This one has been a long time coming, but here is the other half to the Power Rangers Turbo update.
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Despite the promise
Power Rangers Turbo showed in its theatrical outing, fan reception to this season is mixed. Again, the nature of its corresponding Super Sentai,
Gekisou Sentai Carranger, made it difficult for the writers of the show to depict as serious children’s entertainment especially after the dark nature of the feature film. The general consensus among fandom is that Turbo is...confusion as it darker than
Zeo[, but the slapstick nature of the original Sentai undermined the underlying theme of adulthood and the challenges of the real world. It was also a time of transition was the team’s mentor and technical help, Zordon and Alpha 5 also quietly departed the show to return to Eltar, though Zordon’s capture and the search for him served as the impetus for the following season,
Power Rangers Mega Force. However, it would be Billy Cranston who would step in the role as the team’s advisor and technical support. At one point during Zeo, David Yost had considered leaving the series due to the harassment he had received on set. In fact, the two-part episode “Rangers of Two Worlds” had Billy leave the team in its early drafts but Jason David Frank’s on air apology and the promise of a bigger role in Turbo. Additionally, the restoration of his Triceratops powers only held crossover potential, ultimately did not happen until the conclusion of Mega Force.
Meanwhile, Jason David Frank and Catherine Sutherland both expressed their desire to leave, Frank having been with the show since it’s inaugural season. Tommy Oliver was and remains the most popular Ranger, and his departure left some big boots to fill. Writing Frank and Sutherland out was fairly simple; shortly after their graduation from Angel Grove High, Kat receives an offer to train to become a ballerina in London, however that would require her to move overseas. Kat made it clear that she intends to take this opportunity, leaving Tommy with a conundrum as his long-distance relationship with Kimberly did not work out. By “Passing of the Torch” and after much soul searching, Tommy decides to move with Kat and focus on his martial arts. His replacement was probably the most polarizing topic as his successor was none other than Ryan Steele from Saban’s other tokusatsu-derived series,
VR Troopers.
Some fans loved it because it established continuity between both series (and VR Troopers arch-nemesis, Grimlord would later appear as a member of the United Alliance of Evil.) Others thought the producers were trying to shoehorn a character from another series that was a dubious choice. The truth was that the producers wanted to cast Brad Hawkins into Power Rangers and he was original choice to play the Gold Zeo Ranger, but scheduling conflicts prevented him from taking the role and it went to Austin St. John. In any case, fans warmed up to Ryan after Turbo when he became the Black Ranger in Mega Force. Interestingly, though Ryan deferred to the Red Mega Ranger, Andros (played by American-born Super Sentai veteran, Kane Kosugi), he was still the de facto leader as the case was for Mega Force’s Super Sentai counterpart, Denji Sentai Megaranger.
Fans responded more positively to Kat’s replacement, Ashley Hammond (played by Tracy Lynn Cruz), who was outspoken, fiery tempered, and loved to play video games… just like a certain hostess of a popular gaming show at the other time. Showrunner Judd Lynn later admitted that idea for the character came from a writer that was fan of their show; they wanted to make a Pink Ranger different from Kimberly or Kat. Ashley Hammond was very much representative of the growing “girl power” movement in children’s media popular with both boys and girls. She often ranks behind Kimberly as the best Pink Ranger among Power Rangers fans. Her first appearances were fairly low key with non-speaking cameos in the first episodes, and later appearing as a cheerleader one of at Adam’s soccer games.
Ryan’s introduction in “Passing of the Torch” was more of an event, with Divatox approaching Karl Ziktor (AKA Grimlord) who had moved his operations to Angel Grove. The show never offered an explanation for the move, but a mysterious figure representing the United Alliance of Evil promises him an empire in both the real and cyber worlds in exchange for his assistance. This is actually foreshadowed in “The Millennium Message” where Grimlord appears with Rita, Zedd, the House of Gadgetry, and Divatox in the Blue Senturion’s message to the Rangers. The Rangers bring attention to this fact, and wonder who this mysterious foe is though those who watched VR Troopers knew. Grimlord tells Divatox that they need to destroy their leader and the “rest of the team would fall” so the Pirhanatrons and Grimlord’s mutants attack Tommy and Kat on route to their camp site. What neither Grimlord nor Divatox anticipated was Ryan Steele’s arrival.
Ryan who saw them under attack at a nearby rest stop, assists Tommy and Kat despite the (unexplained) loss of his Trooper powers. Meanwhile, the other three Rangers come under attack one of Divatox’s monsters, who knocks their keys away. Ashley coincidentally shows up to distract the monster and says what will become a meme that would echo for years afterward: “I know Street Fighter.”[1] Despite what one would think of the cheerleader, Ashley proves herself a capable fighter and even uses a Sega Saturn controller as a lariat to buy the Rangers enough time to morph and force it into retreat. At the end of the two-parter, Tommy and Kat announce their departure from the team and name Ryan and Ashley their replacements. It was bittersweet seeing one of the longest-serving and most beloved Ranger leave, but it could’ve been worse. Despite what many thought about Ryan, we got a veteran and a capable leader and Ashley brought some needed new blood into the team.
