Episode Title: A Bad Reflection on You
Original Airdate: November 27, 1993
Remember that episode of Star Trek where the crew of the Enterprise end up meeting evil versions of themselves from another dimension due to a transporter malfunction? It’s the one where Spock has a beard…because beard = evil. Well in today’s episode of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, Rita decides that the way to beat those pesky teens is with a batch of evil twins. Here comes A Bad Reflection on You.
This episode wastes no time, with Rita disguising five putties to look like evil versions of the rangers. This time, it’s not facial hair that helps us know the difference…it’s sunglasses and glowing red eyes. As soon as the evil twins arrive at Angel Grove High, they take it upon themselves to fill a drinking fountain with soap. When suds fill the hall, Mr. Kaplan gives them a one way ticket to detention with Bulk and Skull. Problem is, the real rangers end up in the poke while the evil twins escape.
Meanwhile, the evil rangers hit the town in their ranger outfits and start terrorizing the poor citizens of Angel Grove. News of this reaches the real rangers thanks to the TV the Bulk has brought with him to detention. Unfortunately, they can’t morph ‘cuz Bulk and Skull will see. It takes getting the two bullies to cover their eyes for a magic trick for the gang to sneak out unseen. Then, after a quick debriefing by Zordon, the rangers head out to fight their evil selves.
The rangers fight hand to hand with their twins in a pretty intense scene. Gradually, the putties are weakened and change back into their true forms. When the fake red ranger’s disguise vanishes, he is revealed to be a creature made of mirrors called Twin Man. It takes the rangers bringing their special weapons together to blast him and win the day. The rangers then make it back to detention before Mr. Kaplan realizes they are gone.
This was a fun episode, though there were a few things that I wish were done a bit differently. Having evil versions of the rangers is a great gimmick. This was kind of done earlier in the episode where Kimberly and Billy were turned into punks. Here everyone gets in on the evil act, and you can tell the five lead actors are having fun with it. I do wish, though, that we had gotten more time with the evil twins when not in their ranger costumes. I would’ve liked to see more of them becoming the terror of Angel Grove High.
The episode does spend a lot of time in detention, which ends up being kind of fun as well. Bulk and Skull get a lot more screen time in this episode and their hijinks are pretty funny. I like that Bulk essentially has a detention kit that contains a large selection of food and even a TV so he won’t miss his favorite cartoons.
As for the action, it’s very different than what we get in most episodes. We don’t have a big rubber-suited monster this time. Most of the action is the rangers fighting with the evil rangers…who look identical to them. You can’t tell who are the good guys and who are the bad guys…and that makes the sequence kinda cool! No need for Zords this time. Now, technically, there is a monster…the Twin Man. He’s briefly mentioned at the beginning of the episode, but we only see him from the back amongst a crowd of putties. So, it’s easy to miss his introduction. When he re-enters the story toward the climax, he’s there and gone very quickly. So, he’s not one of the most memorable monsters, though he is voiced by Bryan Cranston.
Overall, this is still a fun episode with a good balance of action and comedy. Next time sees the return of everyone’s spikey-haired floating head, Lokar, in Doomsday Part 1. See you then!
Channel: Superhero 