Looking Back: Power Rangers RPM

Awhile back I finished an RPM rewatch and I gotta say unlike some of the other Disney seasons, the experience watching it again 13+ years later wasn't much different. Coming off of Jungle Fury, I thought for sure RPM would continue on the Toon Disney/Disney XD network, but with ABC Kids ultimately airing the episodes (which many affiliates didn't do, including my own), 2009 would become the only year I'd rely entirely on weekly uploads. I still remember when we knew hardly anything about the season other than the name, the sentai... and then a trailer suddenly appeared one day in February in place of any official promotion. This was up right there with DinoThunder & SPD in excitement level, and pretty much the last time it would ever be like this going into a new season. It paid off with an awesome 3 part premiere, which was kind of surprising with only 32 episodes.

The ball got rolling with mostly great focus episodes. It's funny looking back on a time when the cast was entirely unknown, especially Rose McIver and Adelaide Kane. "RANGER YELLOW" wasn't well liked but I enjoyed Summer's 2 part backstory. "RANGER RED" I could never get that into with a minuscule budget gone into the CGI aircraft footage - one of the few times in RPM I gave an episode a 3/5. Needless to say, I gave a lot of 5's and have pretty much always considered "RANGER BLUE" and "DOCTOR K" my favorite episodes. I still love how they made the Go-Onger van into "Project GO-ONGER" (the vans death notwithstanding >_>). Venjix getting physical bodies was also great to watch play out. Gem and Gemma started out annoying but soon got some good focus episodes splitting them up with others.

Part of the buildup to RPM and watching it unfold was of course the behind the scenes drama. "BELLY OF THE BEAST" always felt like a big midseason finale which marked Eddie Guzelian's last episode. Before the season began, I wondered how things would go with the EP switchover & Jackie Marchand leaving, but it wasn't all that different after Chip Lynn took over, especially with John Tellegen still around, who I assumed was free to carry on some of the stuff that was planned like the introduction of the PaleoMax and the conclusion of Ziggy/Scorpion Cartel. Dillon reuniting with Tenaya and losing her again was done pretty well, similar to Andros/Astronema. Doing a behind the scenes but in character mashup episode was odd but something was gonna happen to save money quickly. I was a little more annoyed with "IF VENJIX WON," which aisde from the Ziggy/K focus I enjoyed throughout the season, had a rather lame clip show plot. Not much else I can be critical about but they kind of forced the General Shifter betrayal to use more Go-Onger footage.

"DANGER AND DESTINY" was obviously much different than what we know about Eddie's "RANGER BLACK" which it seems would've had something like Venjix fulfilling his master plan in taking Dillon's body and the Rangers forced with having to kill him. I always liked how Chip split the Rangers up and we got a nice bookend to Scott, Summer and Flynn. I was never that into "deleting" Gem and Gemma only to have them come back but the way they returned and dropped the command center on Venjix  was one of the best finale moments of the Disney era. It was just too bad I pretty much knew about it by the time I watched the encode a few days later.

RPM was quite unprecedented delivering morphinominal storylines, cast, focus episodes and humor. Forever at the top with DinoThunder for the best of the best. Sure, it's not really a season you'd show to someone who has never watched PR but for longtime fans, it was awesome. Plus, the Evox/Venjix reveal and using the same voice is still one of my favorite things in 30 years especially in that long decade of the show many would probably rather pretend didn't exist.

 

Week of RangerBar 5: Action Boy Now

It was time for RangerBar to turn things up a notch, celebrating the 15th anniversary of the original conception as an online toolbar, the first WORB since before Covid and what would be the final one at RangerBar HQ in downtown Tacoma, WA. 

SUNDAY ⚡ I metup with Batz and Tron in Federal Way around 4:00 on Day 2 in the midst of "Shop til You Drop." We drove around stopping in Retro Emporium in Kent, Al's Music and then headed to Waterland Arcade in Des Moines Batz had reserved a few hours. As he picked up several hotdogs next door, the first to arrive was Cora, making her first RangerBar event in about 5 years. Me0w, her kiddo & Lil Sorbo soon came, as well as Joose with some of her kids. After it was time for Waterland to close, we headed to #The80sTimeCapsule airbnb in Kent - a great basement apartment nostalgic trip through time. Batz put on Hunter for the "Fred Dryer Dinner" and then a Vernon Wells flick for the "Unsung Heros of Action Tribute" as we enjoyed the hot dogs, drinks and hungout.

MONDAY ⚡ Batz, Tron and myself left the airbnb and headed to basically Chinese Costco and a few other stops like WinCo Foods so Tron could get ready for a big night of cooking. Also got lunch at Burger Express in Federal Way. Later that afternoon, we settled in a Tacoma airbnb and Batz put on Christmas music for "Cosmic Fury 1/2 Christmas." As he ran errands and Tron began setting up, Team RangerBar started to trickle in, including Austin, Cora, Batz' stepdad and Me0w & co. It was a great feast as Tron served up 8 courses in his culinary tour through RangerBar history. I also showed off the "SlutRanger Action Figure" (custom figures through the Hasbro Selfie Series). That night Batz put on a WORB staple, the Tom Hanks flick Mazes and Monsters.

