Season One: Episodes Twenty-Two, Twenty-Three, Twenty-Four, and Twenty-Seven.

 

                   The Trouble With Shellshock.

                                                                 Fast Or Slow...🐢

Sentai Notes:

   The episode "Hope Springs A-Turtle" serves to supply both the story and the monster for "The Trouble With Shellshock." In both cases, the chief villain is napping while her henchmen create a monster without her permission. The Yellow Ranger gets zapped and made to run without stop, as do the Black, Blue, and Pink Rangers who wind up frozen, leaving the Red Ranger to face the monster by himself.

    The episode reveals something from Zyuranger that got in the way of including the Green Ranger. Everything is set, but one problem comes in the fact Burai doesn't show up till the last minute, before he becomes the Green Ranger and summons Dragon Caesar. This leads to the first of cases where writers Stewart St. John and Julianne Klemm, along with Saban himself, decide something had to be done to explain the Green Ranger's absence in absence of the Lapless Room, yet it's obvious they couldn't film more footage of him due to the way the armor looked. That explains the Karate practice thing that ties up Tommy for most of the episode. 

    Dora Tortoise, the counterpart to Shellshock, is said to be immortal, which explains why he was tough for the Tyrannosaurus and Dragon Caesar to defeat. However, the special flowers the Yellow Ranger goes after is the one thing he can't stand.

Strategy Notes:

    Squat and Bamboo employ the same tactic used in "Pressing Engagement" where the Red Ranger is isolated from the team. This time it's because four of the members are under a spell while the Green Ranger is in a previous commitment. 

   What they didn't count on is Zordon finding flowers to cure the spell and sends Yellow Ranger to retrieve them, using the fact she is still under the spell to bring them to the Rangers on the double. The fact the Tyrannosaurus Zord holds off against Shellshock for a time and then counterattacks also brings to mind the saying, "Best the defense is offense." With the Dragon Zord alongside, the Zord is able to defeat the monster without creating the Megazord.  

Biblical and Mythological Homage:

    Turtles and tortoises feature in many mythologies, often used as the foundation of the Earth where the world is supported by elephants and the elephants stand on a giant turtle. The Greek God Hermes is represented, ironically, by a turtle. Some Native Americans even refer to North America as "Turtle Island." 

    The powers to freeze or make the Rangers run gives the episode an homage to the story "The Tortoise and the Hare." As everyone knows, the story centers on a race between the two, with the speedy hare choosing to nap near the finish line due to the tortoise's slow walk. Of course, he wakes up to find the tortoise near the finish line and tries to beat him, only to fail. 

Misc. Notes:

  Shell Shock is an older term for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, or PTSD, which is something servicemen who have been through one battle too many often experience. Looking over the series as a whole, one can't help but wonder if the Power Rangers are ever experiencing shell shock. After all, being put under a spell, seeing your city attacked constantly, and seeing sparks explode over the part of your uniform that is directly over your chest is bound to cause nightmares after awhile. 

   This is the first episode to feature Rita Repulsa saying the iconic line, "Magic wand, make my monster grow!" Yeah! It took this long before it finally happened. 

    Shellshock remarks, "Wait till those teenaged mutants can see what a full grown turtle can do." An interesting homage to the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, who appear in the future. 

    There's a goof where the Yellow Ranger calls out to Jason and Billy when she arrives, even though Billy is in the Command Center, frozen. Another goof has what is clearly Burai appearing on the building instead of the Green Ranger. 

   This is the one time the Tyrannosauruszord and the Dragonzord are seen fighting side by side against a monster, and winning. Normally, there's usually additional Zords close by and when these two are alone they are sometimes depicted fighting each other. 

Thoughts. 

      Now that Tommy is on the team, we can get deeper into the series' best episodes yet. First among them is this one.     

     Bulk and Skull once again act the bullies by claiming a public park. Then they wind up in the hot dog stand, where they wind up working to pay off the debt they made. Remarkably, neither got burned by all those hot (ahem) hot dogs. On that matter, they say Nathan Handwerker began his career in making hot dogs by selling Feltman's and living off the free ones in order to save up on his future hot dog stand. One can say Bulk and Skull might got far if they used the working off the damages to the hot dog stand as a lesson for the future. 

     As to the battle with Shellshock, it was great to see the Tyrannosaurus and Dragon zords fight side by side against the monster. Knowing that the Red and Green Rangers were brothers in the Sentai show adds another dimension to the fight, while also allowing for the two beasts to become a team. But it's great also to hear the TMNT references in the episode when we see them for real in the future (spoiler alert, Tommy and Jason won't be around by then). 

