Mighty Morphin #2.03 – The Mutiny: Part 3

NEW THEME SONG NEW THEME SONG HOLY SHIT.

I mean, same song, but totally different images. AT LAST.

It. Looks. GREAT.

I may have gone back and watched it a second time.

The story actually begins with the Zords halting their attack off-screen, as the Rangers discuss:

Jason: I don’t get it. Why did the Zords stop attacking?

Tommy: I don’t know. This whole thing’s weird.

Zack: The important thing is they stopped.

Jason: Right.

Tommy: Yeah, I just hope Billy and Trini get here with that signal blocker.

Pirantishead announces it has another surprise for the Rangers, and it directs the Zords to change direction and head for the rally. Jason comes up with a plan to distract the Zords and draw them away from the crowd.

Meanwhile, Alpha and Zordon check in with Billy and Trini, who say that the signal blocker still isn’t ready yet, but should be done soon. Zedd, well aware of their plans, is confident that they’ll be unable to defeat him despite them.

A father and daughter at the rally spot Bulk and Skull’s out-of-control four-wheelers through their binoculars and have a good giggle about the situation rather than alerting someone that teenagers seem not to be in control of their vehicles.

Zedd proclaims his plan:

“Now the time is at hand. The Power Rangers will witness the mass destruction of all they have fought to protect. The first wave of attack will be against those annoying humans called teenagers. After that…heh…after that, the rest of the world shall easily fall.”

Pirantishead arms the Zords in preparation for the attack against the still-racing teens. The Dragon Zord’s first missile lands in front of them, creating a wall of fire directly in their path. The Tyrannosaurus Zord’s seismic blasts and eye beams kick up dust all over the road, and the riders drive away in a panic.

Fortunately, Billy and Trini have just laid the finishing touches on the signal blocker (with Billy taking his glasses off as soon as it’s done, so I suppose he only uses them to work now?), so they morph and rush to the others’ sides.

The signal blocker doesn’t work, and the Rangers grow increasingly frantic — especially Billy, who is sure his calculations were correct — as the Zords advance on them. Pirantishead is positively gleeful as it sends the Zords after them, and Jason suggests forming the Power Blaster to buy them some time.

Alpha is concerned that if the Rangers destroy the old Zords, they’ll be unable to summon the new ones, but Zordon tells him to trust the team. This really doesn’t seem like a good method for building new weapons — given “destruction of the old ones” is a pretty key reason they might be needed — but I guess I’m no expert on the Morphing Grid.

As it turns out, aiming the Power Blaster at the Zords was a fake-out, as the Rangers immediately turn it toward Pirantishead. I have to admit, I’m very proud of them for actually strategizing.

Pirantishead is unable to get out of the way in time and takes the full force of the blast. It’s not enough to take it out completely, but it’s certainly a good strike.

Billy rushes to check the signal blocker and realizes suddenly that he put the battery in upside down. Tommy swats him over the head with the words “Our genius!” and Billy rights his invention.

The signal blocker works at once this time, stalling the approaching Zords in-place, and Zedd screams and pounds his fist on the ledge of his base. Working quickly, he shouts:

“I’ll strip the Zords’ power and return them to the depths of the Earth from whence they came!”

The ground opens up and…if you guessed that it’s a complete reuse of the footage from the last time the Zords fell into the center of the Earth…no shit.

Zedd is high on himself with success, while Zordon tells Alpha they have to focus on preserving what little of the Zords remain:

“Recalibrate the Morphing Grid and encase the Zords with static power. Then move them to their hiding places, and with luck, there’ll be enough left of the old Zords to create the new Zords.”

Jason tells Tommy to hurry and take care of the Dragon Zord, which Zedd hasn’t yet sent into lava because there wasn’t previous footage of that. He sends it back to the sea, calling it “old friend” as he does so, indicating he believes it might be the last time he sees his Zord.

Indeed, we get this exchange from Jason and Tommy:

Jason: We had to do it, Tommy.

Tommy: (sadly) There’s no way I’d let Zedd get him, too.

To make things worse, Zedd throws a bomb down to Pirantishead. It pulls the pin and thrusts it into the ground, which somehow allows the monster to grow massive in size. I guess we have our new “Magic wand, make my monster grow!”

