Forever Red

Forever Red is the thirty-fourth episode of Power Rangers: Wild Force, commemorating the tenth anniversary of the Power Rangers franchise. It featured what would come to be known as the Veteran Red Rangers.

As Wild Force is the tenth season of Power Rangers, and its Super Sentai equivalent, Gaoranger, is the twenty-fifth season of the Super Sentai series, Forever Red is often compared to the Gaoranger vs. Super Sentai special, despite the fact that the two specials have little in common. Like Gaoranger vs. Super Sentai, Forever Red reunited the previous nine Red Rangers (with the exception of Rocky DeSantos) as a means to celebrate the anniversary of the franchise from the first season Mighty Morphin to it's then-current season, Wild Force. In Gaoranger vs. Super Sentai, the focus was on the Gaorangers being taught by a team of 5 Sentai heroes, with only one of them being Red.

Red Rangers
The ten Red Rangers featured, in order of appearance in Power Rangers continuity were:

The inclusion of the Quantum Ranger from Time Force was a source of debate among fans, as in the series he was considered a "sixth Ranger" and not a "Red Ranger". However, Eric's inclusion was partially justified by Rocky's absence (which made Eric necessary to reach 10 Rangers for tenth anniversary) and by the fact that Wes and Eric effectively led the Silver Guardians together at the end of Time Force and during Reinforcements from the Future, an earlier crossover between Time Force and Wild Force. Since the series, other non-Red Rangers have been similarly termed Red Rangers, including Hunter Bradley (the Crimson Ranger) in Power Rangers: Ninja Storm.

Primary Cast

 * Ricardo Medina, Jr.. as Cole Evans
 * Jack Guzman as Danny Delgado
 * Phillip Jeanmarie as Max Cooper
 * Alyson Kiperman as Taylor Earhardt
 * Jessica Rey as Alyssa Enrilé
 * Phillip Andrew as Merrick Baliton (Lunar Wolf Wild Force Ranger)
 * Ann Marie Crouch as Princess Shayla
 * Ilia Volok as Master Org
 * Sin Wong as Toxica

Minor Cast

 * Austin St. John as Jason Lee Scott
 * Jason David Frank as Tommy Oliver
 * Selwyn Ward as TJ
 * Christopher Khayman Lee as Andros
 * Danny Slavin as Leo Corbett
 * Sean Cw Johnson as Carter Grayson
 * Jason Faunt as Wesley Collins
 * Daniel Southworth as Eric Myers
 * Paul Schrier as Bulk
 * Jason Narvy as Skull
 * Richard Steven Horvitz as Alpha 7 (voice)
 * Unknown performer as Alpha 7 (suit)
 * Christopher Glenn as Aurico (voice only)
 * Archie Kao as General Venjix
 * Walter Jones as Gerrok
 * Catherine Sutherland as Tezzla
 * Scott Page-Pagter as Steelon
 * Dave Walsh as Automon

Synopsis
Four years after the destruction of the Machine Empire, surviving members of the empire remain, seeking to destroy Earth (how they had survived Countdown to Destruction remains unclear). Tezzla, Gerrok, Steelon, and Automon (and many Cogs) are all that is left of the once mighty and proud Empire, as well as General Venjix, acting as the head leader. They learned that Earth's Moon was the resting place of Serpentera, the Zord created and used by Lord Zedd with the power to destroy a planet. Ever since Zedd's "death" in Countdown to Destruction, the location of Serpentera remained a mystery for many years. Venjix found it and began using Cog soldiers to dig it up, refitting it with a Neo Plutonium reactor to power it.

Andros, the Red Space Ranger, discovered Venjix and found out about his plan after following him for several years. Andros went to the moon to gather video evidence of their plans. He succeeded and sent the tape to Tommy Oliver, the Red Zeo Ranger. When Tommy learned of Venjix's plan, he asked Andros to gather all the current Red Rangers on Earth and meet him at the NASADA space port on Earth. Although it was not explained how each Ranger would be contacted, it's assumed that Andros had contacted Carter, probably recommended by Leo as Leo had met Andros and Carter in two different teamups, who in turn used governmental connections to track down Cole and Wes and Eric of the Silver Guardians. T.J. was easily available as he also served as Andros' second-in-command, while Aurico and Leo were contacted by Andros. However, Tommy contacted his former teammate Jason Lee Scott himself. However, Jason didn't give Tommy a definitive answer as to whether or not he would show up at all.