                   Itsy-Bitsy Spider.

                                          🕷...fought the Power Rangers.

Sentai Notes:

    The statue that sets up the plot in this episode has a Sentai counterpart. The statue was crafted as a symbol of love, unlike Power Rangers where it becomes associated with bugs. The butterflies in the Sentai episode create a plague that causes children to faint and become hospitalized. 

Strategy Notes:

   The switching out of the statue by Rita's minions a clever use of deception. Basically, she uses something to attack Angel Grove by having it hidden in the fake statue, similar to the Trojan Horse in Greek Mythology. 

    Got to mention Billy's use of a butterfly net to swing a Puttie down.

Biblical and Mythological Homage:

    As mentioned above, the Spidertron being inside a statue is a reference to the Trojan Horse. 

    As with turtles, spiders are common in mythology as clever weavers, often associated with the Fates. Most famous is in Greek myth with Arachne, a woman who boasted to weave a loom better than Athena and created an obscene tapestry of the Olympians. As punishment for her pride, and her mockery of the gods, the goddess turned her into a spider, resulting in Arachne becoming the basis of words related to spiders (arachnid, arachnophobia, etc.). African myth have Anase, a trickster of a spider, and Native Americans have characters like Unktomi. The Hopi people even believed a spider created the world. In Japanese myths, there is also a spider with the ability to transform into human skulls, or be the eight legged Incubus and impregnate women. Spidertron and its Sentai counterpart doesn't resemble most of these examples, but the way it overpowers the Megazord resembles the legend of Minamoto no Raiko facing a spider and losing. 

Misc. Notes.

   First time the Dragonzord Battle Mode is deployed in battled (and it is referred to as Mega-Dragonzord). 

    Rita Repulsa says, "Now, make my spider grow!" No other monster gets its name mentioned thus. 

   The shot of the Mastodon, Triceratops, and Sabre-tooth Tiger Zords being blasted foreshadows the moment when the Dragonzord Battle Mode is put together: only the Black, Blue, and Yellow Rangers are on board. 

    The Dragonzord Battle Mode has the finishing move by powering up its drill end of the staff and stabbing the monster with it. Due to it being considered too graphic, the actual stabbing isn't shown. We just see it come into contact with the Spider and the reaction shots, while the hole remains. 

    In hindsight, the arguments the teens make on saving the statue sound similar to the people protesting the removal of Confederate statues in recent times. Both cases use the "preserving our history" argument. Unlike in that example, the episode has a happier ending by telling us the statue won't be taken down. 

    Zack calls Spidertron "Web Face", a reference to Spider-Man. 

Thoughts.

   Growing up, I liked spiders. They were fascinating to me as they are among the few creatures on Earth, other than Man, who hunt when they are not hungry. They kill for their meat and save their food for later. They are cunning enough to set a trap and they could make it look pleasing to the human eye, yet sometimes show enough mercy to allow a victim to escape unharmed. At the same time, they had a dark side: they eat their spouses, they eat their young, they eat their siblings (and in some cases, they eat their their mothers, too), and their eating habits seem cruel and unusual. So with that I tend to like it when something resembling a spider comes in. 

    So you can say I was hooked with episode from the get-go. As an adult, I see this as another episode of an arachnophobe getting over his fear of creepy crawlies. In this case, Zack the Black Ranger who fears nothing is shown scared of spiders. Yet, looking at it critically, it fails in carrying out the way he overcomes it. To me, Mighty Max did it better (forgetting the fact there were no robots for Max to board in that episode and the spider was already a big one). Also, it's a little mean of Tommy to place a rubber spider on Zack's shoulder like that. Dude, you may have reversed his arc that way!

    The fight is nice to see and has a Spider-Man reference at one point. It also is the testing battle for the Dragonzord Battle Mode, showing that it is bigger and more heavily armored than the Megazord. That rod with the spear on the end is no joke to any of Rita's monsters. Too bad the whole thing seems like a curb-stomp battle, especially compared to the next monster. Spidertron had the Megazord tangled up and beat out the individual zords evenly, yet Dragonzord Battle Mode made it spider a la impalement in less than thirty seconds. So, I guess "Itsy Bitsy Spider" hasn't aged well for me. 

    

                      Spit Flower.

