Season One: Episode Twenty-One: Green With Evil, pt. 5

 

                         Green With Evil, part five.

                             Breaking the Spell.

                                                               An Enemy Becomes and Ally. 

Sentai Notes:

     Since Burai isn't under a spell like Tommy, he is free to leave Bandora anytime. He does so after the Zyurangers are defeated, but striking out on his own reveals he is living on borrowed time, some of which was lost in fighting the Zyurangers. Part Five uses footage from two episodes, the first of which features Dragon Caesar, Burai's guardian beast, come up and attack Tokyo, prompting Bandora to send down Grifforzer and Lami to take him on, because there is only enough room for one villain. 

    The cheesy side is evident in the first scene where the Golem are seen playing a trumpet flourish from Swan Lake (from act 3, when guests come in to Prince Siegfried's birthday party, not the famous one from act 1). Apparently the corniness of seeing Putties playing cornets is the reason it wasn't used in Power Rangers.

    Dragon Caesar is Burai's guardian beast, who rises out of the bay and marches into Tokyo, in contrast to the others coming out of the ground. Evidently he has the name for being king of the dragons, but he answers the call of anyone who holds the dagger flute, which plays the same tune as in Power Rangers (though it's a little longer in the Sentai show, and it sounds more flute like, whereas the American show has trumpets sounding forth). 

   The Sentai take has more to the redemption arc. Instead of fighting until the Green Ranger is disarmed, there is additional blows administered until the Green Ranger demorphs. Daizyujin throws Dragon Caesar around and then tells Geki to kill his brother in order for there to be justice. The whole arc of the six episodes in Zyuranger has been about Geki coming to terms with the fact Burai is his brother and his whole life had been a lie, and he spends that time unwilling to fight his brother. When it reaches the point where he sees what happens when he does nothing (to use the familiar phrase), at last he challenges his brother one on one, and ultimately win. The last piece is when he, like Luke Skywalker upon defeating Darth Vader, opts to not kill his brother when someone tells him to. Instead, he throws his weapon down and presents himself for Burai to kill, without opposition. He does turn back with sad eyes and when it looks as though Burai is going to kill him, he doesn't. It's through this Burai is redeemed, the two brothers make up, and Burai is initiated among the Zyurangers at long last. 

Strategy Notes: 

   Since the Power Rangers begin without any Zords, their main strategy against the Dragonzord is running and hiding from his missiles and tail. It's only when Zordon returns and powers up their Zords do they get a fighting chance (literally). 

    Dragonzord is heavier and slightly taller than the Tyrannosaurus Zord, and has a longer tail and arms, so it has the upper hand. The only thing in the Tyrannosaurus' favor is experience, even though it only defeated a monster on its own only once. The Dragonzord beats out the Tyrannosaurus with its hand, but the latter ducks when the tail is deployed. It then grabs the said tail to hold it. Unfortunately, Dragonzord has a drill on the end, which activates and slaps aside the T-Rex, then it fires missiles from its fingers (these attacks are foreshadowed by the lights on its chest blinking while something like an alarm goes forth), then it knocks the T-Rex down. Of course, the Red Ranger uses that for his advantage to have the T-Rex do the kangaroo kick, knocking the Dragonzord off its feet. 

    Since the Megazord is just throwing the Dragonzord around, the next strategy is done by the Red Ranger who personally goes to challenge the Green Ranger, man to man. Here too, it's a close fight. The Red Ranger has one sword to fight the Green Ranger's sword and dagger. The Green Ranger also has his shield that gives him a power boost, and can deflects his blaster bolts, against which the Red Ranger has no defense. So, Jason once more pulls a surprise move. He overpowers the Power Sword and throws it at the Green Ranger, knocking his weapons out of his hands, disarming him (but not cutting either hand off). Then, while the Green Ranger is down, he uses the blaster to destroy the Sword of Darkness. Thus, the spell is broken as shown by the green flames exiting Tommy. 

Biblical and Mythological Notes:

   The Sentai take has Burai part from Bandora by turning on her. The set up is like Lucifer rebelling against God, with Burai having his own "I will not serve." Of course, Bandora wins out by showing her powers and casts Burai from the sky and toward Earth, where his hatred for his brother has further kept him away from the others. Burai then has to live in his own Hell, which is the fact he is on limited amount of time to live and must be in a lapless room to prevent his aging, lest he'll die all alone, and never get that quality brother time with Geki. Of course, what separates the two is the fact God is all good while Bandora is evil, which does make it something to boggle any Christian mind viewing the show (i.e., create a picture that one is not used to seeing, where the ultimate source of evil was simply banished by another?)

    Power Rangers' use of the spell on Tommy prevents Paradise Lost from being repeated, but instead creates a redemption story. But the Sentai source material is enough to make one think of the heresy of Gnosticism, which believed in one God and a malevolent being that is commonly seen as the God of the Old Testament. To Gnostics, this evil being, cast away by the supreme being of the universe, was the creator of the world, thus the world itself is flawed, as opposed to Christian belief that the world was created to be perfect and is only thus flawed through sin. Here too is a subversion. Burai creates nothing, but destroys a great deal with Dragon Caesar, who is handed to him by Clotho, a spirit of life (named for the Greek Moirai who spins the thread of life), along with a dagger flute, and given the amount of time to live. 

    One more subversion is how the dragon is associated with the Devil. It's something that remained in many western cultures, especially the familiar image of a dragon being slayed by a knight. In Japan, the dragon is associated with nature, bringing rain to the land (ironically). When Dragonzord and his counterpart first appear, they lean to the Western image of the dragon as a terror and a threat, but then reforms with its master to become an ally of the good guys. 

