We start this episode with Squat creeping round Billy garage(?) looking for the “power source” for Billy’s new invention. Hey, look – it’s a Shuki Levy ep! The Ranger God, himself! Expecting great things now.
He finds the machine and switches some wires around, hoping to mess with Billy’s head.
Ugh. That’s overly graphic. Wait, Squat knows what an omelette is?
That’s it – you have your moment, Squat.
Meanwhile, Rita hopes the Rangers will be too distracted by Billy’s scrambled brains to notice her monster… which is a Genie.
Is it?
Cut to Kim and Billy hanging out in his garage – the most hardest to believe thing yet. How can they understand each if Trini isn’t there to translate?
Billy explains the machine is a mind reading, or “thought transfer” device.
Outside, Bulk and Skull are loitering and eavesdropping because they have nothing better to do.
They decide to test the machine out. Kim looks really sure about this.
Outside, Bulk and Skull get chased off by a neighbourhood dog that doesn’t look that scary, really.
Billy and Kim start the machine up, not knowing of course that Squat has been messing with it.
That’s right – it’s a classic body switching episode! Does Billy really still need his glasses in Kim’s body?
Lamp = Genie. Makes sense! But why don’t we get to see more of Goldar’s solo mission to Canine Four to retrieve the lamp?
So, as usual, it’s not your run-of-the-mill Genie. This one looks like a roided-out Anubis.
Back at Billy’s lab, Bulk and Skull have escaped the dog and snuck back.
Bulk is eager to test out the machine’s mind-reading powers – not knowing of course that’s now a body-swapping machine.
Oh, Skull.
They hop in the machine and we get some great face jiggling as they swap bodies.
Of course.
Now we get an obligatory bunch of scenes of Kim and Billy trying to live the life of the other one… and totally failing!
Kim is teaching… a kid… computer stuff?
While Billy has to cook a cheese souffle in Kim’s Home Economics class.
Somehow, both end up exploding.
WHY haven’t they told the other Rangers yet? You’d think that’d be the first thing they’d do! And why didn’t Billy instantly try to tinker with the machine and switch them back straight away? Why are they just going along with this crazy charade?!
Then we cut back to see that the Genie still hasn’t left for earth…? Why is he still faffing around at Rita’s place talking about the plan? Didn’t they decide what to do in the last cutaway? Come on guys!
That’s great, Goldar. Now just get on with it!
Back on Earth, and they FINALLY they tell the other Rangers what’s happened. Super casually too, as if this kind of thing happens all the time.
We then get a very necessary cutaway to Bulk and Skull – in each other’s bodies – enjoying some massive sandwiches at the Gym & Juice.
Cut back to Rita, and OH. MY. GOD. HE’S STILL THERE. THE GENIE HASN’T LEFT YET. THEY’VE BEEN TALKING ABOUT THIS PLAN FOR AGES NOW.
FINALLY! Squat and Baboo head down to Earth with the Genie secured in the lamp and… Oh, never mind, they’ve dropped it and everything’s gone to shit.
Zordon sends the Rangers to pick up the lamp, that the Genie has now vacated.
Zordon sends the Rangers off to fight Goldar and some putties in… a train yard?
But Zordon’s wise to Rita’s distraction tactics though and sends the Rangers over to the Genie instead. We haven’t had a preview of what he can do, so this should be interesting.
He can throw spears? Okay.
And… webbing? Like Spider-Man?
Zordon then changes his mind yet again, and teleports them home. Make your mind up, Zor’!
Good advice I guess, but pretty standard for the Rangers.
The Rangers are zapped back in the fray yet again, but Rita – sensing victory is near – makes the Genie grow. And we get a lovely shot of his fetching pink, sparkly pants.
Alpha CLEVERLY deduces the lamp is the source of the Genie’s powers. Who’d have thought?
It’s Megazord time!
He proves to be tougher than the pink pants would suggest.
Very much enjoying the hand-operated, giant drill.
Uh-oh, incoming, Rangers! This is a tight battle…
Luckily, Alpha zaps the lamp using the Morphin’ Grid under Zordon’s careful instructions.
