Homecoming

Power Rangers: Wild Force, Episode 28

Original Airdate: 9-14-2002

Last Time: Zen-Aku returned to win Merrick's heart, with mixed results.

At the lair, Toxica and Jindrax introduce Mandilok to their base, and it turns out that all of the other generals were pre-emptively killed by Master Org during one of his rages. Mandilok decides that he'll need some lackey who aren't completely incompetent, and that means it's time for fresh blood. The new henchmen are called Artilla and Helicos. Those are terrible names.

Meanwhile, a little boy is playing at a construction site, he tries to steal some donuts and gets caught by the construction workers. Cole shows up and the workers explain that the kid has been stealing their food all week. They ask Cole to keep the kid away because...I don't, I guess they assume Cole is in charge of him or something. Anyway, Cole agrees, and asks the kid his name, which turns out to be Kite....that's also a terrible name. Kite kicks Cole in the leg and escapes. Before Cole can chase after him, the Orgs attack and I pretend for a moment that that's the last we'll be seeing of Kite.

Mandilok is directing his lieutenants from a distance while he enjoys some steak. The Rangers show up and claims that he is known as the ''devourer of worlds." Um....I'm pretty sure that's Galactus, but fine. The Rangers are surprised that Mandilok has lackeys that aren't completely useless and get defeated. Kite observes the fight pensively.

Later, the Rangers reflect on the revolving door of Org leadership, and Cole suddenly remembers that Kite is probably a homeless orphan. In fact, Kite is facing off with the new Orgs immediately, and manages to distract them by kicking one of the monsters in the shin. The Rangers show up to save him, with Cole managing to wreck his motorcycle in the process. Kite is depressed that he caused Cole to lose his bike, and the Rangers get beaten up again. The Rangers crawl from some wreckage and realize that Kite is missing.

Back at the Animarium, the Rangers are coming up with a plan to ambush Mandilok that involves a giant map. Cole is still distracted by Kite's plight, and Shayla volunteers to find the boy.

The ambush goes poorly, and it turns out that Mandilok's interest in this particular part of town was because he wanted to eat some new buildings. The Rangers once again lose to Mandilok.

Elsewhere, Shayla finds Kite and lures him out of hiding with spaghetti and some sort of sandwich. Given what we'll later learn about Kite, this doesn't make a ton of sense. Anyway, this being Shayla's plan, it backfires as it attracts Mandilok. Kite shows up and demands that Shayla leave. Mandilok shows up, and the Rangers find that their crystals aren't working. Merrick goes off to stop Mandilok while the other Rangers kill Artilla and Helicos. This causes Mandilok to stop fighting Merrick and summon Jindrax and Toxica to grow the downed Orgs.

Unfortunately....the zords aren't working for some reason. Shayla comes to the realization that something is preventing the zords from functioning properly. Genius! Kite starts saying odd things about protecting the animals and runs off to a construction site where the ancient zords were apparently buried. Apparently the dead zords are angry at their graveyard being desecrated and are preventing the other zords from coming. Merrick manages to find where all of his friends were buried and is mildly depressed. Shayla asks that the dead zords allow the living zords to help out, and that solves that problem. The Rangers summon the Isis Megazord because it hasn't been selling as well and use it to kill the Orgs.

And....er....we're out of time, so a narrator shows up to help wrap things up. The Rangers moved the dead zord memorial, which apparently appeased the spirits, and they held a lovely rededication ceremony to boot. Merrick realized that he was never going to get that money the other proto-Rangers owed him back. Show Over!

Next Time: Flutes!