Mighty Morphin Alien Rangers: Episode 5: Attack of the 60' Bulk

When we last left off with Mighty Morphin Alien Rangers, the Alien Rangers of Aquitar had to head home if they wanted to survive. This left the Power Rangers and Earth in an interesting predicament. Everyone was still their younger selves. Except for Billy, that is. The Power Coins were destroyed. There were no Alien Rangers to protect the planet. The Power Rangers were needed to come up with some sort of a plan quick if they wanted to keep the Moon Monsters from destroying Earth.

This episode might not follow through on that plan completely. With Bulk’s name in the title, it’s looking like this episode will be about keeping the status quo, rather than the Power Rangers finding their way to keep everyone safe. They’ll need to protect their friend from the harm that the Moon monsters will likely be inflicting upon him. Bulk will need to be brought back down to size before the Power Rangers can get everyone back to their rightful age. That should all happen in…

Episode 5: Attack of the 60’ Bulk

Zordon tasked the Power Rangers with one thing. They were to be children. He let them have a day to go to a waterpark and have a good time. It was the least he could do for the teenagers with attitude, stuck in their childhood bodies, after three seasons (or two or a bit of one) of fighting off Moon Monsters. They deserved a day of relaxation.

Rita Repulsa and Lord Zedd weren’t going to let that happen, though. They thought that with the Alien Rangers back on Aquitar, and the Power Rangers distracted by their relaxing day at the waterpark, it would be the best time to attack Angel Grove with a monster. They also thought that the best way to do that would be to transform the meanest kid into a monster. That was where Bulk came in.

Lord Zedd and Rita Repulsa zapped Bulk into a monster called Bratboy. The Power Rangers were super worried about the monster showing up because the Alien Rangers had left. But, luckily for them, the Alien Rangers had rehydrated and quickly made their way back to Earth to fight off Bratboy. They fought him with their Battle Borgs for a bit while the Power Rangers kids talked to the Bulk that was still in the monster. They managed to talk him out of being a monster.

When everything was over and done, Zordon called the kids back to the Command Centre. He had a plan for how to fix everything. The kids would have to travel through space and time to collect the Zeo Crystals. Together, they would have new powers and be able to turn time back to normal. They set out to do that while the Moon Monsters set out to destroy the Command Centre once and for all.

 

Halfway through the run of Mighty Morphin Alien Rangers, a plan was finally put in place. At the end of Attack of the 60’ Bulk, the Power Rangers kids were sent out to collect the Zeo Crystal shards they had recently hidden. It was an episode where ninety percent of the runtime was devoted to a self-contained story before the final few moments pushed everything forward with some great momentum. The final minutes set up a worldwide, time-travelling adventure that played out in future episodes.

That doesn’t mean that Attack of the 60’ Bulk was a perfect episode. There was more good than bad, but there was one piece of the story that ruined any of the stakes that the mini-series had built up. That piece was the Alien Rangers of Aquitar. For the first four episodes, there had been a lot of talk about how the Alien Rangers couldn’t survive on Earth and would have to return home. That would leave Earth defenseless. Only, it didn’t. When Bratboy became a problem, the Alien Rangers were easily able to teleport back to Earth to fight. As soon as the fight was over, they returned home. Why keep talking about how dangerous it was for the Alien Rangers to stay on Earth if they weren’t going to have to stay on Earth at all? They could easily go home between battles, rehydrate, and come back to Earth for battles. The only difference would be that the Alien Rangers wouldn’t always be around. They would need to be called in, like how the Power Rangers were called to fight through their communicators. If they could show up at any time to fight, there was no need to worry about leaving Earth defenseless.

Something important that was sort of brushed off in Attack of the 60’ Bulk was Billy being left off the Power Rangers Zeo team. It happened while they were being given the plan of the Zeo Crystal shards. There were only five pieces of Zeo Crystal that were scattered around the planet and through time. The five children were being sent to find them. The Zeo Crystal shards would restore their age and give them new powers. Billy was told to stay behind while the children went out. There was no Zeo Crystal shard for him. Nobody outright said that he couldn’t be a Power Ranger anymore, but the implication was there. It was a sad moment.

The other notable thing that should be mentioned about Attack of the 60’ Bulk is that it was directed by Paul Schrier, the actor who portrayed the grown-up Bulk. It was the first episode of Power Rangers that he directed, and the first of two he directed during Mighty Morphin Alien Rangers. It only seemed all the more fitting that the first episode he directed was one that centered around Bulk becoming the monster. Schrier also provided the voice for Bratboy, which added an extra layer to the idea that Bulk was in the monster all along. It was a strong episode for Power Rangers caring about their actors and characters, which didn’t always happen. More on that when things get to Power Rangers Zeo and Billy’s exit, though. That was a rough exit.

Mighty Morphin Alien Rangers has done a good job through the first five episodes of pushing the story along. There haven’t been any real slow points. Everything has been chugging along, with each episode featuring important developments for the overall story. The first two episodes brought the Alien Rangers into the fold. The third episode grew Billy back to his regular age. The fourth episode saw the Alien Rangers leave Earth. And this fifth episode set the search for the Zeo Crystal shards into motion. That should set up some good adventures for the coming episodes, including Water You Thinking? I’ll be writing about that one soon enough. I’ll see you when that post goes up.