Season One: Zyu 2 Episodes: The Bee, the Birds, and a Pumpkin

 

                         Grumble Bee.

                                           To bee or not to bee? That is the question. 

Sentai Notes: 

• Grumble Bee has no Sentai counterpart. From the footage of Zyu 2, we can assume the story has Dan and Goushi attempting switch roles in who is the funny guy and who is the smart one. The Grumble Bee would make an antagonist who inspires jealousy in the two, or somehow make Dan doubt himself given his weak fighting skills in the battle scene. But it appears at some point Dan seeks help from someone who knows how to build things and he then creates the Anti-Sonic Foam Gun and uses it on Grumble Bee. That's only from the way the episode of MMPR made with the plotline. 

Strategy Notes:

• Rita once more uses divide and conquer to separate Jason, Kimberly, and Zack from Trini and Billy. In this case, she sends down Goldar and the Putties to rope up the first three, leaving Grumble Bee to take out the other two. 
• Somehow, Zordon and Alpha don't bother to rescue the three right away but have to whisk away Billy and Trini. But then, the unroping falls in the definition of exploiting the weak spot. 
• While Tommy is in the episode, Zordon opts to not call him up to let him concentrate on his karate match to conserve energy. A wise move, since Tommy could very well be the trump card, even after the Green Candle affair. 
• Got to add also Ms. Applebee's motivation on Bulk and Skull to get good grades or have the top six students tutor them. It's a far better method than assigning them detention like Principal Caplan would have done. 

Biblical & Mythological Homage: 

• Many mythologies feature bees, either as creatures or as gods. In Greek Mythology, there was Aristaeus, the God of Beekeeping. He was one of the few male gods who paid for his actions, because he lusted after Eurydice, stalking her until she stepped on a snake while trying flee, dying of its venom. Her sisters in turn punished him by killing all his bees. In atonement, he offered sacrifices in her memory, consisting of bovine, and their corpses soon turned into beehives. Bees were also associated with Apollo and the gift of prophecy. Another bee keeping god was Melisseus, whose daughters nursed Baby Zeus and kept him hidden from his father, Cronus. Grumble Bee doesn't resemble either one, or the others in other myths, but there are echoes in the episode featuring the venom and how he briefly chases Trini. 

Misc. Notes: 

• Grumble Bee is a play on the words "Grumpy" and "Bumble Bee." 
• Despite the name, Grumble Bee sure does seem more waspish than a bee. Even the design is more akin to yellow jackets (which are wasps, not bees). 
• While bees are often seen in colonies, it turns out some bees are loners. These include carpenter bees, mason bees, digger, and leaf cutters. In fact, 90% of bees are solitary, living on their own without a nest of workers. Instead, the female makes a nest and lays eggs on her own, and the eggs then hatch into grubs that aren't raised by nurse bees, but the mother doesn't stick around to raise them either. 
• Perhaps fitting that this is a stand-alone episode with a self-contained plot and not a miniseries, because in real life male bees die very quickly upon maturing, while females live long lives. Grumble Bee is depicted as male, so his days are numbered regardless if he defeats the Power Rangers or not. 
• Billy gets a B on a quiz and panics. This is a classic reaction to overachievers, it seems. To them, straight As is everything, if not doing mediocre. 
• Tommy is preparing for a karate tournament, which is used as the excuse to not feature him until the end. Then we are reminded of his limited powers which was why he wasn't called in. We can assume he had been doing this preparation all this time he was not a Power Ranger. 
• Alpha says what sounds like "Pasta la Pizza, Baby!", a variation of "Hasta La Vista, Baby!" (the wiki page says the latter). Either way, it's a shout out to Arnold Schwarzenegger's line in T-2: Judgement Day, before he shatters the T-1000. Don't forget, the sequel to The Terminator had only just come out three years prior and was considered a cultural phenomena at the time. Still, incredible to quote a movie that most of the kids, unfortunately, can't see because it's rated R. 
• First time Trini makes the call to morph, and she does it twice. 
• The yellow substance disappears even as Billy says it was going to melt his suit. Also strange how something like this doesn't cause sparks on the uniform, even while the stingers do.
• Rita says, "Now, make my monster giant!" in this episode. 
• Even though Trini tells him to stop, Skull keeps ripping pages out of his book. Reminds one of the scene from The Breakfast Club where Bender does the same to some library books on French poetry out of boredom and the others tell him to stop. 
• Close captioning on TV somehow mistakes the lyrics of "I Will Win" I noted in a binge watch once. It listed the chorus as "Ah, well, well. Step into my hell." For a moment, I wondered how that slipped into a kids show. But then the next episode had the correct lyrics in the close caption: "I will win! I won't stop until I get them!" 