Cole, the current Red Ranger, was contacted by Carter as the Wild Force team were gathered at a park. Carter stated that only Cole was needed. The two proceeded to NASADA's space port, where they met up with Andros, T.J. and the Silver Guardians, of which the latter two were immediately recognized by Cole, as he already met the two in the Wild Force and Time Force teamup. Tommy appeared and explained that he would be leading the team of Red Rangers. At the last second, Jason pulled up to the group on a motorcycle, surprising Tommy somewhat. Jason explained that he didn't think the mission would feel right without the original Red Ranger. He then proceeded to rib Cole, "the new guy" of the group, who originally offered a handshake. The Red Rangers boarded the Astro Megaship Mark II, created specifically for this mission, and proceeded to the moon. With new Alpha robot, Alpha 7, Tommy further explained the mission to the other Rangers and that they must stop the Machine generals and destroy Serpentera. Venjix and his other generals prepared to board Serpentera, but they were then interrupted by the Rangers. Venjix sent Cogs to distract the eight Rangers while he and the others fled to Serpentera. The Rangers battled the Cogs unmorphed and easily defeated them.

Eventually, Cole escaped the barrage of Cogs and chased the generals. Venjix fired at him, but Cole was rescued by Leo and Aurico on Leo's Jet Jammer. Then all the Rangers gathered, morphed with their respective morphing calls (save Aurico, who never appears demorphed), and battled the Generals. Cole and Jason fought Venjix, where Jason showed the new Red Ranger a corkscrew kick. Tommy and Wes fought Gerrok and Tommy destroyed him with the Zeo Flying Power Kick. Eric and Aurico fought Tezzla and destroyed her with Eric's Quantum Defender. T.J. and Leo fought Automon and destroyed him with Leo's Quasar Saber, Transdagger, and T.J.'s Turbo Blade and Turbo Lightning Sword. Andros and Carter fought Steelon and destroyed him by combining power from their Astro, Rescue, and Thermo Blasters. Cole severely damaged Venjix with his Crystal Saber. Venjix then jumped into Serpentera and took off. With no time to get to the Ship, the Rangers relied on Cole with his Wild Force Rider to battle Venjix. Cole used the rider to fly into Serpentera and destroyed it from the inside. Both Venjix and Serpentera were destroyed. Afterwards, the nine human Rangers part ways, and Cole remarks how Tommy appeared to be the "greatest Ranger ever", with the other Rangers bragging of their exploits.

Early drafts

 * There were four separate outlines for Forever Red: one by Koichi Sakamoto, one by Jonathan Tzachor, and two by Amit Bhaumik. The first outline involved the villains (who have already destroyed a colony) planning to attack Earth and assaulting various Red Rangers, whose introductions are staggered throughout the story. The second outline had all the Red Rangers, introduced in brief showcase scenes, being separately gathered by Alpha 5 to Angel Grove, where they surprise the "Five Metallic Warriors" upon arrival. The third had Andros gathering the Red Rangers (via Tommy) after discovering a cult are trying to resurrect Dark Specter, and involves all ten fighting a resurrected Specter; this draft brought all the Rangers together early on, so they could interact more. Most of the elements from this draft would survive into the fourth. Bhaumik hoped to include a reference to Maligore - Specter and Maligore used the same costume - and claim Dark Specter was an adult of the same species. It is unknown how Alpha 5 survived the attack on Eltar in this draft of the script, but it is known that in this case he was to serve as the mentor in place of Tommy.


 * Bhaumik moved the battle to the Moon as a deliberate twist on the first four years where Rita through King Mondo operated there: "our heroes [are] proactive and bringing the battle to the villain’s base on the Moon for a change."


