What a bunch of dicks! The Zyurangers, meanwhile, are hanging out in their Paradise Island underneath Tokyo base. It's a little disappointing seeing them goof off like the Power Rangers are, especially after last week seemed to end on a cliffhanger. Sure, DoraTitan and Bandora vanished into thin air, but it still seems abrupt. Dan, the Blue Zyuranger, wants to read a comic book, but Boi throws knives at him, telling him they should come up with a plan to beat DoraTitan, and Mei agrees, reminding us he kidnapped some children.
Meanwhile, Geki, the Red Zyuranger, and Goushi, the Black Zyuranger, are in another room reading a book and explaining their back story. 170 million years ago: we think of it as the time of the dinosaurs, but humans that evolved from dinosaurs were there, too, apparently. Look, Zyuranger, I'm on board for humans being around with dinosaurs because it's awesome and thinking of Fred Flinstone as some sort of Proto-Power Ranger is fun, but that's not how evolution works. Everyone knows the dinosaurs evolved into the Silurians! I guess I shouldn't expect much from the nation that gave us Pokemon, but I have to dock another point for bad science.
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Humanity was divided into five clans, each with its own dinosaur guardian. Ignoring that Mammoths and Saber Tooth Tigers weren't dinosaurs. People lived in peace until one day Bandora appeared, waging war on all humans. Geki's father, mother and sister all died in the war. However, they were saved by their guardian beasts, which are the Zords in Power Rangers, and sealed Bandora on Planet Nemesis... somehow. The clans each chose their strongest warrior to be put into an age long slumber in case Bandora returned.
Meanwhile, on Power Rangers, Billy has invented a two way radio that can fit in a watch. In this world of cell phones they seem pretty useless, but back in 1993 those things were awesome. Kimberlee describes them as "Morphinominal" and I will award Power Rangers 10 points if they dump Kimberlee. The Rangers try them, but instead of working, it teleports them to the command center. Billy somehow messed up making a two-way radio and invented fu freaking teleportation instead! For some reason he's disappointed by this. Alpha asks "What brings you to the 'hood?". It's probably racist, and it's definitely stupid.
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All the good titles in the world won't save you with this writing, Power Rangers. Zordon tells Billy he should be proud since, you know, he invented teleportation, and Alpha can fix the communicators so they both teleport them to the command center and act as two-way radios. For some reason he does this by running around for about a minute with Benny Hill music playing. It makes no sense. Oh wait, the episode needed to be a minute longer, it makes perfect sense.
Back over in Zyuranger, Bandora has moved her palace to the moon. How and why aren't really established, but unlike Power Rangers, at least we saw her making the palace in the first place. Bandora has rigged the model space shuttle to somehow allow her minions to control it like an RC car. She's going to send it to Earth and use it as bait for the Zyurangers. Rita's version of the plan is... slightly more thought out and also completely insane. She's going to send a missile (that looks like a model space shuttle for no reason) to Earth where it will open a portal in time. Their new monster will trap the Power Rangers inside and they'll be stuck in a time warp like Zordon.
In both versions we get to see how monsters are created and it's got a simple charm to it. Finster, (he has a different name in Zyuranger but I'm going to use English names for Rita/Bandora's minions since they serve basically the same purpose in each) sculpts a monster out of clay and puts it in a kiln, then it comes out alive. It's simple and childish in Zyurangers, but Power Rangers tries to science it up by calling the kiln "
The Monstermatic". The product is a monster named DoraSkeleton/Bones. No points for guessing which name belongs to which series.
Rita/Bandora launches the Space Shuttle/Time Device, and we get a way too long scene of it going through the streets causing havoc. Somehow the Japanese news knows right away that it's the real space shuttle that's been miniaturized and not... a model or something, and the Zyurangers rush to their motorcycles to save the children. By causing chaos, I mostly just mean driving around in the street, but in Zyuranger the shuttle does whiz by some school girls to lift their skirts.
Stay classy, Japan. The Power Rangers version is much shorter and has fewer panties, but ends with the space shuttle shooting some sort of prismatic beam at the city. The Power Rangers didn't fool around at the juice bar long enough for the Sentai footage to carry the rest of the episode, so Zordon sends the Power Rangers out to the forest to find out what some Putties are up to while he "analyzes the time trap".
The Power Rangers arrive and immediately
fail their stealth check. Kimberlee says they've got to morph, but Captain Jason belays that order, since the rules say they have to try to fight on their own first. It's a good thing the Power Rangers have never faced, say... a nuclear bomb. All the Rangers' time at the GymCenterJuiceYouth must be paying off, because they're much better at fighting putties than last week. Jason tells Billy and Trini to run off into the distance to try and draw some off, while he, Zach and Kimberlee fight the remaining ones. He must have read the Fred Jones guide to leadership.
