Season 17, Episode 11: Doctor K

"Doctor K"

Episode 10

Air Episode: May 9th, 2009

When I think about the pitch for this season by show runner, Eddie Guzelin, I can't help but think of this very episode out of the entire season.  I think I've ever been more saddened and depressed by an episode of Power Rangers since Lost Galaxy's "The Power of Pink". :_(  The grim and gritty appeal that Eddie and his team of writers used to bring in an older audience for the show results in possibly the darkest episode of Power Rangers yet.  Especially when Doctor K's tragic and terrifying backstory has one hell of a twist that still is beyond chilling and honestly completely justify her pretentious demeanor and socially distant behavior.  We open with a very powerful scene right out the gate with Doctor K playing an extremely difficult Mozart piece (the hardest ever to play apparently! Wow! O_O) when Summer comes into her lab and interrupts since they have a meeting.  Clearly Doctor K is a bit distraught, even saddened but meets with the rangers but tells them that Venjix's technology has advanced too much even the ranger technology as well as the zords are gonna be no match for his next attack on this city.  The rangers are obviously anxious and frantic as they ask her how they can upgrade their tech to match his but Doctor K says she had planned for a new megazord configuration but without another one of those core reactor that Scott got from his brother's wreck.....so they're are currently screwed.  After delivering one of the most hilarious punchlines I've heard from this show to Ziggy, Doctor K also starts flashback to being a child; clearly being a child prodigy when she was suddenly abducted by a government think tank called Alphabet Soup.....laugh all you want but not only is this incredibly heartless and tragic, but they keep celebrating her birthday every year with just a cake and never let her outside by saying she is terribly sick as the sun will hurt her; so they just keep forcing her to solve highly difficult equations to help them create new weapons and technology until she is able the same age as we she her today....only she can't remember her name......WOW....just chilling! 

Unfortunately, back in the present, Venjix has a new plan in mind for the rangers, a Generation 12 Reflectionbot thing that he wants Tenaya to use as a plan to trick the rangers...by revealing yet another Generation 12 Bot....hmmmmm..... Back in Corinth, the alarms goes off as the attack begins and the rangers morph into action to meet the monster that is already grown.  Ziggy and Dillon are the first to call on their zords to form the ValveMax Megazord but turns out Dr. K couldn't be more right as the monster immediately copies anything reflected in the mirror it reveals aka he copies their Lion blaster as well as Tail Spinner to attack them brutally; forcing them to demorph.  Soon the core 3 rangers summon the High Octane Megazord but once again, Reflecting power the bot has makes it able to copy their Super Saber and badly damage the their zords as well.  With the zords damaged, the rangers quickly call Doc K, but she is out of ideas at the moment.  Suddenly, the monster begins to malfunction; even growing small and going offline.  As Doc K wants to use the bot's technology to upgrade their own against Venjix, Colonel Hicks how Doc K managed to build this technology; leading to a flashback where we are introduced to Gem and Gemma.  Oh these two! I know how people find these two highly annoying but I honestly find their child-like behavior endearing, heartwarming and actually kind of cute. They were also abducted by the government think tank and had been given to Dr. K for test pilots for the Ranger Series technology.  I just LOVE Dr. K's brutal bluntness juxtaposed to Gem and Gemma's extremely naive social awareness.  She gives her a scroll as a gift for her birthday, a gold pencil wrapped in sliver and gold ribbons.....awwwww.....

Back in the present, the bot has unfortunately replicated the shield codes as now hundreds of drones begin attacking the city; along with a second Generation 12 Bot.  As Doc K is shocked by this, the bot that has been tied up in her lab begins to explode; as Tenaya reveals herself as well as it being all a trap.  While Doc K manages to get the zords operational again to fight off the drones and monster, Tenaya and Doc K engage in a intense match where she first manages to contain Tenaya but her hand as usual helps her to escape as the two begin to battle.  Gotta love Doc K's resilience here, especially being able to out-think Tenaya enough to still help the rangers. But it truly is horrifying knowing what truly made her this way and so adamant about saving the world.  We see in yet another flashback that a butterfly managed to get into the facility as Doc K follows it to an overhead window that shines in her face....realizing the sun doesn't hurt her at all.  Angry beyond measure, she forms a plan alongside Gem and Gemma to escape the facility and government's control of them by.....releasing a computer virus that will leave their system down long enough for them to leave....the Venjix Virus.....HOLY.....SH!T!!! O_OO_OO_O ......but the government was onto her and capture all three as Doc K is frantic and hysterical as the virus has started and if she doesn't stop it, it'll affect the whole world...as she's being taken away............

To make matters worse, during the fight between the two, Tenaya disappears and taunts Doc K; leading her to freak out with one of her devices and remember recording the very message about heading to Corinth city throughout the world as well as saving her Ranger technology to be used to stop him.  But the government had other plans as they wanted to kill her so no one would know where the virus originated.....HOLY!!! But luckily Gem and Gemma come to her rescue but tell her to leave while she still can while they go after the Series Gold and Silver technology; seemingly dying in an explosion and Doc K cries out in horror at losing her friends......  As the rangers continue to struggle with so many drones and the bot, Doc K manages to trick Tenaya into using the other reflection bot to replicate yet another reactor so she can allow the rangers to finally use the new zord configuration.  Not only is the reveal of the Zenith Megazord EPIC but it's juxtaposed to Doc K using a violin again to harm Tenaya while pushing a button to suck her out of the lab.  I 'm never would imagine classical music playing over a megazord battle but the hairs on my neck are still standing up.  The rangers are even in the same cockpit at last and the final finisher is awesome victory moment for the team as well....even if Doc K managed to defeat Tenaya....she's still has lost so much and caused even more loss as humanity is on the brink of extinction because of her.  As we see she kept Gem and Gemma's scroll in her lab (My heart!), the last moments of the episode show a hopeless Doc K heading toward Corinth on foot to hopefully regain that hope............ "Doctor K" is.....a masterpiece and one of the most unconventional Power Rangers episodes EVER!!! Like "The Rescue Mission", it is something far more mature and sophisticated from what you'd expect from this show and the twist with the rangers' mentor being the creator of their current villain as well as the end of the world....it's so morbid...yet masterful.  Olivia Tennet was only what??? 17 at the time, yet carries too much realistic empathy and tragedy within such a powerful performance beyond her years. Award worthy even! I'm serious.  An episode that shows how truly successful thematically this season was for the franchise as well as an episode that should be shown to known Power Rangers fans.

Final Morph: A+(++) :)