Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Season 3, Episode 29: Master Vile and the Metallic Armor, Part I

Previously in Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, Aisha and Katherine brought Kelly, a chimpanzee, to town for their presentation about sign language. Rita Repulsa and Lord Zedd used Kelly to create a monster that the Power Rangers wouldn’t want to hurt. It was up to Billy to devise an antidote that could save Kelly from the powers of evil without killing her. Bulk and Skull spent their time trying to catch a banana thief.

The next episode should be a bigger game changer than the past few. It will be introducing a new big villain who will usurp the others. Master Vile, the father of Rita Repulsa and Rito Revolto will be coming to the moon to try his hand at stopping the Power Rangers. He’ll put them into a dire situation. Nothing will be resolved yet, though, because this is the start of a three-episode story. This is…

Season 3, Episode 29: Master Vile and the Metallic Armor, Part I

The gang was riding horses with Bulk, Skull, and Lt. Stone. The sky immediately when dark. The gang snuck off to the Command Centre to see what was up and found that everything was shut down. When the power came back online, Zordon said that a major evil had just travelled past Earth. That evil was Master Vile, the father of Rita Repulsa and Rito Revolto.

Master Vile showed up at the moon base. Rito tried to impress him with the bottle of Ninjor, but he dropped the bottle and Ninjor got free. No worries, though. Master Vile had a plan. He vomited an egg that hatched The Blue Globbor. The monster went to Earth, found Ninjor, absorbed a bunch of his powers, and took him hostage again.

The Power Rangers found out Master Vile’s ultimate plan and came up with an idea on how to stop him. He wanted the Zeo Crystal and was going to use Ninjor to get it. Tommy was going to travel to the moon base to get the Falcon Zord back. Kat went with him so that she could distract Rita Repulsa and Lord Zedd by saying she wanted to go back to her evil roots. While that was going on, the rest of the Power Rangers would run the Shogun Megazord and link it, remotely, to the Ninja Megazord. Then they would fend of The Blue Globbor.

There were two fights while these events were happening. Master Vile sent some Tenga Warriors down to fight the Power Rangers. These weren’t the typical Tenga Warriors, though. They had been fed something akin to steroids and were stronger than normal. The Power Rangers were getting their butts kicked. Luckily, Zordon had given them a suit upgrade. They had shiny new armour to help them overpower the Tenga Warriors. Then there was the Megazord fight. It wasn’t much of a fight, really. The Power Rangers got both Megazords going. The Blue Globbor didn’t fight them, though. It just absorbed their power.

The setup for the next phase of Power Rangers has begun. Mighty Morphin Power Rangers has almost concluded. There are only four episodes remaining, after this one. Master Vile and the Metallic Armor, Part I started to sprinkle in the transitional information. Master Vile joined the bad guys, which would lead into Mighty Morphin Alien Rangers. He was after the Zeo Crystal, which would set things in motion for Power Rangers Zeo. The show was about to undergo a major change, and this episode was the starting point.

The Zeo Crystal would become one of the most important aspects of the Power Rangers lore. Mighty Morphin Alien Rangers would see the Power Rangers replaced by aliens while the teens went searching for parts of the Zeo Crystal, which would then provide their powers for Power Rangers Zeo. With the Zeo Powers coming up every once in a while throughout future Power Rangers iterations, the Zeo Crystal remains in play until this day. When the reboot film happened in 2017, Rita Repulsa was after the Zeo Crystal. It’s has become a mainstay in the franchise.

When the Power Rangers summoned their Zords, they were short Tommy and Katherine. There shouldn’t be too much thought put into this, but how did they get to the Megazord form without someone controlling the White Shogunzord to make sure it was ready for Megazord formation? Usually Tommy or Katherine would have to be there to push buttons and prepare it. They were on the moon, though. There’s no explanation for that. And there was absolutely no explanation for the Ninja Megazord getting formed. There was a remote to control it, but not to build it. How did any of that stuff happen?

Master Vile and the Metallic Armor, Part I wasn’t a great setup episode for a three-episode story arc. It was a mess. The episode began and the Power Rangers were immediately thrown into things. Ninjor got free only to be taken captive again five minutes later. There was no explanation to the Zord stuff. And the choice for a cliffhanger was Katherine saying she wanted to be evil again, though the audience knew she was just tricking the villains. It felt like everything could have been done a little better. Maybe the other two episodes will be better. We’ll find out with Master Vile and the Metallic Armor, Part II, coming soon to this blog near you.