Category: Power Rangers

More often than not, I come across a question that has plagued Power Rangers fandom since the dawn of time; Tommy/Kimberly or Tommy/Katherine? There doesn’t seem to be an in-between in this scenario; you were either with one side or another.

However, I propose another possibility that is not only much more likely, but also factually correct in this regard.

See, the one commonality with both of these relationships – besides both girls’ names starting with the letter K – is that both girls happen to be Pink Rangers at the time of their run. Kimberly was the original Pinky while Kat was the replacement Pinky. And when Kimberly broke up with Tommy via production-mandated Dear John letter, the first person he tried (and failed) to rebound and hook up with was a skiing champion named Heather, who wore a pink coat.

Henceforth, the real answer to this conundrum is Tommy/Pink Ranger. Which Pink Ranger? Precisely.

Midway through Power Rangers Turbo, the old Rangers get replaced with new Rangers save for Justin the kid Blue Ranger. The veterans were given about as much of a graceful exit as you could ask for and the new kids were off to a fantastic start. That means no more Tommy.

However, let’s change that scenario a bit and let’s make TOMMY the one who sticks around while everyone else gets replaced with newbies (and yes, Justin is replaced by TJ as the Blue Ranger.) So, now Tommy, the most popular Ranger of all time according to people, suddenly has no girlfriend because Kat is long gone.

But… somewhere along the way, Tommy receives another production-mandated Dear John letter from Katherine. And so the first person Tommy tries to hook up with… Cassie, the new Pink Ranger.

Much like the relationship with Katherine, the Tommy/Cassie relationship doesn’t go as far as the Tommy/Kim relationship and even less so, since the Power Chamber is destroyed and the now former Turbo Rangers have to go after Divatox and search for Zordon. Tommy, unfortunately, can’t join them along for the ride for some production-mandated reason. And so Power Rangers In Space plays out pretty much as you expect.

And then we get to Lost Galaxy, where instead of Leo being the Red Ranger, we get TOMMY as the Red Ranger. And the first person he hooks up with is Kendrix Morgan, who eventually becomes the Pink Ranger. The relationship, again, doesn’t get very far due to conflicting personalities, but Tommy still manages to love Kendrix until she eventually dies.

Tommy is distraught… but this lasts for a short while until Karone eventually becomes the Pink Ranger and then he hooks up with her. THIS relationship sort of works based on a common ground; both were once evil and both are atoning for past sins. We don’t see if this develops beyond a date here and there because by the end of the series, they end up on Mirinoi.

At some point, Tommy makes his way back to Earth and somehow earns himself a PhD in palaeontology. He eventually hooks up with Hailey, a tech geek who never wears pink and thus is just a trusted friend rather than a shipping friend. Eventually, three kids find dino gems and become Power Rangers. None of the kids or gems are Pink Rangers. Tommy considered turning the yellow gem into a pink gem… but then by his very nature, he would be forced to hook up with Kira, holder of said yellow gem who is in high school.

And that’s why you should be shipping Tommy getting raped by the tree from The Evil Dead.

Former Power Ranger actor Jason Frank has taken up fighting in a cage. Actually, he’s had a couple fights already and has won them both, so he has a chance… then again, that’s what we all say when there’s a new fighter out to prove himself.

Click here to read random article about JDF.

Good luck, dude. You’ll need it since you have no Dragonzord to help you now. HA! HA! HA!

Er… forget it.

Later.

(2023 Update: The original post was dated November 5th, 2006, but was originally ripped from a Bite commentary that was posted on November 13th, a week later. Nov. 13th was also the date that the Mystic Force finale aired on ABC, but UK viewers got to see it a week earlier. Recently, I came across an updated version of this post that expands on the original Bite comments and so I present that here.)

In 2004, I stated in a blog post that Power Rangers Dino Thunder’s finale was an okay ending to a good run.

In 2005, I expressed my utter relief and happiness that the crapload known as Power Rangers SPD is finally over.

