Season Two: The Mutiny, pt. 3.

 

                      The Mutiny, part 3.

                                                        The Power of Thunder!

Sentai Notes: 

• When "Zyu 2" was shot, the original showdown was after the Power Rangers regained their Zords they would take on Pirantishead. The extra footage had only had the old Megazord do battle, but it's revealed it still had control of Dragonzord as Dragon Caesar remained under the spell. For a few moments, the Zyurangers are fighting a two front war, until the Green Ranger regains his mecha / Zord. At one point, Titanus was expected to come in and zap Pirantishead. When combined as Ultrazord, the Megazord and the Dragonzord defeat Pirantishead. Of course, when Saban opted to make the switch and use new Zords, the footage was scrapped. 
• The footage of the Zords comes from the next chapter in the Super Sentai franchise: Gosei Sentai Dairanger ("Five Star Squadron"). Airing the same time we in America were watching Power Rangers, Dairanger featured a new Sentai team, consisting of four men and a woman who use the ancient powers of Qi (pronounced "chi") to face the Gorma, a group of people in leather outfits, monocles, and gloves, and also use Qi. It has some comical moments and dark moments at once, while fresh adventures compared to Kyoryu Sentai Zyuranger. Much of the series does have a Star Wars feel at times, with the light side and dark side motive, an emperor for the ultimate villain, the teacher who acts like Obi-Wan, etc. There are even moments in each episode where something that sounds like "The Imperial March" from The Empire Strikes Back sounds forth when the Rangers are in trouble (it is a variation with notes changes around, likely to avoid copyright infringement). 
• In Gosei Sentai Dairanger, each time it comes for the monster to grow they pull out a grenade they use to explode, adding energy to make them big. This explains why Lord Zedd tosses grenades down to Earth as his way of making monsters grow. 
• Rita Repulsa's exit mirrors that of her Sentai counterpart's. In the end of Zyuranger, Bandora is sealed away in her dumpster, after losing her powers, and she also spends her time singing a song. Her song, to be precise. Unlike Bandora, Rita is alone. 

Strategy Notes:

• The Power Rangers pull a diversionary action when attempting to break the spell. When they put their weapons together, they look like they might fire on their Zords. Instead, they turn it on Pirantishead, giving him a blow to turn him into cooked sushi. This buys the Blue Ranger the time to check to see why his machine isn't working. Turns out, he put one of the batteries in wrong (Dang it, Billy!, as Hank Hill would say). 
• Lord Zedd decides to take the Zords away by sending them into the earth from which they came. The Power Rangers are able to save the Dragonzord, however, by having Green Ranger return it to the sea. 

Biblical and Mythological Homage: 

• Seeing the Dinozords returned to the ground has a sinister touch to "For dust thou art, and into dust thou shalt return" in Genesis. Lord Zedd even makes a mocking version of the line from the Gospel of John: "I am the vine: you the branches: he that abideth in me, and I in him, the same beareth much fruit: for without me you can do nothing." It's the verse used by Buzz Aldrin for his communion antiphon upon landing on the Moon. In this context, Lord Zedd is mocking the Power Rangers for being without their Zords, whereas Jesus was reiterating He is the way of the Father. Plenty of real Lord Zedds are out there, in form of abusive parents or abusive spouses, or anyone abusive, who make you feel bad by saying you are nothing without them. Such people make that verse sound like abuse as well, which is a shame since Jesus never intended to sound that way. 

Bulk and Skull's Latest Scheme: 

• This episode has Bulk and Skull announce their intention to find the identity of the Power Rangers, to the Power Rangers. So begins the plot B of Season Two, where the Power Rangers will have to protect their identities. 

Quote(s) of the Week: 

    "Without them [their Zords], they are nothing." - Lord Zedd. 

    "Now that's more like it. Go get him, Power Rangers! Reel in that overgrown guppy and send him back where he came from!" - Alpha 5, watching the Thunderzords summoned, with Zordon chuckling behind him.

   "Ninety-nine bottles of slime on the wall. Ninety-nine bottles of slime. You take one down, pass it around, and only ninety-eight bottles of slime on the wall." - Rita Repulsa, in her dumpster.

