Power Rangers Lightspeed Rescue Overview

Power Rangers Lightspeed Rescue: Season 8
Episode Count: 40
Air Date: February 12th, 2000-November 18th, 2000

You know this is the shortest season I've reviewed so far, yet it took me the longest to get through with just 40 episodes! Like I said, there are many reasons for that as 1) I was busy dealing with personal issues the past few weeks as I was rewatching the show and 2) I was really bored by this season, especially during the first half! It's one thing for a show to be bad, but when it's boring?  Man, it becomes a chore to watch! Lightspeed Rescue is a very unique season for the show...or at least it was in hindsight.  It was the first season of the Post Zordon Era to completely feel self contained, outside the horrid two part team-up episodes.  The rangers' powers for the first time where man made instead of being powered by some mystical or intergalactic power source.  It made the show seem fresh and different automatically from what came before.  I just wish "Operation Lightspeed", the season premiere, didn't just skim through this new interesting setting and concept of the show just to get to plot of the season but we've had FAR worse premieres before this one.  I think what I enjoyed out right were the bits of characterization from Carter and especially Joel right off the bat.  I mean, eventually as the show goes along, the writers are able to fully explore the new aesthetics of the show like the massive crew of scientists, guards, personal, etc. who work at the Lightspeed Aqua Base there to assist the rangers at any moments notice...but man, does it take a while before the story of the season itself starts to get interesting.

I guess I'll talk about our chosen heroes first as usual as they weren't bad as a team, but collectively compared to the last few teams, they were....ehh...alright? I mean outside of Carter and Joel, eveyone else sort of blends into the background.  I'll start with the worst offender because the writers seriously messed up Dana toward the tail end of the season and I STILL never understand why.  Dana was the on who recruited the rangers during the premiere and was rewarded by her father to be the fifth and final member of the team.  Dana's personal arc was always about living up to her father's standards as we first see in "A Matter of Trust".  After some more dumb mentoring from her father, she realizes that her father really DOES trust her to be a ranger and believes in her more than she ever thought.  Why doesn't just express that at the beginning of the episode and TELL her she is the one protecting the real fuel cell is beyond me, but I felt even by then Dana's arc felt complete so early on.  Then in "Go Volcanic", she proves to be resourceful by saving a bus full of innocent people from a criminal as well as saving that criminal's life.  Dana always seemed like the responsible, compassionate one of the team, always putting her life at risk to help someone or reach out to someone.  During "Truth Discovered", it was her who immediately confronted her brother after learning the truth about the Titanium Ranger and wanted to connect with him to show him how much her as well as her father love him.  She actually started getting through to him before the rest of the rangers show up.  Then there Dana's role as the paramedic of the team making her the most experienced rescuer of the team.  Her aspirations for becoming a doctor were also very selfless and noble.  Not to mention, when Ryan left to go find a way to trap the demons again, it was Dana constantly worried about him.  So yeah, Dana was probably the blandest of the group but she was the most defined in terms of character; not needing as much development.  That being said.....here comes "In The Limelight"....-_-...an episode that singlehandedly ruined her character so fast it made my neck nearly snap!!! Suddenly, Dana is selfish and spoiled out of no where because the plot simply demands it just to force some lesson about a ranger being more important??? -_-  I'm sorry but NO!!! I don't by it in the least, especially considering how much of a 180 it is from what we learned about her.  Dana has always been proud of being a ranger, if not the proudest; knowing the immense responsibility of the job, why the hell would she completely disregard being a ranger out of no where for no reason.  It's not even because she needs money for medical school anymore at that point so HUH??? O_O Anyway, next....

Chad and Kelsey individually were fine; Chad was the disciplined martial artist/scuba diver who probably had the most bizarre character episodes.  "Up to The Challenge" was about...him saving some bully named Brian from being used by Vipra to defeat him.  Ultimately, it was more of a lesson for Brian to learn than Chad, so huh?  "The Chosen Path"....sigh.....he tries to leave up to his former sensei's standards because he thinks being a ranger is a "waste" compared to being a martial arts master!  I mean his sensei is so spiteful of Chad choosing that path, he trains a monster to be his finest warrior.....WHAT AN IDIOT! -_- Again, what does Chad learn here???  Oh right, not to be so stubborn and help his sensei!!!  Oh yeah, he's a great martial artist too, yeah we already knew that writers!  Then, of course, there's the mermaid romance episodes "Ocean Blue" and "Neptune's Daughter".  Those weren't bad, if not some of the silliest episodes of the franchise.  At least "Neptune's Daughter" served a point to the overall but the romance behind Chad and Marina is just so random, if not cute at times.  On to Kelsey, she was the extreme sports member of the team.  While the least qualified to be a essentially a rescue soldier, she is tremendous fast on her feet and her immense endurance as an athlete makes her probably the most in shape of the rangers.  She, of course has a problem with being too headstrong and rushes into situations without thinking it through.  Even Joel says in "Up to the Challenge" "once that girl's mind is made it, you can't stop her from ding anything"!  It because of her impulsive thinking that got her in the hospital in the first place, but her stubborn behavior that made her more unique than the other rangers.  "Riding the Edge" showed her being selfless but also able to come up with her own way of saving the day (hey that rhymed! :) when Nancy was in trouble with the shuttle.  Even in a  major stinkers like "The Fifth Crystal" and "The Great Egg Caper", Kelsey always showed she had a good heart and knew the right thing to do even when dealing with her eccentric grandmother or that thief playing Robin Hood.  Hell, she's the only one who really calls Dana out on her horrendous new behavior in "In The Limelight".

