Season One: Episodes Twelve and Sixteen.

 

                 Power Ranger Punks.

                                  Billy and Kimberly act out of character. 

Sentai Notes: 

     The story of the episode is inspired by the Zyuranger episode, "Be Careful of the Shaved Ice," which also had a beverage contaminated by the bad guys and cause two of the rangers to turn punk. Considering that Power Rangers was sparing the uniforms for combat scenes, the episode had scenes redone with the unmorphed Power Rangers. The shaved ice is replaced by water in this incarnation and Alpha does the hunting for the cure here, something done by Barza, the Zyurangers' Zordon. 

Strategy Notes:

    Turning Billy and Kim into punks is pure divide and conquer. Of course, the Power Rangers make a holding action against Terror Toad, even as they each get eaten, while Alpha retrieves the singing plants to cure Billy and Kim. When they morph in, Billy does the diversion tactic, though he gets eaten in the process, prompting Kimberly to fight the monster on her own. 

Biblical and Mythological Homage:

    Terror Toad follows in the footsteps of the Nemean Lion. In the stories of Heracles (or Hercules, if you will), the first labor was to seek out the lion and kill it. Heracles does so, finding it hard as the Nemean lion's skin is proof against manly weapons. So he slays it with his bare hands (In Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Titan's Curse, it is slain by choking on a ball and having an arrow fired into its mouth), and unlike Samson, who left his lion to waste and become the source of his riddle, used the lion's hide as his means of clothing. Terror Toad is about the same, but is defeated by the Pink Ranger firing an arrow into its mouth. Terror Toad's gobbling of the Rangers echoes Cronus eating up his children, as well. 

Misc. Note: 

   So when Billy is a punk he could take on the bullies. When Kimberly is a punk, she'll hit on Skull. Amazing. 

   Punk rock was the rage in the eighties and early nineties. But Punk was popular in the seventies, too. It was something that the younger Boomers and the Gen Xers, and even early Gen Yers, would take on as their way of going against the grain, putting on those flannels, have hair done in bizarre shapes, and wear those fingerless gloves, while listening to load music that featured a great deal of shouting. Punk subculture made tattooed women mainstream, along with gender non-conformity in manly and feminine fashions (like those cut up hair, spiked hair, tank-tops, tight leather pants, metal boots, etc.). The behavior of Billy and Kimberly matches well to the imagination of punks, appearing interesting to younger viewers while confirming to older ones what they were. 

    So, the two minority rangers are eaten by Terror Toad (due to the footage) while a white guy ranger remains free until the cured white rangers come. How is it this episode hasn't fallen on some list of problematic things of the past. Then again, Kimberly and Billy say, "It's Morphin' Time" together as equals. That's a plus. Also, the Pink Ranger defeats the monster with her bow. Now that's girl power. 

Thoughts.

    "Power Ranger Punks" is quite an episode. It seems silly to see Kimberly and Billy, the two goody-good shoes of the bunch, suddenly turned into punks by Bamboo. The way David Yost and Amy Jo Johnson perform as rebellious teenagers is spot on, making one think they are feeling free to be themselves suddenly. Of course, the unspoken hero in the episode is Alpha. 

    It was Alpha who got the singing plants to cure Billy and Kim of their punk state, something many adults would wish to see when their children hit puberty. In real life, teenage rebellion can't be cured by by medicine. It can't even be defeated, no matter how hard adults come down on the teens. Instead, it stays until it burns out in each individual, though it continues in each subsequent age groups. But if it were possible to cure it the way Power Rangers presented, when looking at history, it can make a paradox. I mean it, with that sort of cure, later Boomers wouldn't have delved into sex, drugs, and Rock n Roll in the seventies, early Boomers never became left-wing radicals or hippies, silent generationers would never have gotten into Beatnik philosophy or protested institutions, and even the World War II generation would have been less likely to have gone off their parents' homes to work in the New Deal programs or fight in the war, etc. Even going back into the time when teenagers were never thought up as anything but miniature adults (with girls as young as Kimberly being wedded off and boys taking up a trade), one can see that rebellion. 

