History of the Power Ranger: Time Force part 2

Image via Wikipedia

On our last trip to Silver Hills we met the Time Force Power Rangers. In part two we see them team up with the Lightspeed Rescue Rangers and have their final battle to protect all of time.

Most of the good stuff took place in part one so there’s not much for me to say here. Let’s start with the new positions for the Lightspeed Rangers.

• Dana: She’s a doctor now? Wasn’t she in the military?
• Joel: All we know is he and…I guess it’s Dr. Rawlings now got married. Did he go back to the stunt show?
• Kelsey: What DID she do for a living prior to joining Operation Lightspeed?
• Chad: He also had a job prior to becoming a Ranger. Could he not get his job back at the aquarium? Like Dana’s at least it fits.
• Carter: I guess didn’t rejoin the fire department and still works with whatever Lightspeed has become.
• And all that is still more than I recall about what Ryan’s been up to. Lewis says that we’re told he runs a new Aquabase, but I don’t even remember that. I’ve been trying to see how well my memories of the shows have survived over the years, to see what was truly memorable about each series while Lewis has actually watched them (remember that he stopped watching after In Space so all this is new to him) so I’m just going to assume he’s right.

The team-up itself is OK, although Lewis makes some good points about what was wrong with it. I do like the scene where the teams exchange jackets and perform each other’s pose.

So why do I like this show? Every point Lewis makes is pretty much legit. Ransik doesn’t become “sympathetic” until the end, when his love for his daughter makes him question his homicidal, if not reverse xenophobic belief system. There are some loose ends, like why can’t Jen come back to be with Wes once the remaining criminals are defeated or why he couldn’t go to the year 3000 (although since everyone there is worried about “perfect DNA” he might have some troubles), why did Alex undergo a personality change, and some time travel plotholes that, while not the worse I’ve ever seen in a story, are still obvious once you think about it.

Is it the best season? You’ll have to judge that. Is it overrated? Maybe. But for me, it’s the characters that really made this show, or perhaps the actors. The relationships between the characters, from the Rangers in general to Wes and Jen, Wes and Eric, Wes and his father specifically, as well as Frax and Ransik & Ransik and Nadira, just really make this show. The battles are not AS epic as In Space, but the best since In Space (no offense to Lost Galaxy). I loved the Zords, even if they’re not my favorite Zords and these were my favorite Ranger costumes for a long time. However, it’s again the characters for one big reason.

Power Rangers In Space had four characters that we already got to know due to the last half of Turbo so they only had to worry about a few characters to develop. I love the character in In Space, including Astronema and Ecliptor and even Darkonda had some interesting moments. As far as the other series go I didn’t care about them as much because we didn’t get as much time since there were so many characters to develop.

Somehow, Power Rangers Time Force managed make me as interested in the Time Force Rangers as I did the Space Ranger, even with less time and more characters (without the benefit of a previous series) than In Space even the underdeveloped Lucas, who I would defend as only needing a minor tweeking. Maybe it was the theme of “who makes our destiny”, but it really made me care about them like none of teams since In Space, and I have to give it proper credit. That’s why Time Force is my favorite of the Ranger series.

Power Rangers In Space is the best made of the franchise, but Power Rangers Time Force remains my favorite overall.

Oh, and here’s some copy/paste from the Power Rangers wiki that I found interesting:

• According to Daniel Southworth at Power Morphicon 2007, due to the popularity, and the good relationship between the production crew and cast they almost came back for a second season – whether this meant a second season of time force, or the cast being used for the Sentai adaption that became Wild Force is unknown.
• “The End of Time” is considered by some to be the best series finale due to its darker and emotional tone.
• An oddity with Time Force is that it is the first series since the trend started in Power Rangers: Turbo that did not have most of or all of the Rangers’ arsenal end up being destroyed in the final battle.
• Power Rangers Time Force is the second Power Rangers season to feature a female Ranger as the leader of the team, and is also the first (and so far the only) Power Rangers season to feature a Pink Ranger as the leader.
• It was the first series to feature a family member accidentally finding out their relative was a Power Ranger (Mr. Collins found out Wes was the Red Ranger when his visor was damaged in a battle). This would be repeated in Power Rangers Wild Force when Alyssa’s father mistakenly found she was the White Ranger (when her father, a martial arts instructor, witnessed the White Ranger using the fighting style that he taught her), in Power Rangers Ninja Storm when Shane’s older brother accidentally found out he was the Red Ranger, and in Power Rangers Jungle Fury when Luen discovers that Theo is a ranger.
• One episode of Power Rangers: Time Force was dedicated in memory of Thuy Trang, a member of the original Mighty Morphin Power Rangers cast. Trang died in an automobile accident on September 3, 2001 on Interstate 5 when the vehicle she was a passenger in went out of control. A second passenger in the vehicle was Angela Rockwood-Nguyen, a former actress/model and the wife of fellow Vietnamese-American actor Dustin Nguyen. Thuy Trang died in the accident and Rockwood-Nguyen became quadriplegic.
• Time Force is the first season (and so far only), known to have a Megazord which can switch from one Megazord mode to another, using only the 5 core components. Example: Time Flyer 1 forms the torso of Mode Red and Mode Blue. Time Flyers 2 and 3 form the arms of Mode Blue and the legs for Mode Red. And Time Flyers 4 and 5 form the legs for Mode Blue and Arms for Mode Red. Most Megazords cannot do this.
• In the episode “Ransik Lives”, Ransik gives a televised terrorist like speech which included the monster blowing up buildings. The episode aired on FOX Kids three days after September 11th and they blocked the speech out with the theme song. Later in the Disney reruns, The speech was altered and showed the monster blasting mountains instead. Many more edits were to follow.
• Power Rangers: Time Force is Jason David Frank’s favorite season of Power Rangers.

And I didn’t even list all the firsts attached to this show.

Next time however we get to my least favorite. Is it necessarily bad? Find out…and since Lewis made it a three-part video, I’ll actually post it as one single post, but with the power of WordPress make it three different pages of one article. After all, this isn’t Atop The Fourth Wall, it’s BW Media Spotlight and I would like to have more of me than him. I’m sure he understands that. 😀 Although speaking of which:

SPECIAL BONUS VIDEO!

You’ll have to go to Lewis’s site to see it, but at last year’s Power Morphicon, a Power Rangers fan convention, Lewis was able to both attend and record the Time Force panel, with a guest appearance by the lone Wild Force cast member at the event (who also happens to be a Ranger crush of mine). Learn some of the behind the scenes information and how well the cast got along. Thrill at one actor’s troubles wearing his costume when he has to use the little mutants’ room. Discover why Wes and Jen never kissed. And watch as Vernon Wells insults Linkara three times! You’ll wish you were there. I know I do.