Misc. Notes: 

• The first time we see the second season opening. It begins with a dizzying spin around of footage of episodes to come, following by the cast smiling at the camera each time they are introduced (except Bulk and Skull, who silently scream at a Putty behind them). The opening titles can be deceptive in making it look like Lord Zedd is helping the Zords at one point.
• The Dinozords going underground is recycled from "Green With Evil, part four." 
• The Rangers poses while summoning the Thunderzords come from "Green With Evil, part five." They just keep out the Green Ranger. 
• The batteries are shown with letters that, before one of them is flipped over, spell out the word "Power." In fact, both batteries have the word "Power" on them. Unlike in "A Star Is Born," the "Power Batteries" don't get their own jingle added. Then again, it would have broken the flow of the battle. Don't know if they are made with something other than lithium, though. 
• The order of the Rangers summoning each Zord is the same as that when they first morph: Black, Pink, Blue, Yellow, Red. 
• There are now two dragonzords in this episode, the original one and the Red Dragon Thunderzord. The latter is shown to be up to date by comparison with the fact it's a Transformer, going from a Chinese dragon to warrior with a lance.
• The Thunder Megazord essentially is Red Dragon Thunderzord in warrior mode all dressed up. Griffin and Unicorn Thunderzords are the boots, though not in the same order as with the Original Megazord. Firebird Thunderzord forms the armor skirt of the Megazord (yeah, it's a skirt). The Lion Thunderzord forms the breastplate, the sleeves and gloves, and helmet of the Megazord, and provides the Thunder Saber. 
• Because Pirantishead is a "Zyu 2" creature and the Thunder Megazord comes from Dairanger, the two are never in the same frame together. The whole battle is basically the editing together of two footages to make a scene, something to be common in the early episodes of Season Two. 
• When Pirantishead zaps the Thunder Megazord, the original Megazord can just be barely seen in the explosion, something that happens from time to time in the early episodes. 
• Rita's song "Ninety-Nine Bottles of Slime" is based on "Ninety-Nine Bottles of Beer."
• How the mighty have fallen. In her final scene of the trilogy, Rita Repulsa has become the laughing stock of the universe. Even Zordon takes the time to laugh when his fallen adversary is reduced to being in a dumpster and singing a comical song. It's one of the few times Zordon cracks a smile, where otherwise he is very serious. Another time in the episode he laughs is earlier when Alpha is getting carried away at the Power Rangers facing the Pirantishead. 

Thoughts:

    Now we come to Part Three, where everything works out. The Power Rangers are able to hold off Pirantishead and set up the machine to break the spell over the Tyrannosaurus and Dragonzord. After a comic moment with the batteries, they break it. Unfortunately, Lord Zedd sent them back to the earth. Fortunately, Green Ranger was able to save the Dragonzord. 

    Now we see the Thunderzords in action. They combine quickly and take on Pirantishead, who still proves a worthy opponent. In the end, the Thunder Saber is activated and used to chop this fish up for market. I should bring up how thrilling the sequence of the Thunderzords was to me as a kid. I was used to seeing it go down with the Power Rangers calling them out one by one, which was something missing in Season One. Right here is how the call goes: 

     "Mastodon Lion Thunderzord Power!"

     "Pterodactyl Firebird Thunderzord Power!"

     "Triceratops Unicorn Thunderzord Power!"

     "Sabretooth Tiger Griffin Thunderzord Power!"

     "Tyrannosaurus Red Dragon Thunderzord Power!"

    As each is called, we see new footage of the old Zords zapped by lightening and become the new Thunderzords, with some modifications, which suggest they were filmed apart. Then the Sentai footage comes in while we hear the musicians go "They've got a power and a force you've never seen before! / They've got the ability to morph to even up the score! / No one can ever take them down! / The Power lies on their si-ee-i-ee-i-ee-ide! Go, go, Power Rangers!" When that happened, it certainly got me pumped up and ready for the climax of the story. We don't hear it in this episode, but we'll hear it in the second and third season (which included another verse). 

   Plenty of other things to make this a good conclusion include seeing Rita's fate, the end of the race, and so on. Rita Repulsa is out of the picture (but not for long) and Bulk and Skull have made it their purpose in life to find the identity of the Power Rangers before they graduate high school. Yet, the set up has the Power Rangers facing a greater threat than before, as Lord Zedd proves to be tougher than Rita ever was. Worse of all, one of the Power Rangers is already weakened and unfit for many more battles. 

    Seeing Kimberly offer to drive Tommy in the race is a real nice treat, also. With his powers running low and the Dragonzord in the same predicament, Kimberly was kind enough to make things easy on him. It's no wonder so many prefer to ship these two together long after Season Three. Too bad they never did the same for Trini and Billy, and both Jason and Zack are without girlfriends still.