Power Rangers In Space

THIS is what you watch Zordon Era for. All those episodes of goofing finally come to this and this is worth every second of it… well most seconds of it. I can’t recommend In Space enough except that the main satisfaction of the season comes from the fact you just sat through every other episode of Zordon Era to get to it and saw how characters like Bulk and Skull developed.

Side note this is my favourite of this era’s themes.

I really love Astronema there’s so much developed with her, but she’s such a striking villain in the start and goes really well with the space theming. While I liked her being over the top, my favourite parts were her interactions with Ecliptor, though it really highlighted how young and naive she was. The other thing was her romantic subplot with Zhane, short as it was, I absolutely lost it for her shooting an arrow directly at him with a love note attached to it. It was heart-breaking seeing her going from realising who she is to being reprogrammed to be completely evil. Taking it away from just being controlled though, and actually having it be her becoming completely evil is an interesting way to go with it, as it means she’s going to only chase her own ambition and no one else’s.

Off from Astronema though, her dad, Ecliptor, is one of my absolute favourite characters in all of Power Rangers. I’m big weak for dad characters who care about their kids. I find it especially interesting how with Ecliptor it’s just his abusive ex, Darkonda, dumped this kid on him and disappeared after being particularly awful. Darkonda is a real piece of work, and I really felt for Ecliptor when he comes back to try and win over Astronema just to use her. Ecliptor knows what he’s doing too and is just left somewhat helpless with Astronema not listening to him. Honestly, there is no injustice like Ecliptor being wiped out along with the forces of evil in the universe. He may of been evil but he put his daughter at the forefront of everything and would of probably given it up for her sake. Justice for Ecliptor please. He was also just incredibly cool and powerful.

The entire thing of Darkonda forcing Ecliptor to fuse with him was horrifying, this is a kids show but it does kind of work in for a pseudo rape metaphor.

Andros is a really nice change in red rangers for this era; he’s got that lone sixth ranger vibe at the start which is really interesting to play with for a red. Having him learning to accept the other rangers and take his place as their leader was really good, and it was a good way to show clear development with him. Him being in charge made sense as he is the most experienced with space, so it didn’t feel to have him in that position instead of one of the existing rangers. We also get a good reason for why he acts alone and was so unsure about working as a team with learning what happened to Zhane. It really works to actually develop the character.

Also his hair looks like a rolo.

Mostly what I remember of Zhane is that he was just the greatest deus exmachina they could get. Got any issue? Zhane will drive in an somehow fix it because he’s Zhane and he can do what he wants.

But other than Ecliptor, my favourite part of this season was Bulk and Skull in the finale. After watching them grow from playground bullies, this was the best send off we could give them. They believe in the rangers, and refer to the rangers, despite not knowing their identities, as their friends now. The scene of them in this ruined city trying to bring back faith in the power rangers, having them look death in the eye and say they’ll defend the rangers with their lives if they have to. Bulk and Skull haven’t let the rangers be someone who protects them, they’ve made them the people that inspire them to be better every day. They’ve got braver and will stand up for them and nothing could come more naturally to them. Now they’re prepared to fight alongside the rangers, even though they are just regular humans. It’s so powerful and I’m so glad, that alone makes me recommend these seasons.

Please, do this for this series, it is so good and I fell completely in love with it.