Thoughts:   

     Billy hasn't had it good in the second half of Season One, it seems. First, he is revealed to be scared of fishes. Next, he is brainwashed by Rita into stealing the Dragon Dagger. Now he gets his first B. Thus he gets to star in a plot about a genius nerd who gets a lower grade than usual and now is wondering where it all went wrong. In the world of Power Rangers, the plot becomes connected to the monster of the week and today's monster is a bee (Get it?). 

    In the past season, we had a spider go after the Black Ranger, a praying mentis attack the Yellow Ranger, a flea go at the Red Ranger, and now a bee go against the Blue Ranger to continue the parade of arthropods attacking the Rangers (Scorpina doesn't count since she is not a true scorpion). The Grumble Bee sure does put up a good fight and it keeps the Blue and Yellow Rangers at bay for a time with its sting and its goo. But nothing to serious to warrant anything too great. 

   Outside the battle, the episode brings up what nerds and geeks go through in order to obtain perfection. I do commend the show for not going into conventional routes by having Trini freak out over the B because she is meant to subvert every trope associated with Asian Americans. To have her be the burned out genius freaking out over a B would be too much. So Billy, a Caucasian male, takes on the trope. Not surprisingly, there is hardly anything resembling the tropes of first Bs brought in. No parents yelling at Billy or forcing him to study more. He does get Ms. Applebee's sympathy, but that is because there is only so much the law allows a teacher to say to students getting low grades. And, of course, a B isn't low. Not suggestion white privilege at play in this episode, but Billy certainly got off easily and only had to deal with his own insecurities over the B. 

    There are good points in the episode. Since Tommy is back the episode has an explanation for his absence (unlike "Rockstar") and the reference to his limited powers are brought in. So, it's only five Rangers deployed. Tommy is understanding that he wasn't needed here, though he wishes to have been involved. But the real kicker is in the end to see Bulk and Skull now needing help to pass their classes, or else be mentored by six of the best and brightest in Angel Grove High. Guess who they might be? Yep, the Power Rangers. So they quickly offer to help. Interesting motivation but also a good end to an average episode. 

        Two Heads Are Better Than One.

                                                             Or, are they?

Sentai Notes:

• Considering how there is less messages of teamwork in Zyuranger, I wouldn't be surprised if Zyu 2 was envisioned to bring this into the story. Basically, Geki getting used to the new Green Ranger and sometimes calling him "Nisa" by mistake. It's also possible the plot is connected to Slipper Shark with the two at odds with one another, and the reason the two monsters weren't together was for plot reasons. That could make Two-Headed Parrot be at bookends while the new Green Ranger is out on a quest to find whatever the Sentai variant of Paramango fruit was used. Again, speculation. 

Strategy Notes:

• The episode uses divide and conquer approach, this time with the Power Rangers applying it. Tommy deduces the two headed parrot can't be defeated easily, so he attempts to find a weakness. When Billy looks in on how parrots are into fruits, Tommy goes looking for one. He locates the Paramango Fruit and hands it to the Two-Headed Parrot, causing the two heads to fight over who gets it. This proves fatal to the monster as the Power Rangers are quick to use the blaster at it.

