Season 5, Episode 35: Spirit of the Woods

"Spirit of the Woods"
Episode 35
Air Date: November 3rd, 1997

Oh god, is it Wild Force already???!!! O_O  Go away, Animus!!! -_-

Ohhhhh, it's Erutan, not Animus!!! Wooooo, thank God!!! We got a couple more seasons until that trainwreck!!! "Spirit of the Woods" is such a bizarre episode.  It's ultimately a good one though as T.J. befriends a strange young boy in the woods who apparently is the physical embodiment of nature.  Though there are some plot holes like T.J. and Divatox's crew can see Erutan but the other rangers can't? O_o  How exactly does that work.  Anyway, after scaring a few teens from the woods for littering, Erutan runs into T.J. and clearly befriends him because T.J. is all "littering is bad" when he helps pick up some trash.  Meanwhile, Divatox has ordered her latest monster, Lord Litter, to attack T.J. since he's alone during his annual morning jog.  After T.J. morphs, they fight and Litter is about to destroy him when Erutan summons the wind to create  hurricane to blow Litter away and save T.J.

When the other rangers arrive, they question if he's ok but T.J. is more concerned about Erutan. When Litter tells Divatox of powerful young boy, she orders him to be captured as she wants to have to power of the elements.  The next day at school, Erutan reveals himself to T.J. outside of school.  He chases after the little boy; realizing he is nature and thanks him for helping him.  He soon vanishes when Divatox's forces arrive to take him but T.J. tries to fight them off but retreat as their prior target is the boy. That night, T.J. tries to track Erutan down at the Power Chamber but Alpha has no luck.  The next morning during T.J.'s jog, he runs into Erutan again and warns him of Divatox's crew being after him.  He says he will stay anyway as Elgar signals the Piranathron to capture him in a next as it was a trap all along.  T.J. morphs immediately and calls for the other rangers for help.  They soon arrive and can't see Erutan but help in the fight anyway. When Lord Litter has them trapped in trash cans, Erutan summons a lightning storm to defeat Lord Litter.  As the rangers escape, T.J. orders the other rangers to handle a giant sized Lord Litter while he get Erutan to safety.

While T.J. takes him away, the rangers call on their Rescue Zords and summon the artillery power to fire at Lord Litter destroying him.  As the rangers return to find T.J., Erutan has been severely weakened by using his powers and is being to fade.  As he does, he and T.J. exchange parting words before he disappears into the woods forever.  The next day, T.J. is jogging in the woods when he hears someone running across the woods behind him.  He turns around to see a deer and smiles; knowing that his new friend is ok. :) Overall, not a bad episode at all.  I wish the writers explained more about Erutan and his origins but weirder things have been unexplained on this show. Great episode none the less.

Final Morph: B+