Power Rangers Review: "Green With Evil (Part III: The Rescue)"

The evil Green Ranger, to this point, has done a number on our heroes.

Part I saw the Green Ranger take out Zordon and defeat the Power Rangers handily. In Part II, Green Ranger became even more powerful once he received the Sword of Darkness, and he used his Power Coin to send Jason to the dark dimension, where he would face off against Goldar. This left the Rangers shorthanded, but with the help of Megazord, they did hold Green Ranger at bay, but they were still without their two most important allies: Zordon and Jason.

And now, on to Part III.

Rita Repulsa already had the Red Ranger captive, Zordon out of commission, and the Green Ranger serving as her MVP. However, even all of that wasn't enough for the uber-villainess. Rita was always one to twist the knife even further than it already was, and she decided to add yet another threat to the Rangers:

Every Power Rangers fan knows this villainess. Scorpina makes her debut in this episode, as Rita now decides to send Scorpina to further put the Rangers in a deeper hole than the one they are already in. As for Jason, he's hiding out while Goldar searches for him, and his frustration is increasing. However, Jason manages to get the drop on Goldar and pounds his chest, but that moment lasts only for a fleeting few seconds, as he's knocked down again. The other Rangers still have no clue where Jason is, and Kimberly decides to head to the Youth Center and ask around.

After getting no answers from Ernie, Bulk and Skull appear and offer to help Kimberly look for Jason, while claiming that they work cheap--they take payment in the form of kisses. That doesn't go well for the duo, of course, and afterwards, Kimberly encounters Tommy once again. When asked about Jason, Tommy falsely claimed that he waited for Jason, but he never showed, and he mocks Kimberly's concern. Zack later arrives, and after Kimberly voiced her concern about Tommy's strange behavior, she and Zack decide to track Tommy.

Unfortunately for the Black and Pink Rangers, Rita spots them tracking Tommy, so she sends the Putties after them. The duo fight them off, while Tommy watches, but by the time they finish defeating the Putties, Tommy's far away, and he gets his call from Rita. At the dark dimension, Goldar's on the verge of finishing off Jason, but at that very moment, Green Ranger enters and informs Goldar that Rita wants him to finish off Jason. So there we have it: Jason vs Green Ranger, once again.

"You wear a Green Ranger costume, yet your loyalty's with Rita," said Jason.

"I am her Green Ranger, and she is my empress," replied Green Ranger.

Jason says Rita's evil, Green Ranger says that he is, too, and they battle it out. At the Command Center, Kimberly and Zack gave Trini the bad news about Jason, while Alpha says it'll take just 15 minutes until the computer is repaired and they can search for Zordon. Billy later gives more good news: the communicators are fixed. Back at the dimension, the battle continues on, and Jason gets one good kick into Green Ranger, who commends Jason's skills.

"Let's end this. I don't want to fight you," said Jason.

"Because you know I'll win," said Green Ranger.

Jason replies that if Green Ranger were truly a Ranger, he would be on Zordon's side, only for Green Ranger to refer to Zordon as a "memory," and that Rita would rule the world. The fight continues, and as Jason gets knocked down, his morpher is within reach. However, Green Ranger stops Jason and laughs at him. At Rita's palace, Scorpina is introduced, and Squatt and Baboo remember being tortured by her. At the Command Center, Billy has managed to get a lock on Jason's communicator, and begins the process of teleporting him to their location. Back at the dimension, Green Ranger declares victory, and takes out the Sword of Darkness with intent on finishing him off. Green Ranger commends Jason for putting up a good fight, but just as he is about to deliver the final blow, Billy successfully teleports Jason out of the dimension and back to the Command Center.

"That was close," said Jason. "Green Ranger nearly sliced and diced me."

While Jason informed the other Rangers that he had a lot to fill them in on, Goldar scolds Green Ranger for letting Jason escape, and ignored the fact that Jason was teleported out. Goldar doubles down and stated that he should have remained in the dimension to finish off Jason, even criticizing Rita for sending Green Ranger in the first place. You know, that exchange stays with me. You know what that tells me? There had to have been some sort of professional jealousy from Goldar. Think about it. Goldar was Rita's top dog until Green Ranger took his spotlight. I've always thought it was why the battles they would have later on were always so heated; Goldar had that chip on his shoulder.

So anyway, Jason was telling everything to the other Rangers: how he encountered Tommy, then ended up in the dark dimension fighting against Goldar and later Green Ranger. All he could say about the latter: "He is one mean fighter." The alarm goes off, and it's Scorpina going on the attack. The Rangers morph into action and battle against the Putties and later Scorpina, with Rita relishing in the fact that she's winning. A concerned Goldar states that Scorpina should be called back, and we later see the pair argue over Scorpina being pulled from the fight. They also argue over who should be sent to fight the Rangers, and after a long debate, Rita decides to send Goldar, and also reveals her plan to create an eclipse to weaken Megazord. All the while, Green Ranger's training for his chance, only for Rita to tell him that his time would come.

Back at the Command Center, the Rangers are bewildered by this latest action. Jason says that Rita's bound to strike again, Kimberly laments over what they are currently facing, Zack finds it strange that every time Rita attacks, she pulls back, Trini states that Rita's looking to plan something bigger, and Billy voices his gratitude that the communicators are working again, along with the computer, which is used to try to find Zordon. Once again, they had Zordon visible, but not for long. Meanwhile, Rita sends Goldar to destroy the city, and the Rangers see it all on the viewing globe. They have to stop Goldar, but they fear it's a trap.

"We don't have a choice," said Jason.

Decisions, decisions.

"The Rescue," Part III of the "Green With Evil" miniseries, aired on Fox on Thursday, October 7, 1993, and this was quite the chapter. If there was an MVP for this episode, it was definitely Jason. Not just for the superficial reasons--battling Goldar and Green Ranger unmorphed. It was mainly because of his words to Green Ranger as they fought. It showed that Jason was definitely coming into his own as the Rangers' leader. Meanwhile, this episode marked the debut of Scorpina, who we would see quite a bit during this first season, and one memorable appearance during the second season (which will be a story for another time, I promise).

And another amazing thing about Part III: it absolutely set the tone for Part IV. But that is also another story for another time.

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