Just recently, Netflix released a 55 minute reunion special paying tribute to the Power Rangers season that started it all. Twenty five years after the events of Countdown to Destruction, Rita Repulsa's dark side returns as she creates a time portal to prevent Zordon from recruiting five teenagers with attitude to become the first team of Power Rangers. When Rita uses her staff to kill (not destroy) the Yellow Ranger in Trini, her daughter Minh vows to avenge her mother's death by continuing on the legacy she left behind.
Where do I begin? This was one that I, like many Power Rangers fans, had been looking forward to for over a year. When the announcement came that we would see the MMPR team reunite, I was thrilled. It was the chance to see some of our beloved characters, some of which we haven't seen in decades, in action for what could be their last hurrah; Billy and Zack, the original Blue and Black Rangers respectively make their first appearance in over twenty five years. Now as adults, they coped with the death of their teammate and friend while having to nurture a teenager determined to exact revenge by taking out the villain responsible for Trini's murder.
Although two of the original characters made their returns, Tommy, Jason, Trini, and Kimberly's actors were absent from the special. In a story twist, Rita has captured a majority of Power Rangers spanning from different teams including the latter three characters. Prior to his death, Jason David Frank declined as he announced the retirement of his portrayal as Tommy Oliver. Meanwhile, Amy Jo Johnson was offered to make a return but opted not to due to contract disagreements combined with promoting her latest Power Rangers comic. Austin St. John's legal troubles have prevented him from traveling outside the United States which meant he would be unable to participate in shooting for the episode (the show's film location moved to New Zealand from California since Ninja Storm). Lastly, Thuy Trang who portrayed Trini passed away in 2001 from a car accident, as this special was created to pay tribute to her actress and character. In their place, Steve Cardenas and Catherine Sutherland make their first appearance in nearly 5 years as Rocky and Katherine, the second Red and Pink Rangers respectively.
I understand the criticism in regards to Hollywood's fixation on nostalgia and the negative stigma that tends to rub lifelong fans of beloved IPs the wrong way. The recent anniversary team ups have treated their past Power Rangers like action figures in the background. For instance, in Super Megaforce, the season that celebrated its 20th anniversary, had some of the retro rangers return; Aside from Tommy, the rest of the other characters have minimal screen time, some didn't even have lines at all. Hell, we don't even know what they have been up to since the end of their respective seasons. For its 25th anniversary, Dimensions in Danger, while a tad bit better, suffers the same issue with returning Power Rangers in the background with no impact on the story whatsoever.
For me personally though, I didn't get the sense of that as far as Once & Always is concerned. The special started with a traditional fight between the team and Rita's putties, which leads into the movie's plot. This was effective in a way that grabs the viewers' attention and on the edge of your seat. Barbera Goodson did a fabulous job having reprised her role as the main villain. Though we had our share of dramatic and somewhat darker seasons of Power Rangers, the fact that Rita goes as far as murdering Trini was surreal. When I first learned of the plot surrounding her death, I was a bit concerned how they would handle her death. I thought the writers found a way to incorporate it in a tasteful manner, setting the story one year after and how the rangers including Minh manage to cope with grief.
How does Rita get revived? While her counterpart, Mystic Mother from Mystic Force remains present, it instead resurrects Rita's evil doppelganger, this time in her robotic form. It would be revealed that Billy conducted an incantation to revive Zordon after sacrificing himself to eradicate the United Alliance of Evil once and for all. That backfired and his failed resurrection came with a price. Admittedly, I oppose Zordon being revived in any capacity. Without him doing what he did, the United Alliance would have gone on to triumph over the Power Rangers in their path to conquer not only Earth, but the entire universe that was out there. It would've been a different timeline and this decision would've irked me as a fan. On the bright side, I'm glad that didn't happen.
It was very nice to see Rocky and Kat back in action. While we last saw them in Dimensions in Danger in 2018, we barely had any screen time with the two. Unlike their previous appearance, we actually get to see them do something and actually take part in the special. It turns out Rocky has become a firefighter whereas Kat is a stay at home mother raising a son alongside Tommy (retconning the flash forward scene of them as grandparents in Zeo) Though they didn't have much of an arc throughout, they did a fine job in their roles and did what they needed to do.
