Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Season 2, Episode 37: Forever Friends

In the previous episode of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, the world of the show expanded as Bookala made a pit stop in Angel Grove.  The Power Rangers worked hard to save the alien from the claws of Lord Zedd, who wanted to steal its power.  They fought two monsters and Goldar to get Bookala to safety and in the end, only the monsters were harmed.

Now the Power Rangers are revisiting the theme of friendship.  I’m not entirely sure how, but with an episode title like this one, it’s definitely the subject matter.  Lord Zedd will be back with another monster meant to destroy Angel Grove.  The Power Rangers will stop him.  It’s going to be a mighty fun time.  Let’s get it started.

Season 2, Episode 37: Forever Friends

Aisha’s friend from Stone Canyon, Shawna, arrived in Angel Grove for a gymnastics competition.  She was going to compete with Kimberly for the title, but this trip wasn’t just about gymnastics.  She was also competing with Kimberly for Aisha’s friendship.  Since Aisha had moved to Angel Grove, Shawna hadn’t heard from her.  She was jealous of Kimberly, the new best friend.  This jealousy drove the high school storyline, which culminated in a tied result at the gymnastics competition.  They were equals in gymnastics and equals in friendship.

Lord Zedd tried to strike directly at Aisha by kidnapping both of her friends during a picnic.  He trapped Kimberly and Shawna in a magic fenced cage in a cave.  When they broke loose, he sent a giant saw monster named Jaws of Destruction after Angel Grove.  It was a fairly basic yet smart plan for Lord Zedd.  He was going to destroy the Power Rangers team from within.  The problem was that he didn’t think that it would bring the team together because of friendship.

Bulk and Skull didn’t have much going on in this episode.  They were in a shop class with the guys, and made malfunctioning jet packs that sent them flying into a pile of hay, and possibly manure.  It was kind of like a Back to the Future reference.

The fighting in the episode was nothing special.  It was some of the same old punch kicks in the dirt outside of the cave.  The show knows how to do that stuff well, though, so it’s pretty entertaining.  I could go for a few more unmorphed fights though.  The only real difference between the fights in this episode and the fights in any other episode was that the Zord fight was set during sunset.  It gave an orange hue to the proceedings.  Aside from that, it was the same as any other Zord fight.  A quick couple slashes of the Megazord Sword and the monster was no more.

Mighty Morphin Power Rangers has done a good job in its second season of bringing up things from the past.  Tommy had to deal with the effects of The Green Candle in the first part of the season as his powers faded.  Jason felt regret over having not saved Tommy’s power when Tommy was gone in Missing Green.  In The Great Bookala Escape, they got a postcard from the former Power Rangers.  This episode tapped into the team’s history by having someone from Aisha’s Stone Canyon past come in and talk about their friendship prior to Aisha’s introduction.  It was a way to note that the show wasn’t ignoring that three of the Power Rangers weren’t Angel Grove natives.  Instead of just brushing their past under the rug, the show used that past for a story.  It’s a good way to establish the characters so that the audience can better connect with them.

One other thing that should be brought up is the addition to Kimberly’s character in this episode.  It may have been mentioned before, but while Kimberly was talking to Shawna, she mentioned that her parents were separated.  This is an added part of Kimberly that could grow her character in interesting ways.  The parents of the characters don’t often get mentioned.  Having Kimberly share that her parents are divorced shows the child viewers that you can be a good person if your parents are together or apart.  You don’t have to be angry forever.  You’ll get through it and it might even make you stronger.  It’s a good message that could lead to great future storylines.

That wraps up another episode of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers.  They saved Angel Grove and they saved friendship.  It was a great prize for a fight well fought.  The next episode will get fishy again, which means it could be another Blue Ranger episode.  Will they bring back his fear of fish that was established in the first season?  Hopefully not.  That was a terrible story in that one episode.  The show has improved since then, so it should be something better.  We’ll find out soon.  Join me, won’t you?