                                                  Flower Power!⚘

Sentai Notes: 

   The episode is based off one from Zyurangers with two titles. One is "I Want to Eat Mei" (check out Mistare Fusion hesitating about the title in his reveal). Alternate title is "Mei On a Silver Platter", which is more G-rated. 

   The episode's plot features a flower that is known to Mei's tribe, along with a legend of a princess who sacrificed herself to defeat the Dora Gussler (Spit Flower's Sentai counterpart), which prompts the Zyurangers to go looking for her.  

   The Sentai show also cut to commercials right as the Zyurangers were being beaten and when the viewers return they are unmorphed and moping (even Burai has returned to the Lapless Room). This explains Zordon's withdrawing of the Rangers after the Dragonzord Battle Mode is knocked down.

Strategy Notes: 

    It seems odd that Zordon would want Tommy to stay in reserve when we haven't reached the post-Green Candle (more on that later) episodes. But, it's a good strategy. At times, it's best to have an important man in the rear to be of use when the main players are down. The ace in the hole, as card players would call it. It also allows for Tommy and Alpha to get the float set up for Kim. 

Biblical and Mythological Homage: 

    Not much, though Spit Flower provides a parody of Our Lady of Guadalupe. As you know, the Virgin Mary is associated with roses, some of which are seen in the episode. But instead of being there to symbolize love and faith, the roses are shown as life drainers that bite. Don't forget the grotesque look of Spit Flower in contrast to the Queenly look Mary is given by Mexico. 

Misc. Notes:

   There are flowers that bite. They're Venus flytraps. They trap an insect inside and devour it with enzymes, which are absorbed by the plant. While Spit Flower's biters are small, they act in the same manner with toxins that get through their suits. 

    Tommy noticeably has shorter hair here than in the previous episodes, obscured by a ballcap. 

   Considering how the words "witch" and "bitch" rhyme, that's the context the writers were going for when Jason says, "That Rita's a real witch." After all, the Fox censors wouldn't have allowed the word "bitch" be uttered, especially on a show that is geared to kids seven and older. 

Thoughts:

    "Spit Flower" is a better episode compared to "Itsy-Bitsy Spider" for a few reasons. One, we see how petty evil Rita Repulsa can get. She sends down the Putties to wreck Kimberly's model for the parade, itself to symbolize world peace. I like the symbolism to that. Since the Dawn of Man, world peace has always been an elusive dream humans have sought, especially considering all the wars that have been fought. In order for that peace, humans would need unity. Unfortunately, it's practically impossible with so much division brought on by centuries of differences. We speak many languages, have different idioms and slangs, we see the world differently from the other, we have different viewpoints on what's good and what's bad, all philosophies have different understandings, social class structures are imposed to have one above the other, advancements of inventions made some of us more advanced than others, our technology has led to contests to see who can create the ultimate weapon; even religion has divided humans with the sense of othering that divides the faithful from the unjust, often used to justify why those others are heathens to be converted or swept aside. Even art fails to unite us, reminding us that one man's trash is another man's treasure. In the end, the only hope for unity and world peace, as my Catholic beliefs show, is when the Second Coming of Christ arrives, and His World Without End means a world where there are no division on race, sex, gender, language, etc. Still, we continue to dream of the day of world peace.

     Rita Repulsa exists in our world when you think of it. She comes in form of extremism, which is obviously the spawn of the Devil. "Lies, deceit, creating mistrust" are their ways, to quote Yoda in Star Wars. And each time people try to create something to overcome it, the real Ritas find ways to wreck it up with hate. One has to simply look around at the real Ritas in this world. They make graffiti marks on walls, desecrating buildings, and cause riots in the streets. The real Ritas are also the brutal cops who use the badge as the excuse to beat people up, such as minorities. The real Ritas flew airplanes into the World Trade Center Towers on 9/11, tortured prisoners at Guantanamo, or instigated the Jan. 6 Insurrection. 

   Such deep thinking comes in the episode and to see Kim cry shows what hate can do. Like Spit Flower's biters, hate comes to bite us and make us angry while making us suffer. But we always keep hope around. In this episode, we see Tommy fix up the float and submit it in the parade and the said float wins. That uplifting message is something we all need.

   The second reason this episode is better is because it shows us just because something is more advanced, that doesn't always mean it's the best. We've see the Megazord fight many monsters, sometimes losing and usually winning. This is the second time we see the Dragonzord Battle Mode fight a monster and it loses. 

    The let-down in the episode is how Tommy is made to stay in the rear in the second battle. They could have borrowed the suit of Spit Flower, since they have the Green Ranger suit, and shoot some original scenes to allow all six rangers present, for once. Look at the back of this copy of the DVD, you'll notice a shot involving Spit Flower that is not in the show. 

