Power Rangers Review: "Green No More"

You know, when the Green Ranger first departed, I was not happy. I was just beginning to really enjoy seeing him, and then, gone. However, I did take Green Ranger's second departure better than the first. The reason was simple: when Tommy was out of the Rangers the first time, something could have been done to prevent it. Regarding this time? No. There was no way out for Tommy as the Green Ranger, and even at the age of nine, I knew this.

Lord Zedd proved to be a detriment to Tommy just minutes after he entered the scene. The first fight with the powerful Z-Putties proved to be draining to Tommy, but he would be charged up. Even so, it was a matter of time before Tommy's proverbial tank would reach empty, and that led to a multi-episode arc that began the end of the Green Ranger. It was a seven episode arc that featured five standalone episodes, beginning with "The Green Dream," which began Zedd's quest to target the Green Ranger.

Now, while Zedd wanted all of the Rangers quashed, he was emphatic taking out the Green Ranger. Why? As Zedd stated in the following episode, "The Power Stealer," the Green Ranger was another remnant of Rita Repulsa's constant failures, and that was reason enough to have him taken out. As expected, Tommy's powers took a massive hit as the arc progressed. "The Green Dream" saw Tommy's powers reach such a low point that he couldn't even call Dragonzord. They took more of a hit in "The Power Stealer" and "The Beetle Invasion," and in "Welcome to Venus Island," teleporting to the Command Center took a lot out of him. "The Song of Guitardo" revealed that Tommy's powers were so dangerously low that even recharging him (as Kimberly suggested) was no longer an option. Tommy was sidelined, but you know our man. He didn't give a damn if he was running on near empty. He wanted in, and he got in and helped out Kimberly in the battle against Guitardo.

More about that episode's touching moment later, but it's now time to get down to the subject at hand: the final parts of the Green Ranger's home stretch.

Part I

We see Tommy shooting hoops before he's approached by Kimberly, who asks him how he's doing. Tommy stated that he's waiting on the results of a bio scan that Alpha's running, which would determine if he can continue as a Ranger. At that moment, both of them are encountered by...Tommy. Well, it's a version of Tommy from the future, but they don't get much from him. Meanwhile, Zedd's looking to enact the last pieces of his plan to take out the Green Ranger, and elsewhere, Billy and Zack are awaiting the arrival of the latter's cousin, Curtis, but after he arrives, they are suddenly encountered by Bulk and Skull--who entered in rolling trash bins and are scared out of their minds.

So here's what spooked the duo:

There's something familiar-looking about that quintet. Maybe it's their hairstyles, I don't know. Anyway, the five bullies throw what little weight they have (figuratively and literally) around, and Lord Zedd is impressed by this. He plans on taking those bullies and turning them into his Dark Rangers, and it's followed by Zedd presenting this (going into Rod Roddy mode again):

A fabulous, funky-looking Green Crystal! This green crystal is good for stealing powers from Power Ranger icons, sealing off the Command Center, creating evil Rangers, and also serves as a great centerpiece at lavish dinners. That's the Green Crystal; Chicago and Minneapolis are hoping to acquire it in a desperate attempt to take down a strong Green and Gold force. Knowing those two, they'd fuck it up somehow.

And now, back to the review!

At the Command Center, Tommy gets the news that he feared the most: their attempt to restore his powers has failed, and he only has enough juice for one more fight. Regarding Tommy's vision, Zordon had no answers, but he did recall that Tommy wasn't morphed in the vision. We see Kimberly and Billy searching for seashells, while Jason and Zack are practicing their karate moves. Trini's with her grandmother, but Kimberly voices Trini's worries about Tommy. The five bullies from earlier appear and attempt to push the four Rangers around, but they are later taken by Zedd to his Otherworld, where Zedd begins the process of turning them into the Dark Rangers. Goldar reminds Zedd that Tommy still has his powers, but Zedd states that it'll change when he unleashes his latest monster, as Tommy will join the fight and use the last of his powers.

Zedd creates Turbanshell to destroy the city, leading the Rangers to be teleported to the Command Center. Tommy tells Kimberly the bad news about his powers, and that prompts Kimberly to suggest to Tommy that he shouldn't join them. Zordon states that the monster is highly powered, and upon hearing this, Tommy says that he's coming and that's final. The six Rangers morph and call their Zords on the fly, but Turbanshell is dominating Thunder Megazord and the near depleted Dragonzord. The five Rangers are ejected from Thunder Megazord, and Turbanshell leaves and is seen in the Otherworld with Zedd and Goldar.

This does not please Zedd, who chews out Turbanshell for his appearance and reminded him that he was supposed to be finishing off the Rangers. Turbanshell stated that he had the Rangers on the ropes, which further infuriates Zedd, as he chose that moment to leave and charge up his shell when he had the Rangers down and out (aka the MMPR equivalent of 28-3). Zedd sent Turbanshell to take out the Green Ranger, who is seen feeling very weak before he's abducted in front of the other Rangers. Turbanshell later uses his shell to take Green Ranger's powers, which fill up the crystal. Afterwards, Zedd takes the other five Rangers into the Otherworld, where they come face to face with the Big Bad himself, who presented them with their "replacements."

