Movie Madness, Part I

Power Rangers: Time Force, Episode 24

Original Airdate: 7-21-2001

Last Time: An enterprising photographer learned an important lesson on journalistic ethics: if your subject doesn't want compromising information leaked to the press, then it's your duty to bury it deep. Fuck you, Woodward and Bernstein!

Trip and Wes are watching a Western while Jen works, which leads her to shut off the TV. Katie shows up to tell the Rangers that they're shooting a movie down the street. Jen, being the buzzkill that she is, denies the team permission to go look until Lucas mentions that Jen's favorite action star "Frankie Chang" will be there. Oh, man, it's 90 seconds into a two-parter and I'll already don't want to do this. Credits!

The Rangers wander onto the set and see a stereotypical Asian man pull a weak Jackie Chan impersonation. It's world-famous copyright evading actor Frankie Chang! The Rangers discuss their favorite genres of movie and...wait a minute....a two-part episode, a film theme...oh, no.

Anyway, one of the stuntmen gets hurt and Wes volunteers to take his place. Wes gets dressed up in a leather jacket and puts on a wig and looks like the ultimate douche. The long hair makes me realize that as much as I didn't like Leo or Wes....next season will force me to....re-evaluate certain fundamental conceptions of douchery.

They shoot Wes' scene and it's a scene were Frankie Chang heroically tries to impale an unarmed man with his sword. They fight for a good, long while before Frankie lands a hit on Wes who realizes that the sword, and, by extension, the fight, are very real. This gets confirmed when the director tries to kill Wes with some dynamite. The Rangers are confused until the director reveals the name of the movie, "The End of the Rangers." Oh, I guess they'll need another take then.

Actually, the movie was a record-breakingly long scam to kill the Rangers that didn't quite pan out. Jen has a nice little moment when she realizes that she didn't actually meet the real Frankie Chang. The director, in reality a monster called Cinecon, then transports Lucas to a Samurai movie, Katie to a musical, and Jen to a Kung Fu movie. In fairness, the producers do at least make them parodies look reasonably good.

Elsewhere, Circuit catches up with Eric, whose sabbactical is apparently over. Cinecon shows up with a casting table and camera and the makes Eric fight some Cyclobots. He then sends Eric into a Tarzan pastiche, where he is attacked by some savages.

Back at Ransik's House of Contractually Mandated Appearances, Nadira wants to be famous, more specifically, she wants to be in Cinecon's movies....which aren't actually real movies that are going to be distributed so I have no idea how that would make her famous. Ransik seems equally confused but goes along with it.

Ransik meets with Cinecon and asks him to put her in a scene, and makes it clear that the monster's going to do it lest he be murdered right then and there. Back in the movie, Wes and Trip are in a Western scene. They go to the local salloon and Wes orders some sasparillas....damn it, Wes, I know it's a kid show, but come on, you deserve to be pummelled by the locals for that alone. Cinecon gets Nadira out of her trailer and puts her in the scene. She's a terrible actress, but I'm not clear enough on the reality of these movies to know it that means anything. She puts a bounty on Trip and Wes' heads, and that starts the only fight scene in Western history where no one goes for their guns. Trip escapes from the salloon and contacts Circuit, who tells him that he's in another dimension.

Meanwhile, Lucas saves a girl from some ninjas and Katie falls in love with some guy in her musical. In the other parodies, Eric is about to be cooked by some cannibals and Jen fights off some monks. Finally, Wes gets surrounded by Cyclobots and we're supposed to believe they represent some sort of threat, despite Wes killing about a thousand of them so far this season. To Be Continued!

Next Time: The Cyclobots fall to 0-1001 against the Rangers.