4TH OF JULY ⚡ We got back to RangerBar and Batz immediately went to work beginning to set things up for RangerBar's big "Welcome to the Pleasure Dome!" wresting event and BBQ. Meanwhile, Tron and I grabbed lunch next door at Red Star Taco Bar and I killed time on YouTube. As the afternoon rolled on, an entire wresting ring was setup in the building and 7 wrestlers in all would gradually arrive. As it got closer to 6:00 most of the RangerBar crew came out as well as some of Batz' family members in addition to people from the building who helped put it all together. The show lasted about an hour and consisted of 3 matches. Batz had me (as SlutRanger) create the wrestlers by having figures/toys placed into my invention - a "monster-matic hybrid," with Lil Sorbo handling machine lights & wrestlers walk-on music and MC Smith bringing over the toy for each wrestler. He kept things interesting even adding a surprise twist in a middle of a match after a wrestler was created from a DinoThunder Ranger figure.

Afterwards, mostly everyone branched off to mingle, hangout and local band Just Like My Wife performed a few songs as the grill got going. It's always fun to reminisce, as Me0w and I chatted about Mutant Chat and Lexcon for a bit, and Shock Top Steve & Austin handed out wedding invites earlier. Someone from the building had fireworks  but I don't care much for them. At the end of the night, Batz, Tron, MC and myself tried to get some sleep in RangerBar.

WEDNESDAY ⚡ Tron grabbed lunch for us at Red Star and it was a lowkey afternoon until we headed out to a lake house airbnb in Olympia. Batz put on the  "Cajun Country & Music Festival" and set out several flavors of Zapps "New Orleans style" kettle chips I dived into but soon Tron got us Red Robin pizza. The airbnb had an Xbox and the 4 of us just took it easy and got in a few rounds of Fortnite.

THURSDAY ⚡ While Batz was out, I pretty much spent the afternoon on Switch Animal Crossing. Later, he did the "Michael Pare Ice Cream Parlay" and served me up a massive sundae. Cora, Shock Top & Austin, Mag-Num & her friend and Batz' dad soon all arrived for the "My Two Dads Murder Mystery in Montesano" with the airbnb taking place for the town. Definitely another fun evening. Then it was just us 4 guys & Cora, and Batz brought out a box full of toy weapons for the "Power Rangers Live Action Roleplay." With this being Cora's first WORB since 2017, it was nice getting to visit one more time before she took off the next morning. Batz and Tron went hot tub skinny dipping but I wasn't feeling it.

FRIDAY/WRAP-UP ⚡ The airbnb had a 10:00 checkout so we hustled to clean up and get going, literally being told we gotta go. Back at RangerBar, Batz put on Big Bad Beetleborgs for what was supposed to be the "Beetleborgs Bahama Brunch" but quickly turned into a chance to sleep. Later that afternoon, we headed to The Home Depot so Batz could get some stuff for "The Tower 4D Experience" we had at Me0w & Lil Sorbo's place in Sumner. Me0w fixed us all a BBQ dinner and Batz put on The Tower with real effects. As Tron was scheduled to flyout that night, we said our goodbyes and headed out to the airport. We grabbed tacos once more and Batz let us pull from the prize bag. I caught the light rail and got home just before midnight.

This week definitely lived up to expectations. While 2019 and 2017 had actual Power Ranger actors, this was by far the biggest 4th of July ever focusing on getting the wrestlers instead for a great show. And since RangerBar will absolutely not be at the building next July it was great going all out one last time. And besides most of the WORB staples, this was the first time the "SlutRanger Smokedown Experience" was skipped. Also for the first time I missed the Day 1 gaming and "Monster Ball" which worked out fine I thought.

How will RangerBar be looking in 2 years for the next WORB? Will a Power Rangers reboot be on by then as 30 years (and the entire New Zealand production) comes to an epic conclusion in Cosmic Fury? Gonna be interesting to say the least. Thanks to the team - Batz, Tron, Me0w, Lil Sorbo, Cora, Austin, Shock Top, MC, and everyone else who came out during the week.

Check out the highlights video here!

⚡ ONCE & ALWAYS: A Morphinominal Hour ⚡

What a way to start. I suspected we might see Billy in battle get a solo morph. The rest of the team coming in and Ron Wasserman's Redux theme playing was pretty awesome. Also awesome, MMPR finally gets its own big explosion. The suits had never looked better and Green Ranger gets another upgrade - oh how far we've come from Silver Stripe. They did a great job with the old audio but it was a little odd that wasn't Austin, at least it sure didn't sound like him. Also liked how they got creative like Zack and Minh looking on as the others morphed just off screen.