Jason comments that without the Zords, they stand no chance (agreed), and the team retreats to the Command Center for like the fiftieth time this multi-parter.

Zordon delivers the news that Alpha managed to save just enough of the old Zords to create the new ones (I still maintain this is nonsense), but confirms that Tommy’s powers are still too weak to support a Zord.

The five core Rangers teleport back to the battle and summon their new Zords, showing each of the old ones transforming into the new in the process.

The new Zords look badass, and they quickly come together to form the new Mega Thunderzord, which is the second name we’ve heard for it in as many episodes. The Wiki calls it the Thunder Megazord, so that’s what I’m sticking with.

The Rangers draw the Thunder Saber, essentially the new Power Sword, and charge it with lightning. It’s not an immediate victory, as Pirantishead is still able to get some licks in, but the Rangers keep up with it.

Back at the Command Center, Tommy reflects on how “amazing” the new Zords are. Alpha agrees, and assures him that they’ll find a way to bring his powers back and allow him to control a Zord again.

Jason, meanwhile, declares that it’s time to “can this fish,” but it 100% comes out “can this bitch.” So that’s fun.

The theme song starts blasting in the background, meaning things are about to get serious. Indeed, the Thunder Megazord delivers a mighty slash and wipes Pirantishead out of existence.

Zedd howls as his defeat sinks in, his whole body pulsing red as he vows vengeance on Zordon and the Rangers. Finster mumbles to himself that if he’d used one of his monsters, none of this would have ever happened, which is an absolutely absurd statement that we won’t even touch beyond acknowledging its existence.

Goldar says that he’s sorry the emperor failed, which only sets him off further — he marches around the base, screaming about how he didn’t fail, but they did. Chip off the old Rita block, I see.

On Earth, Zordon congratulates his team on a job well done, and tells them that as they continue to use them, the new Zords will reveal greater powers as yet untapped. Unfortunately, the Dragon Zord is in fact permanently out of commission, as it needs to conserve what little energy it has left.

Tommy says it’s been great while it lasted, but Jason laughs this off, saying:

“Man, what are you talking about? You know you’re always going to be one of us.”

The others chime in their agreement and commitment to help him restore his powers, and Tommy thanks them all. He then asks what happened to Rita in all this, and Alpha leads them all over to the Viewing Globe to find out.

The sight of Rita singing “Ninety-Nine Bottles of Slime on the Wall” as she catapults through space gives the Rangers some much-needed levity, and they all burst out laughing. Bizarrely, Zordon even starts singing along, which is the first time we’ve ever seen him have a sense of humor.

Alpha realizes that Bulk and Skull are still under the influence of Pirantishead’s spell, and the Rangers all chuckle at their plight until Trini points out that they should probably go and save them.

They teleport to their location and Trini and Billy dart behind a bush with the signal blocker. They manage to shut the four-wheelers down just as the two rear-end one another, and the bullies leap off the bikes (were they unable to do that before?) and spin in dizzy circles until they finally collapse.

Jason sends Tommy and Kimberly to check on the bullies — glad to see someone’s concerned — while the rest go grab their abandoned four-wheelers.

Skull is ecstatic to see that Kimberly wasn’t killed by the Z-Putties, as he had assumed. She plays dumb about the whole thing, though she should really go along with it, as it’s the most convenient excuse for the group to have ditched their bikes.

Bulk goes into the whole ordeal, echoing Jason’s struggle with diction as he pronounces “giant fish” like “giant bitch,” and when they proudly declare their intent to find out the Power Rangers’ true identities, Kimberly and Tommy laugh.

The others pull up and Trini tells Bulk and Skull they’ll have to double up. They take one of the four-wheelers for themselves while Kimberly hands Tommy his helmet and tells him, “I’m driving.”

We cut to the finish line of the race, which is somehow still going on despite the giant monster attack devastating half the field. The leaders cross the line, and to my surprise, they’re not the Rangers.

Rather, the Rangers are just behind, and are seemingly delighted to have managed to finish at all, waving and cheering as they approach. It’s a nice touch, making it so they’re not victorious in everything they do.