Meanwhile, the Zyurangers are cruising around on their motorcycles and Bandora spots them, and teleports DoraSkeleton directly on top of them.
It's very efficient. DoraSkeleton continues the bad guys new reign of efficiency by teleporting Geki and himself away from the other Rangers. Speaking of other Rangers, Billy and Trini continue to make their leader proud by splitting up further. Trini manages to lose them, but that means they all chase Billy, who starts climbing a cliff to get away, which is definitely efficient. Trini yells at him to stop because it's too tall, but he's doing a really good job for a huge nerd. Unfortunately, once he gets to the top, the putties, by which I mean one putty, corners him against the ledge, and starts moving towards him very, very slowly! Tension!
Billy takes out his morpher to transform, but the script remembers he's the biggest nerd ever and he fumbles and drops it down the cliff. Trini tells us she's afraid, in case we forgot the terrible rope debacle earlier, but says she has to climb the cliff to save Billy!
Speaking of saving people, Geki and DoraSkeleton appear at an amusement park. DoraSkeleton keeps appearing and disappearing around Geki, but before they can have a sweet sword fight, the other Zyurangers appear so... I guess they didn't go far? Man, the Power Rangers are better at dividing and conquering themselves than Bandora's monsters are. The Zyurangers destroy him, but his bones reform, and he shoots "eye lasers" at them.
They are no doubt the best
eye lasers to have ever existed, and they're even effective, destroying the Zyurangers' weapons. Except Geki's sword of course, and we get a very cool sword fight scene between Geki and DoraSkeleton on a roller coaster track. Unfortunately, Geki is no match for the evil skeleton, and he's punched off, his sword broken in two. It's a little disappointing honestly, because the Zyurangers using weapons in their civilian identities was something cool that separated them from the Power Rangers and made them feel more like ancient warriors.
The Zyurangers decide they've had enough, and it's time to transform. Back to that Power Rangers cliffhanger, though, Trini is freaking out, hallucinating that the cliff is way bigger than it actually is, but saying she has to do it! It's... cheesy writing that isn't acted super well either. Billy trips... but doesn't fall down the cliff as the putty continues to approach very, very slowly. Trini manages to get up in time, and tells the putty to leave Billy alone. For some reason, he does. Using the age old tactic of "stepping out of the way", they defeat the putty who goes rolling down the cliff.
Before they can celebrate their victory however, they use their vantage point to see the putties are... group hugging the rest of the rangers, and run down to help. Now that the other Rangers are here, Jason, Zach and Kimberlee can... do this.
It... works and the putties are defeated. More Benny Hill music for some reason. This defeat causes Rita to send Bones down the Earth. Zordon gives Trini bonus XP for RPing her fear of heights, but says they have to deal with Bones. Using the Sentai footage, Zordon reveals Bones can shoot eye lasers and disappear... things he won't do for the rest of the episode. He warns the Power Rangers about the time trap, even though he was supposed to be analyzing it and tells them to morph so they can appear at the amusement park the Zyurangers have been at the whole time.
They're not there for long, though. DoraSkeleton/Bones throws off his head, which spins around, making the Rangers dizzy and bringing the Power Rangers into the time trap and the Zyurangers.... somewhere. The Space Shuttle is there though, so... mission accomplished? Before they can get to it, though, DoraSkeleton attacks them. He makes some skeleton minions for the Rangers to fight, and we get a pretty decent action scene where both sets of rangers fight skeletons with their gunswords.
While they're distracted, Rita/Bandora's minions sneak in and set a bomb that will kill the Zyurangers/trap the Power Rangers in the time warp forever. In both cases, it's a classic cartoon bomb with a huge fuse. It's conveniently right next to the shuttle, so while the Zyurangers are concerned about saving it and the kids, the Power Rangers can play it off as wanting to stop the bomb.
DoraSkeleton/Bones opens a huge chasm to stop them from reaching it, but Geki/Jason jumps over it to swordfight him while the other Rangers change their gunswords into gun mode to blast him. Unfortunately, he just reforms again, the one thing he did at the amusement park that Zordon didn't warn them about. Luckily Billy/Dan jumps the chasm, grabbing the monster's head before it can reattach. Billy declares they need to destroy the head for... some reason. He's smart, maybe he has a class ability that lets him learn monster weaknesses. He passes the head to Trini/Boi, who throws it down a giant chasm causing it to explode.