They weren't the only other favorites to return. We do see Adam and Aisha back on screen as they have since become space cadets traveling across the universe. According to executive showrunner Simon Bennett, it's an intergalactic organization which serves as a prelude to Space Patrol Delta. While it's great to see the former Black and Yellow Rangers, I wish we got to see them interact with our heroes more. I'm curious as to what made them decide on traveling the galaxy, and how SPA came to be (as of this blog, there is no acronym to what it stands for). Last time we saw Aisha, she stayed behind in Africa to help raise animals during the middle of a time paradox that saw the Power Rangers turned into kids. I would love to see a sequel for Once & Always down the road that expands on that. Given how convoluted of a mess the Alien Rangers arc was, I can't blame the writers for not touching on that subject.
The production team did a wonderful job recreating Ernie's Juice Bar from the Youth Center. We never got to see a wide range shot so when I looked at a behind the scenes screenshot, I was amazed. I suppose it was replaced with the Surf Spot hangout from In Space but it appears it's still around after all of these years. We did have a brief fight scene with Rocky and Zack (the first time we get to see them interact) which, although passable I wasn't feeling it with Rocky's performance. It plays out like a standard unmorphed fight that made Power Rangers, well, Power Rangers.
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After failed attempts to morph, Minh carries on the mantle passed down by her mother and becomes the Yellow Ranger. I'll got to be honest. At first, I couldn't stand her attitude. I get she misses Trini and she had good intentions to chase after Rita and her goons. She came across entitled and somewhat of a brat towards Billy and Zack. Not only losing her mother but where was her father in all of this mess? Maybe Trini met someone during the Peace Conference, got married, had a baby, but their relationship grew sour overtime? While there are some questions I have that are lingering over my head, I think her actress Charlie Kirsch did a fine job in the role.
As for the final showdown, the Dino Megazord makes a comeback since the beginning of season 2. I'll admit the design was pretty cool although the zord fight on the moon falls short compared to Mighty Morphin's heyday. We do get to see our main heroes go up against Robo Rita on the Moon Palace. Surprisingly, she gets impaled by Billy's Power Lance which is something you wouldn't see in a regular Power Rangers episode. To be fair, the rest of his teammates contributed to Rita's destruction using their respective signature weapons (Zack's Axe, Kat's Bow, and Rocky's Sword). I wish we got to see her palace getting destroyed by having Rita initiate a bomb sequence that if she failed, she could take the rangers down with her; This trope may have been done before, but something to the effect of which the penultimate battle feels more urgent.
The ending was sweet yet melancholy in a way. Billy, Zack, and Minh are back at the juice bar reminiscing on the good times they shared with Trini. There was a reused clip from a season two MMPR episode where Kimberly and Zack are performing a song which, at the time, was dedicated to Tommy and his uncertain fate as a Power Ranger. While JDF and Thuy Trang are no longer with us, this clip serves as a reminding tribute to the cast members that helped shape the franchise. Had Amy Jo returned, I could easily imagine her actually singing another rendition of that performance alongside Zack. Regardless, I thought they handled it brilliantly.
Overall, I had a blast watching this special. Granted it had its share of problems and I was disappointed we didn't get to see a full reunion with all of the original cast members available. David Yost and Walter Jones did phenomenal in their roles, acting like adult versions of their characters. It was surreal to hear Katherine shouting out pterodactyl; By the time she came onboard, the dino coins were destroyed and they resorted to using ninja powers. It would also mark the first time Zack got to interact with the second set of rangers with Adam, Aisha, Rocky, and Kat. Even with the shoddy CGI effects during battle scenes, the crew made the most of the budget they were given. It may sound ideal but I'd really want the special to succeed that will warrant more reunion team ups of this magnitude. I know Rotten Tomatoes isn't a reliable source, but considering how high of a review percentage it's gotten (very uncommon with Power Rangers), perhaps this could be a sign of things to come? Some things may sound too good to be true but man did I enjoy it.
JimmytheTVFanatic
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