Season One: Episode Twenty: Green With Evil, pt. 4.

 

                Green With Evil, part four. 

                 Eclipsing the Megazord. 

                            The one where the Power Rangers learn who the Green Ranger really is.

Sentai Notes:

    The dinosaur eggs seen back in "Big Sisters" is brought back and Bandora was to use the bus to destroy them. Since the eggs are not in this show, the concept is removed and instead it's simply the civilians in danger move. 

   The Sentai episode "Daizyuzin's Last Day" goes further than show him being a combination of guardian spirits in form of dinosaurs, but also in fact God. Obviously due to values dissonance, this idea is not included in "Green With Evil" concerning the Megazord, especially as the Zords are robots. 

   Also, an eclipse just happens in this battle, resulting in Daizyuzin to lose power. This does get transferred to Power Rangers, only with Rita making the eclipse. 

Strategy Notes:

    Rita uses a giant Goldar as a diversion, then she has him threaten to destroy a bus holding Bulk and Skull. Then when the Power Rangers summon their zords, she sends in Scorpina to grow and take out the Megazord, while an eclipse zaps away the power cells. Finally, she gets the Green Ranger to arrive and overwhelm the Power Rangers. 

   The final blow comes when Scorpina stings the Megazord in the head. Then Goldar and Green Ranger combine their swords to throw a beam that knocks the Megazord off its feet. 

    On the good side, Billy is able to hotwire the circuit board to get the Command Center up when a power surge hits. Alpha even uses a forcefield to trap the Green Ranger briefly, giving the computer time to scan and get his identity. 

Biblical and Mythological Homage:

    Nothing to bring up, though solar eclipses were once viewed as omens. A popular depiction of the Crucifixion of Jesus features the darkness brought on by a solar eclipse despite the fact Passover happens during a full moon, and it lasts three hours whereas an eclipse lasts only eight minutes. So, there is a good reason for the use of an eclipse to zap away the Megazord's power. 

Misc. Note:

    Bulk wants to finish his ice cream when there is a monster attack going on, a sign of how gluttony sometimes robs one the sense of danger. Thankfully, the sight of objects falling convinces him to leave it to the scavengers. 

     The motions the Power Rangers do just before their morphers get sparky is the same arm movement the Zyurangers do right before yelling, "Dino Buckla!"

   Jason protests to Goldar, "They're [Bulk and Skull] are civilians!" As if Rita and her minions observed a chivalry to leave civilians alone. 

     The one time Green Ranger is grown and takes on the Megazord. 

    The body actor in the Yellow Ranger suit has bad timing while Thuy Trang's "Oh no" is a little off. Just watch the episode and you'll see. 

    This is the first of many occasions where the Power Rangers witness their Zords destroyed and fall into despair, but someone tells them they mustn't give up. 

Thoughts.

    The fourth part of "Green With Evil" has the earmarks of a Greek tragedy. From the start, we are aware the Rangers are heading into a trap, yet there is nothing to stop them, thus they walk into it. That is even played up when you have Squat and Bamboo for a Greek Chorus. 

     The Power Rangers now suffer the big defeat, losing their zords, right as they have still yet to bring back Zordon and a power surge reduced their powers. The Green Ranger had effectively redeemed himself for Rita while effectively bringing the Power Rangers to their knees. No wonder they are in despair. Yet, Alpha gave a pep talk and a hopeful spot. He revealed that he trapped the Green Ranger and revealed the identity of him, which is enough to make the Power Rangers even more shocked. Their nemesis has been the new kid at school, Tommy, all along. 

    Bulk and Skull also shine in this episode, showing themselves to be too silly to be considered the typical school yard bullies. They get into a bus to escape Goldar, only to be caught by him and almost killed in the process. Normally, you'd be hoping that bus went over the edge and killed them. However, since it's the evil characters doing this, you realize you can't on good conscience. That is how good writing works. 

    We also see Scorpina in her monstrous form after being told about it in part three. Turns out Scorpina does have a sting that is really bad. Her weapon hits hard and can be used as a boomerang. When giant sized, she is even uglier and can wreck the Megazord. 

    I also liked watching Billy hot wire the circuits to get everything working again, as well as Alpha coming back online when the Green Ranger appears to have cut all off from Zordon. Alpha cannot be underestimated and he would have given the reveal much sooner had not Rita recalled the Green Ranger. Meanwhile, the way they all reacted to the Megazord being destroyed has some emotional weight that you have to ignore the cheap special effects used to illustrate them looking into a fissure. Of course, the reactions in "The Ninja Quest Part 1" is much better. So now, we have the next cliff hanger and waiting anxiously to see if the good guys will win at last, or not.