Season 3, Episode 25: A Different Shade of Pink, Part 3

"A Different Shade of Pink, Part 3"
Episode 25
Air Date: November 8th, 1995

Well, there you have it!!! After over 100 episodes, Kimberly Hart makes her way out of the show forever!!! It's sad seeing such a fine character leave, especially after seeing her evolve so exponentially this season but unfortunately, Amy Jo Johnson decided to quit during the show's 3rd season but man, did the writers really rise up to the occasion by making such a great story arc out of it. With Ninjor's life on the line and the rangers having to figure out on their own how to save him without sacrificing Kat, Katherine visits Kimberly in the hospital as we get a full story of how she came to quit diving and how she let her fear consume her. Last episode when Kimberly decided to quite gymnastics, it was very insightful of Kat to realize that Kimberly was suffering from the same fears. I just love how close their relationship has come in just a few episodes as Katherine tries to inspire Kim to face her fears and return with what she loves to do.  I especially love the latter scene where we see Katherine face her fear of diving to make sure Kim returns to gymnastics fearless.\
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During the episode, to keep Katherine safe and make sure they get Ninjor, the rangers come up with a device that Billy made to protect her. When Rita and her forces show up, they exchange Ninjor and Katherine, only for Billy to start the device and make a force field over her. But it turns out it's not the only deception as Ninjor is not in the jar. So the ranger morph into their ninja forms and battle the evil forces but one of the Tengas destroys Billy's device, Katherine is freed from the force field and captured. Luckily, Katherine proves to be very resourceful by tricking Rito into sleeping so she can steal the keys to unlock her from her prison. Meanwhile as Rita and Lord Zedd plan to throw both Ninjor and Kat into the Sea of Sorrows, Rita goes to check on Katherine as she has found the Pink Power Coin. When all the rangers reunite at the Command Center, Alpha and Billy manage to pin point Katherine's location now that the power coin is in the hands of good again. Katherine manages to escape in time and give the power coin back to Kimberly at the Command Center.

With Kimberly back and Katherine there to inspire her to face her fear once again, Kimberly is able to confidently compete in the Pan Global Games. But during a surprise party, it turns out Coach Schmidt wants to train Kimberly in definitely in Florida for the continuation of the Pan Global Games. This leads to one of the most touching and heartfelt farewells for a rangers in the franchise. It's amazing to see Kimberly still so loyal to Zordon, Alpha and the other rangers despite a very life changing decision. But it's the moment that she finally gives her power coin to Katherine that's just such a beautiful moment. I'm really gonna miss Kimberly and following her journey since the beginning of the series. She was one of the most fascinating characters after awhile, showing under her self absorbed exterior that she had an overwhelming kind and compassionate interior. I can't thank the writers, especially Doug Sloan enough for such an enriching little story this season and making Kimberly's exit into one of the finest arcs from the show. :)

Final Morph: A-