 This article is about an episode in Mighty Morphin Power Rangers.
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Crystal of Nightmares is the forty-fifth episode of the first season of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers.
Synopsis[]
In preparation for a big upcoming exam in their class, the Rangers go up to the mountain to study together at Billy's uncle's cabin. However, Rita devises a plan to activate the Crystal of Nightmares to break the Rangers' self-confidence. While they are sleeping, Goldar is sent down to Earth to use the crystal. With our heroes stripped of their confidence, are the Power Rangers finished as well?
Plot[]
At school, Kimberly and Trini are worried about an imminent science test; the boys, however, aren't, since they are planning to go to Billy's uncle's cabin to study all together. Of course, they invite the girls.
Bulk and Skull, meanwhile, are having trouble of their own: Mr. Caplan gives them extremely bad report cards, and tells them that if they get another "D" in the next exam, it will stand for "detention", which they will be in for a very long time. Bulk decides to follow the "geeks" in order to get them to do the hard work for them.
On the moon, Goldar is revealing his plan to Rita: he has summoned the power of the Crystal of Nightmares in order to cause the Power Rangers to lose their confidence in themselves, making them easy targets.
At the cabin, the gang go out to eat after an afternoon of studying. Bulk and Skull (dressed up as maids) enter searching their notes, but the boys quickly come back, forcing them to hide under a bed while they have fun.
During the night, Goldar puts his plan in motion: the Rangers dream of the worst moments of past battles and share a nightmare in which Zordon tells them they are no longer capable of being Rangers and strips them of their powers, while Bulk and Skull share one of their own where they become Power Rangers (albeit actually their fake super-hero aliases "The Incredible Bulkster" and "Super Skull") themselves and try piloting the Megazord, with hilariously chaotic results.
While Bulk and Skull shrug off their bad dream, the Rangers' nightmares leave them frightened and traumatized and they meet up the next morning to confirm what happened. Zordon realizes what has happened and tries contacting the Rangers. However, they're so terrified even the communicator is enough to make them all jump and initially refuse to answer. Eventually Jason does, and Zordon tells them he knows about their Nightmares and how this is Rita and Goldar's plan. He tells them if they destroy the Crystal of Nightmares they'll get their confidence back. The Rangers aren't sure if they're capable, but Zordon assures them they can do it and teleports them to the cave where Goldar and the crystal are residing.
Outside the cave, the nervous Rangers are put off their mission when they see a squadron of Putties guarding the cave entrance. Any attempt to leave is stopped when the Putties spot them and force them into a fight, but the Rangers are so scared they can't bring themselves to fight back and are tossed around. Eventually, Jason reacts fast enough to run into the cave. Inside he finds Goldar waiting, and although still scared summons the confidence up to fight back. He finally takes his chance and kicks the Crystal of Nightmares, destroying it. Goldar curses Jason and teleports away.
With the crystal gone, the Rangers self-confidence returns as they hear Zordon's voice telling them they've succeeded in their mission and the power will always protect them. With their confidence back, the Rangers now make short work of the Putties. There's no time to celebrate, as Goldar and Scorpina show up and are made to grow by Rita.
The Rangers morph and summon the Megazord, who quickly sends the two fleeing back to the Moon.
The Rangers all get "A's" on the test, much to their happiness. Bulk and Skull have managed to avoid getting "D's" for on their test, which would've stood for Detention... unfortunately, this is by getting "F's", and Mr. Caplan angrily declares "F" stands for Forever: the amount of time the two will be in detention. As Mr. Caplan expresses his further disappointment in Bulk and Skull, he accidentally flings the chalk dust in the erasers towards them which causes Bulk to sneeze his toupee off.
