An Evil Game

Power Rangers: Lost Galaxy, Episode 22

Original Airdate: 10-25-1999

Last Time: The producers realized that a puppet wasn't a very good villain, so they replaced it with Trakeena. Kind of lateral move, really.

On the command carrier (and I'm not retiring this joke even though Scorpius is dead), Deviot comes across Kegler putting the cocoon into storage. He is understandably pissed. Trakeena shows up and Deviot, having gone to the Shakespearean school of villainy, pretends to abide by her decision to lock up the cocoon.

Later, Trakeena is thinking about getting her revenge on Leo, when Vilemax comes in to announce that he's found the very location of the Red Ranger. She orders Vilemax to capture him. Credits!

Deviot, however, has decided that if he can kill his boss once, then he can probably do it again. He hires some monsters to kill Trakeena. Their conference is interrupted by Kegler, who brings orders from Trakeena to help Vilemax capture Leo. Deviot almost loses his temper, as would we all if our awesome plan to get our boss killed ended up with us in the employ of an even more irritating superior, but is able to put on his Iago-face and agree to help.

On Terra Venture, Kai and Leo are doing some training when some laser blasts interrupt them. It's Vilemax, and he helpfully explains the new status quo for the villains before attacking. He proves too much for the Rangers, so Kai calls for help. Deviot, however, manages to capture all of the Rangers except for Leo, and Vilemax offers to free the Rangers if Leo agrees to fight Trakeena. Leo, of course, agrees, and is taken prisoner. Vilemax then frees the other Rangers, much to Deviot's dismay.

On the command carrier, which has landed on a planet, Deviot is standing watch over a chained-up Leo. Deviot wants to kill Leo now, but Vilemax won't allow it. Let's face it, Vilemax is the least fun villain ever. Trakeena shows up and claims that Leo's killing of Scorpius led to the creation "of something even more powerful." And it's Trakeena. She somehow creates a pit on the floor of Leo's prison cell, and orders the Red Ranger thrown in. Apparently she thinks that her execution of Leo will cement her reputation as a feared warrior. But, come on, it's Leo! Hell, the people of the universe will probably give Trakeena a medal for getting rid of the asshole.

Leo, however, has a plan to escape. The first part involves grabbing a Sting Winger and diving into the pit of fire. It's....not the best plan. He then somehow commandeers the Sting Winger to fly him out of their and retrieve his morpher and sword. Deviot lets him go as part of his larger plan, and diverts Vilemax while sending Trakeena right into his trap. Deviot summons his monsters from earlier and sends them to take of her.

And here's where things get a bit...odd. Leo runs right into some sort of forcefield arena set up by Trakeena, who apparently had been planning for this. Even though she had tried to dump Leo into a pit of fire earlier. I guess she figured that the whole pit thing wasn't going to work and set this up as a plan B. Leo, seeing that there's only one thing to do, rips off his shirt. I assume it's an attractive sight for the ladies, maybe. I don't know. And then he morphs, making me feel a lot more comfortable. Trakeena starts beating up Leo in a scene I like to call, "Come on guys, Trakeena is totally a threatening villain, please, please, please believe us."

The other Rangers finally find Leo, and start making their way to the battlefield. Deviot, however, is already there, and sends in his monster to kill Trakeena. Go, Deviot, save us from a half-season of screechy villainy! The monsters attack Trakeena, and I am hopeful, despite knowing full well how this episode ends. The producers decides to continue shilling Trakeena by having her beat both monsters, blowing up one and managing to capture the other one. Deviot, however, kills it before it can finger him for the conspiracy. Trakeena whines about not being able to kill Leo, and I remember why she's such an irritating character.

Trakeena and Deviot catch up to Leo just in time for the other Rangers to show up. And then get interrupted again when one of the monsters who was hired to kill Trakeena suddenly becomes giant-sized. It gets condored within twenty seconds.

The Rangers regroup and Trakeena shows up to taunt them. It doesn't really go anywhere. Later, Vilemax catches up to Deviot in the corridors of the command carrier, and gives him a dagger as thanks for saving Trakeena's life. Deviot soliloquies a bit about how he plans to betray everyone at the nearest opportunity, but Kegler overhears him. Damn it, I hate these new villains even more than Scorpius, and he was a puppet with a speech impediment! Show Over!

Next Time: Maya gets her own episode and celebrates by being even more useless than usual...and that's saying something.