 * The fourth outline became the script: only one draft was made for the script due to time constraints. (On top of that, other episodes of Wild Force were being made at the same time)


 * The suits from five random Beetleborgs: Shadowborg, The Green Hunter Beetleborg, Dragonborg (minus his antennae), Fireborg and Ladyborg from Saban's Big Bad Beetleborgs were used as the bodies for the remaining generals of the Machine Empire trying to reactivate Serpentera. The use of Beetleborgs costumes was planned from the very first outline (the original idea was to use costumes of Beetleborg villains) and led to Serpentera, another robot, being used instead of Dark Specter. Bhaumik said he preferred this idea, as "it allowed us to combine the villains from two different seasons".


 * Bulk (without Skull) appeared in the third outline. In the second, Tommy was going to pass up a T-shirt of "the famous two-man rock band Bulk & Skull".

Producing the episode

 * Tommy was deliberately given lines that Zordon used to say.
 * TJ is finally given a full name: Theodore Jay Jarvis Johnson.
 * Steve Cardenas was originally contacted to appear as Rocky, but he moved and changed addresses without notifying the production team and they could not find him in time to film. Rocky would have only participated in the battle as the MMPR Red Ranger if Austin St. John proved unable to make filming.


 * Three of the generals were voiced by Power Ranger alumni: Archie Kao voiced Venjix, Walter Jones voiced Gerrok and Catherine Sutherland voiced Tezzla. Scott Page-Pagter and David Walsh played Steelon and Automus respectively, though they were left uncredited.

Cut lines and scenes
The episode was originally intended to be an extra-long special, and a number of scenes were trimmed or removed when it was made into a regular episode. These scenes are available online, as part of production footage. The bits that didn't make it include:


 * Bulk and Skull have a much longer scene, referencing all of the show's old monsters (including ones from Lightspeed thru Wild Force that they never met on-screen): Bulk is trying to one-up Skull (forgetting that Skull was there for all of it). Skull is trying to avoid Professor Phenomenus. Tommy Oliver was retired and was the owner of Bulk's restaurant; he isn't aware of the Machine Empire until Andros calls him. The trimmed scene gives the impression that Bulk and Skull (who are nervous of Tommy) are aware he's a Ranger and that Tommy has already been working with Andros; as the line about "I'm retired" never aired, Power Rangers Dino Thunder would follow the implication that Tommy was active and reveal that he was working in secret (under disguise as a science teacher) to prepare for Mesogog's return.


 * The Wild Force Rangers break up two kids fighting, who claim they're playing Power Rangers, and tell them Power Rangers "don't fight people, so you shouldn't either". Carter Grayson informs the other Rangers that only Cole has been "selected" for the mission and the others can't come, and Cole tells Max "it is important for you guys to stay and protect Turtle Cove". The kids were called Ray and Manny, after two Power Rangers webmasters.


 * In the final draft after Leo said "Andros, we got here as soon as we could," Aurico said sheepishly, "Sorry, I always forget to turn right at the Andromeda Galaxy."


 * Andros' original reason for why he's a great Red Ranger was "I killed Zordon" (Jason was shocked to hear Zordon was dead). This was redubbed to "I saved two worlds!", likely because it's disturbing for Andros to brag about killing Zordon.


 * At the end of the episode, T.J. had more lines saying, "I mean... (laugh) it was like Pepperonis and cheese and... and heat. And it was hard to breathe. It-It's a great story!" Eric says during this, "Yeah! May the Power be with Ya!" Jason also said, "Yeah, and I heard it was burnt and crispy and ...all kinds of stuff!"

Scenes that never made it to filming, but can be seen in a draft script online, include:


 * Cole met Alpha 7 on the Megaship. It involved Cole being scared and surprised he was in space, and Alpha 7 saying "Ay yi yi! Where'd you grow up, in the jungle?" and as Cole was going to tell him he was born in a jungle, he came face-to-face with Alpha 7 and jumped startled. As Alpha 7 introduced himself, Cole wanted to know "Wha-What is a Alpha 7" but said it as if he was scared; and Alpha 7 said he was "a fully sentient, multi-functional automaton and a walking database of everything relating to the Power Rangers" and Cole said (Looking scared and sick), "I think I liked it better when I was on earth..." This and the next scene would have allowed Richard Steven Horvitz to record more lines for the Alpha 7 character.


