Season One: Episode Eighteen: Green With Evil, pt. 2

 

                 Green With Evil, part 2. 

                         Jason's Battle.

                            The second battle. 



Sentai Notes:

    In the second episode involving the Green Ranger in Zyuranger, it is revealed that he and the Red Ranger are in fact brothers. The backstory was in prehistoric Japan, the Yamato King took hold of Geki and then adopted him, over the chagrin of his father, the Black Knight. The Knight then attacked and was killed in the process, right in front of Burai. Burai swore revenge and trained hard for it, only to see the King die. He then prepared to battle Bandora, only to see her defeated by the Zyurangers. So, he went into hibernation to return when the time came. 

     One clue was in the previous episode to Burai and Geki being brothers finds its way into Power Rangers. When the Red and Green Rangers go one on one, they mirror each other in kicks and punches. That's a start, but even in the nineties, American boys playing with the toys would have noted how the helmet visor of the Green Ranger resembles that of the Red Ranger, with a golden hold added on top and with bigger eyes on top and a fin. 

   Unlike in Power Rangers, Burai starts out alone but winds up joining Bandora to defeat the Zyurangers. He does acquire a sword while doing so, Hellfriede. 

     When Bandora came down to Earth in the episode, there's a cute little musical number that kicks up. It's a very narcissistic song that Bandora would come up with at some moments of the show, expressing her displeasure at the world and humanity in general. The lyrics when translated basically say, if seen from a distance the Earth looks like a pretty sapphire, but the Dora Scope reveals a messed up world and humans are behind it. You can view it and hear it for yourselves here. Most likely with the way they were abusing Barbara Goodson's vocals daily, Saban and his team dropped the musical number for Rita Repulsa, which is why for many of us nineties kids it's surreal to see her sing karaoke. Then again, hearing her butcher "Here Comes the Bride" in Season Two makes us thankful they didn't try it here. 

Strategy Notes:

    Tommy as the Green Ranger uses divide and conquer approach. He does this by separating Jason from the rest of the Rangers, trapping him with Goldar and making the Power Rangers now without a field commander. So, in this moment Zack is the field commander of the Power Rangers and even with him in charge the Power Rangers are barely holding on by their fingernails. Zack's move now is to pull out the bigger guns to handle this threat, namely summoning the Zords to form the Megazord. The move gave the Green Ranger pause, since his beams can't do much. 

    The move can also be seen as a desperate times call for desperate measures situation. Traditionally, the Power Rangers don't call upon their Zords unless the monster is grown. But since the Green Ranger has proven to be as tough to vanquish as two giant monsters, the Power Rangers have no choice. They use this to secure a pyrrhic victory and retreat once again. 

Biblical and Mythological Homage:

    The dark dimension that Goldar holds Jason in appears as an artistic representation of Hell, done in a child friendly way. It's done with Jason zapped in and is unable to leave because there is no escape. Goldar even tells him his communicator won't work there, giving Jason the sense of being cut off from help. He practically could have set up a sign in that chamber that said, "Abandon all hope, ye that enter." (If Dante wrote his Inferno today, it would be a little on the nose to have the pilgrim attempt to call home on his phone once in Hell, only to have a recording of Goldar laughing and saying, "You're communication device doesn't work here!" - and before you say it, copyright laws don't jurisdiction in the afterlife, either) Yet, there is the morpher that could get him out, but Goldar has it and keeps Jason out of reach from it. 

    From a Christian standpoint, Jason's fight with Goldar is a clear representation of one's battle with sin and the Devil, illustrating it where the communicator held close proves worthless in the location he is trapped in. The morpher might help, but Goldar stands in the way, just as Satan would come between the sinner and God. Instead of brute strength, he'll use temptation, fear, doubt, anger, lies, and anything else that falls under the definition of gaslighting to keep the sinner from seeking God. Goldar even claims no human can ever best him, while tormenting Jason like a demon or a fury. 

Misc. Notes:

    First episode the announcer says, "Last time on Power Rangers." Since Super Sentai was more focused on storytelling than action packed battles, each one had an off screen narrator who began and ended each episode. Kyoryu Sentai Zyuranger was no exception, having the narrator filling in the viewers on what happened previously and telling us what is to happen next, and most of its episodes ended with "To Be Continued." While the storytelling part wasn't included, Power Rangers had episodes airing originally with the narrator Dave Mallow saying, "Today on Power Rangers." Much of this was meant to prep up the audience and get them hooked, while the "Previously" segments were reserved for multipart episodes, where anyone who missed the previous episode would be filled in on what has happened. 

   Kerrigan Mahan is seen on the cast list as Goldar, but in the early episodes he shared it with Robert Axelrod, resulting in the constant changes in voice. The second part of "Green With Evil" has it put on Mahan and it even sounds like him. Mahan considered it his favorite. 

   In the previous episode, Kimberly invited Tommy to hang with her friends. Around the time the Green Ranger hit, she was telling them how he didn't meet up with her. She finds him at school in this episode and inquires. Tommy noticeably acts aloof and cold around her, to the point of giving her the talk down with the whole, "You're not the center of everyone's universe." At least Kimberly answers with one of her own, "Well, excuse me for living."

   In the same scene, Tommy has a slight twitch in his lip before his eyes flicker green. Could it be possible he felt some twinge of regret for talking to her like that and the spell took hold of his mind? If so, this is the start of the arc where Tommy will later try to make up for that with Kim. 

  The Rangers have seen Tommy in a green sleeveless shirt while facing the Green Ranger. Remarkably, even Billy doesn't put two and two together here. 

    If you wondered how Goldar got Jason's morpher. A moment missed is that Jason gets zapped by the bars in the windows and he falls back. It's likely to have fallen out of him and Goldar picked it up. 

   In connection to Biblical and Mythological homage note, the Power Coins in the morphers have the shape similar to the Sacred Wafer of the Eucharist. Goldar's separation of it from Jason is a visual representation in Catholic doctrine to how awareness of a grave sin without the sacrament of Confession prevents one from receiving the Host worthily. Obviously, Saban wasn't Catholic, but it's something to think on, especially as Jason is wearing the colors associated with Good Friday and Pentecost. In addition, Tyrannosaurus rex is considered the king of the dinosaurs, making it a good enough stand-in for the lion. 


Thoughts.

    I mentioned how dark things are getting with "Green With Evil part one", but "part two" shows it even darker. While under Rita's spell, Tommy frightens away Bulk and Skull by looking at them, breaks Kimberly's heart, and once more proves tough against the Rangers. But it's Jason's battle with Goldar that really sells the episode. 

     I get that in this point in time, Tommy and Jason are pretty much rivals and something in that kicks with Rita's spell to make him target the Red Ranger. By getting him out of the way, the Power Rangers are now reduced in membership and Jason is fighting for his life. No longer is it simply a teenager puts on a spandex suit and fights a rubber monster. Now Jason is at his most vulnerable where he can't teleport and can't morph, has no weapons, and he is facing Rita's toughest minion. 

    The final image of the episode with Goldar now armed and preparing to administer the coup de grace upon Jason, who is now on his back, made the former really a fearsome character. For the most part, this was the deadliest we see of Goldar, ever, as he plays around with Jason (who can't morph and is unarmed) and comes close to killing him. Thus we have our perfect cliff hanger of an ending. 

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