    In short, it's a wish fulfillment for parents. 

  There are things enjoyable, especially seeing Bulk and Skull become tangled in the volleyball net when they seek revenge for their humiliation at Billy's hand. There's the implication that Kim would only date Skull if she were under a spell or if she were a punk, and not her real self. This becomes something noticed in later episodes, especially...

                    Switched Places.

                                Billy and Kimberly act out of character again. 

Sentai Notes: 

    The genie seen in the episode is based on another genie in the Sentai episode, who was controlled by whoever held the lamp. As such, he originally wasn't evil. He just fell into evil hands, for earlier he was controlled by a child who found the lamp. The said child then gets the lamp and calls him off from destroying the Zyurangers. 

Strategy Notes:

    Not much to record, other than Rita making a plan to use a genie right when there is a mess up in the team. Basically, take advantage of the situation. Once again, she fails to take note that no plan survives the first encounter, as the Power Rangers morph and take on the genie, even with Kim and Billy in each other's bodies. 

Biblical and Mythological Homage:

  Genies (or jinn) are from Arabian folklore, predating Islam, as an all-powerful entity who can command the elements. The drawback to being one is the fact he is confined to a lamp and must serve whoever possesses the said lamp. The only thing in the genie's favor is the number of wishes being three, after which he is free of the master. Most famous story concerning the genie is "Aladdin," who encounters one bound to a ring and another bound to a lamp, who both do his bidding. 

Misc. Note:

   This is the first time we see Alpha defeat a monster. He simply destroys the lamp. Otherwise, Genie is the one monster of Rita Repulsa who evenly defeats the Power Rangers and their Megazord, and in the one time he shows up. 

   Since the show is meant to be geared to kids, no mention is made of Billy and Kim discovering the difference between boys and girls. Thus, we don't have the awkward moment of either of them having to go to the bathroom and finding themselves entering the wrong one (or Kimberly finding out that relieving oneself standing up isn't as easy as guys make it out to be). Instead, the use of gender roles is done where each one is unable to do the talents of the other while in each other's bodies. 

  According to IMBD and Power Rangers Wiki, during the filming of the episode a prop malfunctioned. Thankfully, neither Yost nor Johnson were seriously hurt, but the latter was weary of electrical prop made special affects from then on. That even led to safety concerns on her end when she appeared in Turbo: Power Rangers Movie.

Thoughts.

    The episode has a Freaky Friday vibe about it. In the original novel, a mother and her daughter swap bodies and see what it's like to be each other for twenty-four hours. This was made into movies by Disney three times (the first had Barbara Harris and Jodie Foster). Using this concept, we see a boy and a girl switch bodies and see what their worlds are like, with plenty of comedy. It also reinforces some sexist stereotypes, which is girls are not good with computers and boys make bad cooks (at least, not if they are biological and heterosexuals). Plenty of girls can be computer nerds, believe it or else. I got a sister who is one due to her job. As to guys being cooks, that can also happen, and chefs, bakers, and grillers were usually men. 

    The fact Bulk and Skull switch places also seems a funny idea, letting them see how they look for once (and I got to hand it to Jason Navy for pulling off a Bulk imitation and Paul Shier doing the same for Skull). A much better way of doing it is to have Bulk and Billy switch places, allowing Bulk to discover how it's like to be bullied and Billy finding out just how tough it is for bullies to exist (being the kind of world where the strong thrive). That does lead to an awkward moment of what to do about Billy in Bulk's body when Zordon calls. Another idea is Squat somehow switching places with a Power Ranger, and the hilarity that might come of it. 

    Still, we get what we got. I do find it funny how the episode, like Freaky Friday, makes the body swap a nightmare rather than a fantasy. It does make one wonder how can anyone handle it if it were real? 

    The big loss in this episode is the use of Genie. His potential was wasted in this episode, considering how he is the only monster thus far to defeat the Power Rangers evenly, with only the destruction of his lamp being what defeats him. Now, considering this is the last episode before Tommy appears, it does make this a weak filler before an awesome series kicks in. I wouldn't be surprised if some people might skip this one when watching the DVDs, or on YouTube.