A Ranger Among Thieves

Power Rangers in Space, Episode 7

Original Airdate: 3-20-1997

Last Time: Not a whole lot happened!

In the simudeck, the Rangers are burning through some otherwise unusable Japanese footage. They beat the unnamed virtual monster, but now have to go back to Earth to take math midterms. Oh, yes, they're still in high school. You'd think the high school would be suspicious that the Rangers keep disappearing for days on end, but apparently not. Anyway, Andros isn't actually in high school, so he goes off to hang out in Angel Grove.

Up in the Dark Fortress, there is a new monster, Voltagehog. Astronema sends him out to destroy the Rangers. Credits!

At the Surf Shop, Adelle, the owner, is explaining that someone stole her van. Who did it? Well, the show wants to dispel that mystery right quick and introduces us to a group of three teenage thieves. Andros is nearby, and the girl-thief notices him trying to bite into a banana without peeling it. Because he's an alien and all. She suggests he peel it and he does. He gives the girl-thief some advice about pool. This leads the leader of the thieves to challenge Andros that he can't make a shot. Andros succeeds. The leader-thief is unimpressed.

Elsewhere, Bulk, Skull, and Phenomenus are trying to capture a rabbit that Phenomeus thinks is an alien. They're hiding in trash cans while they wait. People throw trash in the trash cans. Bulk and Skull have clearly lost all faith in the old man, and seem to be just hanging around because of their devotion to helping the elderly. Outside the Surf Shop, Andros finds the team of thieves breaking into a car...in broad daylight....in front of a reasonably croweded restaurant. They aren't very good thieves. Andros assumes that they've locked themselves out of their car. Andros uses his telekinesis to get them into the car. Andros is a fucking moron. The leader of thieves immediately sees the potential in having a member of the group that can move things with his mind and is easily manipulated and offers to hang out with Andros. Andros agrees because he is a naive about this sort of thing for reasons that aren't exactly clear. I guess there are no thieves in space.

The thieves and Andros are driving in the stolen car, and the leader offers Andros some gum. He swallows it. The other thieves correct him and teach the otherworlder to blow bubbles. Meanwhile, Zordon is having his life-energy drained. It's not a scene in the episode or anything, but it is happening. Andros, being a cosmic rube of the highest order, blows a bubble to big and it pops. The leader-thied stops the car, and they see another thief take an old lady's purse. Andros doesn't go for that and takes back the purse for the old woman. Andros heads back to car and announces, "If there's one thing I can't stand, it's a thief." The leader-thief realizes that he may have made an error in judgment in bringing Andros along.

Back at the bunny stakeout, a rabbit finally shows up and Phenomenus slowly goes up to him, but then turns around to shush Bulk and Skull. In the interval, Voltagehog shows up and shoos off the rabbit. Phenomenus turns around and feels vindicated. Man, the worst thing that Astronema did this episode was to put into motion a chain of events that fed the old man's delirium. Votagehog starts draining power from some nearby transformers as the comic trio leaves.

In the stolen car, Andros sees the power being drained and gets out of the vehicle to investigate. He finds the monster, morphs, and drives Voltagehog off. Andros de-morphs and catches up with the thieves. He notices that they are unloading things out of Adelle's stolen van. Andros also notices that the lot he is in is full of stolen vehicles. He finally puts it together and realizes that they're thieves. Andros decides to return all of the cars to their owners, but the leader-thief will have none of that. Voltagehog also shows up, because I guess there are some power lines nearby. The monster sees leader-thief and starts chasing him. The other thieves notice and manage to put themselves in the line of fire. Andros shows up and starts fighting the monster. Leader-thief runs away, but the other two stay and decide to help Andros. They knock the monster and then help Andros run away. Andros immediately ditches them so he can morph, and fights the monster some more. Ecliptor also shows up, just because. Andros' fight with Ecliptor goes about as well as last time, which is to say that Ecliptor evilly laughs a lot and kicks Andros' ass, culminating in Ecliptor breaking Andros' drill-sword and backhand-slapping him into a muddy pit. Eclpitor walks over and pushes Andros' head into the muddy water with his foot. You don't fuck with Ecliptor.

The other Rangers show up to try to help their leader, and Ecliptor uses his eye-blasts to knock them all down. Fortunately, the spirit of merchandising appears to the Rangers and informs them to combine four of their power weapons (everyone's except Andros) and blast Ecliptor with the resulting rifle-type thing. Ecliptor gets nailed and has to retreat. The Rangers wi-oh, wait, the other monster. They manage to kill him with the new toy, too. Astronema, however, realizes that sales of the Astro Megazord aren't all they could be, and orders the satellilaser fired to grow the monster, and, with any luck, the brand. The Rangers call on the Astro Megazord and continue their new, overly brutal methods of killing monsters by throwing their sword at Voltagehog, and then igniting it from a distance. Voltagehog dies in incredible pain.

Later, leader-thief is trying to steal a Jeep Wrangler. The cops catch him, because he must learn the wages of sin. At the Surf Stop, or Shop, or Spot, or whatever the name of the not-juice bar is, Andros wants to tell Adelle about her stolen van, but is pre-empted by the confession of the other two thieves. Adelle lauds them for their courage, and hires them as deliverymen. Um..., so I guess the moral of today's episode is that if you need a job, commit a crime that is similar to the job you want, and then confess to the person you wronged. I mean, it's one thing to let the repentant off scot-free, but to actively reward them? That seems a bit much.

On the Dark Fortress, Astronema is watching the mildly depressing antics of Bulk, Skull and Phenomenus. The old man is showing off a vial of a highly potent explosive that he made. I think Phenomenus needs to be put in an assisted-living facility before he destroys all mankind. Astronema schemes to steal the explosive....next episode! To Be Continued!

Next Time: Blackmail for fun and profit!