And, the Genie is no more. Just like that. Seems a tad anti-climactic.
Later at Billy’s lab, the pair successfully switch bodies back.
Bulk and Skull bust in, explain what happened to them, and beg Billy to do the same for them. Wait a second – Billy said he and Kim couldn’t switch back straight away because the machine was broken, but we know it was working because Bulk and Skull managed to switch fine after they did… Hmm.
You know Billy, you could have a pretty sweet racket going on there with that idea. “Borrow-a-Brain, Inc.?” Has a nice ring to it.
FISHBLIND. We’re off to a strong start.
And here’s the title of the ep- Oh. OH. Well hello there…
Is this the Uncle Steve from the episode synopsis? Is there an equivalent DILF acronym for hot uncles? Let’s just call him HUS (Hot Uncle Steve).
So, back to the story, and as the synopsis suggested – HUS is taking Kimberly up his plane.
Cut to the G&J, and we learn that Power Rangers executive producer Shuki Levy wrote and directed this one. But more importantly, we learn that Jason can beat the shit into a punching bag. Also, ARMS. It’s gonna be a thirsty, ep guys.
Speaking of thirsty…
Zach tries out his best line on a hula-hooping girl. (Presumably he was attracted to her because they were both wearing all the colours.)
Harsh.
Cut to Rita, who has noticed through her usual obsessive spying has noticed that Kim is going flying. “Well, what goes up, we can push down, eh?” Isn’t the phrase, what comes up must come down? I guess English isn’t her first language though. And by that I mean some kind of alien language – not Japanese. She plans to put a sleeping potion in uncle Steve’s drink before the flight, and while Kim is separated from the group, send in a monster as per to try and wipe them out.
Goldar is super psyched for the Snizzard.
Back at the airbase, Squat beams down to spike HUS’ soda with the sleeping potion. This is the second date-raping theme episode we’ve had this season, which is probably two too many for a children’s show.
Bulk and Skull are skulking around the outside of the airbase, presumably because… I have no idea why.
Excellent.
Yeah, me too Kimberly.
Bulk and Skull get really excited when they see Kim and rush over to beg to go on the plane too. Why they thought she’d be okay with this when they spend every week trying to either beat her up or sexually harass her is beyond me.
Kim’s facial expressions here are amazing.
HUS nicely let’s them on board. Another great facial expression from Kim.
Oh dear. Here comes the fat joke.
Really, Kim’s face in this episode is Emmy award-winning. Or at the very least, Amy Jo Johnson deserves a nomination.
And, they’re off.
Fair point, Bulk.
Uh-oh, HUS is chugging back the poisoned soda. It’s also got to be pretty warm after sitting out in the sun for so long too.
Hey look, a bird’s eye view of the G&J! Can you see Ernie?
After that handy update from Goldar, we get a sexy breakdown of the the Snizzard’s best moves.
“Why no, I’ve never flown over these mountains… in a PLANE that is.” Geez, Kim just tell him you’re the Pink Power Ranger already.
Yes. Happy, uh, memories.
IT BEGINS.
Appropriate reaction.
While HUS loses consciousness, Finster fires up the old Monster-making machine and Snizzard is born.
In the plane, Bulk and Skull pass out, which conveniently makes this a lot easier for Kim to use her Rangers skills and try and solve the small problem of the plummeting plane.
Or just panic and call Alpha-5.
Alpha suggests she morph out, but Kim tells him she can’t abandon Bulk and Skull (a fair excuse). Alpha tells her he’ll coach her through landing it instead.
He and Zordon get a monster alert for the Snizzard, and Alpha-5 (despite all his robot knowledge he’s demonstrated over the series and years of dealing with Rita trying exactly the same plans) doesn’t quite get what’s going on.
Zordon’s face sums up my reaction to Alpha’s naivety.
Zordon calls the Rangers in, explains to them that one of their BFF’s is currently plummeting to a possible death with Bulk, Skull and her very attractive uncle, then beams them into battle against a giant snake/lizzard man that shoots cobras with a bow. Busy day, right?
Oh and the Snizzard is pretty tough too. Even the Blade Blasters don’t phase him.
