Remember that crazy ’90s kids show about haunted houses and insectoid warriors?
Beetleborgs was more complicated than your remember…
If you likedPower Rangersin the 90s, chances are you may have also been aBeetleborgsfan as well.
It was, perhaps, the single weirdest ameri-toku program ever broadcast.
Thats saying a lot.)
What makes it so weird?
Um, you mean, besides the concept itself?
That doesnt sound strange to you?
Well, its pretty friggin weird.
Just not every episode.
Without further ado, lets blast these beetles.
(Think Bulk and Skull without the charm.)
With his otherworldly Liberace-meets-Leno magic powers, Flabber offers to grant them a wish in return.
They choose to become Beetleborgs, their favorite comic book superheroes.
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So yeah.
Just because they wanted to be like their favorite heroes, they fuck up the world.
Episode 19: Convention Dimension
The kids go to comic-con.
Unfortunately, so do Jara, Noxic, and Typhus.
And get used to Art hes basically a full time cast member by season two.
Thats because Saban had the television rights at the time because of the animated series they were also producing.
And unfortunately for Drew, the rest of the team wants Josh to take on its powers.
The prospect of a new Beetleborg is exciting as hell…but what will the show do with it?
The debut of the White Blaster is one of the fondest memories I had from the series.
(I especially loved his design.)
His character is more wacky than anything else, which is the complete opposite of Josh Baldwins temperament.
Surprising, too, how underused he was in the parent series.
I dont blame the kid.
Its like having caffeinated Mike Meyers as a very nosey and flamboyant stepdad.
Of course, only the Blue Beetleborg can use it.
Chalk it up to his blue privilege I guess.
We have a fourth member now.
kindly let it last!
So the boys sneak into the Magnavores crypt where its hidden away to recharge Shadow Borg.
An enraged Vexor catches them and attacks them with a monster.
Maybe thats because it was introduced towards the end of B-Fighter?
Im literally shrugging right now because I dont know.
Vexor makes an unwelcome visit to Hillhurst to invite the Beetleborgs.
Unfortunately, this also extinguishes Joshs White Blaster Beetle powers too.
How convenient, Beetleborgs.
Thanks for getting our hopes up like that.
Anyway, Vexor doesnt keep his end of the deal and takes on the remaining Borgs by himself.
They kick his ass and Art Fortunes goes back to Urbana City a changed man.
Josh Baldwin is never seen or heard from again.
My guess is Drew strangled him with piano wire and let the monsters feed off his fresh young corpse.
Why are you so shocked?
Its a plot point in every friggin episode.
So what was up with this sudden casting change?
Thus Brittany Konarzewski, the new Jo stepped in.
And nobody batted an eye.
She was a fine child actor that brought a lot of gusto to her role.
Noxic calls upon his muscley younger brother Super-Noxic to be Hillhursts resident personal trainer.
He disguises himself as a crazy medieval gimp and starts making the house monsters get physical.
They ransack his filing cabinet and find concept art for a new character named Nukus.
Meanwhile, Flabber gets imprisoned inside of the pipe organ again thanks to the antics of the house monsters.
It seems as though were coming full circle here, dont it?
It takes just about their whole arsenal, but the Beetleborgs manage to destroy them all.
The stakes are higher than they could ever get in a series such as this.
The kids intervene and finally figure out a way to get Flabber out of that damn organ again.
Nukus carries out his plans to bomb Hillhurst and the Beetle Base immediately.
After an exhausting battle, the Beetleborgs triangulate their laser fire around Borgslayer to blast him to pieces.
Next up is Season 2, which is a different (and better) beast than its predecessor.
One: the confidence levels of the cast and crew.
They now had an incredible amount of synergy to work together and have silly fun doing it.
So, they were forced to write their version of a highly serialized storyline.
Episode 54: Crush of the Crustaceans
Guess what?
The kids take a stab at fend him off using their other super abilities, but its no good.
He enters Hillhurst mansion and turns Flabber into a badly computer generated ice sculpture anyway.
He then finds Art hiding in a closet, clutching onto a sketch of Nukus and whimpering.
Despite the kids attempts to persuade Les not to follow along (in their little beetle form!
), he doesnt comply and joins forces with his nefarious creations.
Hes loyal like that.
By the way, Les Fortunes (played by Marshal Hilton) is a wonderful addition to the cast.
Sounds kind of intense for a kids show, does it not?
On paper it is.
In action, its not.
Anyway, they escape using Jos super strength and dash back to Hillhurst to rescue Flabber from melting.
Needless to say, Les declines.
So theyre going to stop that giant worm tank thats heading their way…how, exactly?
Drews new Chromium Gold getup is more noble looking than his former Blue Stinger garb.
It feels like a reward for his accomplishments of being such a good little leader in the past season.
(Or not, whatever.)
It also might be my favorite of the three in appearance.
However, I tend to prefer that to her new purple look.
Thats just me though.
Oh, the Data Bonders!
We cant forget to mention those puppies.
Beetle Bonders were dope, its true, but Data Bonders were doper.
