Episode Title: Green with Evil Episode II
Original Airdate: October 6, 1993
When we last left Angel Grove, the command center was in a complete shambles after Rita’s evil green ranger, Tommy, destroyed the computer and left Alpha with a virus. The rangers may have won the first battle but they still can’t contact Zordon, their communicators don’t work, and Rita threatens further destruction at the hands of her emerald-colored slave. Let’s see what happens in Green with Evil Episode II.
As we begin, the rangers are trying to put things back in order. Billy ends up being able to get Alpha back in working order and then starts work on the computer. Meanwhile, Jason is consumed with trying to figure out the identity of this mysterious green ranger. As for Tommy himself, he is out wandering the streets of Angel Grove, where he has a run-in with Bulk and Skull. Guess who comes out on top…just take a wild guess.
Up in space, Rita is plotting her next move. Goldar suggest that she give Tommy the the Sword of Evil, a powerful weapon that will also help make sure Tommy has to obey her every command. However, he has to earn the sword, she can’t just give it to him. So, Rita has Tommy battle a bunch of putties, which he dispenses with easily, thus earning the sword. Now, Tommy sets out to eliminate the rangers one by one…that is, after he gives Kimberly the cold shoulder. Remember, the two were supposed to meet after school in the last episode but Tommy was a no-show. Tommy begins with trying to take out Jason, who he zaps with a green laser beam in the hallway of Angel Grove High. This sends Jason into an alternate dimension where he must face Goldar without any weapons or the ability to morph.
Back at the command center, the other four rangers are making progress at restoring things to order, but have no idea where Jason is. That’ll have to wait, though, when they have to morph for a showdown with the green ranger. After some hand-to-hand combat, the heroes summon their zords and form the Mega Zord. The giant robot easily deflects the green rangers’ laser blasts…so green boy makes a hasty exit. Later, at the command center, the rangers manage to make contact with Zordon again but still have no idea where Jason is.
There is a lot crammed into this episode. Very little of this episode is actually made up of footage from the Japanese show. Aside from Rita’s scenes, the brief battle at the end is really the only re-used footage. That means the American actors have to do a lot more themselves, and they don’t disappoint. Jason David Frank continues to impress as Tommy. His fight with the putties is definitely the highlight of the episode. Putty battles are often somewhat stale and predictable, but JDF (can I call him that?) really ups the ante here.
We also get a few moments of decent action between Jason and Goldar. Since the big blue lion has nabbed Jason’s power morpher, he’s not in his red ranger outfit. It’s kind of nice to see actor Austin St. John there in the same space with Goldar and know that we’re not just cutting between American footage and Japanese footage. It seems like a little thing, but it actually up the production value quite a bit. Sadly, the other three rangers seem to be pretty much marking time in this episode. They aren’t really given much to do until the final fight…which is taken from the Japanese footage. Here’s hoping they’ll play a bigger part in the next three chapters of this story.
There is a part of me that is bummed that we don’t have any giant monster action going on in this story, but it’s really not that big a deal. The skillful martial arts action courtesy of JDF (I’m going to keep using that) more than makes up for it. But our story isn’t over yet, folks. We’re only two episode into this epic five-part story. Join us next time for Green with Evil part III.
Channel: Superhero 