Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Season 1, Episode 47: Reign of the Jellyfish

I’m a big fan of times when Mighty Morphin Power Rangers delves into a semi-serialized format.  Times such as the Green with Envy episodes, or the Green Candle episodes.  Both of those multi-episode arcs focus on changes within the team.  The episodes in between these arcs sometimes get a little tedious.  This is even more true in this Zyu2 footage section of the first season that I have now entered.

I think that the problem stems from the fact that the footage being “borrowed” from the Japanese is not footage that was in their Super Sentai series, so the fights don’t pack the same sort of punch as they did in previous episodes.  The Japanese have made them for the sole purpose of fighting rather than actually moving the story forward.  And the little pieces of story that they put in there are kind of dumb.  Like, dumber than a usual episode of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers.

The show is still decently written for a show that is using footage from a Japanese production in a way not wholly intended by the Japanese.  And, for the most part, they are still enjoyable to watch on their own.  Only one episode has been a true mess, and that was the one before this one.  But forward momentum would be appreciated.  I’ll be getting it soon with the next multi-episode arc.  It would be nice to have the single episodes mean something to the show, though.  Forward momentum.

Anyway, let’s move forward with this post.  I’m going to get to talking about the actual episode now.  Here we go.

Season 1, Episode 47: Reign of the Jellyfish

Alright, so the episode starts with the gang in the classroom.  The teacher wants to put together a giant time capsule and everyone in the class is showing and telling what they’re putting in there.  Jason is putting in one of his karate trophies to inspire future generations.  Kimberly wants to show off the fashion of the times and puts in a bunch of clothes.  Zack puts in a mix tape of some music from their time.  Billy puts in a calculator he made.  And Trini puts in a newspaper from that day.  There are varying degrees of self-service there, right?

Bulk and Skull come into class late with their brilliant idea of what to put in the time capsule.  They are going to make the ultimate sandwich, called the Bulkwitch.  They have bread longer than they are tall, they have lots of toppings (meat, lettuce, mustard, ketchup, relish, mayonnaise), and they’re going to make it in front of everyone.  Needless to say, they make a giant mess of the room.

So for whatever reason, because they have the highest marks in the class, the gang gets to dig a hole and bury the time capsule.  That seems more like a punishment to me, having watched Holes, but what do I know?  They’re excited to dig a hole and put a giant ball of crap into it.  The only problem is that the putties show up to disrupt their physical work.  During the fight, Squat and Baboo attempt to steal the time capsule so that Rita Repulsa can put her picture in it.  I’m not entirely sure why.  Anyway, the gang beats the putties and stops the theft.

Rita Repulsa is super angry that she couldn’t get her picture in the time capsule so she sends a monster down to Earth.  The monster is sent down because she couldn’t share her image with the world.  It seems like a really overblown reaction to her picture not being included.  The monster is some sort of squid thing that looks nothing like a squid.  It looks like a butt with tentacle whips for one arm.  Anyway, it starts attacking Angel Grove and the Power Rangers have to stop it.

When they first go to fight the squid monster, it shoots acid on them.  The acid begins to burn through their suits, so they flee to the Command Center.  Alpha has some sort of spray that makes them invincible to the acid.  They go back to fight again.  The acid isn’t affecting them, but it is burning through park benches and stuff.  The Power Rangers know they must defeat the squid monster.

In a strange twist on the typical Power Rangers fighting, the squid monster takes the Rangers to a different dimension where Zordon and Alpha cannot contact them.  They soon get out when Zack attacks with his axe.  It was a difference that didn’t change the way the battle went too much.  After that, the squid grew, they Zord up, and they win a fight.  Mostly the same as any other fight they have with a monster.

Back at the Youth Center, Bulk and Skull have finished their Bulkwitch and are ready to put it into the time capsule.  When they discover that the capsule is already buried, they drop the sandwich on themselves and the gang laughs at them.  Then the gang turns into a John Lennon song.  The episode basically ends on the following exchange:

Jason: “I hope that when they open this time capsule in the future, they live in a peaceful and friendly world.”

Kimberly: “A world with no hatred.”

Billy: “No prejudice.”

Trini: “No crime.”

Zack: “And no wars.”

Kimberly: “Think it’ll ever happen?”

Jason: “Yeah, I do.”

The episode ends on that John Lennon type of ending.  It sounds to me like a lost, hopeful verse of Imagine.  Instead of being like “What if the world was like this?” it is “I hope the world ends up like this.”  It’s a pleasant moment to end on, though it seems a little cheesy.  But this is Mighty Morphin Power Rangers.  What’s not cheesy about it?

The oddest part of that whole scene is Billy saying “No prejudice.”  If you know any of the behind the scenes stuff about the show, you know that David Yost eventually left because he was/is gay.  From what he has said, there were tensions between he and the producers when he was revealed as gay and that caused him to leave the Power Rangers franchise during the Zeo era.  Him saying “no prejudice” seems ironic knowing of the potential prejudice that caused him to leave the show.  Not that other people really agree with his account.  Still… It seems like a funny coincidence.

I’m one step closer to the next multi-episode arc that is sure to change up the show once again.  Only one episode left.  It involves some sort of mantis, if I’m going by the title of it.  Hopefully it’s a good one off before the big two parter.  The two parter is what is really exciting me right now because, aside from the island one, I’ve liked all of the multi-episode arcs.  So, I’ll see you guys next time as I take that final step towards another multi-episode story.