Season One: The Evil Twins Episodes.

 

                  A Bad Reflection On You.

                                           The Power Rangers meet their evil twins.

Sentai Notes:

• This episode has a counterpart in Kyoryu Sentai Zyuranger. Just before the four part finale to the series, Bandora actually sends down evil twins of the Zyurangers to Tokyo who mess things up for the real Zyurangers. There is more in the episode that are not in Power Rangers, like the fact the real Zyurangers come in early and their imposters briefly turn into humans to make it look like they are attacking civilians. Shortly after, the Zyurangers are attacked by a mob with stones and driven away when they try to help a crying girl. 
• There's a subplot, also, where the Zyurangers hide in the basement of an old lady and celebrate her birthday with her. This was obviously considered corny, but it contained the message of how the press distorts the truth and it encourages them to face their imposters. To drive the message home, we are shown Lami dressed up as a news reporter. 

Strategy Notes:

• Rita uses Twin Man and Putties to impersonate the Power Rangers in a frame up. First they go to school and sabotage a fountain, which gets the real Rangers in detention and out of the way. Next, they go downtown and morph, where they attack the civilians. 
• When Kimberly's attempt to sneak out doesn't work, Zack comes up with a magic trick to get the real Rangers out. 

Biblical and Mythological Homage:

• The Bible does warn of how people will hate followers of Christ because of their hatred of Christ. It also warns in Revelations of the False Prophet and the Anti-Christ arising to persecute Christians everywhere, in what can be seen as first to vilify God and all who worship Him, then banish all from the world. 
• Scorpina's counterpart shows the violation of a higher law that states "Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor." While correct in being seen as "tell no lies" it can also be about slenderizing people, which is what Twin Man and the Putties do to the Rangers by impersonating them. 

Misc. Notes:

• In an unusual break from format, the episode begins in Rita's palace. This helps set up the episode's premise. 
• Evil Billy says "Pasta-la-Pizza", based on the line "Hasta La Vista, Baby" from T2: Judgment Day. 
• The black glasses make Jason look like the Terminator.
• Somehow Skull knows "Kimberly" isn't real when his flirtation with her is reciprocated. 
• Bulk demands his desk and Jason asks if his name is on it. He reveals it there, spelled "B-U-U-L-K." (Bewlk?) 
• The first half of the episode plays out the episode like a remake of The Breakfast Club, only with seven teens in detention instead of five. Interestingly, the film released in 2017 begins with the teens selected as Power Rangers meeting in detention. 
• Look carefully in the first attack and you'll see some Japanese people in the crowds. 
• The episode is an unintended period piece with Bulk bringing up a small TV from his bag to watch cartoons with. There were plenty of kids in the 1990s who dreamed of being able to watch TV at any time of the day, knowing they can't due to the thing being heavy and plugged to the wall. Now we can do so with our phones, and even watch the show after it already aired. In 2024, Bulk would have simply pulled out his iphone and watched the cartoons on an app. 
• The cartoon he watches might have originally have been Ren & Stimpy, which was on at the time, or The Angry Beavers or Ahh, Real Monsters! all of which were high rated cartoons in the early nineties. But since they didn't get the license to show the footage, Saban wound up using footage from the Japanese show The Genie Family, dubbed in English. Speculation on that, mostly. 
• Alpha says "millenniums" as a plural for millennium, yet the proper word would be millennia. 
• Bulk and Skull can't count backwards from ten, and they are supposed to be in high school!
• The source material for the episode and this shows the press quickly believing the Power Rangers turning evil when they attack. One thing to consider, this episode aired two years after the beating of Rodney King where police brutality was caught on camera by a witness. The editing of the video for the press became instrumental in showing their guilt to the public, to the point that when a not-guilty verdict was read on April 29, 1992, everyone lost it in Los Angeles. The Los Angeles riots followed and it began any serious debate on overpolicing, something still going on with the "Defund the Police" movement and all following the death of George Floyd. Obviously, Saban wasn't going to showcase how the press handles things the expected way by having an episode of cops framed for police brutality, since that won't age well and become considered copanganda. However, if you an episode of everyone's favorite superheroes framed for being aggressive because the bad guys impersonated them, then you can get away with it.

Thoughts.

    Well, I was going to save this and the next one for last, but due to some slacking off with the other four episodes I decided to finish these off. 

    Penultimate story in Zyuranger and the calm before the storm of "Doomsday" in Power Rangers is the episode with evil twins. It's a great concept and Saban was even willing to have the concept explored more in later episodes. We'll hear more on that later...