A line about Trini's fear of heights being resolved here might have been nice as a through line, but either way, the monster is dealt with. Now there's just the matter of that bomb. Geki grabs the shuttle, and throws it to Dan, but before they can escape, a giant hand grabs them! DoraTitan is back and has somehow grabbed into... wherever they are. Since the Power Rangers don't care about the shuttle, there's a throwaway line about Rita sending a giant to Earth, and for some reason they show him punching through Rita's palace from last episode, trying to play it off as the time warp they're in. It.... really doesn't work. However both versions have the Red Ranger in their grasp and are now in the middle of a mountain range. The bomb explodes throwing the rest of the Rangers out as well.
Wait... wasn't that bomb supposed to trap the Power Rangers in a time warp forever? And straight up kill the Zyurangers? I guess Bandora/Rita needs to invest in some sort of
explosives expert, because that bomb was useless. She has DoraTitan/a giant though, and it's got their leader! Luckily he manages to reach his gun and shoot the giant beast in the eye, causing him to drop the team's leader. There are some pretty good forced perspective shots of the giant stomping at the Rangers and attacking with his sword.
Luckily for the Zyurangers, a deus ex machina appears in the form of the ground splitting open, and Geki's Guradian Beast: Tyrannozaurus (sic) appearing. The Power Rangers, having already introduced the MegaZord, just yell that they need Dinozord power, summoning Jason's Zord. The Zyuranger's version is more dramatic and has better music, but the Power Rangers feel more like they're using the tools available to them to combat a threat.
Jason/Geki jump into their giant robot and battle is joined. The giant has a sword, but the Dinosaur uses Tail Whip, and it's
super effective.
I know they're just dudes in suits, but I really am a sucker for the Zord vs. Giant Monster battles; both versions make me feel just like a kid watching this for the first time. The Power Rangers version is a lot choppier; they cut down impacts to make the scene less violent, but as always, the Power Rangers theme does an admirable job of holding it all together and making every moment seem awesome.
The Zyurangers version of the scene is a lot more involved though. While Geki fights DoraTitan, the other rangers save the kids from the shuttle. There's even some characterization, with Goushi demanding the kids do as he say, and Mei telling him you can't treat kids that way, and taking a much more comforting approach. It's very gender conventional, but since we know almost nothing about the Zyuranger's at this point, it's a nice touch. Mei convinced the kids to hit the launch button on the shuttle, and then jump out, which returns them to normal size because the episode is almost over.
Then the Zyurangers aim the shuttle at DoraTitan's face like a missile, giving Geki the opening to jump kick him.
It's awesome, and is a nice, subtle teamwork message for the kids. It makes the other Power Rangers look especially lazy, since their Zords had already been introduced, and the only real reason they don't do anything is there's no footage to use. I'd have at least tried to get the shuttle missile thing in still calling it a time device, maybe by having super nerd Billy make it into a missile, but I guess Power Rangers spent too much time with the Trini plot. Once DoraTitan/Giant is down for the count via jumpkick, Jason/Geki finish him off with some sort of sonic blast that just sort of... disintegrates him. It's kind of lame after all that fighting, but it gets the job done.
The Zyurangers celebrate their victory by talking about how great team work is. It's slightly more preachy than if they'd just let the shuttle missile stunt speak for itself, but its not too bad. Meanwhile, the Power Rangers go back to the juice bar, talk about how their communicators are now 100% functional, and Trini is forced to climb the rope to put a coda on her whole fear of heights thing.... by Zach wearing a dumb Halloween mask and making scary noises at her near the rope.
Sigh.
Final Thoughts
Man, this one is hard to call. I was really looking forward to Zyuranger after the cliffhanger last week, but that's just sort of dropped. DoraTitan shows up again at the last second, but it all feels really rushed, and while the Tyrannozaurus showing up is awesome, it's also really deus ex machina.
Power Rangers, on the other hand, has this choppy rushed plot to deal with and they almost ignore it. The Zyuranger episode focuses mostly on Geki, the Red Ranger, while the focus in Power Rangers is put on Trini the Yellow Ranger. She does get to destroy the first monster in the Sentai footage, so it makes some sense, but it's an odd choice. Also, the fight at the end is a little underwhelming since Power Rangers has already unveiled the MegaZord.
That said, Trini's height thing is done well enough, and we still know almost nothing about the Zyurangers. While I'm sure this development will never be mentioned again and Trini will have some new problem in six episodes or so, I'm going to award this one to Power Rangers.
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Well, it's all tied up. Power Rangers made a lot of ground this week, mostly due to my expectations for Zyuranger being perhaps a little too high. Let's see if Zyuranger can redeem itself next week, or if Power Rangers continues to climb ahead when Fight in the Land of Despair and Revive, Legendary Weapons team up to take on Teamwork.
