So we’re dipping back into reposts for the next couple entries before the eventual new entry comes along. This is being done to not only keep up with entries, but also I want to get all the “old stuff” out of the day before we eventually start going into new material. We’ve got a couple big episodes down the pipe line to touch on and I rather have the wiggle room to get those looking nice before posting.
In any event, here’s a repost on the 3-part Ninja Encounter episode that introduced the world to the first set of replacement Power Rangers. It’s a rather long ramble that will cover all three parts, but don’t expect it to dig into great detail, as I’ll be passing over certain bits in the episode, including a sizable chunk in the middle for reasons I shall explain.
The second season of MMPR was notable because it had a ton of multi-parters. The season premiere episode was a 3-parter, the Green Ranger’s last hurrah was a 2-parter, the Wedding was a 3-parter. Even episodes that were irrelevant and pointless in the grand scheme of things were 2-parters… like Storybook Rangers or the one where the Rangers were turned into kids.
Today’s multipart extravaganza is not an insignificant storyline, but rather a pretty heavy storyline. It’s the one that introduced the world to three would-be nobodies who were brought in because half the Ranger cast held up for more money and were unceremoniously released, not even getting the benefit of best wishes on their future endeavors… wait, was I saying a whole lot?
A bit of backstory here; at some point during production of the second season, the Ranger trio of Austin St. John, Thuy Trang, and Walter Jones had left MMPR due to monetary conflicts… or some kind of conflict. In any case, half the Power Rangers had gone AWOL and the result was a series of episodes that would place more focus on the other half of the cast who stuck around, while the other half would be portrayed as either recycled footage, body doubles, bad ADR dubbers, or just ignored altogether. I think it was around the time the Green Ranger left that we started getting bad dub jobs for the guys who left and by the time we got to the obligatory Halloween episode (Zedd’s Monster Mash or something), the other three was getting less focus and more focus was placed on Tommy, Kimberly, and Billy… because they were still around.
Which brings us to the Ninja Encounter, a three-parter that really should have been less than that.
Continue reading “Power Rangers Reflections Redux #10 – The Ninja Encounter”
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