The Wheel of Fate

Power Rangers Turbo, Episode 21

Original Airdate: 09-15-1997

Last Time: The new Rangers solved their first case, and the 10 year-old version of me slowly realized that the old Rangers weren't coming back.

Down at the space-sub, Elgar is bringing a chest full of loot to Divatox, she is unimpressed. In fairness, I imagine gold loses most of its luster when you own an intergalactic submarine. But then she discovers some sort of interstellar treasure map. The treasure? What appears to be some sort of Jeep Wrangler-esque truck and a sports car. Divatox is excited, as apparently these cars have been missing for "aeons." She calls for Dreadfeather, her monster of the week. Anyway, the cars are called Lightning Cruiser and Storm Blaster, the two most powerful vehicles in the universe. She dispatches Dreadfeather to get the cars. Dreadfeather flies out to an asteroid field where the cars are located, but quickly gets bored an sits down on an asteroid. But suddenly, the asterioid splits open and reveals the cars of legend, which immediately fly towards Earth. Even 10 year-old me isn't buying this story. Credits!

Back on Earth, T.J. is positing the creation of a machine that can do homework while you sleep. Justin concurs that such an invention would truly herald a golden age. The magic cars fall to Earth and Justin and T.J. go to check it out. Dreadfeather gets their first, but gets his foot run over by Storm Blaster. Truly these vehicles are the mightiest that ever were! The Piranhatrons try to sneak into Lightning Chaser, but the car won't let them in. The cars are apparently alive. The Piranhatrons struggle with the door, failing to notice that Lightning Chaser is a convertible. The cars eventually speed off.

Elsewhere, T.J. and Justin amble onto a nearby road just in time to see the cars speeding towards them. Justin trips. Could this be the greatest episode of Power Rangers ever? No, it can't, because the cars stop inches from putting Justin out of my misery. T.J. starts yelling at the driver, only to realize that there is no driver. T.J. is very confused. This is unsurprising. T.J. claims he's never seen anything like them, as he used to live in a town where sports cars and Sport Utility Vehicles were forbidden. Elgar and Dreadfeather show up. A fighting scene erupts, and Justin still looks awkward in a fight. Justin almost gets into Storm Blaster, but the magic car, allegedly the mightiest vehicle in existence, is stopped by its one weakness, a fishing net. Dreadfeather teleports both Justin and the car away. The other villains also teleport away.

T.J. calls into the Power Chamber to explain the situation. Lightning Chaser knocks T.J. to the ground. T.J. figures that the car knows where they're hiding Justin. Lightning Chaser wants no part of T.J. and tries to get away, managing to knock T.J. to the ground again in the process. Can't say I blame the car.

Lightning Chaser starts communicating with T.J. by flashing its headlights and opening its doors. T.J. decides to get in, and the car starts drivings wildly through the streets, eventually dumping T.J. onto the ground, again. T.J., not understanding the notion of quit, stands in front of the car and dares it to run him over. Apparently the car only wanted to humiliate him, not commit vehicular manslaughter and so decides to back away. It turns around and speeds off, but T.J. is able to outrun it and climb in. Wait, what? T.J. can run faster than a space car? Really? So, the mightiest vehicle ever is apparently unable to outrun a human being. Lightning Chaser speeds off with T.J. inside.

Meanwhile, at a construction site, Lt. Stone has gotten Bulk and Skull new jobs as construction workers. The foreman assigns them to work the stop and slow signs. Take a wild guess where Lightning Chaser is headed at top speed. Bulk and Skull desperately try to stop Lightning Chaser. T.J. tries to stop the runaway car, but all he can do is try to shift to a lower gear and yell. This somehow causes the car to take to the air. Inevitably, however, Bulk and Skull are knocked into the concrete. All present laugh at their misfortune.

Lightning Chaser transforms into its flying mode, and magically conjures up T.J. a seat belt. The moral is that if you are ever flying in a car, remember to buckle up for safety! At the Power Chamber, Carlos, Cassie and Ashley have all arrived and can't find Justin. They wonder why T.J. is flying in car. T.J. brushes them off and demands they find Justin. T.J. is able to locate Justin in the warehouse district. T.J. morphs in the car. That's got to be tricky.

Carlos, Cassie and Ashley arrive at the warehouse first. Carlos has a plan! Justin and Storm Blaster are chained up It turns out that Carlos' plan involves throwing tires at Piranhatrons. Carlos is no longer allowed to have plans. The Piranhatrons somehow get fooled at the thrown tires, right until Carlos and the other jump down in front of them. Dreadfeather and Elgar threaten to hurt the car. Justin manages to get free...sigh...and immediately best Elgar. Justin morphs. Outside, Carlos decides to blow down a door with the Turbo Ram Cannon. He fails. Carlos lets T.J. know, and T.J. has a plan. Later this season, we will learn how truly ominous that phrase can be. T.J.'s plan involves crashing into the warehouse through a skylight. I don't think warehouses have skylights. But, fine. Storm Blaster pulls Justin into its driver's seat via extendable safety belt.

Storm Blaster shoots out some sort of grappling hook, which attaches to Lightning Chaser, and the cars escape. Justin loves his new car. I do not. Divatox shows up at the warehouse and is also unhappy with the resolution of today's episode. Divatox equips them with an evil pickup truck. Dreadfeather is skeptical of such a vehicle, Divatox uses her heat vision to convince him otherwise. Elgar and Dreadfeather drive off in pursuit.

At the construction site from earlier, Bulk and Skull are almost done fixing the cement. The picktruck of malice goes roaring by. Bulk and Skull try to stop it but, well....Inevitably, Bulk and Skull are knocked oncemore into the wet cement. All present laugh at their repeated misfortune. Elsewhere, T.J. and Justin get out and talk about the new merchandise. The red car might be called Lightning Cruiser instead of Lightning Chaser, whoops. The cars brand themselves with the Power Rangers Turbo logo, for the Rangers now own them. The pickup truck of moral turpitude shows up. A fight begins, but it's kind of weird because everyone's in a car. T.J. tries to run Dreadfeather down, but fails. Dreadfeather gets up on Lightning Cruiser's hood. T.J. tries to shake him off, but fails. T.J. is eventually able to know him off of the car. Dreadfeather flies after them with his jetpack.

The remaining Rangers show up directly in front of the speeding pick up truck of dishonor, and immediately get out of the way to avoid being run over. I'm glad they're here. Carlos insults Elgar's driving ability and jumps into the pickup of moral dubiousness. T.J. decides to take to the skies to evade the monster with a jet pack. Think harder, T.J.. Justin corrals Dreadfeather with the grappling hook at the front of Storm Blaster. T.J. blast him with about a thousand lasers. There's not enough of him left to giant-size.

Carlos get thrown out of the pickup truck of immorality, and blows it up with one shot from his blaster. Sic Tranist Pickup Truck Malo. T.J. lands and shills the Lightning Cruiser a bit more. Back at the space-sub, Elgar tries to distract Divatox with an adorable treasure map he drew himself. The treasure's in Hawaii. Divatox shoves him out an airlock. Back at the construction site, people are still laughing at Bulk and Skull, and the foreman fires them as they're trapped in the slowly-hardening concrete. The universe truly hates Bulk and Skull. The rest of the Rangers mention how awesome their new cars are, and how people should totally buy the toys of said awesome cars. Show Over!

Next Time: Divatox gets a part-time job!