I'd say Chad and Kelsey were more interesting together as their close friendship, like many have said, was very reminiscent of Billy and Trini's.  First established in "Up to the Challenge" and ending by their tender moment during danger in the final part of "The Fate of Lightspeed", their friendship was always good to watch whether they were training, giving each other advice or just goofing off.  Now on to the real stars of the team, starting with Joel, our enormously popular "Sky Cowboy".  Cocky, confident and full of himself, Joel had such a natural charisma to him thanks to his actor, Keith Robinson, who would go on to find success on the big screen with "Dream Girls". :)  What I really liked about Joel was behind his conceited exterior, he was really looking for genuine love and affection.  Which leads me to him and Ms. Fairweather's season long romance.  The thing is, Joel genuinely loves her as she isn't some girl her needs on his arm to prove how great he is.  I mean in "Rising From Ashes", he goes into a cave solo to save Ms. Fairweather, constantly tries to make her relax and even goes out of his way to make himself look like a fool for her. Hell, even in "The Mighty Mega Battles", he risks his own life to save Clark because Ms. Fairweather loves her brother so much! Jesus, Joel was so great and all the writers could do when it came to his romance with Ms. Fairweather was treat it like a joke, constantly having her tease him and everyone laughing at his expense, Jesus!  Probably the most resistant to becoming a ranger, in the end, Joel actually joins the rest of the rangers to save the day instead of going on his date finally with Ms. Fairweather!!! This guy was freakin' awesome and one of my favorite rangers....only to be topped by the team leader aka Carter "Kick Ass" Grayson!!! :)  What can I say about Carter that hasn't already been said?  He's probably the most generic Red Ranger archetype as he has that All American Hero personality down to a T!  I mean he's already a firefighter but he always had this amazing sense of duty.  Even in "A Face from The Past", he chooses to rather train than hang out at the beach like the rest of the rangers.  It's all because of his backstory where a mysterious fire fighter saved him when he was a child and him wanting to live up to him ever since.  In that same episode, it is revealed that Captain Mitchell was that very fire fighter and has been watching over Carter ever since.  It's a great episode that really showed the connection these two men had and really developed Carter into a more relaxed ranger; able to have fun with his friends when he is able to.  Besides that, Carter is just an all around BAD. ASS.  Do I really need to go over his finest moments this season???  Just watch the guy in action from trying to run over monsters, sacrificing himself to destroy a powerful demon, him saving the other rangers numerous times, etc.  The guy was just the ultimate hero and always did his job RIGHT!!! ;)

On to the supporting characters as I'm gonna talk about Ryan separately from the rest of the rangers as he was more a glorified ally of the rangers then a regular 6th member of the team.  What I loved about Ryan, both character and his initial story, was that it invigorated some needed excitement into the season.  Let's face it, the first 9-10 episodes are a run of average episodes that showed some potential but were ultimately underwhelming because of the lack of story.  What was so awesome and interesting about the Titanium Ranger arc was that not only was it very reminiscent of Season 1's "Green With Evil" Saga but it has a very engrossing backstory that unveiled the heartbreaking tragedy of Captain Mitchell losing a son.  It also, like I said, gave Dana some chance to shine as she tried to get through to her long lost brother during it.  The villains, for once, scored a victory over the rangers as our heroes were put in their toughest situation thus far.  It was also great seeing Ryan and how multidimensional he was.  While having some glaring plot holes, Diabolico saving him and raising all those years twisted his mind into something evil and clouded his judgement on whether his father truly love him or not.  In the end, Ryan goes on his own personal journey of self discovery after leaving the villains because he eventually remembered the truth.  "Ryan's Destiny" was a great empathy type episode for the character as Ryan realized his inner nature was always good as he saves the rangers against Diabolico's trinity of monsters.  But it didn't stop there as Diabolico curses Ryan with the Cobra tattoo; forcing him unable to morph or it will get closer and closer to killing him.  While it doesn't make sense why Captain Mitchell didn't have guards watch over him or take his morpher away from him temporarily, Ryan constantly shows that he is also willing to risk his life to save his friends, sister and the city on multiple occasions.  Luckily in "The Cobra Strikes", he is able to break the curse by defeating the Cobra monster in the tomb and is able to continue to aid the rangers.  Ryan proved to be very useful as the 6th member of the team as his years spending time with the demons made him very knowledgeable about certain plans they were up to like in "The Queen's Return".  Ryan also proved to be the most proactive member of the team as he is the one who ultimately makes the decision to go off and find a way to capture the demons.  Even though he fails in "Sorceror of the Sands", he is constantly trying to find a way to still trap them and that just made Ryan another awesome ranger in my ways.  For the first American made Power Ranger without a Sentai Counterpart, the writers and production team did really well actually! O_O