Biblical & Mythological Homage:

• Two-headed creatures can be found in mythologies. None of which are parrots. 
• Two-Headed Parrot can also be a reference to the Chimera, only with different animal heads. This also doesn't seem as powerful as the previous one, though (see Lions and Blizzards).
• Tommy's use a single Paramango fruit to get the two heads against each other echoes the Apple of Discord tossed by Eris. In Greek Mythology, Eris was the Goddess of Discord, often traveling with Ares into battle. She famously presented a golden apple at a wedding to be given to the fairest of the goddesses. Hera, Athene, and Aphrodite argued over it, forcing Zeus to send Hermes to guide Paris to hold judgment on the matter, with each of the goddesses offering a gift, and most famously Aphrodite offered the prettiest woman. In short, the Trojan War was started over an apple and three women arguing over who was the sexiest, and Eris was behind it. 

Misc. Notes. 

• There are women's self-defense classes. Not sure if there were any specifically meant for moms like in the show, or the fact they are taught by teens. 
• Finster says, "[Two-Headed Parrot] has a head here and a head here." The monster's other head is on his torso, but one can't help but wonder if he had somewhere else in mind from the way he was gesturing. If so, it somehow slipped past the censors. 
• There's no such thing as a Paramango fruit. You don't have to check the Ranger wiki to know it. 
• Ranger wiki mentions a deleted scene with Trini and Tommy fighting the monster unmorphed. Most likely it was deleted since it didn't match up with the Zyu 2 footage, in addition to pacing purposes.
• While in Zord formation, Kimberly says, "Polly, want a Megazord?" It's based on the cliché line, "Polly, want a cracker?"  
• First time we get the "Zyu 2 Crouch." 
• The thing with the Rangers being jerked forward once the Megazord in Tank Mode formed is previously unused part of the original footage from Zyuranger. 
• New Ultrazord footage is featured: Megazord hops into Titanus first and the Dragonzord goes on top. Also, the blasting to finish off the monster is more more accurate than the older footage. Apparently, Zyu 2 Ultrazord is so precise. 
• When Bulk and Skull are overpowered, the moms say, "Two moms are better than one." Mind, this was before same sex couples became mainstream, thus the sight of two women raising a child was not common (virtually unseen). Outside Gay Rights, the line can be seen as saying one has two mothers, the biological mother and the mother-figure (the latter appearing as a godmother, grandmother, an aunt, a teacher, a family friend who babysat you, an older woman who acted like a mother figure, etc.). The same can be said of dads, again outside of Gay Rights. 

Thoughts.

     Story to tell, originally I was going to include this with "Gung-Ho" and "On Fins and Needles," but the reference to Tommy's limited powers and the apparent lack of anything resembling conflict between him and Jason ruled out any idea of it being the middle chapter of a trilogy. Personally, I think it would have fit as one. Slippery Shark and Two-Headed Parrot work together to split up the Red and Green Rangers, the former doing so with his fin and the two Rangers briefly argue with one another. Then Two-Headed Parrot comes in to exploit the division, causing a second defeat. So to fix the rift, Zordon sends Tommy and Jason on a quest to retrieve the Thunder Blasters, to help defeat the Super Putties, and they put aside their differences to handle Titanus, before defeating Slippery Shark. After learning the lesson of division and unity, the Red and Green Rangers then take on Two-Headed Parrot with the other Rangers and win. Now if it had been done that way, the first season would have an arc worthy of Super Sentai. 

     Of course, hindsight is 20 / 20, they say. 

    Back to "Two Heads Are Better Than One," the episode is an improvement over "Grumble Bee," as it features one of the few times the Green Ranger gets any combat, other than summoning Dragonzord to rescue the Power Rangers. Instead, he uses his brains to help. He gets a Paramango fruit from Ernie (since the Putties stole all the ones from the tree) and uses the one fruit to get the two heads to argue. It also leads to a joke which acknowledges Tommy and Kimberly's relationship.

   So the monster is the weaker part of the episode, but in a way it has aged like wine in one thing. It makes it aware that women face problems in the streets, something reminded in the #MeToo days. Still don't know if teenagers volunteer to help with the self-defense training, but I know people who are athletic or experienced with coaching do volunteer to teach women how to protect themselves. One thing Jason and Tommy do to emphasize is how teamwork, not panicking, and being willing to call for help will go far. That's assuming the assaulter doesn't come with friends and attacks by surprise to prevent the calling for help. As a last resort, have a dog or pepper spray around, and don't forget to "Sing."

