Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Season 1, Episode 39: Doomsday, Part I

Ever since the Green With Evil storyline in Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, I have repeatedly stated how much I like the multiple episode stories.  They have more stakes to them.  They tend to propel the plot of the show forward in a way that the standalone episodes rarely do.  And they are better written all around.  The show excels when it comes to the multiple episode arcs.

It fills me with delight to have reached another one of these stories, the two part Doomsday storyline.  It provides everything that I have come to love with Mighty Morphin Power Rangers and it puts the Power Rangers in a place that they have yet to be.  It ends on a cliff-hanger that leaves the viewers wanting more and having to wait for the next episode.  So, without further ado, I present you with my summary of the first of two Doomsday episodes.

Season 1, Episode 39: Doomsday, Part I

The episode begins with the gang walking through the school reading a newspaper.  There is an article about the mayor celebrating the Power Rangers by giving them their own day.  A party is going to be thrown in Angel Grove Park for the Power Rangers.  The whole city is going to be there.  The gang decides that they will go there for a little while, mingle with the people, then morph to surprise everyone.

Rita hears about the party being planned for the Power Rangers.  She realizes that everyone in Angel Grove is going to be together.  She can use this celebration to send them all to another dimension and attack Earth while Angel Grove is empty.  Why is Angel Grove so important to Rita?  I don’t know.  She could attack a place that doesn’t have the Power Rangers but she never does.  Her plan involves Goldar controlling a Zord called Cyclopsis.

But first there is the party.  The gang shows up to a party decorated with what looks like wacky waving inflatable arm-flailing tube men that aren’t wacky, waving, or arm-flailing.  They mingle a little bit while Bulk and Skull try to steal the thunder of the Power Rangers by dressing up as super heroes.  They even mention the fact that Tommy didn’t show up.  So there’s a little bit of mythology thrown into the episode.  There is more to come.

All of the people in Angel Grove are then teleported to another dimension by Rita.  Jason, Trini, Zack, Billy, and Kimberly are left behind, the lone remaining citizens of Angel Grove.  Goldar comes down to Angel Grove in Cyclopsis and they must fight him off.  Cyclopsis is too powerful for the Megazord and the Dragonzord, so they call upon Titanus to create the Ultrazord.  They defeat Cyclopsis, but Rita manages to destroy Titanus.  She then brings in Lokar (remember him?) to resurrect Cyclopsis.

That all seemed like a bunch of rambling of me doing basic commentary of a fight.  There’s not much more left to the episode though.  With Cyclopsis back, the Power Rangers return to the command center.  They are told to wait out while Alpha looks for some information on how to defeat Lokar.  They are the only people who can save Angel Grove, but we have to wait until the next episode to find out how.

As I said at the beginning of this post, the stakes in the multiple episode stories are always higher.  The entire population (minus the Power Rangers and Tommy) have been teleported to another dimension.  Titanus has been destroyed.  Rita is coming to Earth.  Oh, I forgot to mention that.  The reason that Rita is getting rid of the people in Angel Grove is to bring her castle to Earth.  With her castle on Earth, she will have much greater power and will be able to easily defeat the Power Rangers.  If you wanted high stakes that weren’t character driven like in The Green Candle, this is it.  The Doomsday story really brings up the stakes.

Depending on how the second part concludes the arc, there could be some major changes as well.  Hints towards new story directions are scattered throughout what is happening during Doomsday.  The gang not being teleported with the others could lead people to questioning why they can never be found when the Power Rangers are doing their thing.  The destruction of Titanus could mean that the Power Rangers need to find a new way to overpower Rita.  Even the mention of Tommy hints at a possible return of the character in future episodes.

It’s going to take the remainder of the two-parter to find out whether any of this stuff comes to fruition.  I hope that it does because I personally like when story elements get shaken up and things move forward.  It keeps the episodic format of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers from growing stale.  It’s nice to have some consequences to what happens throughout the series.  What does the next episode have in store for our heroes?  You’ll have to wait to find out.  I’ll see you next time for Doomsday Part II.