POWER RANGERS LIGHTSPEED RESCUE Is Like a Power Rangers Soap Opera

Power Rangers Lightspeed Rescue was interesting. It was the Power Rangers adaptation of Kyuukyuu Sentai GoGoFive and introduced the first American Ranger, the Titanium Ranger. That’s the extent of my knowledge regarding the Sentai. The season focuses on the Rangers protecting Mariner Bay from the evil demons like Diabolico, Queen Bansheera, and Olympius. The season was probably the most dramatic season I’ve seen yet, and it felt almost like a soap opera. This actually added to the season’s charm a bit for me. I will also say that there was some pretty good acting from the cast although there were definitely some huge duds.

The season definitely broke the mold on a few matters. First, this is the first team of Rangers that did not have secret identities. People knew who the Rangers were and this had to do with them being part of the city’s defense organization. This is a nice change of pace and definitely goes to show that the Rangers having secret identities in previous seasons was stupid. The villains never made personal attacks.

So, the overall theme with the Rangers was emergency services. The Zords were based on things like fire trucks and ambulances. So, who do they get to be these emergency services Rangers? Well, they get a paramedic and a fire fighter for starters. Solid picks. They then get an extreme sports person, an air rodeo pilot, and a scuba diver who helped train marine animals for shows. What!? That’s a bit of a disconnect if you ask me. Also, why was Captain Mitchell keeping tabs on any of these people? I understand he’s basically been training Dana for this, but the others make no sense. I guess I could see something like he’s been keeping an eye on the more promising fire fighters, but that still leaves three random people he’s been keeping an eye on.

In the season, we once again have a season-long crush that keeps coming up. Joel is really crushing hard on Dr. Angela Fairweather all season. There are times when it’s actually sweet and times it gets annoying. The nice thing though is that they let there be some growth there. Most of this growth comes from Angela finally thinking Joel is an okay guy and can be given a chance. Of course, Joel’s crush leads to some really stupid moments to help push the story and to provide comedic relief like when Angela’s brother visits, but Joel thinks he’s her boyfriend. In the end, the two get together, and it’s kind of cute.

Throughout the season the main bad guy keeps shuffling, which helps the show from feeling too stale. Queen Banshesra is also present as the ultimate bad, but the show starts with Diabolico trying to raise her and then he’s defeated, and it moves to Olympius, and then Diabolico returns to cause more trouble. It allows for a lot more of the villain back-and-forth with treachery and backstabbing. On the note of villains though, I did not care for the Batlings at all and Vypra was not only terribly acted but also did pretty much nothing. Ever. One of my favorite moments from the season, though, comes at the end when Diabolico decides he’s had enough with Queen Bansheera, and Loki is a very good friend and loyal. He doesn’t want to kill Loki but is unable to stop Bansheera from forcing him to pull the trigger. This triggers in him a desire to stop Bansheera that trumps his need to destroy the Rangers, and he becomes a useful ally for a very brief moment. This little bit really touched me.

Let’s take a moment to talk about the crossover episode with Lost Galaxy, “Trakeena’s Revenge.” This was a two-parter and, honestly, not a very good episode. For starters, the ADR work for Leo was done by a different actor. I don’t know why this is the case, as Danny Slavin did reprise the role for many scenes, but the voice is very different and just really detracts from the episode. Also, we have a story that involves Trakeena somehow showing up on Earth where she’s draining people of their energy to revive herself. Wasn’t she killed? Also, how did she get to Earth? How did the Lost Galaxy Rangers get to Earth? Have they established communications with Earth? They must’ve since the Rangers know about Mirinoi. Also, why do the Lost Galaxy Rangers come in batches? Why not all come together? That would’ve made a lot more sense. Honestly, the highlight of the episode for me was the little girl trying to find her mom. She finds a Ranger, tells them her story, he believes her, and then she wants to help so bad. She even becomes the first ever Junior Ranger! It’s really cute and sweet.

Let’s go back and talk about the Titanium Ranger. Ryan Mitchell is actually pretty good. He turns out to be Captain Mitchell’s dead son (how did Captain Mitchell not realize that Ryan was going to be coming back when he did since Diabolico explicitly said he’d return on his 20th birthday) that was raised by Diabolico and is briefly an evil Ranger. He eventually comes over to the good side and joins the Rangers. The problem is that since he wasn’t in the Sentai, he doesn’t get to appear in a lot of episodes. They handle this OK by having him go on a quest looking for a way to defeat Queen Bansheera, but the problem is that we don’t really see him ever and only very sporadically get any updates. Also, did he really not have a camera on this trip? It would’ve helped so much instead of hand copying some hieroglyphics. I’m just saying. A camera would’ve been a great tool. He eventually helps the Rangers end the Demons and all is good. Outside of how big some of the gaps were in keeping tabs on him, the overall arc of Ryan was actually pretty good.

Another thing I liked was later in the season, they mostly did away with the morphing sequence. The Rangers would go to morph while fighting or moving, and it created a very interesting visual of allowing the audience to see what bystanders and villains saw. Definitely an interesting choice, and I genuinely liked it, especially with the idea of them jumping through the shields. I think it just added something to it.

This season’s theme was hard for me to pick up on, but if I had to say anything, it’d probably be self-discovery. All the Rangers have at least one episode that focuses on them figuring out who they are. Carter (one of my favorites from the season) learns that Captain Mitchell was the fire fighter he was trying so hard to be and then in that episode learns that trying to be Captain Mitchell isn’t the way to be. He also had another episode where he learned he wasn’t as awesome as he thought and needed to humble himself a little. Chad had to grapple with his identity after his master disowns him. Dana has that whole modeling episode where she learns what’s really important to her. Heck, even Diabolico has that moment at the end where he realizes Bansheera can go suck a lemon.

Lightspeed Rescue is not my favorite season, but it’s not that bad either. The soap opera feel is interesting and creates a bit of charm. While I would’ve liked a stronger central story, the writing wasn’t that bad even if some of the actors were awful (some were quite good though). I’d definitely put this in the middle of the seasons for me.

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. Power Rangers Lightspeed Rescue

6. Mighty Morphin Power Rangers Season 2

7. Mighty Morphin Power Rangers Season 1

8. Power Rangers S.P.D.

9. Power Rangers Turbo

10. Power Rangers Lost Galaxy