POWER RANGERS IN SPACE is Morphinominal

Well, I’ve now watched Power Rangers In Space. This series is often seen as the best season out of the originals and there’s a reason for that. It’s really good. Now, I have a lot of thoughts on the season, but I want to start by saying that overall, it is incredible for a Power Rangers show.

The season features five Rangers with unique colors, visors, and weapons which are all big pluses in my book. All of those help the Rangers feel unique both in and out of their morphed states. Just like previous Rangers before, the veteran characters were also a lot better in this season. They no longer had to merely replace a hole left by their predecessor. This is the closest to a clean slate we would get since the show started before Lost Galaxy.

The season has a very strong start with the villains gathering for a party to discuss their nefarious plots. We get to see old villains like Rita and Zedd, King Mondo, and we see Divatox is there after being summoned at the end of Turbo. We are also introduced to this season’s main villain Astronema. There’s also a cloaked figure who turns out to be the Red In Space Ranger spying on the villains. Eventually, he is found out and after some flashy fighting is able to escape on a cool hoverboard called a galaxy glider. Meanwhile, the old Rangers end up aboard a strange spaceship that ends up belonging to the Red Ranger, Andros. After resolving some trust issues, the original four are able to eventually convince Andros that they’re Power Rangers and he needs their help and they become the other four In Space Rangers with TJ as Blue, Carlos as Black, Ashley reprising Yellow, and Cassie returning to Pink. The first two episodes are probably the strongest start to a season yet.

We then start having problems. Throughout the season, the main episodes that continue the story are actually really good usually. However, the more filler-esque episodes are terrible. “Shell Shocked” was a crossover with Ninja Turtles: The Next Mutation and is horrendous. There are even a few where the Rangers return to Angel Grove High School even though who knows how long its been since they took off in the shuttle and no one seems to bat an eye when they see the ex-Turbo Rangers return after being missing for a while. There are a lot of these episodes that just are either bad or meh and it’s a bummer. One episode that isn’t great that I still love though is “Always a Chance.” I’ll be honest, I really don’t like Carlos very much. However, this episode sees Johnny Yong Bosch returning and that’s still really cool to me. Seeing him morph into the Black Mighty Morphin Ranger even though it could destroy him is still an incredible moment to me.

The villains are typically pretty good in In Space, too. Astronema is good and I like the struggle we see in her as she finds out that Andros is her brother. That is an interesting story and I like how they develop that and then program her to be evil in order to get her to be the villain for the rest of the episode. Ecliptor is a pretty cool general figure, too. I like his design. Darkonda is a good villain too. I hate him, but he’s a good villain. Also, the Quantrons are freaking amazing! The best foot soldier to date. They look amazing and their weapons are the coolest! Sadly, Elgar is in this season, but luckily he’s in and out. Dark Specter is fine, but the fact that he looks like Maligor from Turbo: A Power Rangers Movie is a little confusing and his voice is a little on the ridiculous side. Finally, the Psycho Rangers. They are incredible in my opinion and really help the season. They’re evil Power Rangers that Astronema is able to use to drain Dark Specter of his powers as she orchestrates to take over as the biggest bad. The constant threat that the Psycho Rangers present as being able to easily bring the Power Rangers down really creates a sense of danger not really present in many parts of previous seasons.

Overall, I think the overarching story is great, the villains are mostly fantastic, and the Rangers have grown to be cooler and deeper. However, there are problems. I already talked about how bad some episodes are, but I just really want to bring up “Carlos on Call” and “Andros and the Stowaway” as terrible episodes. I am especially annoyed at how Carlos takes Silvy into space without her having any kind of protective gear. No air or anything and she gets to go to the moons of Jupiter no problem. What? “Andros and the Stowaway” is just full of an annoying alien creature. I also am very confused about the Megaship. Somehow, the space shuttle the Rangers take to find Zordon is compatible with the Megaship in order to create the megazord. Wow, that’s extremely lucky. What if it had been a different shuttle? Can it just use any space shuttle? I also don’t like how it takes until the Mega Voyager for the Rangers to get individual Zords, but I do like the Mega Voyager a lot. It’s weird how underutilized it is in the season. They get it and then will still constantly not use it.

Let’s also talk about Zhane, the Silver Ranger. I remember loving him as a kid. I still love the Super Silverizer. It’s a cool weapon. Zhane the character is even ok although he’s not in it very much and after a couple episodes ends up just popping up when it’s very convenient for the Rangers. Sadly, most of his lines are delivered either blandly or annoyingly.

One last gripe I have is the structure of the last few episodes. “The Impenetrable Web” is really good at establishing how much trouble the Rangers are in. The Mega Voyager is basically destroyed and the Delta Megazord is destroyed. This really puts pressure on the Rangers. However, the next episode, they’re seemingly just doing normal things again. In the end the Mega Voyager is destroyed by Tankenstein, but most of the episode just feels out of place with the sense of urgency and danger we’re given in the previous episode.

The final two episodes though are absolutely fantastic leading to a moment where the Rangers have almost lost their powers and the citizens of Angel Grove resist Astronema and led by Bulk and Skull stand up for the Rangers. This is a very moving moment. Then, the Rangers (minus Andros) reveal themselves to the citizens and morph. Bulk and Skull then lead the citizens in the fight against evil. HOLY COW! AMAZING!

I greatly enjoyed a lot of the more horror inspired elements brought into In Space and the heightened levels of suspense and danger that it brought to the table. With the Psycho Rangers around, the Rangers couldn’t use their communicators, morph, and at one point even talk! In addition, “The Barillian Sting” is one of the episodes that I remembered from childhood. It stuck in my mind because of how terrifying it was. Also, on a more technical level, it was interesting to see the show use 30 frames per second on some of the shots, typically on the Megaship. I noticed it right away and it took me back a bit. I just wish they could’ve used it a bit more.

So, where does In Space land on my ranking? I think I have to give in and recognize just how incredible it is. I think I might like Zeo more on a personal level, but I think it truly does deserve the top spot.

Current Power Rangers Ranking:

1. Power Rangers In Space

2. Power Rangers Zeo

3. Power Rangers Beast Morphers Season 1

4. Mighty Morphin Power Rangers Season 3

5. Mighty Morphin Power Rangers Season 2

6. Mighty Morphin Power Rangers Season 1

7. Power Rangers S.P.D.

8. Power Rangers Turbo