They work out that the apple on his head (get it? A William Tell references because he’s an archer?) is the weak spot.
But they’re too late to do anything about it, as Snizzard ties them all up in cobras.
YOU GOT THIS GIRL.
Kim manages to land the plane with Alpha’s help, and HUS wakes up to reward us with a glimpse of his lovely face, sans shades.
Kim rushes away from the landing strip to call Alpha from the most scenic spot possible.
What a day, indeed!
Just noticed the Snizzard has cobras for hands. HE HAS COBRAS FOR HANDS. That’s so inconvenient. How does he live his life? Also, are they separate creatures from him? Do they have their own brains?
It’s an archer vs. archer show down!
Snizzard calls the putties for back up…
Long story short: Pink Rangers owns.
Back at the G&J, Kim gets chatted up by a mullet-haired guy impressed at her plane-landing skills.
Zach and Jason suitably act disgusted.
Zach makes a quick movement (presumably something that was going to be HILARIOUS) and in the process, knocks into hula-hoop girl carrying a tray full of freshly made spinach-smoothies!
Aaaaaaand guess where the airborne smoothies land?
Volleyball!
Expectation vs. Reality?
Strap in kids, it’s another Mark Hoffmeier episode!
Kim turns up mid-game with some refreshments, just in time for Billy to make a swift exit after falling on his face.
Water never looked so good.
Wait, where are we now? All we can see are test tubes and all we can hear is Baboo laughing about test tubes…
Oh, looks like Rita’s “Chief Alchemist” is doing some alchemy.
What ON EARTH do those look like.
So, turns out that those weird ingredients are an ancient concoction for a ‘punk potion’ (obviously) that Baboo plans to use to poison the Rangers and score some points with his boss.
Um, a sweater to a beach volleyball game? Really, gurl?
SNEAK PUTTY ATTACK
While the putties distract the Rangers, Baboo hops on Rita’s flying penny farthing and zips over Angel Grove with the ‘punk potion.’ There is absolutely nothing to laugh about here,
In a sequence that can only be described as akin to date raping (yeesh) Baboo spikes the drink that Kim brought to the volleyball game.
I know the Rangers have a putty problem while this is going on, but HOW do they not see him just hovering over their drinks?
The putties disappear, leaving Billy and Kim thirsty for a post-battle celebratory drink.
Wait… That’s no “tasty” water drink!
Peak acting in the episode. PEAK.
The other Rangers come over to check on them, leading to a STRONG exchange of coarse language.
Trini seems to mistake sunstroke for a brain altering condition.
The now ‘punk-ified’ versions of Billy and Kim run off. Jason gives them his best stank face.
Meanwhile at the Cyber Peacock, Rita is happy with Baboo’s work, but doesn’t really thank him. Instead, she’s got one thing on her mind…
Finster: “As you may recall we had great success with it on Sorcery Seven.” Weird planet name, right? According to the RangerWiki: “Sorcery 7 was a planet where Rita Repulsa first unleashed the Terror Toad, he most likely ate everyone on the planet.” Everyone?! Could he be even hungrier than the Pudgey Pig?
Oh, is that Angel Grove High School logo? Pretty rad. Looks like the entrance to the X-Men mansion.
I like this next scene because we get to see what’s in some of the character’s lockers, which is always the quickest way to see someone’s personality distilled. The production team would have had to deliberately pick things to put in these, so let’s see if we can get a closer look… Trini seems to just have a photo of a really white boy in hers. Strange choice.
Zach! Are those sexy photos of ladies?
Kind of enjoy that Zack also keeps his own personal basketball in his locker.
Ooh, we get to see what Bulk and Skull are hiding in their lockers too!
SKULL HAS A SKULL IN HIS LOCKER. And lots of photos of people with skulls stuck over them… A tad obsessive, then. You know how Victor Von Doom took his name super literally and let it define his entire personality? Well, that.
Bulk just has – surprise, surprise – loads of food in his locker, which is gross.
WOAH. Is that a fake severed hand..?
And a fake snake..? For pranking purposes, I guess.
Billy and Kim enter showing off their brand new wardrobe malfunctions.
