10) “Truth Discovered” (Power Rangers Lightspeed Rescue, Episode 12)
Evil Rangers have been done time and time again on Power Rangers, but Lightspeed Rescue’s attempt stands out. The Titanium Ranger is a force to be reckoned with, but the only thing worse than his fortitude is his dark history: he’s Ryan, Captain Mitchell’s estranged son, and Pink Ranger Dana’s brother. The family collides, as the truth behind Mitchell’s deal with the devil comes out, while Ryan wrestles with the way the evil forces raised him as their own and twisted his perspective. While the Mighty Morphin Rangers just had to break a spell to get Tommy on their side, Ryan doesn’t see the light until the story comes full circle, and he and his father are dangling from the cliff that started it all. And even then, things only get worse. “Truth Discovered” remains a wonderfully layered tale, with a spot-on performance from Ron Roggé.
11) “Force from the Future” (Power Rangers Time Force, Episodes 1-2)
Time Force continued the show’s upward progression into more mature storylines, growing up with the viewers that were there for the previous nine years and treating the show with a higher level of respect. Time Force opens with tragedy, fueling the first team of Rangers whose primary goal is straight-up revenge. While hammy acting is still at the forefront, the season snags some accolades in its casting, featuring Edward Albert (1980s Beauty and the Beast), Erin Cahill (Red Widow), and cult favorite Vernon Wells, in all his scenery-chewing Mad Max glory. Time Force is far from perfect, of course, and that’s no more clear than in its premiere (if time travel is rare and dangerous, why are cops in the future called Time Force? Why does a giant robot have to hit a time ship into a time portal with a giant robot fist?) But it makes up for any missteps with more personal stakes, more subtle character development, and a higher emotional connection to the story than we’ve ever seen. That, too, is present in its premiere.
12) “Dawn of Destiny”, “Fight Against Fate”, and “Destiny Defeated” (Power Rangers Time Force, Episodes 28-30)
This is a huge cheat here, but this three episode arc functions as a solid three-act-structure story. Time Force featured a stellar theme of making your own destiny, put on display quite literally with Wes’s struggles to prove himself to his disapproving entrepreneur father. It comes to a head here, when his father is mortally wounded, and Wes’s descendant, Alex, comes back through time to forcibly take control of the team. With the future dictating that Wes will take over his father’s company after he dies from his wounds, Wes has to grapple with whether he should simply accept his fate, or if fighting fate is worth risking the destruction of the future. The events also cause an existential crisis for Quantum Ranger Eric, and the entire team’s loyalty is put to the test as their lives unravel. With the addition of a heightening love triangle between Pink Ranger Jen, Wes and Alex, this as dramatic and personal as Power Rangers gets.
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4 Comments
This a great list. I don’t think there’s anything I disagree with.
I have to disagree with one thing, overall.
The lack of positive mention to “Power Rangers-Ninja Storm”.
There were MANY very, very good episodes in that series, and felt it was far superior to “Light Speed Rescue”, including the Zords in the series. The commander and the team in LSR was completely lame and the acting was so, below par, I turned it off after 5 episodes.
The “Ninja Storm” was far better with the Zords, storyline (particularly with the Thunder Ranger issue), the the like-ablity of characters (The cross-over between the Wind Rangers vs. Dino-Rangers really should have made this list.)
The
Me personally? I prefer Ninja Storm to Lightspeed Rescue overall. But Ninja Storm works much better as the sum of its parts than it does with individual samplings. Lightspeed Rescue, conversely, has some really good individual episodes within the Titanum Ranger arc, even if the season as a whole is pretty weak (in my opinion, of course.) I rewatched a handful of possiblities to see what felt better, and Lightspeed Rescue’s episode just stood stronger on its own than any individual Ninja Storm episode or arc I tried again. Same with Jungle Fury. Believe me, I grappled with it for a long time.
Nice article! If I may, however, point out that Olivia’s last name is misspelled. It’s Tennet. Thanks.