Season 3, Episode 11: Fourth Down and Long

"Fourth Down and Long"
Episode 11
Air Date: September 23, 1995

Meh!!! Yet another Rocky focused episode....well sorta and it follows the same formula as the last episode. Rocky has to save his fellow rangers who get transformed into some inanimate objects and needs help to transform them back. Only this time inside of Marvo the Meanie, it's Centipack and instead of test tubs, it's footballs. Also, I got tired of the football puns and jokes after the first two, ok!! I mean the episode features Rocky's Uncle Joe, who's some kind of famous, legendary football played and some kid named Alan who is having trouble with his studies in school to the point where he can be sent on academic probation if he doesn't get his grades up. It's a plot that ultimately leads to Alan finding out he has dyslexia as well as Rocky's uncle Joe. Now I'm all about teaching kids this lesson but man did we have to go through a rehash of last episode to get there.

Also, what is up with how Centipack was created??? Suddenly he is created by a centipede and football that accidentally hit each other as Finster and Lord Zedd go to pick them up. I just don't get it. Whomever wrote this episode just didn't make sense with this plot to me. Anyway, after the rangers, Bulk, Skull, Uncle Joe and Alan are all turned into footballs, Rocky immediately teleports to the Command Center before he's next. Like last episode, he figures out how to free the rangers, only this time, Ninjor appears to help him. They both confront Centipack near the mountains as a snow storm approaches. As he throws his magical footballs as them (yes I'm not kidding), Rocky and Ninjor catch them with their buckets and throw them near all the transformed footballs to turn everyone back to normal. As Alpha teleports Bulk, Skull, Uncle Joe and Alan back to the park, Zedd and Rita make Centipack grow.

The rangers call on their Ninja zords one by one and Ninjor grows to help them. Ninjor transforms into his Warrior mode but not before getting a few shots in. Ninjor sends his finisher as Centipack as well as the Ninja Megazord, destroying him. We do get an amusing moment of everyone at the Moon Palace yelling at Finster which wasn't bad. But ultimately, "Fourth Down and Long" is just bad because it's simply the same episode as the last with Rocky having to save the day again when the other rangers are turned into something. Just lazy writing if you ask me!

Final Morph: D+