Season 4, Episode 3: The Shooting Star

"The Shooting Star"
Episode 3
Air Date: April 24th, 1996

Isn't it said that in only ONE episode, we are already getting a hang on who Tanya is as a character. She maybe the new girl in two but when her boyfriend Shawn (Ehhhh, oh Shawn! -_-) comes to her about cheating on his Algebra test, Tanya makes a stand about cheating being wrong and even if Shawn's career in baseball is at stake, he should study the old fashion way. My goodness, I mean it's more than we've gotten from Rocky and Adam in the combination of almost TWO seasons!!! Nakia Burrise is doing a fine job of blending in with the cast already and I'm glad Tanya stuck to her guns about not supporting Shawn's cheating. It what ultimately leads him to reconsider and ask Tanya for forgiveness and I love her sarcasm as she decides to help him again. I'm already liking Tanya! :) THIS is how you do strong characterization.

Meanwhile, Billy and Alpha are putting the finishing touches of the new Zeo Zords. Apparently, they are being hidden in the mountains outside of Angel Grove; away from Mondo's detection. But that doesn't stop Mondo from sending down a platoon of Cogs to search for it. It leads to a pretty good fight scene where the rangers fight the Cogs to defend the whereabouts of their Zeo Zord holding bay. We are also introduced to the Zeo Zords themselves and the bestowing scene is as usual pretty awesome. Tanya and Katherine are in charge of Zeo Zords II and I respectively, which are the cannon and weaponry portions of their zord arsenal. Rocky has a Sphinx aka Zeo Zord III and Adam has a Taurus aka Zeo Zord IV. Lastly, Tommy gets Zeo Zord V which is an awesome looking Phoenix. Once again, the zords are ingrained in ancient mythology; this time going with the Egyptian theme of the rangers' suits with weapons and animals that represents that country's lore. Very nice!!!

The first battle with the Zeo Zords is cool as when a fleet of Quadrafighters start attacks the city, the Zeo Zords are easily able to run through and crush them easily. When the monster of the week, Staroid appears, the Zeo Zords finally have some trouble in battle but when Zordon orders the rangers to use their Zeonizer crystals to activate the Zeo Megazord. The formation of the megazord itself is awesome as well as the megazord itself. Sure, it's no original Megazord or one of my favorites like the Thuderzord......oh who am I kidding, I LOVE the Zeo Megazord!! The design is just as unique and awesome as the Thunderzords. When it comes to defeating the monster of the week, they make quick work of Staroid and destroy him with the Zeo Megazord Saber! Overall, this was a pretty good episode that introduce the main zords of the season as well as having a nice story dealing with Tanya and a new character. The message of no cheating isn't rammed into out brains and feels natural. Thank God! :)

Final Morph: B