Season One: Episode Thirty-Three: The Yolk's On You!

 

                    The Yolk's On You!

                                                Another episode with eggs. 

Sentai Notes:

   The Fang monster in Zyuranger wasn't a monster created by Bandora. Instead, it's called the Goda, not Dora Goda. She is a subterranean monster who comes out during a recent earthquake. Unlike Fang, Goda is a tragic creature. The eggs that Squat and Bamboo eat are not the snacks she picked up at some point with the intention to eat later. They were her eggs containing her children. In her pain, she is moved by the bad guys into attacking the Rangers. She even makes a deal with Bandora to have her eggs restored, selling her soul in the process, and leading to her ultimate death. There is a point where the Zyurangers were reluctant to take out Goda, having become woke to the fact she is a misunderstood creature, feared due to her looks and her lack of speech, resulting in the child of the week almost killed, the remaining egg crushed with him, and a dam nearly busted by Goda. When Goda is defeated, the Zyurangers actually give their enemy a funeral, in what TV Tropes calls "Enemy in Mourning" (something no Dora monster ever gets), and set up a shrine to her, while her remaining egg is preserved. 
   Much of that is dropped in the translation, with a goofy voice and the eggs now belonging to a goony bird, and Fang's obsession with them leading to Rita having to goad him into fighting the Power Rangers. Most obvious, the Goda is given a gender change in becoming Fang, and the lesson on tragedies happening regardless removed. Even the way Goda is defeated is changed to include the Ultrazord and have it destroy Fang. 

Strategy Notes:

    Rita seems to be taking notes and realizing how much of an advantage comes with Tommy absent that she once again sends down the Putties to take him out. They intercept him and fight him. Of course, Tommy is wiser to their moves and fights them off. What makes it harder for him is the fact one of them wisely takes his communicator and runs off with it. Very smart for a Putty. Tommy follows, mostly thinking a challenge would kill time. What he didn't realize is the Putty was a bait and he walked, or ran, right into the net. 

    Tommy is able to get out of the net largely due to the Putties, now two in number, fiddling with the wrist communicator and morpher, not even bothering to keep an eye on him. So, he slips from the net and knocks them out. Their friends come in, only for Tommy to knock them out quickly.

    Deception is also used in the episode, first with Goldar claiming the Power Rangers have gooney bird eggs just to get Fang to attack. Rita uses it again with the promise of all the eggs he wants if he does her bidding. 

Biblical and Mythological Homage:

    Very hard to find any. Research on what the Goda is and where it exists in mythology is harder than convincing Fang the Power Rangers don't have eggs. The design does resemble the Cetus from the story of Perseus and Andromeda though (from Clash of the Titans, where the monster is called the Kraken).

Misc. Notes:

   The title is based on the expression, "The joke's on you." In some languages, the letter J is pronounced like the English Y and the usage makes it come across as kind of play on words. It can also be another way of saying you're under the yolk, meaning oppressed. 

   The thing with the claws coming out of Fang's hands is reminiscent of Wolverine from X-Men. Ironically, because Saban also produced the nineties animated series of X-Men (beginning one year before Power Rangers), the best depiction of the famous team of mutants ever. 

   In the Sentai show, when Goda is given a funeral the Zyurangers erect a wooden cross over her grave. Very thoughtful of them. No doubt, Saban chose to not include it due to his religious beliefs (he would have wanted a Star of David instead), but I wonder if it's because they had no idea how anyone would consider the show if religious icons are shown. 

     While Ultrazord was used to defeat Fang, you can see the hole where Dragonzord Battle Mode was to drill it in the original footage. 

    Kimberly calls Fang "buck-toothed bully." Considering the footage came from Japan and the monster was made there, it can come across as racially insensitive to some. Even the name "Fang" can raise eyebrows, since in World War II American comics depicted the Japanese as either buck-toothed or fanged. Not helping is the fact the design has echoes of Lovecraftian monsters, spawned by an American atheist man who used sea life and Asians as inspiration for monsters. Then again, this is speculation. Still, it's best to not describe anyone as "buck-toothed". 

     Bulk and Skull seem to finally find their calling: rock music. Unfortunately, they give it up later and Skull is soon seen playing classical music on the piano. 

     As much as goony birds might seem fictional, it turns out the name is another for albatross. There is a specie of them near the Midway Island, who are named such. Contrary to Fang's idea of them being rare, gooney birds are actually very common and their eggs wouldn't be too hard for him to find (though they are not as big as the show depicts them). Goony bird is also a term for a foolish person. Ironic as the eggs of such bird were not hidden and Fang was easily conned into thinking the Power Rangers had more. Goony Bird is also the name of a military plane. 

