Season 1, Episode 50: Return of An Old Friend, Part 2

"Return of An Old Friend, Part 2"
Episode 50
Air Date: March 1, 1994

Can I just say it's great to see Tommy again!!! Even if his powers are temporarily restored, it's just good to see the OG Green Ranger back alongside his friends. With the rangers' parents still trapped in Rita's other dimension, they immediately teleport Tommy back to the Command Center and tell him quickly what's going on. With Tommy back in action, Rita is shocked and upset that she must get him out of the way. Meanwhile after briefing Tommy on the situation, Zordon tells the rangers he can temporarily bring Tommy's powers back by giving him some of his life force. Of course, the other rangers don't agree as this could destroy Zordon forever but it's a sacrifice he's willing to make to help the rangers get their parents back. This is the first time we see Zordon directly helping the rangers by using his own powers and it only took freakin' 50. episodes!!! O_O As Zordon gives Tommy enough power to morph again, Goldar summons Dragonzord again, who is destroying the city.  Luckily, Tommy's powers are restored and he is teleported to the same area where the rangers gave up their coins.

Goldar of course doesn't see Tommy as much of a threat, calling him "Powerless ranger", etc. He summons a squad of Putties to stop Tommy and he manages to hold them off...until his powers begin to weaken. As the other teens watch at the Command Center, Jason orders Alpha to give Tommy more power from Zordon, even at the cost of losing their mentor....JESUS!!! So Alpha gives him more power and Tommy is able to continue fighting until he able to reach the Dragon Dagger. He regains control of the Dragonzord but Rita has Scorpina assit Goldar in defeating the Green Ranger once and for all. Both generals fight the Dragonzord but mid fight, they realize they have left the power coins unprotected and vanish. Tommy then sends the Dragonzord off and makes his way to the coins. Zordon, barely holding on, orders Alpha to teleport Tommy back immediately. As Tommy grabs the coins successfully, he begins to fall to the ground, teleports out and arrives at the Command Center, weak and unconscious. The rangers are happy to see their old friend back but at what costs???

Rita being pissed, orders her monster to finish off the rangers. At the Command Center, the rangers look over Tommy but fear Zordon maybe gone for good after giving Tommy all his power. The rangers then figure out that they can do the same thing to Zordon giving him enough power from their power coins to bring him back. They do and are successful! Alpha getting all emotional about it. The alarms soon ring and the rangers must do battle with the Dramole while Alpha looks over Tommy. They morph and face the monster but he manages to put all the rangers except for Kimberly under his hypnotic spell. Meanwhile, at the Command Center, seeing what's going on with the rangers, Alpha notices Tommy is floating with energy surging throughout his body. Turns out that something happened to Tommy when he took in Zordon's power which has made him able to morph again. Without hesitation, Tommy grabs his power coin and morphs to help the rangers.

With the Green Ranger back in action and all the rangers restored to normal, all 6 face off against the monster. Rita then makes him grow and the rangers call on their zords. We see the cool new sequence of the megazord forming again and both the Dragonzord and megazord face off against Dramole. When the megazord is down, the Dragonzord defends his teammates until they combine to make the Mega Dragonzord....ummm, isn't that Dragonzord in Fighting Mode.....what's even more confusing is that they then call for the Ultrazord...which then turns into the actual Mega Dragonzord and forms the Ultrazord. Sigh, this show and it's editing...SUCKS!! Anyway, the rangers fire all their weapons and defeat the monster. Back at the Command Center, Zordon is glad to report the rangers' parents have been returned safely and that Tommy will return as a ranger until his powers are fully restored; even asking Tommy is he wants to return given those guidelines, to which he accepts. Back at the Youth Center, the rangers reunite with their families, with Kimberly finally introducing Tommy to her parents! Nice! Bulk and Skull purposely cause a food fight to which Ms, Applebee and Mr. Caplen eventually join in glee! The rangers run off to get away from the mess and joke about how old their parents are.

Honestly, this was great conclusion to the two parter as we as the audience are reintroduced to Tommy and the plot gets to be moved along after a long run of episodes just seeing the same routine between rehashed: teens are make Rita come up with a dumb plan, Puttie fight, monster attack, Zordon exposition, monster attack monster grows, zord fight, tedious and tired resolution. I won't be surprised if the final 10 episodes.....yes, there are 10 more episodes in this very long season to go, follow the same formula but with Tommy coming in at the end of the episode to save the other rangers are usually. It's kind of annoying. But either way, this is a refreshing change of pace with good stakes, a decent plan from Rita and action packed fun. So definitely a standout in the season!

Final Morph: B+