    The way the episode opens is new. Instead being the standard plot formula where you see the five teens doing something at school, in the juice bar, or in the park, which gives Rita the idea for the monster of the week, from which she sends down that monster and it's a battle with the Power Rangers climaxing with the zords, and lesson learned, we get this. The evil twins are introduced within the first two minutes of the episode resembling like their real counterparts. To a point even the viewer believes they have gone bad. This is aided by the fact we don't see the real Rangers until we're almost ten minutes into the episode. The only thing to throw it all off is the fact the Ranger imposters are wearing shades and their eyes glow red. 

    Fortunately, there is strength in the acting of the leads. Looking at the episode, it seems that St. John, Jones, Yost, Thrang, and Johnson were having fun pretending to be evil. The sunshades adds another touch to the villainy, making them resemble the Terminator (in the first movie, that is). They go out to frame the Power Rangers, first by sabotaging a drinking fountain (which ought to be something for the Boomers watching to recall the days of separate drinking fountains). As a result, the five real Rangers get detention, something we've only seen Bulk and Skull get. It's very surprising to see this happen and even they have no idea what's going on. 

    Next the Power Ranger imposters attack the population while morphed, using footage from Japan. I really like how St. John added that "Surprise!" right before the Fake Red Ranger begins attacking people. 

    The results are really bad, even Alpha frets about the Power Rangers joining the forces of evil. 

    So, the real Power Rangers find a way to go out and face their evil twins. The fake Rangers are thus revealed to be Putties in disguise, except one. Playing the Red Ranger is Twin Man, the monster of the week who is a mirror (hence the episode's title). The Power Rangers gain up on him and defeat him quickly, which does seem satisfying enough. Any other monster defeated that fast would have been a let down. 

   Considering how we don't get a Zord battle, we don't know if this takes place before Tommy appeared or after "The Green Candle." We only know it's before "Doomsday." If it takes place within the timeframe of the episodes being aired then there's no real excuse for Tommy not appearing and trying to convince everyone the Power Rangers are not bad. That might have helped, in my opinion. I also found the ending where the citizens watched the whole thing and are quick to make amends somewhat rushed, and it's obvious they switched from Japanese footage to American when watching the scene. And considering how the police has been tarnished following George Floyd and all, I have to wonder how the people of Angel Grove was so willing to believe the Power Rangers needed another chance when their evil twins were gone, instead of it becoming common place for people to be weary of them. If this aired today, I am sure there would be plenty of characters still suspicious enough to hold up signs that read "Defund the Power Rangers." 

    One last item, the whole thing with Bulk and Skull bringing comedy to such a serious episode is the moment their antics really grew the beard. Best part is seeing them try to count backwards with their eyes and ears covered, yet can't get very far. It's funny since they are in high school and they can't count backwards. But then they show how days of being sent to detention have done where they make it their home away from home. Bulk even marks one desk as his and has a kit containing items for detention. Among them is a TV. As with typical of teens in detention, Principal Kaplan steps out and leaves the teens alone. 

                  Mighty Morphin' Mutants.

                                                   The return of the evil twins.

Sentai Notes:

• The episode has no Sentai counterpart since it is based on Zyu 2 footage. However, it's possible the story is built around the return of the Fake Zyurangers, minus Fake Red. This explains why in grnrngr.com, the episode is given the title "Vicious Taskforce Strikes Again." The Zyurangers face them by the sea and find them tougher than before. So, Green Ranger comes to their aid, only for it to be revealed they have a Green Ranger this time around (meaning, if there was a Sentai counterpart episode, the shore battle is the real first appearance of the Mutant Green Ranger).
• The Mutant Rangers and their counterparts due to the same poses as the Zyurangers. Now one can't help but hear them say, "Clam Buckla! Dora Zarigani! DoraCera Dan! DoraMammoth Goushi! DoraTiger Boi! DoraPtera Mei! Kyoakuna Sentai ZYURANGER!" At which point, the real Zyurangers remark on their imitation and saying how poorly they do it. Just how they handle the weapons (especially Green Ranger finding his twin armed with the Sword of Darkness) is hard to tell. 
• It's speculation, but there could be an additional scene where it's explained what happened to the Fake Yellow and Fake Pink. Likely not included due to pacing, but it leaves a plot hole. 

Strategy Notes: 

• In a way to explore the new imposters, Tommy and Kimberly decide to fight their evil twins unmorphed. This is a great way to know how strong the enemy position is and if there is a weakness. As it turns out the Mutant Rangers are tough enough to warrant help. 