 * A scene between Tommy and Alpha 7 on the Megaship was cut that involved asking Tommy what was wrong, and Tommy replying that things have been awkward between him and Jason since they found those stories on the internet, in a reference to slash fanfiction featuring them together. Also, during this scene, T.J. and Eric were having drinks by the synthetron and talking (As if like old friends), and Cole is trying to talk up an enthusiastic Jason.


 * Venjix blasted Cole and Leo and Aurico arrived on the Red Jet Jammer and then blasted the Machine Empire generals. But in Amit's final draft, they arrived and blasted Venjix out of the hangar of the moon base. Tommy acknowledged them by saying, "The Red Galaxy Ranger and the Red Alien Ranger!" and Leo said " This battle isn't just for the Rangers of Earth," and Aurico added, "This is for heroes everywhere!" Not to mention, Leo (Like Aurico) didn't appear unmorphed in Amit Bhuamik's final draft.


 * Other material cut from Amit Bhaumik's final draft include: Steelon originally said "Zedd was a fool to leave this buried here." Andros recorded a message on his Astro Morpher saying, "Andros here. This is worse than I thought, they've almost finished digging it out."; Andros originally said his morphing call "Let's Rocket!" before leaving the moon; Bulk and Skull originally both answered the call; when Cole first met Carter he added "Who are you?"; Wes's Ranger title was addressed as "Time Force Red"; T.J.'s middle name "Jay" was censored, Carter was tongue-tied when trying to say T.J.'s full name and T.J. winced when his name was heard; Automus saluted at the speech and said "For the glory of the Royal House of Gadgetry!"; Alpha 7 originally didn't say "It's all ready Tommy!"; Venjix alternatively said "Excellent work. At last King Mondo, we can finally avenge you. The Earth and all their Rangers will pay for what they did to you and our glorius evil empire!"; Jason cracked his knuckles as he said his "Miss King Mondo" remark; Steelon pointed out "Red Rangers! Eight of them?"; and the Generals originally joined in the Cog battle. Also, they had alternate pair-ups. Jason and Cole paired up against Venjix like in the episode, T.J. and Wes fought Automus, Andros and Eric fought Gerrok, Carter and Aurico fought Steelon, and Leo and Tommy fought Tezzla.

Rumored cuts
It is rumored, but unconfirmed, that Amit's plans included:


 * Catherine Sutherland was supposed to make a appearance at the end of this episode as Tommy's wife picking him up from the NASADA space port. A draft of this scene, confirmed by Amit Bhaumik on Facebook when asked, also had Kimberly pick Tommy up and be confirmed to be his wife as well.


 * Wes and Eric originally contacted Trip in the future to see if the future had changed in one draft.


 * In one draft, Ryan Mitchell, the Titanium Ranger, was going to be the new captain of the rebuilt Lightspeed Aquabase.

Intended ideas

 * During an online interview, "Forever Red" writer Amit Bhuamik revealed that he wrote a falling out between Jason Lee Scott and Tommy Oliver and that Jason would have "turned punk" sometime after the events of Turbo: A Power Rangers Movie and before the events of "Forever Red", only to have Jason reunite with Tommy and become friends again. This would explain why Jason comes off as arrogant during this episode. However, the scene was ultimately cut out to keep the episode 22-minutes long.


 * When asked about the Red Ranger's power restorations on Facebook, Amit Bhaumik replied "For time constraints we had to cut some details like how Tommy, Jason, and TJ got their original powers back. It is regrettable but with only 22 minutes of run time for Forever Red, I thought it was better to focus on the present day action of the episode instead of getting bogged down with filling in every background detail. Especially since casual or newer fans wouldn't have been that familiar with previous seasons and probably wouldn't have cared for too much background explanation.Though we actually had plans to eventually address this. You'll notice when Jason shows up to join the other Rangers he mentions how he recognizes some of the other Red Rangers 'better than others' in reference to Wes and Eric even though that was the first episode they ever appeared together in. By Jason referencing a past team up with the Silver Guardians I was trying to set up an eventual prequel episode or special where we would refer again to, and hopefully even show, how Tommy/Jason/TJ got their powers back. In our original plan for the post-Wild Force season (what was ultimately called Ninja Storm), there were some rough plans to bring Tommy back as sort of like a new Zordon but more of an action-oriented veteran like Nick Fury from Marvel. He would have been the 6th Ranger from that season. But after Wild Force, Disney chose to take the show in another direction with Ninja Storm and then Dino Thunder making Tommy a paleontologist and dropping the Zeo powers."