   Another thing modern viewers might like is the last scene where Bulk and Skull learn what those moms have been learning in those classes. Now, there's no indication of anything related to LGBTQ themes in the episode, but the line "Two moms are better than one" does sound like a motto a Lesbian couple might use (but thinking on that the reason they don't use it is because it alienates heterosexuals couples and single moms - gay or straight). Still, it's a good line and seeing Bulk and Skull tumbled is a great closure. 

                            Fowl Play.

                              Look! That's no bird. That's no plane. Sure ain't the twister either.

Sentai Notes:

• Peckster has no Sentai counterpart. 
• The story premise must be that Goushi and Peckster are going at each other in a battle of brains and brawns. Of course, since Goushi was the smart one in Zyurangers he would use brains to defeat the bird. 

Strategy Notes:

• Rita sends a Puttie attack at the park which ties up four of the five Power Rangers. Zack is left to take on Peckster. This is a move to split a team up. 
• Black Ranger gets balloons to seal up Peckster's beak. Incidentally, he uses the black one to gum it up. Thus he takes out the enemy's primary weapon and make him have to rely on secondaries. 

Biblical and Mythological Homage:

• Peckster has an almost perverse design of an angel. Practically looks like how we'd imagine a fallen angel, or a demon, to resemble. 
• Zack's magic word to bring him back in his magic trick for Bulk to use follows the expression, "Speak of the Devil and he will appear." It is a carry over from Ancient Greeks believing that mentioning Hades by name will cause bad things to happen. 

Misc. Notes:

• Jason David Frank is in the credits and is mentioned, though he doesn't appear. Kimberly inquires if they need him and Zordon reminds her of his need to conserve his powers. This episode and "The Grumble Bee" are the only episodes following "Return of an Old Friend" to not feature Tommy. 
• Kimberly mentions a mall being closed down and she was going to meet Tommy there. Hits home in the 2020s with many malls closed down and a few staying open. 
• Another episode to feature Angela, who somehow forgot about the events of "Of Lions and Blizzards." 
• Last appearance of the Mammoth shield. 
• The attack from below action the Golems do on the Zyurangers is seen in the footage. 
• Zack tells Bulk the magic words to make him disappear are "Iamique-ooon." Bulk says this a few times before realizing he is saying, "I'm a goon." 
• Also the way he says it first is similar, and a reverse, to the way the guards in Lieutenant Kije say, "Imperator spit" ("The Emperor sleeps"). In the film, as this message is passed around, it begins to sound like "Eem Pier Ah To Speak." 
• To add to the Biblical and Mythological Homage, Bulk says the word "Zack," which Zack says will bring him back. The way he reacts to saying this you'd think he just said "Beetlejuice" too often. Incidentally, Beetlejuice was the 1988 film starring Michael Keaton, directed by Tim Burton. 
• Jason says after a battle, "Another One Bites the Dust." This is a reference to the Queen's song of the same name (just to clarify, there is a British rock band called Queen, the guys who also played "We Are the Champions" and "Under Pressure", and it's them I am mentioning, not any particular queen in the world). 
• Woody Woodpecker was a World War II era cartoon character for Universal Pictures. Essentially, Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck rolled into one. He appeared on his own TV show in the fifties and even made a cameo appearance in the film Destination Moon. In 1972, Universal animated studios closed and Woody Woodpecker stopped making new cartoons, until a revival came in the nineties. There is obviously enough history for a five hour retrospective, but how a group of kids could sit still through it, let alone a teenage girl like Angela, is hard to tell. 
• At least, Angela didn't say they were going to see The Birds. 

Thoughts: 

     This one is a weak addition to the mix due to one thing: the continued Zack-Angela shiptease arc. Right when we think Angela will be gone and we won't have to hear about her anymore now that we have moved on, she appears again and for some odd reason is now interested in Zack. She even gives him a kiss. Of course, it turns out she wanted Zack to come with her and the kids because he is supposedly good with children. Talk about bait and switch. 

     The monster is a great improvement, however, though he too isn't much. He does a small battle with the Black Ranger and retreats. Then when he fights the Power Rangers, he is defeated quickly due to Zack using the balloons.

