Tuesday, November 21, 2017

5 Times the Power Rangers were Dicks

As much as some of us hate to admit, our heroes aren't always the good guys we hold them up to be. Sometimes they slip up - badly. A few examples stand out in my mind, either as habitual behavior or isolated incidents. These do not include spells or substances that affected their behavior. Whether or not they learned a lesson from it as part of a character arc or plot point, here are the things that didn't sit right with me even after they were resolved.

1. Mighty Morphin: Either at the time or viewed with Nostalgia Goggles, Bulk and Skull were fan favorite characters. As such, some would say the Ranger Team didn't give them the respect they deserved. I disagree, as they were introduced as bullies and didn't really improve until later on when they became the genuine comedy relief and heroes in their own right. However, there may have been some moments in MMPR where the Rangers said or did some things that were unfair to them. An example that features prominently in my mind is when they're on the Island of Illusion and Kimberly's hallucination has to do with Bulk and Skull (still bullies at this point) being good guys. Mind you, everyone is supposed to be seeing something they're afraid of to make them doubt themselves. I blame the writers just as much as Kimberly on this one, as it makes no goddamn sense.

2. Mystic Force: In that same vein, there was that time the Mystic Force team had to leave work to take care of a problem, and the only other employee left was Leelee, who used to be their enemy. Their boss isn't in on the whole Ranger business, so he chews them out upon their return (part of the reason for hiring Leelee was their repeated absence). On the one hand, they had to go regardless, and they weren't exactly happy that Leelee was working with them as they weren't sure if they could trust her or not. On the other hand, poor Leelee. They warm up to her after they see her genuine hard work.

3. Jungle Fury: Leaving your former enemy to run the business while you're out is one thing, but what about your friend? The Jungle Fury team left Fran in charge of the pizzeria while they were out fighting evil, and she wasn't pleased with them taking advantage of her like that time and again. Even when they were there, without RJ to lead them, they would argue and push their work onto her. She's happy to help, but there's only so much one person can do to run a pizza shop on her own, especially during a rush...which makes me wonder what RJ did before the team showed up. This is before Fran found out about the Ranger thing, though. She got a raise out of it, at least.

4. Mystic Force (again): The Mystic Force Rangers find themselves in hot water when they have to face the Tribunal of Magic. Basically, if the teens hadn't been a bunch of lazy sh*t-heads, Imperious wouldn't have gotten his Dark Wish. They have to prove themselves worthy in order for the Tribunal to reverse the Wish, and it wasn't easy. Usually a storyline will be written around one team member slacking off and dealing with the consequences, but the entire team f*cked up and we got a three-parter out of it.

5. Super Samurai: Negligence is one thing, but actively shunning and bad-mouthing someone is worse. Jayden leaves so his sister can lead the team as she was always intended to. He didn't need to leave, and his departure causes the rest of the team to revolt. They do not accept Lauren as their leader or a member of the team after this. Lauren didn't do anything to deserve this, as Linkara pointed out in his review of Samurai. They got Jayden back and reinstated him as leader. At least when Alex tried to take over again in Time Force, he was unlikeable by that point.

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