Season 2, Episode 8: The Power Stealer

"The Power Stealer"
Episode 8
Air Date: September 20th, 1994

You know, I'm just kind of waiting for Tommy's powers to be gone at this point as each episode just keeps being mostly centered around that plot point. I mean Tommy's powers have always been the main plot of the first and majority of the second season of Mighty Morphin'. While the other characters would get character development, it's Tommy gaining, then losing, then regaining, than finally losing his powers that would drive the plot forward. Anyway, it's Clean Up Drive Day at Angel Grove with some of the teens being interviewed by an news anchor. After that, the teens and the rest of the students head out to the park while Bulk and Skull stay behind; still trying to find out the identities of the Power Rangers, try to take some extra equipment from the news station but the anchor shots them down.  Meanwhile, back at the Moon Palace, Lord Zedd gets an idea to exhaust Tommy's powers as well as steal all the rest of the rangers' powers with his latest monster: The Octophantom, a half elephant/half octopus monster that can suck the rangers into another dimension.

At the park the teens are doing their thing by cleaning up and fixing up the park when a squad of Putties attack during Tommy's address when he being interviewed.  While everyone else runs away, Jason, Kimberly and Tommy fight the Putties until Lord Zedd summons the Octophantom who also arrives. When Jason and Kimberly see Tommy in trouble, the 2 morph as well as Tommy....right in front of the camera that is still recording everything that's happening. As the three rangers continue to fight, the Octophantom gets Tommy by sucking him into his jar and teleports away with the Putties. Jason and Kimberly, freaking out, immediately head back to the Command Center...while Bulk and Skull discover that the camera was still recording everything and want to discover the identities of the Power Rangers. At the Command Center, the rangers regroup and figure out how to save Tommy as Zordon and Alpha brief them on the situation on how to save him.  Meanwhile, Lord Zedd taunts Tommy in the other dimension as he is helpless and tied up; telling him soon his friends with be joining him as they will all lose their powers...MUHAHAHAHA!!!

Back at the Command Center, the rangers morph to face off against the Octophantom. While Billy stays behind in the fight to search for a weakness, the other 4 confront the monster and get their asses handed to them. Before the monster can suck some rangers into his jar, he randomly stops to check on him looks in a mirror....WOW -_-.....then he proceeds to suck Kimberly, Zack and Trini into the jar; leaving only Billy and Jason. As the monster retreats with the others, Billy tells Jason they need to head back to the Command Center figure out how to stop him now that they know his weakness. Back at the Command Center, Billy figures out that the monster is extremely vain and needs to come up with a device that will distract him enough so they can defeat him. Jason heads back out to stall the monster until Billy can finish his device.  As Jason heads to the quarry he notices the others tied up above as the Octophantom begins to attack. As Jason struggles to stop him, Billy arrives just in time with a....mirror shield O_o....ok......to fight and defeat the monster with. While Jason figures out when to use the shield, Billy heads to the other to fight off some Putties and free them. As Jason continues to struggle with the Octophantom, he finally reveals the mirror to which he is distracted by and blasts him after with his blade blaster. With the others freed thanks to Billy and Billy teleporting Tommy back to the Command Center do to his weakened powers, they rejoin Jason and prepare their primary weapons when Zedd summons a bomb and throws it at the monster. The monster grows and the rangers of course, summon their Thunderzords.

What follows is a decent zord fight between monster and Thuderzord; at least this time we get some American original footage of the two hitting each other at least. Finally the rangers prepare to finish the monster when the Thunderzord charges up it's saber and strikes it destroying it. Back at the Youth Center, Jason and Billy have a moment of congratulating each other for working together when Bulk and Skull arrive with the tape to reveal the identities of the Power Rangers. I'm not even surprised that they didn't even watch the tape first before revealing it everyone. Jason and the other switch the tapes quickly as as Bulk and Skull play it; it just an episode of a cartoon show. Overall, this was....I don't know...filler and quite forgettable. You think it was going to be a plot heavy episode with Tommy finally losing his powers but nope just your run of the mill monster of the week episode with the loss of Tommy's powers being teased again..meh! O_o

Final Morph: D+