Thoughts. 

     I skipped to episode thirty-three as it feels like a calm before the storm. It's also why I chose this one to have only one episode after the exhausting reviewing of last four episodes. 

    This is one of the few episodes I know of where the original Sentai story is better than the Power Rangers one. The tragedy of the Goda Monster is played out well, with the Zyurangers briefly sympathetic of the monster, as does the viewers, and Bandora is very petty in her taking advantage of her plight, and manipulating her into serving her. When the Zyurangers try to reason with Goda, she reveals to be too far gone and she will stop at nothing to avenge her slain children, leading them to have to do away with her. 

    In comparison, the handling of Fang is just silly. He has this craving for goony bird eggs, which Squat and Bamboo eat up, and now gets conned into fighting the Power Rangers just to get some. While Goda was under Bandora's spell and thus unable to hear any appeals, Fang is simply duped and refuses to hear the truth. In the end, he has to be defeated as he threatens the same dam. At least, unlike with Geki, the Power Rangers don't need any push to fight the monster. 

     The lesson of tragedies being inevitable in the Sentai show can filter into this one, but both episodes drive home a message. It's the fact some people are treated bad because of their appearances and when their hearts are made known its often too late. Real life Ritas are present who get them on their side with their own promises of eggs. Thus, rejected by society and being a victim of one bad misfortune after another, the real Godas become the very thing everyone treats them as. The Goda / Fangs of the real world won't look like them, but instead come in form of those guys treated as outcasts and lepers in their schools, often targeted by bullies, and their peers never help them out with kindness nor do adults bother to step in. Instead, those real Godas look for another kind of help and the real Ritas come in form of extremist groups, drugs, alcohol, sex, guns, and toxic masculinity, all of which has been seen to drive them into becoming antipathic to any offer of sympathy. Out of the bunch, a handful of such become swayed by these factors that they become the monsters people make them out to be, resulting in tragedies like Columbine and Sandy Hook. 

     And the way Fang was swayed into attacking the Power Rangers when he lost his eggs to Squat and Bamboo in either show perfectly illustrates something close to home. Just recently, Saban's home country of Israel has been attacked by Hamas and the Israeli forces have used the attack to set Gaza under siege. The media has become the real life Rita Repulsa / Bandora in this instance with the viral report going out on Hamas beheading babies among their hostages. While there is no dispute Hamas has done the deadliest attack yet, this leak has not been confirmed by Israel, as of the date of this entry, but the media has already taken it up from there and the mind numbing explosion on social media of #standwithisrael has come on to confound the understanding, like any hashtag would. A simple looking up of forums or postings on Facebook, Twitter, Threads, Instagram, and YouTube will tell you that those who have taken the fake eggs are quick to refuse to believe any counter information that tries to correct a wrong and each time someone brings up that counter argument, even when citing proper sources, the supporters call them pro-Hamas and accuse them of antisemitism. Calling out the inhumane suffering in the siege is not supporting what Hamas did, and we are also still trying to get a picture on that hospital explosion, also. There too the social media has taken it up by putting the blame to one side when the jury hasn't even returned with the verdict. 

   If I was writing about this, I'd expand on it, but I will only say that what's happening now is an example of how less black and white it is compared to Power Rangers. Right now, I am just going to continue with the episode. In addition to the message of the tragedies that come with people manipulated by bad guys into doing wrong and making them deaf to the truth, but the episode does have a few moments, good and bad. When Tommy forgets to bring the belts, you can't help but go 😩😒. You would be saying, "Oh no, Tommy is going to be getting into trouble or the search will slow him down so that he won't be much help to the Power Rangers until the last minute again." And then it happens. He is trapped by Putties and it takes him awhile to get loose from them. He gets free and morphs to summon Dragonzord and once again the monster is defeated. To me, a better way the episode could have been written is by having Tommy run into Fang after the battle, briefly fight him, then both begin to talk about the eggs, at which point Tommy could sympathize with him. Then Rita shows up and casts a spell to have it attack Tommy, prompting a reverse from before where he normally bailed the Rangers out, now he has to be bailed out. But that role reversal is coming soon.

    The talent show scenes are basically the bread slices to hold in the sandwich of the episode with Bulk and Skull somehow being the redeeming factor. They crash into it and decide to play rock music. And they get a short applause from Kimberly. So basically, it is an low average episode content wise with good things and bad. Looking at the original Sentai episode keeps it from being better, considering how everything is out of context. If done write, it'd make a story about what lies lead to. But if you wish to watch the way the Sentai show handled it, you might need tissues close by.