On to Captain Mitchell, the rangers' mentor this season.  Since it was the first time in two seasons that a ranger team had a mentor, I guess it was nice we had a human mentor for the first time for once.  BUT like I said, Captain Mitchell's initial mentoring...SUCKED!!! -_-  How were Carter and Dana suppose to learn anything when Captain wouldn't out right tell him what they did wrong or why he was sending her out on some trivial missions???  It annoyed the hell out of me but luckily, he learned to outright tell the rangers what was up from there.  His best moments came during the Titanium Ranger arc when he is lamenting his decision for letting Diabolico save Ryan but he ultimately creates the bond he always wanted with his son.  Captain Mitchell's relationships with the other rangers like Dana and Carter were eventually well defined and he always showed to be wise when needed to be.  The only weak point after that was his strange behavior during the finale when the Aqua Base is being attacked and destroyed but once again, that was bad acting than bad characterization.  Ms. Fairweather, our scientific expert was fine outside her complete and utter mistreatment of Joel but luckily, she finally realize how much of a tease she was at the end and gives Joel a chance for once, DAMN!!! O_o  I know I made a lot of jokes and rants about being a b!tch but it's because when it came to Joel, she seemed to always give him a hard time because of his personality. Even when he started showing how selfless he was as well as how much cared for her.  So the writers dropped the ball on her on that end, but ultimately she was fine and did her job well when it came to constantly upgrading the rangers' powers, weapons and zords.

On to the villains this season...sigh.....After two seasons of well done enemies with emotional depth, moral complexity and just being downright awesome, we get a rather boring collection of ancient creatures who, yeah, had their moments, but ultimately were the worst bunch of baddies since the Turbo's embarrassing crew of Space Pirates led by Divatox. -_- Vipra.....oh Vipra....my god, thank god Jennifer Yen looked so much like her Sentai counterpart because that must have been the ONLY reason she go hired.  Her acting is the equivalent of watching a sloth carry a conversation, so why was she even trying???  She was the easily the worst villain because of her acting as everytime she was on screen, it's like she wasn't aware of what to do with the character...at all! Loki was useless until the end when for some reason the writers make him and Diabolico friends out of no where but still, his death only made Diabolico more interesting.  He was the most dimwitted general of the Queen's demons and nothing more could have been done with him really.  Diabolico was...okay while Olympius was brilliant honestly!  Out of all the villains, he always came the closest to defeating the rangers.  Sh!t, his first plan was brilliant as he almost got the demons inside the Aqua Base by infiltrating it by using the rangers' identities.  His rivalry with Diabolico was great but far too brief and should have been explored more.  Honestly, the demons as a whole didn't get interesting until they began seeing how ruthless and selfish the Queen was; willing to sacrifice all of them to defeat the rangers and rebuild her palace.  Speaking of the Queen Bansheera, I'll give her credit, she is by far the most purely evil main villains I have ever seen.  When Olympius becomes trapped in the Shadow World, she just laughs it off and puts Diabolico in charge...her own son...to Vipra's shock!  She absorbs Vipra to become whole again, forces Diabolico to destroy Loki and makes Diabolico her mindless slave in "Rise of the Super Demons".  I guess she wasn't all bad for that reason and it was deliciously death when Diabolico forced her to fall into the Shadow World.  Never has a villian's defeat felt so satisfying...AHHHH!!! :)

Lastly, I must talk about the rangers' impressive arsenal of powers, weapons and zords!  Just cause their powers were man-made, doesn't mean they were weak, not at all.  I have to say my favorite set of weapons were the V-Lancers! Awesome names by the way too.  The Rescue Bird was goofy but neat as well as the Thermal Blasters.  Battle Boosters?  YAASSSSS!!! Even the Titanium Ranger's Ax Blaster ruled! :)  But I must say, the zords were some of the best since Zeo.  I mean they had probably the biggest set of zords since that season with the Lightspeed Megazord, Max Solarzord, Omega Megazord, Lifeforce Megazord and one of my top 5 megazords of all time: the Super Train Megazord.  Each zord and their individual combinations were beyond awesome!  Everytime the Omega Megazord and Super Train Megazord were on screen, I nearly squealed liked teenage girl at a Bieber concert! :)  Pretty much, the season may have been average overall, but there were plenty of elements here and there like the megazords that kept it from reaching Turbo levels of mediocrity!

