Season 5, Episode 34: The Turn of The Wretched Wrench

"The Turn of the Wretched Wrench"
Episode 34
Air Date: October 31st, 1997

Around this part of this season is where I remember each ranger getting some genuinely good character centered episodes starting with this one.  Here, we learn that Ashley and Carlos are taking an auto repair shop class (Seriously, why do they have these types of classes in high school??? O_o)  But we soon learn the reasons for Ashley taking the class is because her father thinks that girls don't know anything about cars and her wanting to prove him wrong.  It's a nice bit of characterization we get from Ashley as she sets out to be more than just a stereotype that her father thinks.  Cool! :)  Meanwhile, Divatox is in need of a mechanic for her periscope.  Elgar summons the Manic Mechanic who fixes it quickly.  Divatox gets an idea for him to build her a battle wagon and for Elgar to steal some spare parts from Ashley's car when it breaks down.

After stealing parts from her car, Ashley arrives at the Youth Center where her friends give her a lucky wrench for taking a risk with her auto repair shop class.  After the aforementioned reason why she chose the class in the first place, she is given permission by her teacher to stay after class and continue to work on her skills as a mechanic.  Meanwhile, the parts for Divatox's battle wagon isn't enough when Divatox sees they can use the garage from the auto repair shop to do so.  The Manic Mechanic disguises himself as a new student in the class and seriously, the guy he turns into is creepy as hell and should have been put down on site! O_o  As the Manic works on Divatox's battle wagon, Carlos and Ashley head to the garage but are intercepted by a squad of Piranathron.  They fight them off and after they retreat, they run into the shop; knowing Divatox must be wanting more parts.  They see the Manic disguised as "Manny" the new student and he reveals himself when they try to uncover the battle wagon.  Ashley chases after him while the other rangers follow from behind.

He also steals Ashley's wrench, turning into a hideous new weapon he uses to damage her Turbo cart.  As the rest of the rangers arrive, Ashley jumps into the Storm Blaster with Carlos and Justin.  The Manic uses the battle wagon's various arsenals to blast and shoot down Lightning Cruiser and Storm Blaster.  When Storm Blaster is badly damaged, Ashley reluctantly stays behind to try to fix it while Carlos and Justin help the others.  While the 4 rangers struggle to stop Manic Mechanic, Ashley successfully fixes Storm Blaster and heads over to help her friends.  A solo fight ensues between Ashley and Manic Mechanic until she is able to get her wrench back and defeat him with the Auto Blast Defender.  Divatox hilariously orders the torpedoes to be fired while Ashley calls on the Rescue Zords (Seriously, how many times are they gonna use that Turbo movie footage??? -_-) They destroy the Manic with the artillery power.  Ashley is now an expert at fixing cars now....neat! :)  Even helping Bulk and Skull fix their truck.  Too bad they got fired again....lol! All and All, "The Turn of the Wretched Wrench" was a great focus episode on Ashley as we see her develop a skill she originally thought she couldn't master. Nice! :)

Final Morph: B+