Series Re-watch: My 'PR Lightspeed Rescue' Review
Power Rangers Lightspeed Rescue (Season 8)
Lightspeed Rescue makes the first official standalone season of the franchise. While Lost Galaxy contained elements from the first 6 seasons, from here on out, the only thing connecting each season are the annual team ups. The season starts with "Operation Lightspeed", a solid opener that's unlike other PR premieres. It's nice to see the plot of the season introduced at a faster pace by having the rangers quickly get their powers and fight the enemy in a single episode instead of it being stretched out between multiple episodes. At first, we don't really get much personality from this new team besides Carter and Joel. I mean, there's nothing wrong with this team but it does take a while before we get a sense of who all of them are. Meanwhile, Carter is the all American type who's a firefighter, Joel aka "The Sky Cowboy" is a stunt pilot with a cocky attitude, Kelsey is an extreme sports athlete who's a little crazy, Chad is a disciplined martial artist as well as a professional scuba diver and Dana is the faithful daughter of Captain Mitchell, the rangers' mentor this season, who's a paramedic with dreams of becoming a doctor. Although, Dana actually has some good centric episodes at the start the season in "Go Volcanic" and "A Matter of Trust". When it comes to the villains, I gotta say, it also takes some time before they get interesting as well. After two seasons worth of brilliant enemies in Astronema, Trakeena, Darkonda, Deviot, etc. The demons just seemed subpar at first, especially with Vipra taking up most of the screen time at the beginning of the season. My God, I know PR is known for mostly bad acting but Jennifer Yen is painful to watch! I mean usually when the acting was bad on this show, it was so bad it was good! But her acting as Vipra is so bad, I'm surprised she got a job on a kid's show!! Anyway, once we get to "From Deep in the Shadows", the season really picks up! The Titanium Ranger arc was strong and very nostalgic of the Evil Green Ranger in Season 1. While not as iconic, Ryan's story, though brings some minor plotholes, is pretty emotional and I liked the family drama between him, Captain Mitchell and Dana with him being revealed as his/her son/brother. Not to mention, it's cool seeing a completely original American made power ranger as he works in the series seamlessly. We also get to see Diabolico finally take center stage as the main villain and the curse he puts on Ryan is pretty cruel and refreshing tactic against the rangers. "The Cobra Strikes" is an awesome episode which sees Diabolico having a great fight with the rangers, ultimately ending with his first defeat. That Lightspeed Solarzord was a memorable megazord, especially the way it reflected Diabolico's attacks back at him. I also really like how they had Ryan soon after actively searching for a way to trap the demons again. While I'm sure this has more to do with there being no Sentai footage with the Titanium Ranger, the writers come up with a rather smart reason for Ryan to disappear for a few episodes and make the occasional appearance when needed.
Following the Titanium Ranger episodes, the season finally finds it's stride in episodes like "The Omega Project", one of the show's best episodes with the introduction of The Omega Megazord, another awesome megazord when the rangers have to go into space to stop a belt of asteroids from destroying Earth. "As Time Runs Out" is a pretty suspenseful episode that puts the rangers in their craziest dilemma yet while "Yesterday Again" is one of the better time loop episodes from the franchise. Olympius and Queen Bansheera are also strong villains. I loved the rivalry between Olympius and Diabolico. It could have easily been a poor Ecliptor/Darkonda clone, but it was actually really fun to watch, especially with both demons constantly getting the upper hand on each other. Queen Bansheera could possibly be the cruelest villain of the franchise. Unlike previous villains who at least had loyal allegiances and love for fellow villains that made them sympathetic, Queen Bansheera is completely selfish and doesn't care about her minions, even her son in end, only wanting her palace and an army of demons at her command. The characters are finally fleshed out more with Carter having some badass moments throughout, with his best moment being "Wrath of the Queen" when he punches the hell out of Queen Bansheera while she nearly torturers the other rangers to death. There's also a nice little backstory introduced in "Trial by Fire" where we learn Carter became a firefighter after being saved by one as a little boy, wanting to live up to his mysterious hero. We finally find out in "A Face From The Past" that it was Captain Mitchell who saved him....which kinda makes sense, given why he eventually chooses Carter to be the Red Ranger. Chad gets some decent episodes in "Up to the Challenge" and "The Chosen Path" (the idea of a martial arts master training a monster is kinda priceless!) Joel's continuing flirtation with Ms. Fairweather is hilarious, especially in "The Mighty Mega Battles". Just can't help but feel sorry for the guy all season yet laugh at his arrogance. Kelsey and Dana...well...we get another crazy grandma episode in "The Fifth Crystal" (like it didn't suck enough the first time!) and "In The Limelight" is seriously off with Dana suddenly becoming self absorbed and selfish after becoming a model to pay for med school. Not all of the characterization worked this season I guess...sigh.
In terms of the team up this year, "Trakeena's Revenge", Parts 1 and 2 are downright terrible! No wonder Danny Slavin walked off the set and Amy Miller said no to returning with the episodes focusing more on a little girl than the actual team up!! Whose dumb idea was that!? Not to mention, we get more horrible voice over work and bad editing reminiscent of Season 2! The only awesome moment was the Lights of Orion upgrading the Omega Megazord and both teams sharing a cockpit. Outside of that, it's a big old waste of time. Also, there's a really random storyline with Chad and a mermaid that is one of the most laughably bad things I've seen from the franchise. Borrowing elements from Disney's "A Little Mermaid" (oh the irony!), "Ocean Blue" and "Neptune's Daughter" mostly bore as their romance feels unrealistic, which is weird considering what we've seen from the series before this! The show was stronger focusing on Queen Bansheera or Diabolico. Luckily, the season ends strong with another great finale in "The Fate of Lightspeed", Parts 1 and 2. Like finales before it, the rangers' zords and home base get destroyed, leaving them vulnerable until they regroup and kick some a$$ one last time. I always loved how it was Diabolico who helped the rangers save the day in the end. Their once greatest enemy becoming their unlikely ally in the end is both fitting and hilarious. Overall, Lightspeed Rescue is a mostly solid year despite it's various flaws. I liked the man made powers verse a supernatural threat plot, especially considering the rangers had one of the most impressive arsenal of zords and weapons. It has a slow start before it eventually settles into it's story arcs but when it does, it's an enjoyable season of the franchise. Also, how epic is that Super Train Megazord sequence!? Best. Megazord. EVER!
Best Episodes
1. The Omega Project
2. The Fate of Lightspeed, Parts 1 and 2
3. As Time Runs Out
4. Wrath of the Queen
5. The Cobra Strikes
Final Morph: B-