Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Season 1, Episode 16: Dark Warrior

I wrote in a previous post how much I fear the idea of a Billy based episode of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers.  Something about David Yost’s acting makes the character less relatable.  I thought it might have to do with the acting, and I partially still do.  Yost is stilted in his performance and doesn’t give enough weight to the character.

After the most recent episode I watched, however, I am starting to reconsider my stance.  I still believe that Yost is holding back the character from having that something special.  That hasn’t changed.  But I can now see that he can be better I the role when he is given a little bit more to do.  Don’t worry.  I’ll tell you why.  First I have to do something else.

Season 1, Episode 16: Dark Warrior

This is also known as the episode in which Billy gets some fighting skills.  It all begins with Trini’s uncle who has come to visit.  He’s a scientist and karate master, which is the perfect combination for Billy.  Billy doesn’t want to be tormented by Bulk and Skull any longer.  He wants to be able to stand up for himself.  He is going to learn from Trini’s uncle, Howard, and he will re-enroll in Jason’s karate class.

The problem with this is Rita Repulsa.  She has been watching Howard.  He has created an invisibility formula, and Rita wants to use it for herself.  She sends down a Dark Warrior monster to abduct him and find the formula.

Howard gets abducted and hooked up to a bomb.  Jason and the gang have to come save him.  The karate skills that Howard has taught Billy come in handy.  The skills allow Billy to focus and stop the bomb before it explodes.  After freeing Howard, the gang morphs into the Power Rangers and fights off the Dark Warrior.

In an end scene to rival all end scenes, Bulk and Skull attempt to bully Billy.  Howard, who just found his lost formula at the Juice Bar, drinks it and turns invisible.  The invisible Howard beats up on Bulk and Skull, scaring them away.

This episode really helped to build Billy into the character I have wanted him to become the entire time.  There is a touch of the emotion behind all of his nerdiness.  Yost is given material which gets him to act, rather than spew of exposition.  It’s a big improvement for the character and might blossom into a stronger character all around.

The building of the character goes hand in hand with a strengthened overall writing of the series.  The characters are being given some depth that they weren’t given in the beginning.  At the start of the series, they were character archetypes.  As the series has moved forward over sixteen episodes, they have moved beyond the archetypes to become their own thing.  Billy is no longer just the intelligent person in the group.  This episode has helped to make him a little more than that.  It helped to give him some internal struggle.

Mighty Morphin Power Rangers might not be a great series at the point I am currently at, but it is slowly and surely improving.  It has a lot of growth ahead of it, and it’s a journey that I am happy to tag along with.  I’m in this for the long run.