    The way Dragonzord comes out of the ocean is resemblant of the Beast of the Sea in the Book of Revelations. Unlike in the Bible, Rita doesn't give Tommy her powers and authority, but simply gives him the Dragonzord to conquer the Earth. Dragonzord also resembles Godzilla, who also starts out as the destroyer, then becomes savior as he fights many monsters, and also rises out of the sea. 

    The Sentai take is an interesting subversion to the story of Cain and Abel, with Geki opting to not be Cain, but instead plays Abel, and Burai becomes redeemed instead of killing him. 

   An interesting role reversal: Peter Pan also wears green and has a dagger and his enemy, Captain Hook, wears read and carries a sword. Yet it's the Green Ranger who gets disarmed here.

Misc. Notes: 

    Jason David Frank is included in the opening credits beginning in this episode (which sort of spoils the ending), while credited as Jason Frank. The new credits also give viewers the first glimpse of the Dragonzord. 

    It's a coincidence, but the way Kimberly walks up to Tommy and says, "I know you're the Green Ranger" seems to foreshadow the scene in Twilight when Bella tells Edward she knows he is a vampire. Tommy doesn't force her to spill it out, but confirms it in a manner of Anakin in Revenge of the Sith. 

     Nice moment appears in the Sentai footage where Dragon Caesar picks up a striped smoke stack and munches it like a candy-stick. Saban obviously liked it because it appears a few more times in Power Rangers Season Two.  

    Highlight moment with the Zord footage, the Megazord gestures like in Sentai, while Jason is heard yelling, "Give it up, Tommy!" Dragonzord, on the ground, raises a paw, appearing defiant, while Tommy answers, "No way!" It's a neat representation of the two and the Zords are briefly appearing to talk. A worthy moment to be compared to General Cambronne at Waterloo, supposedly saying, "The Old Guard never surrenders, it dies." (Admittedly, the voice tone sounds different from Frank's). 

    Once the Sword of Darkness is destroyed and the spell broken, Jason becomes the bigger man by showing forgiveness to Tommy (a brief point to mention is him glancing away briefly when Tommy says, "After everything I've done?" upon invitation to join the Power Rangers, likely has him still holding a grudge, but comes up with something else to say with as much humility as possible: "Tommy, we need you. It's where you belong."). Everyone forgives Tommy, including Kimberly, who smiles and gives an urging nod to him, as Jason holds out his hand. Cream on the cake is the fact Jason tells Tommy he owns the Green Ranger powers now. 

    Once reformed, we get the complete roll call. Tommy doesn't say, "Dragon!" or "Green Dragon!" (unlike in the movie where he says, "White Tiger!"), or even "Green Ranger Power!" Instead, he says, "Dragonzord!" Also, he goes first, replacing Zack who normally does that in the morphin sequence, while Jason still has his own unique footage. 

    Zordon mentions a prophecy in which the sixth ranger was to join the Power Rangers. Ranger lore says he and Rita were in some kind of toss up over coins. He won it five times, while Rita was lucky to win the one that created her evil Green Ranger. 

     Zordon also commends the Rangers for handling their greatest challenge yet and to Alpha for taking command in his absence. He then has Tommy learn the rules of being a Power Ranger, to which he agrees to, and Billy gives him a wrist communicator. Thus Tommy is initiated in. The pilot is recalled once more when the Rangers do a hand together move and yell, "Power Rangers!" 

Thoughts.

     Now we reach the end of the "Green With Evil" saga, the best set of episodes within the first season. What sets these apart is the fact we get a story arc, allowing for a miniseries to be set up, as opposed to stand-alone episodes where the conflict is resolved in thirty minutes. This expanded the story, increased the stakes, and developed the characters (though Jason and Tommy do the most, going from rivals, to enemies, to friends, and Alpha and Zack stepping up, along with Billy, leaving Trini the only unfleshed out of the bunch). It's no wonder "Green With Evil" was even given it's own DVD. 

    As to part five, it's the best in the best set of episodes. When the Power Rangers learn who the Green Ranger is, their mission becomes focused and they are to save Tommy from the spell. Kimberly and Jason instigate this and the rest join in once morphed. Of course, the Green Ranger is just as strong as before with his new Dragonzord, but thankfully Zordon returns and so do the Zords. The fight between the Tyrannosaurus and Dragonzords is always exciting to watch, knowing how they are almost equal. The Megazord throwing the Dragonzord around is a disappointment, but the the Red and Green Rangers going mano-a-mano on the ground makes up for it. 

    I like how the Rangers are forgiving of Tommy once the spell is broken. Jason tells him he owns the power now and he belongs with them. After a moment's hesitation, Tommy accepts and is now included in the morphing roll call. My favorite part of that scene is once morphed, we get this:

     Jason: We're back and we're ready to morph into action!

     Tommy: Six working together to fight evil!

     Zack: And stop Rita,

     Billy: And all her menacing monsters!

     Trini: From destroying the Planet Earth!

     Kimberly: And ruling the universe with evil!

     Jason and Tommy: Look out, Rita! We're not backing down because we're the...

     Together: POWER RANGERS!

    Couldn't have said it better myself!

   Now for the overall look of "Green With Evil," it will always be the best series thus far to me. It crafted out a good story of a promising new student kidnapped, put under a spell to be evil, and is redeemed by our favorite team of super heroes, even as he does great damage to them. While Christian themes have been hard to find in the show, I can find it here with the forgiveness approach. The Rangers don't hold grudges and tell a repentant Tommy he is a Power Ranger. It echoes what we are told of forgiveness coming from God, when we repent of our sins and approach Him for forgiveness. He doesn't hold a grudge against it. He forgives the penitent, telling them to sin no more, and welcomes them home. 

   What more could be said? A lot has been said of this already.