Series’ villain, Divatox is nearly universally despised by the fanbase because of whining and petulance. Many (including
History of Power Rangers producer Lewis Lovhaug) particularly hate how she chewed the scenery with her tantrums who had no real good reason for wanting conquering Earth, being a pirate and was generally as ineffective as her henchmen, the Pirahnatrons. Personally, I disagree, call me corny but I love villains who act in an exaggerated manner. I personally found her tantrums as amusing as Rita Repulsa’s headaches. Most fans consider Grimlord to be the superior villain is it was his strategies that lead to the Rangers’ defeat at the end of the season with him leading the charge into the Power Chamber. However, Divatox, living up to her name, takes credit for his victory. As competent as Grimlord was, he lacked much in the way of personality compared to Rita and Lord Zedd.
And then there’s Bulk and Skull, the unsung heroes of the Zordon era. It appears that the writers and producers did not know what to do with them for the first half of the season. First Divatox’s annoying nephew, Elgar, devolves them into chimpanzees, then returns them to human form albeit invisible, and then has them doing odd jobs for the rest of the season until they finally land jobs as security guards for NASADA in the final episodes of the season. The producers didn’t give them much development until the final thirteen episodes where they acted as the Power Rangers’ secret keepers and Bulk even expressed his resentment that the Rangers got all the recognition when their good deeds went unnoticed. The peak of their character development came at the season finale “Chase Into Space” where the duo have their “Big Damn Heroes” moment when Divatox and Grimlord’s forces lay siege to the Power Chamber. Through little confusion fu and old-fashioned badassery when they pick up the enemy’s weapons and fire, they give the Rangers a chance to escape. Personally, I found it amusing when Divatox mistook them for “great warriors” (Grimlord knew better, though) and decided to bring them before “Dark Spectre.”
Turbo ended on what had to be the most depressing note of any Power Rangers’ series. It starts with a seemingly pointless news bulletin of the new NASADA shuttle prepping for launch, but quickly turns darker when Zordon informs the Rangers that his homeworld and source of the their power, Eltar, is under attack. The situation escalates when Divatox and Grimlord summon the Goldgoyle, which destroys both Megazords and their weapons. Things get worse when they learn Eltar fell to the forces of the United Alliance of Evil. Though the Rangers insist on helping, Zordon and Billy veto them because it would leave the world defenseless. Strangely, this did not make much sense to me at the time. Mega Force would later establish that the Dinozord powers were from Earth and not Eltar, so it made sense for the Turbo Rangers to go instead of the Mighty Morphin’ Rangers. However, this was in fact a gambit on Billy and Zordon’s part, which would come into fruition next season.
Divatox and Grimlord then begin their siege on the Power Chamber, and oh boy is it a desperate battle with Pirhanatrons and Mutants rappelling in. Despite their spirited defense, Elgar sets the explosives and destroys the chamber. It is also worth noting that Johnny Yong Bosch decided to leave at the end of the season (and would later follow Steve Cardenas into voice acting), so the blast also injured Adam. Before Divatox or Grimlord could finish them off though, a ghostly head to inform them that the Alliance captured Zordon and the other rangers and also summons them to the Samarian Planet on orders from Dark Spectre himself. Both villains (reluctantly) withdrawal. However, Alpha 6 gives them the black box, which gives them instructions to go NASADA where sneak aboard the shuttle to purse Divatox and Grimlord to outer space.
Overall, Power Rangers fans view Turbo as one of its better seasons and is a mainstay of many fans’ “Top Ten” lists despite the regular veering into slapstick thanks to Carranger. It started with massive spike in ratings in the wake of the film, which remained higher than Zeo’s (though ratings took a slight dip when Frank and Sutherland departed) and the season cliffhanger excited the fanbase for Mega Force, which Fox touted as “The end of Power Rangers as we know it.” Some fans, mostly fans of Jason David Frank, had a particular loathing for this season and of Ryan Steele in particular, who declared him an inferior copy. Frank and Brad Hawkins often banter that the latter always seems to follow the former. Indeed, the
Cybertron pilot Frank filmed for Saban in 1993 was the forerunner for VR Troopers starring Hawkins and Hawkins replaced Frank as the red ranger, but it was always a lighthearted “rivalry” if one could call it that. Despite fan gripes over the departures of one of its most beloved characters and lacklustre villain in Divatox, Turbo offered a compelling, if not dark, storyline with suspense and compelling characters. With ratings and expectations high, the franchise would fly higher than ever before.
-from the blog "The Musing Platypus" by B. Ronning, March 29, 2012
[1] Another trope namer.