There they are, folks, the Dark Rangers--in all their...glory? Anyway, the five bullies are now fully morphed into their evil Ranger forms, and the good Rangers are trying to get through to the group, with Jason saying that Zedd will destroy them once he's through with them. The Black Dark Ranger voices his loyalty to Zedd, with Billy stating that Zedd's only loyal to himself. While all of this is going on, Tommy, now devoid of his powers, is at the mercy of Turbanshell. Oh man.

Part II

Part II kicks off exactly where the previous episode ended, and though Tommy holds his own, it's only for a split second. Meanwhile, we see that the Command Center has an energy shield hovering around it thanks to Zedd, and as Zordon states, the increasing tightness could cause the Command Center to implode. We later see Goldar taunting the Rangers and pleading with Lord Zedd to finish them.

"Absolutely not!" exclaims Zedd, who decides to send the Rangers back, knowing that they can do nothing to stop Zedd's plans. As for Tommy, he's no longer facing Turbanshell, he's now facing Goldar, who taunts Tommy with a video package of his greatest hits as the Green Ranger. After briefly returning to the Zedd's palace and being informed about the plan to reprogram the Thunderzords for the Dark Rangers, Goldar returns to the Otherworld to further taunt Tommy, which includes ordering Tommy to admit that Goldar is his superior. Tommy's response:

"You are...you are...out of your mind!"

Tommy rises up and fights Goldar, while "Go Green Ranger Go" plays. The battle sees Tommy gain possession of Goldar's device (which was used to play the video), and he uses it to send Goldar away. So that's one problem solved. The other was how to get out of where he was, but Tommy figures out that it's a time device, and after some fooling around, Tommy meets that same vision again, who gives Tommy his communicator, allowing Tommy to teleport out of the Otherworld. Tommy meets with his friends in Billy's lab, where they are trying to gain contact with Alpha and Zordon. They finally do; Alpha appears, and it's followed by Zordon telling the Rangers that the Green Crystal had to be destroyed, and only a non-Ranger can do it. Tommy volunteers, adding that he had a personal score to settle.

Tommy arrives, grabs the crystal, and like the boss he is, smashes it to pieces. As a result, the Dark Rangers are no more, and the teens are sent out of the Otherworld. Zedd cannot believe what has happened. Tommy's response:

"You lost, Zedd! You should know by now, you don't mess with the Power Rangers!"

Greatest Power Ranger of all time. Prove me wrong, dammit.

With the Crystal gone, the Rangers regain their morphers, and Tommy says he can handle one more fight. The Rangers morph and call their Zords, but Turbanshell remains strong. Four of the Rangers are ejected, with Jason left alone inside Red Dragon. Tommy is set to call Dragonzord, but Zordon tells him that the secret to weakening Turbanshell is the use of heat from the inside, followed by cold from the outside. Which leads to this:

It's Green Ranger's final battle, and he's hiding in a truck full of watermelons. Delicious. Of course, Turbanshell swallows them, and that allows Tommy to fire a laser blaster from inside the monster's stomach. It does as advertised, it weakens Turbanshell. Zack provides the cold in the form of water from a hose, and it does a number on Turbanshell. Tommy's ejected out, and the other Rangers get Thunder Megazord back together and successfully finish off Turbanshell. We see the former Dark Rangers appear, having no memory of what occurred, and it's followed by the group of Rangers actually befriending the former bullies.

As for Tommy, he's no longer the Green Ranger, but this departure sees him really fight his ass off. He was a great help to the Rangers, even without his powers, and he stated that he was once close to giving up, but he realized his true power came from within, and that led him to be vital to the Rangers' quest. Tommy says that he will miss his friends during school break, and the episode ends with the six of them celebrating together one more time.

"Green No More," the 12th and 13th episodes of MMPR's second season, aired on September 27 (Part I) and 28 (Part II), 1994, and served as the farewell to the Green Ranger powers. As I said before, I took this much better than last time because I knew that this end was permanent. In addition, Tommy did not go down without a fight. I said this before as well: Tommy Oliver was an all-in guy. I always hated it when he would be told to sit back due to his power situation. Sitting back and hitting the pine was not Tommy's style. You think he gave any damns that he was running on low?! Absolutely not! Even if his proverbial gauge was just two steps away from reaching E, Tommy would get in there.

Let's look at Tommy Oliver's scorecard here. He fought Turbanshell in the Otherworld, beat down Goldar, freed himself from the Otherworld, destroyed the Green Crystal--thus releasing the Command Center's stranglehold and ending the Dark Rangers before they can begin, and played a vital role in taking down Turbanshell. All of this was done with Tommy's powers being low, and most of it was done after he was tapped out! I know GOATs when I see one. I watched Patrick Roy for years. Tommy Oliver is the Patrick Roy of the Power Rangers. Again, prove me wrong.

Oh, and remember, this is a farewell to the Green Ranger. Tommy will be back very shortly, and that's another story for another time.

I mentioned "The Song of Guitardo" earlier. At episode's end, Kimberly and Zack perform a special song for Tommy, who was feeling down about the impending end of his powers. This clip was replayed in the Once & Always special film as a tribute to not only Jason David Frank, but also Thuy Trang, the two original core Rangers that we sadly lost over the years. Here's the clip below.