Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Season 2, Episode 17: White Light, Part 1

There was just a two episode stretch of standalone stories in Mighty Morphin Power Rangers.  The most recent episode saw Kimberly kidnapped by Goldar to become Lord Zedd’s queen.  Bulk and Skull were sent on a treasure hunt that ended at the Angel Grove Youth Centre.  Richie and Curtis were trapped on a playground while Zack fought putties.  And Jason was nowhere to be found until the big monster fight.  None of it mattered, though.  It was all wrapped up when the episode ended.

Things are going to be different this time.  We have come to the introduction of the White Ranger.  With the Green Ranger no more, there needs to be a new sixth member.  The strength of Lord Zedd’s monsters will need that extra help.  I don’t know what else to expect outside of that introduction.  Maybe there will be red herrings as to who the new Power Ranger is.  There should also be some interesting editing because three of the actors have left the show.  It’s going to be a fun episode, so let’s get into it.

Season 2, Episode 17: White Light, Part 1

Tommy is coming back to Angel Grove.  Kimberly received a letter from Tommy about his return.  She was more excited than anyone, probably because they were in a relationship.  His leaving to deal with losing his powers put a struggle on their teenage love.  She, Billy, and Trini went to the park to let Jason and Zack know.

Bulk and Skull were also at the park.  They wanted to stumble over the Power Rangers.  That’s not important.  While they were staking out a hill, Rita’s space dumpster crashed into the park.  They took the dumpster to a warehouse and tried to open it.  It hasn’t opened yet.

Meanwhile, Zordon and Alpha 5 shut down the Command Centre to work on something top secret.  Lord Zedd took this opportunity to send putties and a monster to Angel Grove.  He also wanted to try to turn Tommy evil once again.

The rest of the episode was fighting.  The putties that came to Angel Grove got a lot of time to fight the Power Rangers.  Each member of the team got their own moment to shine.  Jason did a tornado move.  Zack danced.  Trini didn’t really show her face, presumably because of a leg injury that Thuy Trang had.  Kimberly and Billy tag teamed the final putty.  It was one of the most entertaining putty fights that the series has had, without even needing props.  The entire thing was fought on open park ground.  Then the monster came in.  A statue of a fist was turned into the monster.  It almost immediately grew, requiring the Megazord.  When the Power Rangers tried to attack, the monster summoned two more monsters.  There was no chance.  Billy went back to the Command Centre for help.  He discovered that Zordon and Alpha 5 were working on a new Power Ranger.

White Light is one of the most important double episodes in Mighty Morphin Power Rangers.  It is going to have a lasting effect.  Tommy planned to return to Angel Grove, which is a big step for a character who lost his powers.  He will still be a part of the series.  His absence from the previous two episodes made that unclear (though I knew he’d return).  This episode also introduced the idea of the new Power Ranger.  Alpha 5 and Zordon were working on the new Power Ranger.  Other important stuff will be revealed in the second part, but for now, the Power Ranger has been introduced and that is going to significantly alter the show.

Even with this episode setting up some big stuff, there were oddities.  There is a retroactive odd thing about this episode.  It seems like the White Light episodes were filmed before Beauty and the Beast.  All of the actors were present, and it didn’t feel like they were being edited around.  They were definitely there for all of White Light’s filming, and Jason was definitely gone when they were filming the previous episode.  The other episode specific weird thing was during the putty fight.  It had the dumbest of all dumb putties that the show has ever featured.  When Kimberly was first shown in the fight, she backed away as one putty kicked another in the chest.  The season 2 putties are defeated by kicking a giant Z on their chest.  So, one putty killed another putty.  I witnessed that.  It happened.

Not a whole lot more can be said about the first White Light episode.  The second is next and will follow through on introducing the new Power Ranger.  How will it change the dynamic of the team?  I’ll fill you in on that in the next post.  The episode will also resolve the monster fight that is currently going on.  That should be fun.  I’ll see you next time for that.