And Bulk and Skull can barely contain their arousal.
Trini, on the other hand, can’t hide her disapproval.
Kim wastes no time in attempting to seduce an unsuspecting Skull. What a ‘Power’ couple they would be, right? Right?
Meanwhile, Billy has a bit of rough play with Bulk. A little too rough for Bulk’s liking. In doing so, Billy also recklessly shows off his powers. Oops.
Luckily, Zach finally figures out that the sun wasn’t the culprit behind these strange goings on.
At the HQ, Alpha’s also figured things out. Apparently, “going punk” was a well-known phenomena in the 90s.
So Zordon knows what a punk is, too? I guess he’s a worldly cosmic Wizard after all. Also, what is he afraid they’ll do? Steal his lunch money? I guess he’s worried after Billy flagrantly roughed Bulk up that their identities will get revealed.
He teleports all the Rangers to the HQ straight away, and traps Billy and Kim in the “transparent force field”.
Zordon has also helpfully found some footage of Baboo doing his drink spiking earlier and sticks it on the viewing globe. Wait, if he was watching the whole time why didn’t he warn them? C’mon Zordon, that ain’t cool man. He also shows us a flashback from “eons” ago, and we get our first glimpse of Zordon when he had a body!
This footage is from Super Sentai, of course, and so that’s exactly Zordon, but rather it’s his Japanese equivalent. The RangerWiki explains: The flashback footage of the Singing Squash shows Mysterious Wizard/Sage Barza, the Rangers’ mentor, in the original Japanese series Kyoryu Sentai Zyuranger.
Also, why is there a pre-existing cure for a potion that didn’t exist until now? In case of punk, break glass and use squash.
Zordon: “Rita has released a Terror Toad on earth! It’s Rita’s most evil creation yet. It has an enormous appetite.” ‘A’ Terror Toad rather than the Terror Toad? Is there more than one? Perish the thought.
Jason, Trini and Zach morph and teleport over to take on the Toad, only to find he really is a terror.
The biggest shock of the episode so far is that the Toad’s power is actually kind of cool (and gross).
For some reason, once the Toad’s victims have been swallowed up, their faces become emblazoned on his belly.
Jason and Zach try their Blade Blasters, but the Toad simply deflects them back.
Alpha teleports to the “dimensional gap” to get the singing squash. Apparently you create a dimensional gap yourself at home pretty easily. All you need are pink and blue light filters, a smoke machine and some tarpaulin.
A bunch of putties ambush him, but luckily Alpha’s taken a leaf out of Batman’s playbook and installed some defences into his helmet.
He grabs the singing squash, which looks more like a singing carrot.
The singing squash is basically a Mandrake Root, right?
Back in the battle, Jason and Zach decide to double-team the toad. But then instead they fight him at the same time. (Tee hee.) Unfortunately, Zach gets gobbled up too,
Alpha creates and administers the cure to Bill and Kim. He really is the MVP of the episode.
Zordon then gives the de-punkified Billy and Kim a lot of key strategic information that he maaaaybe should have given to Jason, Zach and Trini earlier. Kim also accurately ascertains that the Toad is “totally gross.”
Billy and Kim morph and teleport over to the battle, just in time to watch Jason get eaten. Not with the laser tongue though. The Rangers leader is treated instead to full-on physical, slimy contact. Ugh.
Billy comes up with a full-proof plan.
Oh, I spoke too soon.
Kim gets her bow out, but before she can fire, Baboo teleports in to support the Toad, literally pushing her out of the way before she can shoot.
Undeterred, Kim goes full-on Katniss Everdeen,..
…and gets the team back.
She scores a perfect bullseye into the Toad’s mouth, and he’s blown (somehow) to high heaven.
YAAAAAS.
Later on at the Gym & Juice Bar, Skull (and Bulk) turn up all dressed up for his date with Kim. Aww.
Kim apparently has no memory of her wild punk days, and the boys are rebuffed.
To settle the matter, Bulk and Skull agree to play the Rangers at a volleyball game, which of course – they lose. And in true Bulk and Skull style.
Morph In Or Morph Out? 