It was a beautiful sandbox universe where anything went and the world building was plentiful.
You want alien Power Rangers who come from a planet where they breathe under water?
A planet of flying purple bird monsters?
A whole dimension just for having dramatic fights over candles and Green Rangers?
There was even a planet that looked like an old west town.
Because why not?!
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As the years went on however, the seasons seemed to drift apart.
More and more they were stand-alone.
New producers wanted to shy away from old continuity.
They wanted their seasons to stand on their own.
SPD and RPM are the biggest offenders there.
And soon the PRU began to collapse in on itself.
Now I dont blame the producers of these later seasons.
So mistakes in continuity will happen.Little continuity mistakes or questions are totally fine.
I dont need to know where Jason got his morpher in Forever Red.
How did Tommy get his doctorate in such a short amount of time?
How doesLost Galaxyonly take place a year afterIn Space?
What the hell was up with And… Is it annoying to some of the detail minded fans?
Sure, but it doesnt really impact the universe all that much.Power Rangers has gone way beyond little mistakes.
After years of writers and producers ignoring past seasons theyve finally started to slam into one another.
Whats going to happen in 2025 when SPD is supposed to take place?
Why dont we see more aliens on Earth?
What the hell was up with Mystic Mother?
Why do some people STILL not know what a Power Ranger is?
But once they flat out stated RPM took place in its own dimension?
Things began to unravel.
What was seen as the perfect prequel to Time Force was knocked out of continuity.
ThenPower Rangers MegaforceandSuper Megaforce.
The Rangers visit to the RPM world was the biggest offender.
For some reason Corinth looked like something out of F-Zero and seemed totally deserted.
New teams of Rangers were introduced with little rhyme or reason.
It wasnt world building, it was lazy.
They couldnt even be bothered to pronounce Animaria correctly.
Where the hell did the Rangers go after the fight?
Did they turn into energy?
More than that, Super Megaforce was just a waste.
They had a real chance to do something with the Power Rangers universe.
Fix some of the issues and maybe even bring out some old favorites.
But instead they threw it away in favor of wacky episodes with their pet robot.
The world building was gone.
Except when they arbitrarily decide to knock a season out of continuity.
Can this universe be saved?
Or should it all be chucked out?
To save the Power Rangers universe, youd need to do a lot of damage control.
Continuity nods should never turn into continuity porn.
It should have a reason to be there or be a quick little aside for the fans.
They were just… there.
I understand the target audience for Power Rangers is five year olds.
Power Rangersis a business before anything else.
The fact that it also has some interesting stories is a bonus.
Continuity could be done, but it needs to be handled in a careful way.
So, dont just have whole teams showing up because the fans would like it.
Dont have the old teams fighting because its dark and edgy.
Just utilize the existing universe.
Have another season set in space where you’re free to visit some of those alien worlds again.
Check in on some old villains and see what theyre up to.
Maybe bring back a cast member or two every so often.
Slowly but surely bring the universe back together again and build towards something big.
Power Rangersisnt interested in doing any of that.Power Rangersis perfectly fine going Sentai lite from now until eternity.
It has no interest in fixing its problems or utilizing its own universe.
Itll just keep slapping on new things without thinking of what came before.
Every so often itll try and throw in a little tribute to fans that it will inevitably bungle.
Bulk inSamurai/Super Samuraiis a prime example.
Sure, its an old cast member that everyone loves but his presence added nothing to the series.
Its the old standard forPower Rangers.
Oh, we should do something for the fans!
Lets throw out a reference toMMPR!
Lets mention his name.
Thats totally awesome continuity right?
IfPowerRangerscant be bothered to care about its own universe, why should I bother putting extra thought into it?
Im not going to draw lines between the seasons when it doesnt give me anything to work with.
Does this meanPower Rangersisnt enjoyable?
Even at its worst,Power Rangersis a fascinating piece of media.
Its a fun piece of escapist entertainment that empowers kids and adults alike.
I dont mean with the upcoming big budget movie, alaStar Trek.
They arent going to stop the movie for ten minutes and explain the difference between TV and film continuity.
Even if they did, that still doesnt solve the problems with the TV continuity.
So just chuck it out.
Make some kind of indication on screen this is its own universe.
Make it very clear so fans cant find a way out of it.
Do whatever you want with it.
If you want to keep telling self-contained stories every two years?
If you want to start building towards something more, awesome.
But stop trudging out the old continuity when you want fans to buy more toys.
Let the past stay in the past and move towards a new future.
More than that,Power Rangersneeds new blood.
Power Rangers is stuck in a creative rut.
Were getting more of the same.
I dont blame Judd Lynn or anyone behind the show now for that.
After four years of awful Power Rangers, a back to basics sort of season is fine.
But when you bring in Judd Lynn, you know what youre getting.
A lot of fans love it and thats fine.
But I hope that they bring in some new creative energy to the show.
Someone who can bring fresh ideas to the series while still respecting the past.
For all the faultsPower Rangers SPDhad, Greg Aronowitz made Power Rangers something new again.
He brought a different take.
He made it feel different.Thats what I want fromPower Rangersmore than anything.
To really get me excited again.
Some of the most boring television Ive ever seen.
Power Rangerscan be so much more.
It just has to retry.
Let it all burn.
