Power Rangers Review: "The Mutiny: Part II"

Even now, 30 years later, I still fondly remember this three-part arc that kicked off the second season of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. It was absolutely epic, legendary, and iconic for sure, and every time I rewatch all three parts, my inner nine-year-old beams with joy. Part I, of course, featured the debut of Lord Zedd, who was the higher-up of Rita Repulsa and her minions. Within moments, he ejected Rita from the palace due to her constant failure to defeat the Power Rangers, all while Goldar, in the immortal words of the late, great Godfather of Soul himself, "sold her out for chicken change."

The Power Rangers were informed about Zedd's return, and they and Zordon figured that it would be one hell of an uphill battle. They found that out quick; even the Putties were difficult, but they braved through that. Zedd's first monster, Pirantishead, made a massive impact, as after the Zords were called out, he froze four of them. Holy moley!

And now, on to Part II.

The Rangers began the episode with only the Tyrannosaurus left in their arsenal, so they worked together to call on the power of their one remaining Zord. Lord Zedd watches over everything, and loves what he sees, only for Goldar to remind Zedd that Tyrannosaurus is still loose. However, Zedd states that it's part of his plan, and he instructs Pirantishead to turn Tyrannosaurus against them. The monster does so with the use of his fish flute, and just like that, Tyrannosaurus goes after the Rangers, who are left stunned by this development.

Jason states that Dragonzord's their only hope, and at that moment, we see Tommy being recharged by Zordon (due to the Z-Putty battle draining a good bit of his powers). Tommy joined the other Rangers and called Dragonzord, who fought against the mesmerized Tyrannosaurus. Upon seeing this, Zedd says, "I might as well just take Dragonzord, too, while I'm at it." That line, oh my God. Reminds me of those rich businessmen who see a small company and go, "Oh, what the hell; I'll take that, too."

So now Dragonzord's under the evil control, too, and now, the Rangers are screwed. Attempts to get into the Zords' controls failed miserably, and that forced the sextet to retreat. At the Command Center, the Rangers looked down and out, only for Zordon to inform the Rangers that they would need new Zords with the power of thunder to battle against Zedd. Alpha then leads the Rangers outside the Command Center, and it was at this point that these bad boys were presented:

There they are, folks: the new and powerful Thunderzords. Zordon presented the Thunderzords in the following order: Jason would pilot the Red Dragon Thunderzord, Trini was presented with the Griffin Thunderzord, Zack received the Lion Thunderzord, Billy would be presented with the Unicorn Thunderzord, and finally, Kimberly received the Firebird Thunderzord. Similar to the Dinozords, these five Thunderzords would join together to form the Thunder Megazord.

Notice I said "five" Thunderzords. There are six Rangers. What about Tommy? Kimberly asked this, and Alpha gave the answer we all figured he would. Tommy's powers were too unstable, and it was not known if he would be fully powered enough to have a Zord of his own. Of course, Tommy, being the gentleman that he is, said that he knew this would happen and it was OK. The Rangers were in awe of the Thunderzords, but first thing's first. They had to gain control of the Dinozords first, leading Billy to state that he could create a signal blocker that could do just that.

Billy and Trini were tasked with this, meanwhile, Bulk and Skull were having a devil of a time getting back to the rally. As for the other four Rangers, they see Pirantishead wreaking havoc and they decide that they needed to stop him somehow. Zordon originally protested this, adding that they would be at Zedd's mercy without their Zords, but after learning that the signal blocker wasn't fully ready yet, Zordon had no choice but to send the remaining Rangers back into battle. Upon seeing the four Rangers, Zedd sends the Z-Putties after the quartet, with Jason reminding Zack, Kimberly, and Tommy to aim for the "Z" on their chests.

The battle turns out better than the first time, and it includes a cool moment where Tommy helps Jason take down one of the Z-Putties. As for Zedd, he sends Pirantishead to go after Bulk and Skull, and the monster does so by using his fish flute to cause their bikes to go backwards and out of control. The Z-Putties are defeated, but they later have to deal with not only Pirantishead, but also Tyrannosaurus and Dragonzord, as they are still under the monster's evil control. Jason calls Zordon regarding the Thunderzords, only to be informed that they are only on standby and cannot be called upon until they get control of their old Zords, and the signal blocker is still not finished yet.

Part II of "The Mutiny" aired on Friday evening, July 29, 1994 on Fox, and it was this episode that we would see the Thunderzords for the first time, but only via presentation. I still remember how stunned I was when I saw Tyrannosaurus and later Dragonzord fall under Pirantishead's control, that was a crazy shocker for sure. Seeing the Thunderzords for the first time was amazing, and I knew that we'd see them in action on the following week. I also knew that Tommy would be (for the interim) left out due to his powers being up and down, but we know what would happen with Tommy next, and it will all be covered later.

The episode had its good moments, serving as a good bridge between the opener and the conclusion, which stood out oh so well. But once again, that is definitely another story for another time!

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