Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Season 2, Episode 16: Beauty and the Beast



Previously in Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, there was a jazz show that ended with monsters attacking Angel Grove.  Zack’s uncle’s old horn was turned into a monster and it made the Power Rangers imagine many of their old foes.  Bulk and Skull came close to finding out who the Power Rangers were, when they got cement casts of footprints.  Yet, everything ended exactly how it started in a refreshing standalone episode.

The next episode may be more of the same.  It looks like it will be a Kimberly episode.  I have no idea what the actual story is, since I only have the title to work off of.  I don’t remember this episode.  I guess that means that I should just get onto it.  That’s what I’m going to do.

Season 2, Episode 16: Beauty and the Beast
A quick scene set up the high school storyline as Kimberly and Billy sat in the Youth Centre.  Kimberly was sad because Tommy was away.  Billy was comforting her.  She decided to see a psychic to make sure everything was going to be okay.  That never happened though, so that’s strange.

Bulk and Skull saw the psychic, though.  They thought she would be the perfect way to find out who the Power Rangers were.  It was an inspired thought, though psychics are typically fakes.  Even Billy was skeptical about trusting a psychic.  The psychic gave Bulk and Skull a treasure map.  They followed it and ended up at the Angel Grove Youth Centre.  The map was an advertisement for a free muffin with the purchase of a meal.

Something that started in this episode was Lord Zedd’s desire to have a queen.  He told Goldar to kidnap Kimberly to become his queen.  She was dressed in a Rita Repulsa costume and pretended to be under a spell that would make her shout at the evil monsters the way that Rita used to.  She convinced Goldar, Squatt, and Baboo that their spell had worked long enough for Billy and Trini to save her.

There was a lot of fighting in this episode, which makes sense for reasons I will bring up later.  Kimberly fought putties when she was being kidnapped.  Zack fought putties to save Curtis and Richie when they were ambushed while roller blading through the park.  Billy and Trini fought putties when they were on their way to save Kimberly.  Then all of the Power Rangers teamed up to fight off a mirror monster.  I would say that 75% of the episode was fighting, which is more than the usual 50% or so.  None of the fights stood out except for the Zack one.  Watching him fight off putties while Curtis and Richie dodged their way around the playground was interesting.  They did not fight the putties.  They were simply trying to escape as the putties tried to attack them.  Zack was the only person fighting back.  The escaping aspect was a delightful change to the typical fight.


The story didn’t leave much room for this episode to leave a lasting impact.  Kimberly didn’t become Lord Zedd’s queen.  Bulk and Skull didn’t find out who the Power Rangers were.  Nobody lost or gained powers.  There was one mention of Tommy that didn’t add anything to the story.  This episode could be completely removed from Mighty Morphin Power Rangers and the series would not change.

Yet, something rang as odd.  It was due to the behind-the-scenes struggles.  I may have brought this topic up before, but I’m going to bring it up again for good measure.  Three of the actors left during the second season.  Austin St. John, Walter Jones, and Thuy Trang all had contract disputes during the second season that led to their departure.  This went down around the time of this episode.  Clearly, there was some footage shot before they put this one together.  There were scenes of Zack and Billy rollerblading through the park, as well as Zack fighting off putties to save Richie and Curtis.  There was one scene where Trini was at the Command Centre with Zack and Billy.  Noticeably absent, however, was Austin St. John.  He wasn’t in the episode except for his voice during a morphing sequence.  The show is going to go through a transition for a few episodes as replacements for the three rangers are found.

The next episode is also going to be an important transition for Mighty Morphin Power Rangers as a new Power Ranger is introduced.  The White Ranger is coming, and his saga begins in the next episode.  Are you excited?  I am.  There are sure to be surprises, fights, and thrills all around as the new member joins the team.  How much will I like it?  I don’t know, but we’ll all find out next time.

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