A Matter of Trust

Power Rangers: Lightspeed Rescue, Episode 5

Original Airdate: 3-11-2000

Last Time: Kelsey met her dream girl and my promise not to make lesbian jokes expired after one recap.

On the aquabase, Captain Mitchell is discussing a new fuel cell that the Rangers will be transporting. Apparently it's very sensitive to heat....that does not seem like a good design for a fuel cell. He sends out the Rangers to escort the fuel cell from the airport to the aquabase. But, wait, he sends Dana off to chaffeur his old friend to the aquabase. Dana is not pleased with her assignment, but Captain Mitchell is unmoved. Dana thinks her father doesn't trust her and still thinks of her as a little girl, despite the fact that he's more than happy to send her out to fight demons every week. Credits!

At the zigguat o' malfeasance, Diabolico wants to steal the fuel cell to prevent the Rangers from using its power. Vypra wants to blow up Mariner Bay. Loki wants to kill Impus because he's annoying, but Jinxer explains that the demon baby is ready to make his first monster, and he does. The monster is called Flareror. Okay, Loki's probably right about Impus.

Most of the Rangers pick up the fuel cell as Dana meets her father's old friend; a Southern-fried creepy old dude with a fishing hat. Dana assume that he's going fishing, and the old dude is rather circumspect in his answer. Meanwhile, the other Rangers get attacked by Flareror and some Batlings. Perfunctory fight scene go! Carter calls on Dana for help, but Captain Mitchell denies her permission to go help. Dana disobeys her father's orders and goes off to help.

At the fight scene, Flareror manages to get a hold of the box and finds out that the fuel cell isn't there. Everyone's a bit confused by this revelation, and Flareror realizes that Dana isn't there and presumably has the fuel cell in her possession. And, in fact, the old guy that Dana's driving around is clutching his tackle box suspiciously tightly. Elsewhere, Flareror has decided to turn up the sun in order to destroy the fuel cell with excessive heat. He then ups the ante by launcing some flaming meteors at the city, and the Rangers start desparately searching for the monster.

Dana, however, is still driving the old man around, and the old guy is concerned about the heat. Some falling meteors force the car off the road, and he rushes off to a conveniently located ice machine to fill the tackle box, which turns out to contain the real fuel cell. The old man explains that Captain Mitchell assured him that his daughter could get him to the aquabase safely, and I guess we're supposed to take the view that such faith indicates the level of trust that Dana was looking for, but I can't help but note that Captain Mitchell pointedly refused to tell his daughter the truth about her assignment, which would seem to counteract any argument that he trusted Dana to perform her task properly.

Anyway, Vypra catches up to the pair and tries her best to do an evil laugh, and let's just add that to the list of things her actress can't do. The other Rangers find Flareror and have to fight some more Batlings. Back to Dana, she's patching up the old scientist after Vypra's attack and he starts talking about Dana's mother who appears to be dead. They get to the edge of the water, and Vypra corners them. Of course, the aquabase has a sub, and Dana and the old man escape into the water. Vypra seethes....or maybe is confused....or hungry....I can't tell with her.

Down deep, Captain Mitchell gets his fuel cell and Dana rushes off to help the other Rangers. The assembled Rangers finally finish off Flareror by holding him in place and forcing one of the meteors he summoned to crash directly into him. Jinxer, however, isn't a quitter, and makes Flareror grow. The Rescue Megazord beats the demon up with their extendo-arms, and then kills him with the giant robot's sword.

On the aquabase, Cap'n Mitchell is working in his office when Dana apologizes for yelling at her father at the beginning of the episode. I would like to renew my argument that Mitchell's actions in this episode don't really seem to indicate a lot of trust in Dana. Anyway, they hug it out. Show Over!

Next Time: Saban manages to make a 5'2, 100-pound woman with no acting skills an even more ridiculous villain. You won't believe your eyes! Join me next time for "Wheels of Destruction" or "Operation Ten-Go-Kart!"