Season 11, Episode 15: Pork Chopped

"Pork Chopped"
Episode 15
Air Date: May 17th, 2003

One thing that just seems so out of character about this episode is Tori! Usually, she's the most responsible of the group and seems to always be telling others the right thing to do.  I even love how at one moment during the episode she reminds Shane and Dustin about Hunter and Blake's safety as well as whereabouts.  Tori always seemed disciplined and clear headed, which makes her need to satisfy both Shane and Blake...at the same time come out of no where. Look! I know Tori and Blake have an obvious attraction for each other and the writers have been lightly touching on it since the introduction of the Thunder Rangers but I get what she was thinking jumping around aka Ninja Streaking between two events she didn't HAVE to go to at the same time.  Honestly, it makes her look like a jerk for leaving Shane's competition frequently just to get close to Blake.  I mean his brother is there and wouldn't she want to be alone with him???  I mean you can choke it up to a teenage girl and hormones taking over so she wasn't thinking straight but it just comes off as a needless dilemma for the episode's main plot.  I mean I get it, it would make sense for an teenager to use her powers in this situation to appease both her friends but Tori never displayed this kind of behavior before and it would have made sense if it was Shane or especially if Dustin did this without thinking about the simply solution of staying to their first set of plans and just hanging out with Blake later!!! -_-

Anyway, apparently, Tori's unfortunately dumb situation she got into herself is worthy news for Lothor's nieces to report back to for him as the team being separated leaves them apparently more vulnerable to an attack....OK....-_-.... Anyway, we get a poorly slapstick introduction for the monster of the week as Zurgane introduces everyone to...General Trayf ...and yet Pudgy Pig looked and sounded more intimidating! WOW! o_O So now with Tori bouncing around between hanging out with her friends...and for some reason can't pick out Kapri in disguise when the rangers could before LIKE HOW MANY EPISODES AGO??? What the??? Even dressed as a man Tori recognized them but here, in much obvious appearance, she, Blake and Hunter can't???! O_o  Especially when the brothers use to work with those annoying brats???!!! Oh come on! O_o  Anyway, after Blake and Hunter get sucked into a box of popcorn, Tori makes her way back to the theater and realizes it was trap set by the Pig General (I'm just gonna call him that! -_-) as the Kelzacks are revealed to be the other guests watching the movie.  As Tori tries to save Blake and Hunter, Shane and Dustin handle some Kelzacks before heading back to Ninja Ops.  I gotta say, the fight scene in the theater is refreshing and new for show. Something we'd hadn't seen at the time and it has some great stunt work in it.  I just wish the blatant Bruce Lee flick in the background wasn't so distracting! -_- After Tori fails to get her fellow rangers away, Sensei to Tori about her usual behavior by using her ninja powers in public as well as ditching Shane for Blake before Cam tracks down the Pig General to downtown.

After the rangers morph, they head off to battle the Pig but he opens a portal to some dimension where they can only follow for like 10 min according to Cam.  After hilariously landing in "another rock quarry!" as Shane humorously puts it, they begin to fight the Pig while Lothor and his bandit of buffoons watch from the movie theater....sigh....  I just love how the fight includes the absurdity of the monster using his snout to hurt the rangers! Only in Sentai!!! Goodness! Meanwhile, trapped in the popcorn box from hell, Hunter and Blake try to escape but only hilariously realize that the butter isn't real butter but artificial flavoring! LOL Coming from someone who recently worked at a movie theater, I absolutely understand! LOL So they some how find a kernel in the bow and somehow feel that using their thunder powers to make it grow will help them escape....yeah....O_o...let's see what are villains are doing shall we....Oh...of course...sitting down watching the rangers fight Piggy while Lothor makes jokes about them being at the private screening to the fight in the other dimension....sighhhhh.....-_-

Anyway, after managing to destroy Pig Breath with their Storm Striker, they escape from the dimension and realize Hunter and Blake are still captured....until somehow their plan works and they land in front of the rangers covered in butter.  Listen, I'm sure on set, this was a priceless, disgusting moment but....no, I just don't like the endless amounts of butter...oh I'm sorry...artificial flavoring being used as a gag for a fight between the Thunder Rangers and Kelzacks while the Wind Rangers fight a grown Pig General monster. -_-  I mean I get it, but no, that much flavoring didn't come back with them and makes no sense...but HEY, Power Rangers right??? O_O Anyway, by the Ram Hammer and Turtle Mace weapons for the Storm Megazord, the Wind Rangers are able to defeat the monster on their own, which is cool for once, since it's been a couple episodes since they were on their own.  So, the episode wraps up with Tori being punished...but not before her and Blake flirt some more....awwwww...oh and of course, Blake bring Sensei to the movie festival goes unnoticed...but why waste the extra ticket when you can bring a human friend??? O_o Sigh...anyway, "Pork Chopped" is filler and a meandering filler at that.  Besides centering around Tori in an unsatisfying way and the Thunder Brother stuck or covering in FAKE BUTTER, there's nothing really much to watch or review here. Passable but forgettable.

Final Morph: C-