. That is until the last minute when Scorpina gets it and is grown. The Rangers quickly deduce after Zordon tells them of its powers to destroy the mirror with the Power Sword. 

Biblical and Mythological Homage:

    Mirrors appear in many myths and fairy tales. There's the hand mirror of Venus, which acts as a vanity. There's the magic mirror in the fairy tale, "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" that the Queen speaks to a spirit within to ask, "Who is the fairest of all?" This continued into fantasy, with the Mirror of Galadriel in The Lord of the Rings, which is a puddle of water that tells the future, and the Mirror of Esired from Harry Potter, that shows what many desire most. Mirrors are used as a weapon, like against Medusa (since looking at her in the face turns one into stone), and they expose vampires, as they have no reflection. Most famous is the Looking Glass in Lewis Carrol's novel, acting as a gateway into Wonderland. 

     The mirror used here doesn't act like any of these. It seems more resembling of a parabolic mirror, reflecting a beam of light. This type of mirror is found in lighthouses to project a beam of light at a sea shore. It's also found in flashlights. But the idea of a mirror being a weapon like this resembles also the famous mirrors set up in war towers during the Siege of Syracuse, in the Punic War, by Archimedes. The man who said, "Eureka" upon discovering displacement also is credited for creating a powerful weapon from this by reflecting the sunlight from a mirror at an angle that any object targeted combusts into flames. H.G. Wells even suggested the Martian's Heat-Ray in his The War of the Worlds operates in the same manner, only it generates its own heat without the sun. It sounds like a piece of fiction, but Archimedes did exist and so did the mirrors, which were based on the works of Diocles, though there are plenty who doubt if the Heat-Ray existed. Of course, it didn't serve the Syrancusians well, as their city was overrun by the Romans in the end. 

    The plot of this episode resembles that of Robert Lewis Stevenson's Treasure Island. A boy finds a map, is guided by an older man to keep it safe, dodges the bad guys near a sea shore, and comes upon more. The key difference is an absence of anything resembling Long John Silver and the lack of any treasure found in the end.  

Misc. Note:

    I have to thank MistareFusion[1] for pointing out the Sentai episode was filmed at Namegawa Island, a Japanese sea resort with pink flamingos and towers. There is also a swimming pool, which the famous battle in the pool was filmed. So, through the use of Sentai footage, Americans got a glimpse into that place. Mr. MistareFusion also pointed out that a few years after the scene was filmed the resort went into bankruptcy and the pool was closed down. The website, www.michaeljohngrist.com, with the article "The Sadness of Namegawa Island" shows the pool in a recent photo, looking like creepy without any water. 

   Goof: unmorphed Dan can be found in the scene by the pool. Now you wondered who that was staggering about, watching the Power Rangers fight. 

    Bulk and Skull attempt to eat a pizza by treating it like a taco, roll it up and then cram the whole thing in their mouths. Not just any pizza, but a sloppy joe pizza. 

    You can obviously tell which is Sentai footage and which is not when watching the beach scenes. Many of the Japanese coastlines are black due to one or two of them having active volcanoes, whose ashes mixed with the sand to give it its darker color. California's beaches are not near volcanoes and therefore have the familiar white sand look. This is the reason why the shore changes in many scenes in this episode. 

Thoughts.

    Now that we got this out of the way, I'll say that I enjoy "The Rockstar" greatly. With Tommy's absence due to it happening later on, I'd call this his breather episode. Unless this was to take place even later. 

    Jeremy is not as bad as Maria, but not as fleshed out as Willy. He is in the middle with Sylvia. He gets hyperactive when the Power Rangers show up and learns the lessons at heart what Jason tells him, about brains over brawns. It's a good lesson. One thing that makes Jeremy stand out from the other child characters of the week is he is the only one who destroys a monster on his own. And he's not even a Power Ranger. 

     A trivial fact about Jeremy is his actor, Richard Lee Jackson, has his voice dubbed over. It likely was because his voice was breaking, since it deepens a few times, and a kid whose voice hadn't was called in to dub. 

    As to the monster, I get the sense he isn't the real threat in this episode but the mirror is. Rockstar is even destroyed by a kid using the mirror. So, it makes you wonder how can the stakes be high based on that? In other words, the McGuffin is the greater threat the monster, which is why the Rangers battle Goldar and Scorpina to break the said mirror. Now, before y'all say anything, the Rangers don't get any bad luck out of it. It's superstition. 

[1]: MistareFusion, "Power Rangers Was My First Dragon Ball - Mighty Morphin Zyurangers" (2022).