Power Rangers Review: "White Light"

It's been a few minutes since I last wrote a Power Rangers review, but I know where I left off. For those of you who remember, I don't do every episode, just the stand out moments, and the franchise has had quite a few. The last review I wrote covered the permanent end of the Green Ranger, and as I said before, I took this much better than I did regarding the candle in Season One, because this time, there was no way out, no Plan B. Tommy received mentions following the end of the "Green No More" arc, with a big one coming in the following episode, "Missing Green," which centered on Jason's guilt and self-blame regarding Tommy losing his powers.

It was an interesting period, seeing the five of them on their own against Zedd. It also included "Beauty and the Beast," the mostly peculiar episode where Zedd wanted a queen by his side, and decided on Kimberly. Good grief. I actually considered writing a review on that episode, but I'll be honest, my only reason would have been Kimberly's hilarious impression of Rita. That's it. So it was mostly quiet following the end of the Green Ranger.

And then, as Jim Ross says, business started picking up:

Part I

Part I opens with Kimberly approaching Billy and Trini with great news: Tommy's returning. The trio plan a surprise party for Tommy, but elsewhere, Zedd has his own plans for the former Green Ranger. We see Jason and Zack playing football with Curtis and the other guys, but back at the Command Center, we see Zordon and Alpha talking about a secret mission--one that actually requires the pair to head to their chamber and actually shut down the Command Center. Well, maybe "shut down" is too strong of a phrase. Basically, it's the equivalent of when a laptop or phone just goes to sleep.

Descriptions aside, Zedd notices this.

"I detect a weakness in the morphing grid," Zedd says.

Goldar does some chest pounding, but Zedd shuts that down, adding that the morphing grid's balance is maintained by the constant struggle between himself and Zordon.

"Maybe Zordon gave up," Goldar says, somehow making even Bills fans less delusional by comparison.

Zedd decides to use this opportunity to do two things: one, unleash his new monster, Nimrod, the Scarlet Sentinel. And two, he decides that he'll take Tommy and return him to the side of evil, as Zedd's heir. Cue little Dougie with the "Simpsons Did It!" line.

Meanwhile, Bulk and Skull are on their latest nutty quest to find the Power Rangers' identities. They're in stakeout mode, and Skull is hoping for something that will lead them on the right track. A "sign," if you will. Right after Skull's statement, something crash-lands right near them, and the duo heads to the site. Skull now has trepidations.

He should:

Well, that's not good at all. Rita Repulsa's dumpster. That's what crash-landed on Earth. Oh boy. Of course, Bulk and Skull pick it up and take it with them; all the while, Rita slept through the entire landing. Later on, Zack sees the statue (the very statue that is used to create Nimrod) is, by his words, "major funky." His attempt to contact Zordon fails, so he contacts Jason and Billy, who join Zack and the girls. This does not please Zedd, because unlike most of his monsters, Nimrod is a slow burn, needs time to prepare, and the Rangers' appearance came when Nimrod isn't close to being finished.

The Putties are sent by Zedd, and the Rangers defeat them, but they are stunned that they couldn't contact Zordon. The quintet enters the Command Center, which is dark as hell with the lights out. The Command Center isn't the only thing that's disconnected, as the Two-Man Powerless Trip known as Bulk and Skull are trying their damnedest to open Rita's dumpster. Meanwhile, Zedd (tired of waiting) fast cooks Nimrod, and she's all ready to go, oh man. We later see a brief glimpse of Tommy, as he's finished taking a swim, but he's suddenly taken. As Billy searches for something in the Command Center, the chaos is heard, and the Rangers morph into action. The Thunderzords come into play once Nimrod reaches economy size, and when Thunder Megazord's formed, Nimrod introduces her henchmen, AC and DC, making things a little hot in the proverbial kitchen.

Billy exits, and returns to the Command Center, searching for the hidden door of light he discovered earlier. He finds it, and stumbles into the chamber, out of sight from Zordon and Alpha. What Billy sees surprises him immensely, and Part I ends with these five words from the Blue Ranger:

"They're making a new Ranger?!"

Part II

Yes, young William, they are making a new Ranger, and Part II kicks off with the continued preparation. Billy continues to beam over this, and rushes to tell the others. Meanwhile, Zedd's celebrating, he's winning his battle, and boasts that he'll defeat the Rangers with Zordon out of commission. As for Billy, he tells the others about the new Ranger being created, which shocks the rest of them. They all ask follow-ups, but Billy says that the Ranger's creation is all he knows.

Zack's relieved, saying that they need all the help they can get, but the relief turns into indignation very quickly. Kimberly asks why Tommy couldn't have received these new powers, and Zack and Trini aren't too thrilled about some random person joining the team. Jason brings some reality to the situation, stating that Zordon has his reasons, and Billy reminds the rest of the Rangers that Zedd's monsters are immensely more powerful than Rita's, and based on that alone, they need a new Ranger.

Zordon and Alpha complete the finishing touches, and it's announcement time! The Rangers are summoned, and the moment of truth has arrived.