    If they could do that, why couldn't they have shot it with the Green Ranger present? Other than spoiling it for first time viewers? Is it because of the shield? Quite frankly, the shield never bothered me, though it does seem strange to see it change between modes from when he's in the Command Center and when he's in battle. 

                       Wheel of Misfortune.

                            I'd like to solve the puzzle, Pat! "Another Stolen Object But No Monster."

Sentai Notes: 

    If you look carefully with the Wheel's destruction, you might see a carriage dropping from the sky. In the Sentai episode, there is a plot where a girl and her sister are captured and the baby sister in her stroller were on the Wheel. When the Wheel is destroyed, the carriage falls but Burai catches the baby in time. 

Strategy Notes:   

   Tommy uses trickery to get free. He pretends to be sick after loosening the ropes and the Putties fall for it. A feint is necessary at times for an ambush, or an escape. 

Biblical and Mythological Homage:

    The fairy tale "Rumpelstiltskin" is best known by the Brothers Grimm version, in which the daughter of a miller is taken by a king after her father claims she can weave straw into gold. This proves too much for her and she prays for help. That help comes in form of a goblin who weaves the straw into gold many times. The King is impressed by the feat and keeps adding more and the process is repeated, until the daughter is freed from the dungeon and the King marries her. But Rumpelstiltskin comes in to collect his due, her child, which he forfeits if she can guess his name. When she does after spying on him, he throws a hissy fit. 

Misc. Notes.

     In "Green With Evil pt. 1", Tommy fights off the Putties with great ease, yet here he is overpowered and tied up for half of the episode. This is the first of such cases, which adds evidence that the Putties in their introduction to him were just simply letting him win. Now that he is not to be Rita's Green Ranger no more, they are free to rough him up. He's capture by the Putties is also to skirt around the fact the Green Ranger can't show up until the last minute, yet they can't keep using the karate practice excuse much longer. 

    The roles played in the fairy tale by the teens match each personality. Jason's dino is the T-Rex, the King of Dinosaurs, and jocks like him are often treated as the king of the school in pop culture, therefore he is cast as the King. Kimberly has the earmarks of a fairy tale princess, therefore is cast as the miller's daughter. Bulk, the bully, is perverted enough to be the title role of Rumpelstiltskin. Skull, the silly accomplice to Bulk, is the jester. 

     Bulk and Skull are such bullies in this season, but this episode starts the trend of them changing with the look of remorse on Bulk's face when he broke Kim's grandmother's spinning wheel. Of course, that is reversed after the wheel is stolen and Bulk goes back to being a jerk. 

   Kimberly shows her first concern for Tommy in this episode, showing her feelings for him never wavered after "Green With Evil". 

     The way the four Rangers mirror Kimberley in the sad pose is impressive. 

     There is a goof where Zordon's voice is different than usual after Tommy is freed. 

     Red Ranger commands all to power up their crystals, but the Green Ranger doesn't have one hence why we get no shot of him doing so. We also don't see him in the Dragonzord. 

    Despite being called "Wheel of Misfortune," the eponymous object doesn't appear until late in the episode and it's quickly destroyed. Instead, Goldar and Scorpina are the real threats in the episode.  

     The Wheel can also make one think the Journey song, "Wheel In the Sky" at times, since it literally is a wheel in the sky. 

Thoughts: 

     Here's another episode where Tommy does something nice for Kim. Both this and "Spit Flower" show how far he has come since "Green With Evil." Wikipedia considers it remorse for alienating her while he was under Rita's spell. The set up seems good, especially with the use of the fairy tale "Rumpelstiltskin," which justifies the use of the wheel. The problem is, the Wheel is barely in the episode, which makes one wonder why it's not like "Big Sisters" where the monster of the week and the mysterious eggs are primary, yet the episode is neither "Chunky Chicken" nor "Power Eggs." 

     The episode tries a few times. For one, they knew how redundant it is to have Tommy away doing karate just to explain why the Green Ranger is not present until the last minute. So, they have the Putties ambush him and Tommy, for some stupid reason, doesn't have on his communicator or morpher. He gets caught in a rope and held captive by the Putties for a few moments. Yet, Tommy has enough of a brain to cut his way out, pretend to be sick, and fight his way out. This time, he defeats the Putties. If only they could have had him morph a little sooner and then he'd be of use to the Rangers.