Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers Episode 17: Green with Evil, Part 1 – Out of Control

Rita abducts newcomer Tommy and turns him into the evil Green Ranger. Things don’t look good for the other Rangers.

Episode Summary

We begin our episode at the Angel Grove Martial Arts Expo. After some martial arts guy shows off his skills by doing crazy, indescribable stunts, it’s now Jason’s turn to go to the mat. He’ll be fighting against newcomer Tommy, who’s already caught Kimberly’s eye…and Rita’s.

Rita thinks Tommy will be a great Green Ranger. Probably due to the fact that he’s wearing a green tanktop and headband. Wait, Green Ranger? That certainly came out of nowhere.

Jason and Tommy fight but it ends in a draw. Tied at 4 points each.

Later at school, Bulk and Skill bug Kimberly. Is Bulk eating a moon pie? Moon pies are gross. Tommy shows up and scares Bulk and Skull away with a martial arts showcase and they leave. Kimberly thanks Tommy and asks him if he’ll hang out with her and her friends at the Youth Center after school. He says yes!

Green Ranger Cometh

Rita calls forth the power of the sixth Power Coin and chants something while a skull’s eyes glow. As Tommy walks through an alley, a bunch of Putties show up to fight him. This is a test to see if he’s worthy. Obviously he passes and beats them all up. “Why me?” he wonders aloud. Rita appears and zaps him with her staff.

On the Moon, she chants some more. Tommy is mummified, then unmummified, then falls under an evil mind control spell; he is now the Green Ranger. Because of his new Ranger status, Tommy is able to teleport to the Command Center. He sticks a virus CD into Alpha’s back to deactivate him, and Zordon’s like, “What the hell!” Tommy rips out the innards of all the computer consoles, causing Zordon to disappear from his tube.

The Damaged Command Center

Alpha tries to message the Rangers, but the communicators aren’t working and teleportation is unavailable. The teens are forced to use the Rad Bug to get to the Command Center.

Once there, they check out all the damage Tommy caused and Billy takes the CD out of Alpha’s back. No time to waste, though – Goldar’s been embiggened by Rita’s wand, and he’s causing trouble in the city.

Difficult Fight

The teens morph, fight Putties, then form the Megazord to fight Goldar. Tommy leaps up onto the Megazord’s head and gets inside the cockpit and starts punching everything. The Rangers all fall out of their giant robot onto the ground and Tommy continues beating them up like a badass.

The Rangers flee to the Command Center wanting to know the identity of the Green Ranger, but Alpha hasn’t completely recovered from the virus and shuts down.

“I think we’ve only made it through round 1 of what’s about to be a major battle,” says Jason. On the viewing globe, Green Ranger stand triumphantly. Without Zordon, our heroes are on their own.

Thoughts

Ahh yes, part 1 of the famous, epic 5-part Green with Evil storyline. The turning point of Power Rangers, where it went from really popular kids show to phenomenon, all because of the introduction of Tommy. What’s not to like about the Green Ranger? He’s strong, has fancy armor, and can go head-to-head with the Rangers, beating them with ease. Everything about him screamed cool – to 90s children, Tommy was James Dean.

With the episode’s focus on Tommy and Rita, we’re mercifully spared from silly gags and insipid plotlines, which we’ve seen plenty of in previous episodes.

There were still some cheesy moments and dialogue in this episode, mainly from the mind-controlled Tommy, but I’ll let it slide because of the good cliffhanger. What a foreboding, downer ending for Power Rangers! No silly gags with food falling on Bulk’s face; the Green Ranger threat is serious.