Friday, June 25, 2010

Passing the Torch, Part One

Power Rangers Turbo, Episode 19

Original Airdate: 9-10-1997

Last time: The Rangers were shrunk!

Divatox is sleeping soundly when all of a sudden a ghostly apparition appears. Wait, is this a Christmas episode? Nah, it's just Mama D, Divatox's mother. Her mother starts nagging her about being a disappointment. Apparently everyone else's children have actually managed to pull off a diabolical scheme. Man, that harsh, I'm guessing Mama D never forgave her for dropping out of Mt. Holyoke after her sophomore year. Mama D tells her to kill the Power Rangers or else. Divatox, as the evidence has shown, doesn't really know how to do that. Mama D tells her to take out Tommy, and the rest will follow. Credits!

Tommy and Kat are driving to some sort of camping expedition. Elsewhere, their replacements are being bussed into town. Let's meet them now! Cassie is a reasonably hot Asian-American with a reasonably poor singing voice. This does not stop her from singing, both now and in the future. T.J. is a courteous African-American who attempts to silence her for everyone's sake. Cassie's heading to Stone Canyon to crash the music scene. She's wrong on both counts. T.J. is headed to Angel Grove, presumably to pursue an ad placed by Dimitria in the local paper soliciting for new Rangers.

Divatox announces her plan, to capture the (lame duck) leader of the Power Rangers. It's kind of a bummer, seeing as her plan won't even work if it's successful. The Piranhatrons head out on motorbikes to catch Tommy. Tommy notices them and drives away from them. He and Kat continue to flee despite the fact that they have beaten up about ten dozen Piranhatrons so far this season. I guess they're worried about Retirony.

Down at the campsite, Adam, Tanya and Justin are hanging out. Back at the bus, Cassie isn't clear why T.J. would want to go to Angel Grove. Apparently it's to improve his baseball skills. No, really. T.J. asks Cassie if she's any good at singing, despite already knowing the tragic answer to that question. Generic '90s music plays as the bus pulls in for a rest stop. T.J. and Cassie go shopping at a road side store and exchange banter. They aren't very good at it.

The Piranhatrons are still chasing Tommy and Kat's car. They begin firing lasers at them. Cassie and T.J. continue to shop. Millions of children in 1997 get increasingly confused and worried by the name of this episode, and the direction it's headed in. Tommy yells at Kat to jump out of the car. She does, but loses her morpher. Tommy stays in the car and waits for it to come to a complete stop to exit the vehicle. He still hasn't quite gotten the hang of chivalry. The Piranhatrons blow up Tommy's car, knocking the poor dope to the ground. Kat yells "Tommy" several times.

T.J., who is apparently reasonably close to the preceding events, hears the explosion and rushes to investigate. Cassie complains that if he leaves, he's going to miss the bus. Kat yells "Tommy" a few more times and then runs away because she doesn't have her morpher, thus showing that all Pink Rangers are basically useless. The Piranhatrons capture Tommy. Divatox sends some troops and a monster called Flamebot or something to keep the other Rangers occupied.

At the camp site, Tanya and Adam are trying to set up and hammock. Justin hears something and goes to check it out, but Flamebot shows up and attacks him. Justin calls for Tanya and Adam to help him and they do, but are intercepted by another monster. At the bus, Cassie tries to stall the bus driver for T.J. but fails. Cassie decides to wait for the guy she met five minutes at a bus stop in the middle of nowhere. Cassie goes into the woods and sees Kat running from some Piranhatrons. Kat beats them up, which she probably could have done a bit earlier.

Cassie then comes upon T.J. and the burning remains of Tommy's truck. Both have no idea what's going on. Kat beats some more Piranhatrons up. T.J. decides to help Kat out. Cassie vetoes the idea, as cowardliness is apparently a key requisite for being a Pink Ranger. T.J. overrides the veto and goes to help Kat, because saving the Pink Ranger from enemies that any other Ranger can deal with is a key requisite for being a Red Ranger. Cassie runs after him.

Some more Piranhatrons show up and Cassie wants to run away. She isn't able to and whines about the situation. Elsewhere, Justin decides that he probably ought to morph, but the overly complicated morphing procedure finally backfires as Flamebot knocks his morpher away. Justin begs for help, but Tanya and Adam are still fighting that other monster. Could this be the end of Justin? No, Tanya manages to trap the other monster in a hammock and they rush over to save Justin. Damn it all.

Kat continues to run away and notices T.J. and Cassie fighting some Piranhatrons. Cassie is able to fight decently, and explains to T.J. that she's good at karate because "her ancestors invented it." See, all Asians do know Kung Fu! Adam, Tanya and Justin are still struggling against Flamebot. Alpha 6 calls in to tell them that Kat and Tommy are in trouble...several minutes after Tommy got captured. Alpha 6 isn't very good at her job. Actually, I'm wrong, Tommy has just being lying on the ground unconscious this whole time. Cassie complains that she doesn't want to be involved in this. Remember, Cassie, the complainer is always wrong. Always.

Adam and Tanya decide to morph, but Flamebot knocks away their morphers too. I guess they wanted to give the outgoing Rangers as much face time as possible. Cassie and T.J. rescue Kat and Cassie wants to know what the hell's going on. She's interrupted by more Piranhatrons. Kat runs over to see a monster dragging Tommy away, and decides to yell "Tommy" some more.

At the camp site, Justin manages to recover his morpher, as does Adam. Johnny Yong Bosch shows off his physical acting skills one last time. Alpha 6 is still going on about Tommy and Kat. Tommy gets taken away and Kat stands there, completely flustered in the face of a world without Tommy. Cassie and T.J. try to get her away from the hordes of Piranhatrons. They fail. A monster drags Tommy to a cave and Divatox stands over him, gloating. She has a good long laugh. To Be Continued!

Next time: The Rangers get fired!

No comments:

Post a Comment