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What are you watching? Power Rangers Edition
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01-21-2021, 03:15 PM
#
457
DreamSword
Some guy. I'm alright.
Join Date: Sep 2019
Location: Michigan
Posts: 4,454
Lightspeed Rescue
Pre-Show Preamble
If any of you feel that I've been coming off as high-and-mighty towards viewers who didn't like specific seasons at first, only to come around to them later; First off, not my intent, but secondly, now you all get to know that I am in no way immune to that either.
Lightspeed Rescue
is a season I remembered not really caring about all that much as a kid. I watched it, I enjoyed it, but similar to
Lost Galaxy
, it just didn't stick with me the same way alot of the other seasons did. This is one reason why my interest became quite piqued when it came time to rewatch it during the binge my friend and I did.
The other reason being that a second friend of mine, upon learning we had been binging the whole series, outright
demanded
that we wait up for him so he could join us for
LSR
. As it turned out, this was actually his favorite season growing up, with Carter being his favorite Power Ranger period. This was so unique to me, because while Carter had always had diehard fans online, I'd never actually talked to someone who liked him in person before.
So all three of us sat down, and within the course of a week we blasted through every episode. And I gotta say, it was probably the best rewatch I've had with almost any show ever. I could feel the love of the show just radiating off that friend of mine, and I in turn found a ton of things to appreciate about
Lightspeed Rescue
that many people, myself included, never actually seemed to give it proper credit for. There's the obvious one in the character of Ryan of course, but besides that...
I loved the characters, the actors, the musical score, the constant air of mystery the season had going for it, that for the first time the monsters were demons and not aliens, and I liked that there was a season that focused alot more on the, well, Rescue aspect of being a Ranger than beating up said monsters. This was also the first time that more than just the Red Ranger had a Battlizer(Blue and Green get in on it too), as well as the Ranger team themselves being brought together and funded by a sect of the government. Also, that underwater base effect is entirely practical and looks amazing even today!
It made choosing an out and out favorite episode this season really difficult, because there are a ton that I absolutely love. But in the end, I felt it only right that I cover what I consider not only the most important episode in the entirety of
Lightspeed Rescue
, but one of the most important episodes in
Power Rangers
history as a whole.
Episode 11: From Deep in the Shadows
The staff of the Aqua Base are testing a brand new Morpher, the Titanium Morpher, as a way to give Carter an upgrade. Unfortunately, the power ends up being too much for any normal human body to handle, so Captain Mitchell locks the Morpher away in his personal safe.
The scene here is actually really well edited, and displays some really good acting on the part of Sean CW Johnson as well as great body language from the suit actor for the Titanium Ranger bits. They did a great job syncing the two up!
It also happens to be the birthday of Ryan, Captain Mitchell's' son and Dana's' brother, who was lost in a car crash years ago. The two celebrate what would've been his 20th birthday, and Mitchell assures his daughter that whatever happens, he loves her, and to always remember that.
Late into the night however, a mysterious man sneaks into the underwater base, Solid Snake style, and proceeds to steal the Titanium Morpher for himself, but not before stopping to stare at some of the Captain's' personal belongings.
The next morning, Vypra attacks Mariner Bay, only this time with the goal of directly challenging the Rangers in mind.
And it's here that I wanna point out that this episode was actually directed by Jonathan Tzachor. Yes, the same guy who was made infamous for what he ended up turning
Mega Force
into. It really makes me wonder what happened to the guy over the years, because staff have claimed that when it came to
PRMF
, Tzachor didn't care about the Rangers as people, yet in this episode alone, he shows the exact opposite attitude. The directing is great here! There's a constant air of mystery and dread, and he even managed to get some of the better acting ever displayed from Jennifer L. Yen as Vypra. Just like... what happened, dude?
Anyway, after a brief scuffle, Vypra reveals that the demons have a new ally on their side...
The Titanium Ranger, and this is huge for a few reasons. First, as everyone here probably already knows, Titanium Ranger was the very first US-original Power Ranger, and a Sixth Ranger to boot. And man does he make a great showing! In this episode alone, they put alot of detail into practically every aspect of him.
First, all throughout the episode they make sure to keep his face atleast partially obscured, keeping his identity a secret. Second, what few times he does speak, he talks like the demons whom he's working with. Third, the fights with him are incredibly intense. Not just in terms of destruction, but in
how
he fights the other Rangers. Whereas the Lightspeed team fights using more refined forms of combat(or in Carter's' case, weapon use), Titanium attacks wildly; Using long sweeps and actively clawing at his opponents whenever he isn't using the Titanium Lazer. He even manages to reflect a direct blast from the Rescue Bird!
I also love how unique and dynamic his suit looks compared to the rest of the team. Granted, alot of that has to do with them repurposing a
Turboranger
suit in order to make it, but the gleaming gray with the gold accents and very unique visor shape all come together to make a really cool and memorable design for me. It's also part of the reason I wanna get around to watching
Turboranger
eventually.
The Rangers opt for a temporary retreat, and yet again, the sense of dread and mystery is great here. The team theorizes that they might have a traitor in the ranks, while the demons talk to the mysterious man from before, Morpher now attached to his wrist and still obscured in shadow.
When it comes to the rematch, Ms. Fairweather sends another dangerous weapon to aid the Rangers.
This episode also marks the debut of the V-Lancers, which have their own really cool finishing attack. While the V is obviously referencing the five Rangers, as a kid I always assumed it stood for Victory. In the end, Mitchell calls off the attack once Titanium Ranger's' eyes become revealed, and Mitchell realizes who it is.
"He's my son."
This scene is what made a huge impact on that second friend of mine, and cemented
LSR
as his favorite season of
Power Rangers
. And yeah, I can totally see why. The entire episode essentially builds up to it, and it not only offers a nice twist, but is in itself a fantastic episode for future episodes to come. How is Ryan alive? Did Mitchell lie to Dana? How did he become allied with the demons? So many great questions for future episodes to dive into!
While the appearances of the Titanium Ranger are few, the staff made sure to make every one of them very memorable and very important to not just the plot, but many of the character arcs in play. They knew how important this character was in a meta sense, and made sure to make him every bit as important in the story. He was the start of yet another bit of evolution for the franchise, which can be seen even today as we continue to get more US original Rangers in the comics. Ryan went on to become my favorite Silver Ranger, and I don't see that changing anytime soon.
After-Show Bonus
While Ryan became my favorite Silver Ranger(even though I personally think he should be classified as a Gray Ranger), my actual favorite character in
Lightspeed
is Joel. Keith Robinson was actually the second choice to play Joel, and boy am I glad it worked out the way it did because Keith did great! His facial expressions never failed to get a laugh out of me during the episodes focused on him, and he just did a great job at making Joel likeable overall.
Podcast episode is
HERE.
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Last edited by DreamSword; 12-26-2022 at
10:58 AM
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