Cast[]
- Austin St. John as Jason Lee Scott (Mighty Morphin Red Ranger)
- Thuy Trang as Trini Kwan (Mighty Morphin Yellow Ranger)
- Walter Jones as Zack Taylor (Mighty Morphin Black Ranger)
- Amy Jo Johnson as Kimberly Ann Hart (Mighty Morphin Pink Ranger)
- David Yost as Billy Cranston (Mighty Morphin Blue Ranger)
- Paul Schrier as Farkas "Bulk" Bulkmeier
- Jason Narvy as Eugene "Skull" Skullovitch
- Harold Cannon as Mr. Caplan
- David Fielding as Zordon (face)
- Robert L. Manahan as Zordon (voice)
- Romy J. Sharf as Alpha 5
- Richard Steven Horvitz as Alpha 5 (voice) (as Richard Wood)
- Machiko Soga as Rita Repulsa
- Barbara Goodson as Rita Repulsa (voice)
- Takashi Sakamoto as Goldar
- Kerrigan Mahan as Goldar (voice) (as Ryan O'Flannigan)
- Takako Iiboshi as Finster
- Robert Axelrod as Finster (voice)
- Minoru Watanabe as Squatt
- Michael J. Sorich as Squatt (voice)
- Hideaki Kusaka as Baboo
- Dave Mallow as Baboo (voice) (as Colin Phillips)
- Ami Kawai as Scorpina
- Wendee Swan as Scorpina (voice)
- Unknown performer as the cleaner
Song[]
- Fight (both instrumental and full).
Errors[]
- When Goldar and Scorpina are hit with an energized slash from the Megazord's Power Sword, Goldar can briefly be seen in the middle of the explosion with King Sphinx.
- At different points during the Zord fight, the skies above and behind Goldar and Scorpina as well as the Megazord constantly change from night to day.
- When Zack starts dancing and Jason tells him to chill out, his hands are on the armrests but the next shot has them behind his head.
- Skull describes the Megazord as falling but the next shot has the Megazord gliding.
- Bulk's scream when the Megazord falls in their dream is abruptly cut off.
- In an error carried across from Green With Evil Part IV, the Power Sword floats sideways into the Megazord's hands despite descending downwards in the previous shot.
- Zack says Trini and Kimberly were "looking bloomed" in the very first line of the episode. "Bloomed" would mean they were happy, but they clearly are not.
- Due to the use of Zyuranger footage from Green With Evil Part I, Billy and Trini switched positions after morphing.
Notes[]
- The Rangers' nightmares or flashbacks consist of footage from five previous episodes:
- Billy's nightmare was the time he was eaten by the Terror Toad, in Power Ranger Punks.
- Trini's nightmare was the time she and the other Rangers were put in a web by Spidertron, in Itsy Bitsy Spider.
- Zack's nightmare was the time he was overpowered by Knasty Knight, in Happy Birthday, Zack.
- Kim's nightmare was the time she was captured by Samurai Fan Man, in Calamity Kimberly.
- Jason's nightmare was the time he was overpowered by Goldar in the Dark Dimension, in Green With Evil Part II: Jason's Battle.
- The shoddy Ranger costumes Bulk and Skull wear in their nightmare are the same suits they wore in Doomsday as "The Incredible Bulkster" and "Super Skull".
- For Bulk and Skull's nightmare, the cockpit of Daizyuzin was recreated to portray the two attempting to pilot the Megazord. The recreated set is visibly larger than the original, does not feature individual Ranger terminals, features two individual throttles rather than a Power Crystal, and is shot from a 3/4th view rather than the front-on view used in Zyuranger.
- The Megazord fight is recycled from Green With Evil Part IV.
- A novella was released based on this episode, entitled "The Bad Dream Machine". A few things are altered in the novella, such as Kim's dream.
- Goldar now has a different face with a free moving mouth than his previous one, which he will now have in all new American footage lasting until Power Rangers in Space's Countdown to Destruction.
- In Bulk and Skull's dream sequence, as Skull tries to control the Megazord, Bulk snaps, "Who taught you how to drive?!", to which Skull responds, "Nobody! How'm I doin'?" They had this same exchange in Green With Evil Part IV, with Skull in that instance driving the Youth Center bus. The Zyuranger footage from this episode was recycled from the former.
- Bulk and Skull's dream sequence in the Megazord was shot on December 24, 1993. [1]
See Also[]
- Ep. 20: Daizyuzin's Last Day - Super Sentai counterpart in Zyuranger. See comparison page. (Megazord vs. Goldar and Scorpina fight footage)
External Links[]
References[]
Footnotes[]