    There are some good moments, however. One is when Zack uses a magic trick to cover his tracks when he has to morph. He tells Bulk a magic phrase and the words eventually form into him saying "I'm a Goon." That always makes me laugh. And seeing Angela shoot down Bulk is also something anyone would enjoy because it shows that Angela does have standards. I also find that more enjoyable than watching Saved By the Bell's Screech being shot down by Lisa constantly.

                         Trick or Treat.

                                       A Halloween themed episode when it's not October. 

                                   

Sentai Notes:

• No Sentai counterpart, though the creation of Pumpkin Rapper is similar to Dora Narcissus. I wouldn't be surprised if this was to have another kidnapping plot and the Zyurangers were attempting to find the kids in the pumpkins. 
• It can be possible, based from the film Aliens that the Pumpkin Rapper in the footage was meant to be something akin to the Alien Queen and the Pumpkins and the Pumpkin-Heads were her children. She obviously didn't like what the Zyuangers were doing to her patch or the magic words they were using to summon her. All speculation, but it can explain the situation better than a rapper.

Strategy Notes:

• Kimberly used one good one in the game. First, she brings up something no one but herself would know. 
• Rita sends down the Putties as a way to divert Tommy from the Pumpkin Rapper's patch. 
• Pumpkin Rapper uses a clever trapping move. He has pumpkins out to lure the Rangers in and they can latch on their faces. When that doesn't work, he has his Pumpkin-Headed Putties to wear them down. 
• Green Ranger charges against Pumpkin Rapper to distract him, allowing the others to put together their Power Blaster.

Biblical and Mythological Homage:

• Pumpkin Rapper does echo the image of the Headless Horseman, who is depicted holding a jack-o-lantern. What's missing is a horse. "Horseless Headsmen", anyone? Incidentally, Washington Irving doesn't explicitly state it as a jack-o-lantern. The only reason for the connection is the shattered pumpkin lying next to Ichabod's hat. 
• The story of the jack-o-lantern comes from the story of a man named Jack who bargained with the Devil that he could do great evil in this world and still be out of his reach. Now that he can neither go to Heaven nor Hell (or even Purgatory), he becomes what Europeans call Will o' the Whisp, forced to wonder through the world. The Devil added in a fiery coal from Hell to be his guiding light in his head, which is said to explain the lighted candle within the turnip (the pumpkin wouldn't be used until the tradition was brought to North America). 

Misc. Notes.