"Remember: Zordon and Alpha know what they're doing," Billy says, and he's right. The Rangers teleport to the Command Center, and Zordon greets them:

"Welcome, Power Rangers. This promises to be a momentous occasion. You are about to meet the newest member of your team. As you are aware, the Green Ranger's power was completely decimated by his last few battles. Alpha and I felt it was time to create a more powerful Ranger to combat against Lord Zedd and his diabolical evil. To that end, a candidate was selected, and a new Power Ranger was created."

The Rangers drink in the announcement before Zordon says the words that changes the game:

"And now my friends, I present to you... the White Ranger."

I remember watching the White Ranger presentation and being in such awe of this. The way that White Ranger made a slow landing in front of the other Rangers, and I also liked the look (and still do). I still, to this day, remain partial to Green Ranger's look with that big gold shield, but I also liked what looked like a vest on White Ranger. In addition, the mix of white, black, and gold was very cool, and I also thought it was very awesome that a new color was added to the Ranger spectrum.

"White Ranger, the time has come to reveal your identity," Zordon commands. The helmet is slowly being removed, and we see Kimberly faint as the other Rangers beam.

I was beaming, too:

"Guess who's back?"

Allow me to give the proper exclamation: HE'S BACK, BABY!!!

Tommy Oliver, back in the saddle again, this time as the White Ranger. Jason, Trini, Zack, and Billy congratulate Tommy; Zordon chuckles in benevolent fashion, loving the camaraderie. We later see Tommy approach Kimberly, who is starstruck. So not only is Tommy back, but as Zordon himself stated, he's the new leader of the Power Rangers. Oh boy! Zordon stated the secret nature was to prevent Zedd's interference. Kimberly asked how it was possible due to Tommy's powers being gone, with Alpha explaining that it was the Green Ranger's powers that were gone, and that Tommy proved himself worthy and true, and his courage, strength, and honor made him worthy of being the White Ranger.

As the pair also revealed, the new powers come with a new Zord--the White Tigerzord, as well as a new sword: Saba, a vocal weapon who will assist Tommy in piloting the Zord. The good times are interrupted by the alarm, as Nimrod is on the attack. That's not all, folks, as Alpha informs the sextet that Tweedledee and Tweedledumbass are about to open Rita's dumpster. Zordon sends Billy and Trini to repair the damaged Zords, Jason, Kim, and Zack are sent to prevent Rita's dumpster from being opened, and as for Tommy, he's going in action against Nimrod.

Tommy, in his first battle as the White Ranger, summons Tigerzord. We are treated to one of the funniest moments in PR history; upon seeing his new toy, Tommy jumps for joy like I did on the evening of June 26, 2022. However, Tigerzord does crash a bit, but Tommy (with Saba) manages to get on track.

"Sorry, I never had a partner before," says Tommy, who had been White Ranger for five minutes and he's already acting like Dragonzord never existed.

Tommy gives the command to convert Tigerzord into Warrior Mode. That's right, folks! Similar to the Red Dragon Thunderzord, the White Tigerzord has a Warrior Mode, and it's amazing. The battle goes well at first, but Nimrod unleashes AC and DC, and the White Ranger is outmatched. Tigerzord ends up back in tiger form, Tommy's ejected, and he needs backup. Jason's contacted, and the other Zords appear. First, Red Dragon's Warrior Mode rides Tigerzord, but after that brief connection, Tommy enters and prepares a new bad-ass combination:

Tigerzord converts to Warrior Mode, but something new is added. A few new things, to be exact. After Tigerzord shifts, we see the Thunderzord Assault Team (Lion, Firebird, Unicorn, and Griffin) appear, and they connect with Tigerzord to form the awesome Mega-Tigerzord. I loved Mega-Tigerzord, but I hated that we only saw this combination in two episodes. Nimrod and her goons cannot do a thing with Mega-Tigerzord, who fires the Firebird from his fist, and sends her though the trio, destroying them. After the monsters are defeated, Red Dragon approaches Mega-Tigerzord, shakes hands in gratitude, and they stand together. Epic!

Meanwhile, Laurel and Fool-Hardy are still trying to open Rita's dumpster, while still being unaware of what it is. At that moment, Rita does emerge and exits the dumpster, and her presence freaks out Bulk and Skull.

"Just what I need: a human Squatt and Baboo," says Rita, who is later caught by the Rangers, who place her back in the dumpster, and it's being sent back into space. She'll be back, folks, and that is definitely another story for another time.

"White Light" served as the 17th and 18th episodes of Season Two, and aired on October 17 (Part I) and 18th (Part II), 1994. Of course, this landmark two-parter brought Tommy Oliver back as the White Ranger, serving as the leader of the Rangers for the next four seasons. This was an amazing moment, I remember being glued to my set on both days, and actually talking about this with other kids at school. Tommy's White Ranger debut was epic, and I loved seeing Tigerzord as part of the Zord collection.

For years, I've noticed a big difference in Tommy's demeanor from when he was the Green Ranger and when he was the White Ranger. In his speech, Zordon had stated that the White Ranger powers came goodness, and can't be taken away by the forces of evil. I think that was the difference. When Tommy was the Green Ranger, he was a bit on the brash side, he had an edge to him. I think those edges were ironed out when he became the White Ranger, and Tommy would go on to become one hell of a leader, especially after the MMPR core "Original Six" was departing.

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