In 2006, I can’t comment on Mystic Force’s finale because I haven’t seen it. In fact, I can honestly tell you that I have yet to see one single episode of the recent Ranger offering. Outside of a brief glance at a fight scene signalling the end of an episode, I haven’t sat down and watched an episode of the series to really judge it. Of course, some would say that by not watching it, I’m already sending a strong message concerning the product.

Mystic Force didn’t get a viewer in me for two reasons.

First off, the previous Power Rangers offering, SPD, was such a huge pile of shit that it had essentially wiped out any interest in seeing what the current creative team has to offer in subsequent series. And while general talk about these particular series has been more favorable than before, it still isn’t enough to get me back into the fold… and the truly sad part was that there wasn’t one time when I wanted to go out of the way to catch an airing. Contrast this to Ninja Storm: while I didn’t care for that series because of the overall tone, it did have some interesting stories that drew me in, even if it didn’t keep me around for the long run. Mystic Force didn’t offer anything to reel me in at any point and thus I ignored it promptly.

The other reason why Mystic Force failed to interest me is because all the stories in that series was nothing more than rehashes of its Japanese counterpart, Magiranger. Yes, the same can be said for SPD being a near-carbon copy of Dekaranger, but I can honestly… wait a minute, I gave up on SPD for that very reason among other things. Because it’s a rehash of a previous show, it signifies that no actual effort is shown in making the show enjoyable or original. There’s no actual heart being put into the show; it seems more like a paint-by-numbers affair. I couldn’t stand that sort of treatment for one show; two shows in a row following that route is a nightmare.

I’m hoping that the next incarnation turns out to be better and, considering the 15th anniversary of the Power Rangers franchise is coming, I’m hoping something really special will be done.

In the meantime, I’ll ignore the previous crappy shows that have infected the airwaves and stick with old episodes on tape as well as the fanfics… the only entertaining aspects left in Power Rangers as far as I’m concerned.

Later.

2010 UPDATE: Well, Operation Overdrive sucked and its 2-part “Once A Ranger” anniversary episode was a waste of time. I’ve only caught a couple episodes of Jungle Fury before I figured my time would be better invested elsewhere… and the Disney era of Power Rangers ended with RPM, which was actually a pretty solid show despite the new blood.

Now, with Saban having bought back the franchise, I’m having somewhat elevated hopes for the upcoming Power Rangers Samurai series… too bad I don’t get Nickelodeon. Oh well… I guess it’s back to YouTube for me.

Something has been happening as of late. I can’t really explain it and I don’t know why.

As you may have noticed, there have been few Power Ranger-related postings as of late. In fact, the last time I’ve touched upon the subject was in a Bite post and in a fanfic update that never came to fruition. I haven’t been overly critical of the recent series on air because I have yet to see it… even now, when the series is already halfway through. Could it be possible my interest in the series is finally waning?

Can’t be, because I still watch the old stuff from time to time. I still read the occasional fanfic (now if only I can haul my ass to write the stuff left hanging). So what happened? Could it be that the more recent incarnations have lacked any value for me to be even remotely interested?

I don’t know. But I’m sure I’ll find out soon enough.

The long nightmare is finally over. Power Rangers Space Patrol Delta. Or SPD if you will. Its final episode recently came to pass.

Admittedly, I have seen roughly 10 percent of the entire series. The premiere episodes did NOTHING for me and the subsequent episode was actually an early sign that this wouldn’t be worth my time. In addition to that, I watched the episode that aired early in Canada (Wormhole) and thought that was horrible. And then there was the finale, which had to salvage the series in some form or another.

I don’t know. Call me harsh, but the finale was almost as bad as the rest of what I’ve seen. It proved that I didn’t really miss out on anything. Some time ago, I had complained about Ninja Storm, but at least it had a few good episodes to its credit… not to mention I’ve regretted missing the finale. But SPD does nothing for me and from what I’ve been hearing, there isn’t really much reason for me to commit to the show.

One can only hope Mystic Force turns out better than this piece of shit.

Next.