Pros:

• Great rangers in Ryan, Joel and especially Carter!
• A great run of episodes with the Titanium Ranger arc.
• The show finding itself after the Titanium Ranger arc.
• A tremendously fun and fantastic arsenal of powers, weapons and zords.
• Another brilliant season finale in the tense and terrific two parter, "The Fate of Lightspeed".

Cons:

• A very slow and boring story overall.
• Snooze worthy villains overall.
• Some of the franchise's worse episodes in "In the Limelight".
• Some of  the worst team-up episodes in "Trakeena's Revenge, Part 1 and 2".
• Ms. Fairweather's continuous cock teasing of Joel ALL season!
• Some of the worst acting from characters like Vipra, Dana and Captain Mitchell's actors.

Best Episodes:

1. "Olympius Ascends"-Again, Linkara must have been out of his mind as this is by far the best episode of the season, at least for me.  Olympius' debut was so impressive as he came up with an amazing plan to destroy the rangers and almost succeeded if Carter wasn't such a BADASS!!! :)

2. "The Fate of Lightspeed, Part 1 and 2"-As usual, Judd Lynn and his team of writers create an action packed, tense and dark finale where the stakes are at an ultimate high and all 6 rangers are put through the ringer when having to deal with Queen Bansheera's final assault on not only Mariner Bay but the entire world!

3. "The Queen's Return"-I just LOVE episodes where the entire cast is used well.  Ryan's knowledge of the Queen's revival ceremony, the other rangers saving lives like the heroic rescuers they are, the animosity between the Olympius and Loki, etc.  It was just an all around action packed and ridiculously entertaining episode! :)

4. "As Time Runs Out"-I really love the intensity of the episode as the rangers race against time to save themselves as well as the city.  It was a really smart plan by Carter to head into space with the other rangers to get rid of the spores.  Also, once again, it was an Olympius plan that almost worked!  He honestly doesn't get enough credit among the other rather decent to dull villains this season.

5. "The Omega Project"-I just episodes that deal with space! Maybe it's because we came off two heavy space themed seasons, that it was just awesome seeing the Lightspeed Rangers head into space to save the day for once.  Outside the finale, it was probably their biggest challenge yet that they nearly didn't survive! Wow! O_O

Worst Episodes:

1. "In The Limelight"-Ahhhh yes, just turn Dana into the complete opposite from what was previously established this season just to force some dumb lesson and make her look bipolar or something! Let's through in some horrible monster plot with a demon named "Treevil" that throws...wait for it....nuts!? Wow! -_-

2. "Trakeena's Revenge, Part 1 and 2"-One of, if not, the most disappointing team-up episodes up to that point of the series.  How the Lighspeed Rangers know the Galaxy Rangers is never explained, Leo is practically not there while Trakeena is just some pathetic stand in.  Heather gets more screen time than the actual team-up for the love of god!!! Just trash!!! -_-

3. "The Chosen Path"-Chad and especially his former sensei are idiots this episode! Who cares what some bitter old man thinks! You're a Power Ranger and save lives on a daily basis, F HIM!!! Oh my god, he trains a monster to be his new student because he has reformed.....ehhhhh!!! I just can't with this one! :(

4. "The Fifth Crystal"-Hey, Kelsey has a spoiled rich grandmother! Who suddenly turns into some deranged manic at the end to prove how much she loves her daughter? What!?  Is anyone's grandmother in this universe NOT a b!tch or in need of therapy??? O_o

5. "The Great Egg Caper"-Oh great! The egg hunt episode! Multiple sequences of the rangers, especially Kelsey getting outsmarted by a thief.  These are trained soldiers remember. Oh and Birdbane....I just can't with that remarkably laughable villain! lol

After two seasons of heavy space themed adventures, the franchise returns to its roots with "Lightspeed Rescue" as we see a new team of government funded rangers take on a rouge's gallery of demonic threats on Earth as they defend the city of Mariner Bay.  It's a sort of back to basics season as 5 random recruits are chosen to be rangers and we get an exciting as well as emotional arc with a 6th ranger antagonist comparable to Season 1's Evil Green Ranger.  While there are some geniunely good elements like some greatly defined rangers, awesome megazords and a handful of impressive episodes, overall the story drags with lackluster villains and underwhelming story throughout that ultimately makes for a decent yet mostly average season unfortunately.

Final Season Verdict: C