The Power Rangers franchise turns 25 next year, so it seemed like a good time to take a walk down memory lane to find the best episodes from Season One of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers.
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With 60 episodes to choose from during the first season alone, it was hard to narrow the list of best episodes down to just five. In fact, it would’ve been hard to narrow down the list to 20 choices, but there are a few that stand out for one reason or another.
Now, just because these five stand out doesn’t mean there aren’t plenty of other great episodes that didn’t make the list. More than a few come to mind, with episodes like “Trick or Treat” (the Pumpkin Rapper), “Food Fight” (Pudgy Pig), “Island of Illusion” (Quagmire), and “A Bad Reflection of You”, which features several Putty impersonators who love looking ’90s chic while pulling devastating pranks.
OK, making the water fountain spray foam instead of water is not what you might call “devastating”, but that was a pretty serious deal for Angel Grove High.
You might be wondering just how Mighty Morphin Power Rangers has 60 episodes in its first season, and the answer is it was non-union for some time, and the show had young actors who didn’t make much. Crazily enough, the show had 40 episodes in the can before it debuted on TV.
24 years later, the show is still going strong, with Power Rangers Ninja Steel closing out its season run and a new season of Super Ninja Steel set for 2018. Fans can also get more Mighty Morphin action from the Boom! Studios comics universe, which currently has two different series to try.
For now, though it’s time to focus on what kicked things off, so here are the top five Mighty Morphin Power Rangers episodes from Season One!
“The Day of the Dumpster”
No binge viewing of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers Seasonย One would be complete without the episode that started it all.
“The Day of the Dumpster” aired on August 28, 1993, and featured the debut of series villain Rita Repulsa. A lot happens in this episode, setting up all five Rangers, Zordon, Alpha 5, and Rita’s brief backstoryย as well as her other minions, but it all manages to come together in an addictive package.
Not only that, but fans were introducedย to series stalwarts like Bulk, Skull, the Community Center, Ernie, and more, and that’s why is a must-watch all these years later.
The official description is included below:
“Rita Repulsa escapes after 10,000 years of imprisonment determined to conquer Earth but a team of teenagers with attitude stands in her way.”
“Mighty Morphin’ Mutants”
There have been several instances of evil Rangers during the show’s existence, but one of the best iterations of the idea occurredย in “Mighty Morphin’ Mutants”.
Goldarย picks out several highly skilled Putties and trains them to fight just like the Rangers. He also evens the playing field by giving them the badges of darkness, which allows them to have powers similar to the Rangers as well.
Led by Commander Crayfish, they actually put up quite a fight, and Rita does one better by making these Rangers grow to Megazordย size. The Rangers are losing until they manage to call the Ultrazordย and turn the tide.
The action is reason enough to watch this episode, but the added relatability of Tommy also puts this over many others. Having him struggle with everyday things like being forgetful just made the character even more popular with fans.
Episode #60, “Mighty Morphin’ Mutants” aired on May 16, 1994, and youย can find the official description below:
“Tommy works on improving his memory while Rita creates a team of evil Mutant Rangers led by Commander Crayfish.”
“Peace, Love, and Woe”
Over the course of the first season, the individualย Rangers each got a share of the spotlight, and “Peace, Love, and Woe” was Billy’s chance to impress.
It helped that Rita called in Madam Woe, who is inarguablyย one of the most impressive villains throughout the first season. She’s powerful enough to almost take out all the Rangers in her home dimension, where she has also capturedย the girl Billy likes.
When the Rangers combine to teleportย Billy to our dimension, he really starts to shine. Forced to face her on our plane by himself, Billy ably goes one-on-one with her, ultimatelyย destroying her head jewel and freeing the other Rangers.
Billy changed the most over the course of Season One, and this episode is a major benchmark in that progression. Not only did he gain confidence in his abilities as a hero, but he also gained it in his everyday life, and that would only continue as the series went on.
Episode #13, “Peace, Love and Woe” aired on September 21, 1993, and you can find the official description below:
“Billy draws on the powers of his friends to rescue the girl of his dreams.”
“Green with Evil”
Like the “Day of the Dumpster” before it, you can’t have a conversation about Power Rangers without eventually getting to the “Green with Evil”ย arc, and there’s a reason why.
It’s easily the most popular Power Rangers storyline ever, and it ushered in one of the most popular Rangers in the franchise, Tommy. Rita finds a perfect candidate for her sixth Power Coin and thus creates the Green Ranger, anย enemy that wouldย take down the Rangers like never before.
Facing one of their own threw the Rangers off guard, and Tommy would go one better and take their mentors away by getting rid of Zordon and giving Alpha 5 a virus. He would then destroy their command center andย causeย serious damage to their Zords. In short, he was an amazing villain, and the redemption angle to the story earned the character millions of fans.
Episodes #17 – #21,ย “Green with Evil”ย partsย 1 through 5 aired on October 5, 1993, to October 9, 1993, and you can find the official description below:
“Rita creates her own evil Green Ranger to beat the Power Rangers at their own game.”
“Return of an Old Friend”
At the time fans were crushed that Tommy was no longer part of the show, but that would change inย “Return of an Old Friend”.
As Jason David Frank has explained previously, Tommy was supposed to only be a part of the show for 10 episodes. When he left, fans were quite upset, and petitioned Sabanย to have him return.
That caused Sabanย to bring him back, and this was his big return. Tommy is seen at the end of Part 1 and returns to action officially in Part 2. Zordonย energizesย his Power Coin with his own energy, and while he is back in the fight, he only has so much power left in his reserves.
Fans were elated to see Tommy return, and this episode will always hold a special place because of it.
Episodes #49ย and #50,ย “Return of an Old Friend” Parts 1ย and 2 aired on February 28, 1994 and March 1, 1994, and you can find the official description below.
“Rita demands the Power Rangers hand over their Power Coins if they ever want to see their parents again.”
