Our recent Power Rangers episodes haven’t really been the let’s-teach-the-kids-a-lessons sort. Well, that ends today. It seems that two of the Power Rangers need to learn a lesson about teamwork. Haven’t we done that one a few times already? Ah, but not in Chinese! This time Tommy and Jason need to stop competing with each other and learn to work together…in other words, Gung Ho!
As we begin, Jason and Tommy are training for an upcoming Team Ninja competition…whatever that is. They’re having trouble training, though, since they are more concerned with trying to show up each other than working together. That kind of behavior isn’t going to do them much good against the ninja team that Bulk and Skull have put together to challenge them. No, Bulk and Skull are not the ninjas, they’re just managing the team.
Meanwhile, Rita is putting the finishing touches on her Super Putties. Remember how she was working on them in our last episode? No sooner do they pop out of her machine than she sends them down to fight with Trini and Kimberly at the park. Now, you may be wondring, what makes them “Super” Putties. Best I can figure, they have oversized hands like Hellboy. Somehow that makes them undefeatable. Even after the girls call the guys to come help, they just can’t defeat these putties. Of course, the team heads for the command center to get some advice from Zordon. Turns out they need some special weapons, but it’s going to take Jason and Tommy working together to get them. The other four will have to fend off the putties while they wait for the weapons.
Tommy and Jason follow a map to find the weapons, which seem to be guarded by a brontosaurus type zord with a bad temper. The two eventually decide to work together to reach the weapons…some sort of new blasters. Once they have them they quickly return to the others and…boom…the Super Putties are blasted to smithereens. Then it’s back to the youth center in time for Jason and Tommy to win the Team Ninja competition.
This episode has some good moments but is ultimately kind of ho-hum. I think the big problem is that the Super Putty concept is, well, kinda dumb. We’ve already seen many times that Putties are among the most inept creatures in the universe. Does Rita really think enhancing these morons is the key to finally defeating the Power Rangers?!? The whole thing plays out in a weird fashion, too, since clearly the producers used footage from the Japanese version of our last episode for this one. The weird Frankenstein monster from last time can be seen lurking around Rita’s castle even though a hole the size of Toledo was blasted out of him last time. Strangely, this episode originally aired before the last one did…which makes no sense, either.
This episode does spend a lot of time, however, letting Austin St. John and Jason David Frank show off their martial arts skills…and it’s very impressive. The opening training sequences are both exciting and funny as the two try to show up each other. In a change of pace from most episodes, Rita’s plan is squelched with a good five minutes remaining in the episode. This is so a good chunk of time can be devoted to the ninja competition. Once again, this gives us some impressive displays of martial arts skills.
It is good that this episode isn’t just another giant monster battle, but given that the Super Putties aren’t all that “super,” on a whole it falls a bit flat. As for next time, Rita launches a plan that brings Kimberly’s grandma into the mix. Don’t be messin’ with Grandma now! Join us next time for Wheel of Misfortune.
Channel: Superhero 