It was almost a month ago exactly when I posted my top ten list of “Batman: The Animated Series” episodes. Unaware that Kevin Conroy would pass away from cancer days later. I decided to present a similar top ten list of my favorite episodes of Power Ranger legend Tommy Oliver. I do this to give my tribute to the actor who brought him to life, Jason David Frank, who also tragically passed away last month.
#10:
Green with evil
About midway through season 1, Tommy Oliver was introduced.
His skills caught the attention of
everyone, including the evil Rita Repulsa.
She chose to put a spell on him, and create an evil Power Ranger, the
Green Ranger. The fight with the Green
Ranger was one of the toughest battles the Power Rangers ever encountered. It was a massive five-part storyline. In the end, through their perseverance and
will, they broke the spell and freed Tommy.
The twist came when the offer for Tommy to fight for good, with the
newfound Green Ranger powers, was given.
Tommy agreed. The rest is
history.
#9:
Green no more
In season 2, there was a long story arc when Tommy’s Green
Ranger powers grew increasingly weak.
Ultimately, they gave out. A
villain tried to break his spirits, by showing him a slideshow of sorts of his
time as the Green Ranger. But this
backfired, ultimately reminding Tommy of all the good he had done. He subsequently defeated this villain; then
saved the other Rangers by entering Lord Zedd’s chamber undetected. And he did all of this without his
powers. This is a powerful superhero
lesson: it’s not the costume or the powers; it’s the person.
#8: White
light
As just described, the original five rangers had to fight
on without Tommy; he had lost his Green Ranger powers. But the time came when Zordon decided it was
time to bring the team back up to six by creating a brand new ranger, the White
Ranger. The team wasn’t too keen on
welcoming someone new, but their fears were dispelled when the White Ranger
revealed his identity; it was Tommy Oliver!
To this day, I still find it very emotional whenever I see this story.
#7:
Wild west rangers
Kimberly, the Pink Ranger, is accidently sent back in time
to the 1800’s. She helps inspire a group
of heroes – the first group of Power Rangers – to fight evil. What is memorable about this story is the
appearance of the White Stranger (Jason David Frank in a duel role). The White Stranger is a heroic figure who
rides in wearing a cowboy hat – like the Lone Ranger – he helps saves the day,
and then rides off in the sunset. Even
though he has no mask, and no special powers, he still fights alongside the
Power Rangers when they need him.
Because he stands for what’s right.
#6: Master
Vile and the metallic armor
In season 3, Rita Repulsa’s father, Master Vile,
appears. He plans to acquire a powerful
gem called the Zeo Crystal. The crystal
was placed in a force field, where only those of pure heart can touch it; someone
with evil would be destroyed. The Power
Rangers plan for Tommy to obtain the crystal.
The crystal was in caverns aptly named the Caves of Deception. There were dozens of illusions that appeared
to discourage Tommy for getting the Zeo Crystal; they tried to convince him
that, deep inside, he was evil. He kept
insisting that he wasn’t. Ultimately, he
proved it by reaching in the force field and getting the crystal.
#5: A
golden homecoming
The team loses their powers for a time, but eventually they
are powered again by the just mentioned Zeo Crystal. One of my favorite stories in the Zeo era is the
return of Jason Scott (Austin St. John).
I love Jason and Tommy’s chat at the end of the episode. Jason said he didn’t want Tommy to think he
was trying to put everything back to the way it was before, where he was the
leader of the Rangers. Tommy’s response
is classic: “The Powers Rangers are a team.
No one is more or less important than anyone else.” What humility!
#4:
King for a day
Tommy is kidnapped and brainwashed into believing that he
is the king of the evil machine kingdom.
The lies he is told are convincing, but Jason, and the rest of the
Rangers present him with the truth of who he is and their friendship. The treat of this storyline is Jason David
Frank’s acting as he vacillates back and forth, unsure of who he can trust. My few words of summation here hardly seem adequate
for the greatness of this story. Of course,
ultimately the truth wins out, and Tommy returns to his right mind.
#3: Forever
red
While this episode appears in a season of the show that I
personally never viewed, I saw this special team-up episode. Tommy Oliver assembles and leads a group of other
Red Rangers over the years to disable a powerful weapon left behind by Lord
Zedd years earlier. You can’t help but
enjoy seeing Tommy, Jason, Andros, and other past Red Rangers all together. By episode end, even though the statement is
disputed, one ranger declares that Tommy is the best ranger of all.
#2:
Back in black
In 2004, Jason David Frank reprised his role as Tommy
again; this time he is a High School paleontology professor (“Doctor O.” as he
is affectionately called). For a time, he
was the mentor for the newest team of Rangers, but in the episode “Back in
black” he gets decked out in a new power and costume: The Black Ranger. Frankly, the whole season is memorable and deserving
of a full blog.
#1: Dimensions
in danger
In 2018, for the 25th anniversary celebration of Power Rangers,
Jason Frank saved the day as Tommy one last time. The twist here is he fights a robotic copy
of himself. Tommy used what he called a “master
morpher” to morph into his different Ranger costumes over the years. In a dazzling fight, he battles the powerful
robot. As he gains the upper hand, Tommy remarks to the imitation, “Face it: you’re just circuits and sensors. You’re nothing like me. You have no heart.” Fittingly, it was in his Green Ranger
iteration that he finally destroys the evil copy.
In conclusion, Zordon once referred to Tommy as “an
honorable man”, and even the villain Goldar called Tommy “a gallant hero”. I said before that it’s okay to be inspired by
fictional characters if they inspire you to do good, and Tommy does. I want these two terms to be descriptive of
my life.
Kevin
No comments:
Post a Comment