Biblical and Mythological Homage:

• None. 

Misc. Notes:

• Tommy is revealed to be forgetful in this episode. He forgets to set his alarm, forgets his books, forgets to close his locker, his drink, his towel, etc. The episode obviously is used to handle this flaw Tommy has, though he still is forgetful in the series. 
• The training sequence features only two Putties singled out as Number 3 and Number 6 by Goldar. Number 6 most especially since he is revealed to be a bad student, that he gets cut from the team. 
• Trivial fact to add, when Power Rangers began, ABC was airing Roseanne, during which point Roseanne Barr had taken over production and had the writers known by numbers instead of names. She even had a list of writers likely to get canned, or cut, from the team. However, I can't find any evidence that writer Douglas Sloan was one of the writers of Roseanne, nor if he knew one of the writers. Might be a coincidence. 
• The Mutant team has no Red Ranger, but Commander Crayfish is appointed leader. Interesting since crayfish, like lobsters and crabs, turn red when cooked. 
• The Mutant Rangers morph in poses similar to the original Zyurangers. 
• There's supposed to be a reaction shot of Green Ranger seeing the Mutant Green Ranger appear.
• The way Green Ranger tells Dragonzord to use is tail foreshadows the way people tell their Pokemon to attack in the other franchise. 
• Last time we see Titanus until Season 3. Last formation of the Ultrazord. 
• Last time Rita uses her wand to make her monster grow. 
• Trini mentions gumbo, which is usually served with crawfish during Mardi Gras. 
• Kimberly calls Commander Crayfish a bug, when it's really a crustacean (making "crayfish" a misnomer). Of course, both crustaceans and insects are arthropods.
• Rita vows no more sea food, yet the next episode has an oyster. 
• This won't be the last time Saban featured evil twins of the Power Rangers. This will come up again later on, but finally worked well in "The Psycho Rangers" arc in Power Rangers In Space.     

Thoughts. 

    Just as "Bad Reflection On You" is the episode before "Doomsday", this one is the episode before the finale of Season One. Meaning, if you've made it this far in binge watching, good for you! 

    As a whole, I find this episode slightly better than "Bad Reflection...". This due to the expansion on the Mutant Rangers over the Fake Rangers from before. We actually get to see the Putties in training in this episode and the montage with it is a delight to watch. It's a shame it lasts only one minute, but the comedy of Puttie number 6 makes it even more delightful. Goldar is trainer and he sees them to be good (not good as in opposite of evil, but good as in good enough to take on the Power Rangers), except one. Number 6 is sent back to Finster and Goldar rewards the Putties with the Badges of Darkness to allow them to morph. Considering how the footage didn't have a Red Ranger, it's justified that one of them doesn't get in and none of the others considered themselves worthy of being one. 

    Before you can say, "You'll get a line, I'll get a pole, the Power Rangers go fishing in the crawfish hole!" the monster of the week is revealed to be Commander Crayfish. Since there's no Mutant Red, we get him since he is already red (mostly for the sake of art since crayfish turn red when cooked). This rejected course of Louisiana Cajun delight proves a match to the Power Rangers, especially with his lesser Rangers for back up. They prove tough enough that even the weapons don't work. The final Zord fight is even more awesome with Commander Crayfish and the Mutant Rangers taking on the Megazord and the Dragonzord, eventually leveling the former up to a higher place than either one of them. Before you can say, "I have the high ground!" Titanus is summoned to bring Commander Crayfish down off his Mardi Gras pedestal. Geux Power Rangers!

    Now for the bad parts. The decision to focus on the Power Rangers is so and so. On the one hand, Tommy is here and we get him in an arc of learning of his flaws and trying to fix them. That makes for a good conflict. The problem is, what do the Mutant Rangers have to embody his forgetfulness? The way the Rangers try to help their teammate is commendable, with the reminder device malfunctioning a hoot. At the same time, Bulk and Skull can be downright insensitive in this episode, I noticed. If they are this way with a peer who just forgets things, imagine how they'd treat someone demented. I also found it odd the show waited till now to improve the weapons, which reveal to be the old ones as pointed out. Not to mention, the fact Commander Crayfish doesn't morph into the Red Ranger like Twin Man did, nor do the Mutant Rangers last beyond this episode is a let down. This explains why Saban will revisit the evil twin concept again and again in the upcoming seasons, but it won't be until the Psycho Rangers saga in Power Rangers In Space before the intended storyline of such will ever be made real.