• Despite having all the earmarks of a Halloween episode, this episode aired on May 3, 1994. Now, it is just a few days shy of Walpurgisnacht, whose elements have found their way into Halloween. 
• Michael J. Sorich, voice of Squatt, voices Pumpkin Rapper.
• Gameshow "Trick-or-Treat" is a Halloween themed game show within Power Rangers chalk full of homages. Contestants come from the audience like in The Price Is Right, and the said people wear costumes like in Let's Make a Deal. Then they have to ask trick questions, which makes one think of Jeopardy, where each response is a form of question. There is a witch assistant to Monty named Vanna Elvira, a reference to Vanna White of Wheel of Fortune and Elvira the Mistress of the Dark. 
• The game features "The Wheel of Misfortune" which is also the title of a previous episode. 
• Kimberly dresses up as a princess and her friends take on Renaissance clothes. Bulk dresses up as a mummy while Skull wears striped pajamas. 
• Skull's costume includes the number 24601, the number of Jean Valjean in Les Miserables when he was first introduced. 
• According the wiki, the karate match scene is reaction shots of Tommy and other contenders spliced with reused shots from "Green With Evil Part One" and if one looks hard they could find Jason standing among the people. 
• Kimberly pretends to faint on the gameshow to get out and morph. Billy then claims she had a "slight cardiac infarction," which Trini says was fainting. Actually, a cardiac infarction is a heart attack and what was said could have caused the show to cut to commercials while medical teams came in to examine Kimberly. And that will cause the Rangers to have to go without her or delay their interception of the monster. 
• Even though someone could have pointed Tommy out, the announcer calls him a no-show. 
• A representative of the Network Standards and Practices just shows up out of the blue at the Juice Bar (more likely, she followed them there), and tells Bulk and Skull they had reviewed the episode they were in and found that they were cheating. So now that means nobody's a winner. Yet, any keen viewer would note Skull didn't really cheat, even if he was trying to communicate something to Bulk. Was that what they caught? 
• The name Network Standards and Practices is clearly a reference to the Broadcast Standards and Practices. They do more than ensure players play fair gameshows but they could censor or even cut the show off the air. The representative coming in could also be a subtle take-that because the BS&P of Fox Kids forced Saban to have X-Men: The Animated Series, which aired a year before Power Rangers, so that the characters don't do hand-to-hand combat and thus escape mortal danger, in addition to having everyone using futuristic laser guns instead of bullets like with Batman (though some dark elements still got in the show anyway). 
• The way the Power Rangers come upon the Pumpkin Patch scene has some Alien vibes. The pumpkins act like the eggs and the facehuggers in the scene (they wait till someone gets close enough and then they lack onto one's head), yet thankfully no chestbursters since this is a kids show. Pumpkin-Head Putties even act as the Xenomorphs, with Pumpkin Rapper as the Alien Queen. Incidentally, ever noticed the eggs often had something like vines near them in those movies?
• There was supposed to be more footage of Pumpkin Rapper, including a Zord battle. This can only be summarized best on reconstruction. After the Power Rangers summon the Zords, forming the Megazord, teamed up with Dragonzord summoned by the Green Ranger, Pumpkin Rapper attempts to rap and knocked down. He then formed two pumpkin bombs, which he uses to knock the Zords down. Both get back up and give another push. Red Ranger then calls for the Power Sword and they use it to finish off Pumpkin Rapper. Much of this action would be used in the episode "Zedd's Monster Mash" in season two, and the reason for the cutting of the battle is likely due to lack of air time. 

Thoughts: 

Yo, Southern Knight, here, offering a log / For you to sit on while I write in this blog / About another Halloween episode and monster to beat-uh / As the Power Rangers once more beat Rita.

   Not one of my best, I admit. Some people think of it as not one of the best of Power Rangers episodes, especially one that is Halloween themed, and it's not even October. I disagree. "Trick or Treat" has a great deal of materials in it to be satisfying, with a homages to game shows like The Price is Right, Let's Make a Deal, and Wheel of Fortune, the appearance of Tommy with a good reason to wait until needed, and when he does come the Pumpkin Rapper is pumpkin pie, while the monster of the week is basically a Snoop-Dog in pumpkin form who ties up the Power Rangers, plus some Alien vibes in the patch.

    I liked the gameshow scenes due to the cool concept. A host who dresses up like a vampire and the contestants also dress up, gain points shaped like pumpkins, and win more by taking on small games. This allows for more references, like the fact Skull is wearing the number given to Jean Valjean. This is about the only Les Miserables reference we get, but from 2012 onward I am sure this episode would have gotten a moment of Monty calling him by that number and Skull saying, "my name is Eugene Skullovich." "And I am Monty," the vampire adds, "do not forget me." A little on the head, but still. 

    Tommy and Kimberly get identical plots in this episode. Both are preparing for something big and neither gets to win it due to forfeit. Tommy is going to a karate tournament while Kimberly goes to the game show. Now one might think Tommy could have given up the tournament to be with his girlfriend. He could. But the footage has the Green Ranger coming later. How can Tommy be there and be unmorphed for a time before morphing to help his friends? I also know that plenty of boyfriends and girlfriends have supported each other without being present 24/7. Tommy was still supportive of Kim and was providing her a shoulder to cry on after battle, where he once again arrived as a rescuing cavalry force and then took on the monster, while Bulk and Skull prepare to become the male Thelma and Louise with their new car. 

     But of course that last is hilariously cut short when a representative from the Network Broadcast & Standards comes in to inform them they are aware of them cheating and now (since Kimberly forfeited with a faint) the car is going back to the network. See, kids, cheaters never prosper. Also, if you ever dress up as a mummy, make sure to not have anything loose enough to get caught in doors, nor stand too close to a car, lest you could wind up rubbing the pavement.