Season 8, Episode 39: The Fate of Lightspeed, Part 1

"The Fate of Lightspeed, Part 1"
Episode 39
Air Date: November 17th, 2000

Well, it's finale time and the writers go batsh!t crazy as usual as the Lightspeed Rangers are unexpectedly forced into their final battle against Queen Bansheera....and it's a pretty awesome one so far like I remember with Part 1! :)  The episode opens with Ryan contacting the rangers after discovering not only the golden key but Queen Bansheera's final assault on Mariner Bay as she plans to summon all the demons of the Shadow World during an ancient ceremony.  As the Ms. Fairweather is informing the rangers of the Lifeforce Megazord being the only operational zord in their arsenal at the time, Ryan finally get in touch with them but before he can finish his message, Queen Bansheera horrifyingly captures him.  As the rangers, the Captain and Ms. Fairweather worry, Carter offers to go after him but Dana wants to instead.  As the rangers and Captain Mitchell try to convince him it's suicide, he goes anyway as Dana tells him to be careful.  As Carter prepares to board the Mobile Armor Vehicle Ms. Fairweather tells him to use stealth mode as it's his best chance to be undetected.  As Carter takes off and heads toward the Skull Cavern's dimension, 2 Batlings carry Ryan away as Queen Bansheera tells them to lock him up.  As Jinxer approaches, the Queen orders him to activate his card he planted on the Lifeforce Megazord to keep the rangers busy from ruin her ceremony.  As Jinxer casts his spell, the card on the Lifeforce Megazord activates as Batlings flood the entire holding bay.

Meanwhile, Ms. Fairweather makes her way there and turns on the lights to notice the thousands of Batlings in front of her.  She immediately closes the door and informs the Captain of the intruders as break through it and begin attacking the Aqua Base.  Captain Mitchell orders a red alert of the entire base as the rangers wonder what's going on; only to see Batlings themselves.  Dana and Joel immediately begin fighting them off as the crew makes their way to safety! I LOVE these base destruction battles at the end of the season.  The production team really goes all out as usual with the sheer spectacle of the danger and action of the situation.  Between the rangers instamorphing as they fight to the pathetic guards of the Aqua Base trying to keep the immense swarm of Batlings back, it's all done so well. :)  Anyway, things get worse when Dana notices that the Lifeforce Megazord begins attacking the Aqua Base and Captain Mitchell just....becomes useless...leaving Ms. Fairweather to take the lead in immediately evacuating the base.  As the rangers and her direct the entire crew out of the Aqua Base, they realize that everyone mad it out except for Captain Mitchell...who's still in the control room...watching as all he work hard for is now lost.  You know, I would have been invested in this scene if it wasn't for Ron Rogge's hilariously bland performance.  Seriously, Vipra might be dead but it's like Jennifer Yen possessed Captain Mitchell all of a sudden! lol

Anyway, it takes Dana to have to remind her father that he still has her and Ryan as well as the other rangers and Ms. Fairweather who count on him for him to finally to snap out of his ridiculously bad acting to finally go with them.  But the Lifeforce Megazord destroys the connecting tub to the surface trapping them.  To make matters worse, the glass begins to crack near all of them.... Meanwhile, Carter arrives at the Skull Cavern and makes his way inside and stumbles upon Queen Bansheera rallying her near endless army of Batlings for the ceremony.  Still doesn't beat Astronema and her epic speech during the first half of "Countdown to Destruction" or even Trakeena's speech during "Journey's End, Part 1" but whatever.  Soon Carter makes his way to where Ryan is being held and frees him from 2 Batlings.  They overhear Queen Bansheera coming after talking to Jinxer and make their next move.  As Queen Bansheera enters, she sees Ryan still chained up but Carter's morpher goes off while he hides in a nearby sarcophagus.  Before Queen Bansheera can attack, Ryan breaks free and attacks her as well Carter doing some Matrix type move to help.  As Batlings enter the room and they are outnumbered, Carter and Ryan morph anyway to fight their way out.  But the overwhelming number of Batlings soon becomes too much for them as Queen Bansheera blasts them out of the Skull Cavern.

The episode ends with Jinxer and the Batlings taking control of the Omega Megazord as they destroy the city; preparing for the Queen's ceremony and the Lifeforce Megazord continuing to destroy the Aqua Base as water begins to drip into it; leaving the other rangers, Captain Mitchell and Ms. Fairweather fearing for their lives.  A wonderful first parter for sure and a nice beginning of the end type finale! :)

Final Morph: A