We knew it was coming, but Rita unleashing and killing Trini was still pretty shocking, with Barbara Goodson doing the voice on top of it. Just wow. First we had Lord Zedd revived in Dino Fury and now this - Rita in her purest form of evil without a human body. Can't help but imagine what it would be like if Zedd and Rita had reunited - probably a major power struggle with both wanting to be in charge. To have Robo Rita be Billy's fault hoping to revive Zordon was pretty surprising and I liked how she took over Alpha 8. Couldn't have imagined we'd get this kind of tie in to the Z-Wave. And since evil particles are out there, I would love to see something with Divatox coming back. Zeo/Turbo special next time? 🙂

The Bandora Protocol sequence was pretty cool. Alpha felt like just as he did years ago. Finally, Kat gets to do something to do in a reunion episode while it felt like Cardenas played Rocky kind of goofy, even phoning it in a bit. I liked the scope of Rangers answering Alpha's summoning call off screen. Ashley, Carlos, Leo, Kai, Damon, Conner, Trent, Devon, Ravi, Nate...  I didn't quite catch Phantom Ranger at first and it was nice they had Tanya out there especially as she's the only Ranger of that era to never return unmorphed. Merrick felt kind of random but they probably just wanted to include Turtle Cove or certain Lighting Collection figures for the set. Also liked the new figure props made exclusively for Jason, Kim and Tommy.

The drama was well done with Minh finding out the truth, wanting to get revenge and trying to morph. Minotaur was kind of an odd choice to come back but I liked Snizzard being the one to capture Rangers. Didn't really care for modifying the Putties from when they last appeared in Beast Morphers, making them look like the ZyuRanger dark gray with more obvious hoodies. Nice nod to Bulk and Skull but with the Juice Bar back, I really hoped for a surprise cameo. Plus nice continuity with Annie at Buzzblast Angel Grove which Jane was starting to plan for last year.

Bringing back the Moon Palace and the final battle there was excellent. Couldn't have asked for a better final morph and Trini's spirit passing on the power to Minh. I appreciate the effort put into the Megazord fight (movie Ninja Megazord is still the worst 👀) but would've loooved a sequence with Toei's Megazord suit. The updated cockpit with Billy leading was pretty cool and it was definitely better than how the zords returned in "GRID CONNECTION" which I'm sure was more Master Green's doing.

Robo Rita nearly going through the portal was awesome  Loved the recreation. I just assumed the dumpster was carefully edited old footage not that they reshot it.

Would've liked more from Adam and Aisha, but I liked how they mentioned being involved with the battle on Sirius fighting the Troobians. Billy owning Cranston Technologies with a beachside Command Center was great. Wasn't that surprised he's still with Cestria and had been away from Aquitar while Rita was out there. I don't personally get emotional easily but I see why a lot of people brokedown with the ending tribute. Also it was great Wasserman returned but I missed that old hard rock. Besides the closing intro using the Redux theme a final time I did like the zords summoning taking a cue from the original Dinozords theme.

We know Billy is expected to appear again this year and could this setup for something else down the line?  Could a future special/anniversary episode have JJ become Green Ranger? I'm not too optimistic as we approach when SPD takes place but we'll have to wait and see! And with the Dino/Cosmic Fury team heading to space to take on Zedd and new villains I kind of hope this isn't the only time Rita's balcony is used.

5/5. A morphinominal time with the MMPR feel updated for the 2020s.

Chase Into Space: Dino Fury

Dino Fury improved on the first half a bit easily making it the best year of the show since RPM. 2021-22 wasn't just a new era for the show...  We'd come to find out from Simon Bennett spilling the tea just how bad things were behind the scenes in Ninja Steel and into Beast Morphers with executive meddling. Quite interesting hearing it straight from him.

I felt like it could have been 1994 up in here with Lord Zedd returning for his Sporix Master Plan. General Shaw's cameo was a nice nod to Beast Morphers with an appearance from the team and the beginning of the storyarc, with Zedd getting his staff and breaking out Scrozzle from GB offscreen, along with Loki's nephew Lothorn becoming the MoTD. Ayion going on about being the one who must stop Zedd got annoying, but otherwise this was a great plot and taking the fight to Rafkon was pretty cool. Even using teamup footage was executed well with Master Green being responsible for everything making "LEGENDARY BATTLE" suddenly make a lot more sense - more than "GRID CONNECTION" I gotta say.

Between Zedd getting captured and the 3 part finale we got my favorite filler in a fun episode featuring Torum Heng as Human Mucus. The finale had a very creative and nicely executed mashup of Ryusoulger combined with original footage making Void Queen fit seamlessly with the Nemesis Beast. The reveal/resolution of Amelia being the Void's daughter was well done and I liked Tarrick getting his old armor one last time. I liked the flash forward and Mucus & Slyther becoming human circus performers was cute. Of course Zedd escaped in a rare season ending cliffhanger and now the chase is on. I can't wait to see how Comic Fury plays out with hopefully more nostalgia and throwbacks as we celebrate PR30.

3/5 for "NEW LEAF"

5/5 for "LOVE HATE," "MORPHIN MASTER," "WISHFUL THINKING," "THE INVASION," "THE TRUTH," "THE NEMESIS"

4/5 for the rest