The extra input…card!
step was added in because widget-slinging makes any henshin sequence that much more exciting.
Same thing with the Data Lasers.
You had to call it out before pulling the trigger, otherwise it wouldnt fire properly.
You just had to!
(At least thats how it worked in my head.)
Those Magnavores were such dickheads.
The kids rescue Art from being tortured at the cemetery by Nukus (!).
Thats a whole lotta beetle goin on.
(Spoiler: she does.)
Hey, why not?
But will the Crustraceans let her live to talk about it?
Whats a borg to do?
Episode 75: The Lost Comic
Now this is where things get really interesting.
Nukus decides that Les Fortunes is completely worthless and sends him back to prison.
Sounds neat, but what the heck is it?
It contains the Astral Sword, a mystical sabre that summons Roboborg the giant beetle warrior.
Meanwhile, Nukus calls up the evil Mantrons to fight off the Beetleborgs in a fierce battle.
And so begins the Astral Borg Saga, the final (and best) chapter of the series.
To play it safe, they keep one and bury the rest in the park.
He also gives the Drew a new weapon to defeat the Mantrons: the Astral Laser.
Episode 77: To Foretell the Truth
The Astral Coins have gone missing.
Flabber eventually discovers that Mums has the coin with the Firebug emblem on it and sends it to Jo.
She uses it to summon Fireborg who gives her the Astral Pulsar.
This nifty gadget can restore damaged Beetleborg armor in addition to fucking shit up.
Drew is like, hell to the no.
When Nukus launches another attack, the Beetleborgs agree to let Wolfie come along and fight.
Like it will be safe there.
He kicks Super-Vilors not-so-super-after-all ass with his sonic disruption rays and dual katanas.
Drew uses it to zap Super-Vilor back to being just good old regular Vilor again.
Episode 79: Lady and the Champ
Aww.
Fangulas not feeling too well and the rest of the house tries to make him feel better.
Horribelle disguises herself as a nurse to infiltrate the mansion and steal the Astral Sword.
Yes, she succeeds.
Long story short, the reason Fangula wasnt feeling well was because he had swallowed the Ladybug Coin.
so the kids will hand over all the Astral swag they still got.
But the action ends abruptly when a suddenly freed Flabber asks them to regroup at the mansion.
And who can blame them?!
If this sounds like a lot of back and forth to you…well, thats because it is.
The giant beetle warrior descends from the heavens and tears through Nukus army of Worm Tanks like a boss.
And so ends the great Astral War…for a couple of minutes, anyway.
As a gift with purchase, the colossal Megazord-analog turns their Sector Cycles into Mega Spectra Sector Cycles.
Roboborg is such a nice guy!
Feeling a case of power-up envy, Nukus brings Less Trangsmographier equipment to life and turns himself into Mega-Nukus!
Of course he forbids the other Crustaceans to use it.
But Vilor does anyway, turning himself into get ready for it Mega-Vilor!
Mega-Nukus destroys the rig before Horribelle can get her Mega form because hes a here it comes Mega-Asshole!
Then he goes out to pick on the Beetlebrats compulsively as he tends to do.
He scares the Crustaceans away.
The gentle giant agrees and zaps them with his Mega Spectra energy.
Then he takes off, even though their armor looks the same as it always has.
But no matter what phrase they say, it wont activate.
They get another chance to test them out when Mega-Nukus and Mega-Vilor show up.
Jo suggests saying, Go Mega Borg…which seems to work just fine, actually.
This is an American only, Saban created power-up that wasnt featured inB-Fighter Kabutoat all.
(Fun fact: The first battleizer would debut inPower Rangers in Space, which aired a year afterMetallix.
We think not.)
Bonus points for that.
The Mega Spectra powers overwhelm Mega-Nukus and Mega-Vilor until they run away.
Then we cut to Nukus telling Les Fortunes that hes ready to get rid of him.
He agrees, and they carry out their plan.
The kids dont have time to deal with that, though.
Horibelle double crosses Les Fortunes and calls forth Boron herself.
Mega-Nukus quickly stops her, reclaims the Astral Axe and orders Boron attack Urbana City.
In an epic Megazord-sized battle, Roboborg stops this from happening.
The kids wail on the Crustaceans with their new power-ups and they run away again.
Just in case their first fight wasnt epic enough.
If you cant already tell, this episode is freaking awesome.
Besides that, Mega-Nukus and Horribelle storm the comic shop looking for the kids.
Jo and Drew transform to stop them so Roland can watch after Nano.
He arrives at the mansion carrying a huge egg.
This is an evil experiment hes conducting that will help the win the war against Nukus.
(Thats because this evil experiment is actually Mother Melzard, the final monstrous big bad ofB-Fighter Kabuto.)
Their attack on Urbana City is so severe that a major evacuation occurs.
This finale is a bittersweet note end things off on.
Its certainly aware that its the end but downplays it.
Its an open-ended non-ending, much like the final episode ofPower Rangers Zeo.
Even if they never do in this reality, they will in our imaginations.
you could also check outOccult Generation, a comic series hes working on, if you want to.
