A Tale Of Two Turbos?

[Chad Bonin]

Just curious for those Rangerfans out there. Power Rangers Turbo is an odd man out when it comes to the continuity.

For the majority, the first half (including the movie) has the veteran, 18+ Rangers Tommy, Adam, Kat, and Tanya joined by newcomer Justin. Guided by questioning Dimitria, the Rangers are mainly aided by the Blue Senturion in their fight against Divatox, played by Carol Holt. Occassionally they are annoyed by invisible or monkey Bulk and Skull. Using their Turbozords, they fight the monsters released from Divatox' lake base. The Rangers in their off-time hang out at Angel Grove Racing Gears (or whatever the hell it was called). Once off-screen, the Rangers apparently forget about recently departed Jason, Rocky, Billy, and Kimberly.

For the majority, the second half has the veteran, 13+ Blue Ranger Justin joined by newcomers TJ, Carlos, Cassie, and Ashley. Guided by answering Dimitria, the Rangers are mainly aided by the Phantom Ranger in their fight against Divatox, played by Hilary Shephard Turner. Occassionally they are annoyed by visible and idiotic Bulk and Skull. Using their Rescuezords, they fight the monsters released from Divatox' space base. The Rangers in their off-time hang out at Angel Grove Gym and Juice Bar. Once off-screen, the Rangers apparently forget about recently departed Tommy, Kat, Adam, and Tanya.

Yes, these are broad generalizations, but Turbo really, to me, feels like two different TV series.

I'm, oddly enough, more of a fan of Part 2 than Part 1. While the first part had the benefit of a movie and veteran Rangers, part 2 has slightly more plot and interesting new characters. TJ as a Red Ranger possibly had the worst run (destruction of two Megazords, the Power Chamber) in the shortest amount of time under his command. Add in the fact Tommy didn't feel like a racecar driver (well, he didn't feel like a paleontologist...)...

[Tobias]

I think the second half of Turbo was better than the first half. Justin fit in more with the new group than the old.

Tommy and Kat were HORRIBLY out of character during their Turbo run, and I was glad to see them go just for that reason.

I just wish that Rocky had decided to stay for at least the first half of Turbo, at which point Justin could have replaced him when the others left.

And I find it odd that everytime a Ranger gives up his/her power, they automatically have to leave Angel Grove, or Earth (in Billy's case) altogether. It would have been cool to have Jason take over the juice bar when Ernie left, have Justin train at Rocky's karate school, and Billy working at Nasada when the Turbo Rangers have to go into space.

[Chad Bonin]

Well, Billy sure as heck would have never stayed on the show. I kinda doubt Ernie would have left the Juice Bar to a guy who just graduated over a former lieutenant at the Police Department.

[Tobias]

Well, Billy sure as heck would have never stayed on the show. I kinda doubt Ernie would have left the Juice Bar to a guy who just graduated over a former lieutenant at the Police Department.

You know, we never actually *saw* Jason graduate (or anyone else outside of Billy, Kat, Adam, Tanya, Rocky, and Tommy for that matter). You'd think he'd have stuck around for 'Shift into Turbo' and left the show with Rocky. You never even saw Bulk and Skull get their diplomas.

[bigddan11]

Part 2 of Turbo was better than part 1 of Turbo because of the younger actors. They all had points at which they struggled (none more so than Blake Foster), but in Part 1 it was basically the Justin show, whereas part 2 got all the Rangers involved. With the exception of the Turbo Part 1 finale (when the Rangers get shrunk and begin turning into insects), there was also no real plot involved. It was basically Divatox saying let's throw a detontaor out there and see if the Rangers can find and stop it. Part 2 brought back the action that the fans liked, but most people had been turned off since Turbo had focused on Justin up to that point. In reality, the second half of Turbo is what sets up In Space all the way, but Part 1 really was "same old story, new powers."

[Quagmire]

Heh, looking back, Saban was real good at showing its characters the door. I caught White Light the last few nights on Toon Disney, and you could tell Jason, Trini and Zack were on their way out at that point. They dubbed Jason, Trini and Zack's karate grunts in a putty fight in part 1, and Zordon mentions Tommy as leader about 3 times in Part 2 without Jason even caring.

It was hard as a fan to see a changing of the guard, but the new characters did grow even though they did seem like one of the more ineffective ranger teams of all time. They didn't pull it together until they met Andros in Space.

[Wounded_Dragon]

I like Part 2 because they stopped trying to stretch the characters. Part 1 forced the rangers into roles that didn't feel natural. It was also stocked with that hideous monkey bit, along with the 'race to the detonator' every ep. And didn't Dimitria drop her "I must phrase everything in the form of a question" bit in Part 2?

The new guys weren't as awkward doing whatever because they didn't have a huge backstory. Phantom and Pink Ranger...or any ranger would've just felt silly. Stitch Witchery would've been doubly painful...and doubtless harder to explain.

[shoujoaifan]

I'm a big Turbo fan and have a tape or two filled with just that (Although like most PR fans, I'm of course a big fan of seasons like iS, LG, DT, etc. Of course.) And its not all seasons don't have their corny stuff: they do. Not to say Turbo didn't have its problems.

Makes you wonder: Would sticking more to the source material Carranger and being more a spoof of itself have been better than what they did, trying to make it more or less serious, or would alot of people still have hated it? (I liked most of Turbo, but its hard not to like "Did I ever tell you guys the time I was baked in a giant pizza?")


P.S.

While I legitamally (bad spelling, I know) like Turbo and I liked things that can be goofy in general, and I might be tempting death here :p but as a kid I didn't appreciate serious stories as much. I watched some of B:TAS, but I watched only a few episodes, sometimes during commercials while waiting for Goof Troop to come back on. I can also be set in my ways pretty tough. After 3 years of MMPR, I didn't like Zeo much, mostly due to everything being different rather than an opinion over quality :p I know, pretty stupid. I DID like the Gold Ranger arc and the previous Alien Ranger mini-series though.