Season 4, Episode 19: Challenges

"Challenges"
Episode 19
Air Date: May 18th, 1996

So, Tommy has a long lost brother...wow!!! What a turn of events and I love how nonchalant David is about the whole thing. I mean, you just found your brother who you haven't seen in ever and all you do is put two pieces of an Arrow Head together and smile. I mean the whole Vision Quest Tommy goes through wasn't very interesting to say the least. Trueheart returns with more cryptic messages for Tommy and just tells him to follow a falcon (Oh I see what you guys did there writers!!! ;) So Tommy just keeps following David but there are any real "challenges" in an episode called "Challenges" ironically.

I honestly found more enjoyment out of the monster of the week plot when Adam takes up some free boxing lessons from Lt. Stone at the Youth Center. Bulk and Skull, of course, join and make a fool out of themselves. Meanwhile, Prince Sprocket gets interested in boxing as he spares with a couple of Cogs in the ring while Klank and Orbis cheer him on as well as Queen Machina. King Mondo soon enters as Sprocket wants to challenge (Oh I get it now!!!) with a boxing monster of his own. As Adam walks home, Prince Sprocket lures him to the Angel Grove Construction Site where he meets Punch-A-Bunch, Mondo's latest monster. Adam morphs and begins to fight Punch-A-Bunch but he is too much for him. As he contacts Zordon for help from the others, he mysteriously disappears. When the other rangers are called, they morph and fight off some Cogs until Punch-A-Bunch is made to grow by Klank and Orbis.

Zordon soon contacts Tommy and interrupts his quest to have him go help the other rangers. Thank God, cause surely nothing was happening besides some bad effects and Tommy following an eagle. Once there, Tommy calls for the Red Battlezord and he fights the monster until one of his boxing gloves are damaged and he knocks Tommy out of his zord. Sprocket challenges the rangers to a rematch and if they win, he'll give them Adam back, who has been shrunken down into a trophy. With Sprocket's challenge in place and Tommy having no choice but to go back in the ring with Punch-A-Bunch. Unfortunately, the ring is rigged and everytime the Red Battlezord touches the chains, it gets shocked. Also, Punch-A-Bunch has been upgraded with spiked gloves making it even more difficult for the Battlezord to fight against.

When the other rangers realize Tommy is in trouble, they head back into action and destroy the console that has control over the ring. With the ring gone, Tommy is able to recover in the Red Battlezord and defeat Punch-A-Bunch for good. After that, Prince Sprocket retreats and Adam is returned to normal. As Tommy continues his vision quest, it leads to revelation of the mysterious man being his brother...which again...WOW!!! Anyway, the episode wasn't bad. I liked the boxing theme of the episode even if Tommy's vision quest was pretty boring. REALLY BORING!!! Zzzzzzz.... It was overall a fun episode though.

Final Morph: B