Possible Discontinuity

 * In all, Forever Red is a favorite among the Power Rangers fandom, with some considering it "one of the best episodes ever made". However, many elements of the episode have sparked controversy in fan discussion, making it difficult to classify as canon to the rest of the series. Whereas some have cited them as inaccuracies, others merely point out that they can be explained away, and information regarding the issues was merely omitted from the episode. The following are the most notable issues:


 * Jason and T.J. both lost their powers previously. Jason's power coin was destroyed by Rito Revolto (while in the possession of Rocky DeSantos) and T.J.'s powers were destroyed in the final battle between the Turbo Rangers and Divatox. The episode did not explain how these powers were restored, or how the Tyrannosaurus coin was returned to Jason. When asked about the Red Rangers' restorations along with Alpha's on Facebook, Amit Bhaumik says, "My memory is a little fuzzy on the details, but the short of it is Tommy, between leaving in Turbo and reappearing in Forever Red, goes to Zordon's homeworld of Eltar around Lost Galaxy/Lightspeed Rescue timewise. There he finds the remains of Alpha 5 and takes him to be rebuilt as Alpha 7 (the one you saw in Forever Red). He also uncovers the source of Zordon's powers and restores the Red Zeo Crystal giving him his Zeo powers back. Some time around then he restores Jason's power coin. Lightning Cruiser was modified and became the new source for TJ's Turbo powers (in much the same way Storm Blaster powered Justin's morpher in True Blue To The Rescue. It is possible the car he pulled up in Forever Red was supposed to be Lightning Cruiser." Alternatively, Chris Funaro has said that Amit considers the Marvel Comics Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers: Ninja Rangers comic flipbook that introduced the Dark Rangers and saying Jason got his Power Coin back from Red Dark Ranger, Osamu. However, none of these explanations are explicitly shown in the episode.
 * Many fans felt that Cole's use of the Wild Force Rider to destroy Serpentera was a Deus ex machina of the episode. Serpentera had been shown to be a powerful war machine and "the greatest zord ever built" and the fact that a single Ranger could take it down without even using a zord was considered improbable. However, some also claim that the Wild Force Rider, being a gift from Animus, considered to be a god, (as well as the possible disparity between Wild Force and Mighty Morphin ' powers) made it possible that a single Ranger could defeat Serpentera.
 * Serpentera is significantly smaller in Forever Red than it was when it first appeared in The Power Transfer. In the beginning, Serpentera was so large that the Red Dragon Thunderzord looked like a mosquito by comparison. In Forever Red, Serpentera's head was barely big enough to fit Cole Evans and his Wild Force Rider inside its mouth.

Continuity Errors and Mistakes

 * In order to get younger viewers up to speed in a short time, the script simplifies or contradicts continuity set in the previous seasons. This includes:


 * TJ says he thought the Zeo Rangers destroyed the Machine Empire "years ago", and Tommy refers to destroying King Mondo "and most of the Empire with him". In actuality, Mondo and the Empire weren't destroyed until Countdown to Destruction when they were hit by Zordon's wave, but were opposed by the Zeo Rangers and in Good as Gold, Rita and Zedd temporarily destroy them, before being revived somewhere before From Out of Nowhere.
 * When the Rangers were discussing other Red Rangers on Earth, Rocky goes unmentioned (as that would raise questions about why he isn't in the episode).
 * That none of the people in the hangar had noticed an immense object in what appeared to be mild shadow is remarkable.
 * The Megaship rose up out of the hangar through an enormous skylight not visible in any shots taken from the inside.
 * Just after Leo demorphs and Venjix's line ("Rangers"), there's a long shot of all the Rangers, including the morphed Red Galaxy Ranger. After Venjix's next line ("What? Ten Red Rangers?"), there's a tighter shot, with Leo demorphed again. Leo was not expected to appear in the episode unmorphed after Danny Slavin's falling out with the production crew during the Lost Galaxy/Lightspeed Rescue team up, Trakeena's Revenge. In the end, Danny Slavin decided to take part in the episode as a favor to one of the producers. All of his scenes were filmed during the post production of the episode.
 * When Tommy morphed, he didn't use the traditional morphing phrase of "Zeo Ranger V, Red!". This was probably to save time, as well as to cut his morphing sequence as short as possible so it would be difficult to notice that the old morphing footage still had him with long hair.
 * When Andros morphed, his Astro Morpher made the opening noise twice.
 * When TJ morphed, he did not enter the key on his Turbo Morpher correctly after preforming the signature Turbo driving motion (in Power Rangers Turbo, this was usually disguised with a special effect due to the difficulty in entering the key into the morpher correctly when combined with the quick morph gesture).
 * After morphing, Leo repeats "Go Galactic!", instead of a more appropriate "Red Galaxy Ranger!" This can be written off as possible re-looped dialogue from ADR.
 * A similar mistake occurs with Wes, who, after morphing, shouts "Time Force!", instead of a more appropriate "Red Time Force Ranger!"
 * Aurico was wearing the Black Aquitian Ranger's belt upside down instead of his own.
 * T.J. referred to the Turbo Lightning Sword as the "Turbo Lightning Zord" instead of "sword". This can be written off as the actor's mistake, due to the similar sounding of the two words.
 * Serpentera appeared gray, not green, in many shots.
 * After Jason said that they had to get back to the Megaship after Serpentera took off and Andros agreed, Carter objects, stating that there wasn't time, and they had to defeat Serpentera before it left the moon. How he planned to accomplish this is unclear.
 * Shots involving both Serpentera and the Red Wild Force Rider were inconsistent in scale.
 * The Megaship, after landing outside of the hangar, appeared much too small in proportion to the teens and their vehicles.
 * During the group goodbye at the end of the episode, only 8 people put their fists into the circle. This is due to the digital insertion of Leo as Danny Slavin was not around for the shot at the time.
 * Aurico was missing his Aquitian laser and his holster.
 * The voice effect used to change the Red Alien Ranger's voice is different than the one used for the Alien Rangers.
 * It's still unknown how Jason and TJ restored their powers, because the Power Coins were damaged while in Rocky's possession in MMPR - Ninja Quest and the Turbo Powers were lost in the finale of Power Rangers Turbo.
 * When transferring his powers to Rocky, Jason remained morphed after the process (although this was merely to cover the fact Austin St. John had left MMPR by this point). It could be assumed the powers were 'twinned' by the procedure; the same could be said for Zack and Trini as well.
 * Also Justin was able to use his Turbo powers again after Storm Blaster gave him his new Turbo Morpher in "True Blue to the Rescue", so it can be assumed that Lightning Cruiser did the same for T.J.
 * The building in which the 8 Red Rangers fight the Cogs in is the same building interior used a few episodes previously in the episode Reinforcements From The Future, Part 2.

Fan Controversy
Due to the controversial nature of this episode and over analyzed by fans, most message boards consider the subject "off limits." The subject of its inaccuracies has been "beaten to death." One particular website went as far to say that the points of controversy in Forever Red are unimportant compared to the enjoyment of the episode, and that the writers needed to bring all the Red Rangers together and did not have enough time to explain all the details of the episode. Many fans now come up with their own explanations.

Western Super Sentai fans however, point out that the issue regarding the restoration of the several former Red Rangers' ability to morph again stems from the fact that Saban made the Ranger suits into "powers" rather than as "tools" like its Japanese counterpart (note that there has been at least one sentai special featuring the then current team and at least 2-3 of the previous teams on that same episode which is seen in the Turboranger special, featuring the Turboranger team and their predecessors from Battle Fever J to Liveman and the Super Sentai world featuring the Turborangers' next 5 successors from Fiveman to Kakuranger in which all the teams featured in those specials including the then current teams Kakuranger and Turboranger never appeared in their human forms). The episode is dubbed "The Forbidden Episode" due to the numerous questions surrounding it; in addition, the frequent permanent bans done to posters who bring up the episode in forums during that time.