White Light

**White Light** is a two-part episode and the seventeenth & eighteenth episodes of the second season of *Mighty Morphin Power Rangers* and one of the most famous episodes in the franchise's history.

It featured the return of Tommy Oliver to the team as the White Ranger and new team leader.

## Synopsis

The day begins at Angel Grove Youth Center when Kimberly tells Billy and Trini that Tommy wrote her in a letter that he would be coming home at the end of the week and the Rangers decide a surprise party must be planned for his return.

Meanwhile, Zordon and Alpha 5 embark on a secret mission and shut down the Command Center. This change in energy alerts Lord Zedd in the Lunar Palace on the moon and he decides that now is the time to destroy the Rangers, so he alters the Sentinel Statue in Angel Grove Park—a statue of a giant fist—with his magic. When matured, the statue will transform into his strongest monster yet, Nimrod the Scarlet Sentinel.

Back in Angel Grove Park, Bulk and Skull continue their never-ending quest to find out the Rangers' identities and, when a meteor crash lands to Earth, they find the Dumpster in which Lord Zedd imprisoned Rita Repulsa and take it to Mr. Skullovitch's workshop at Skull's house to attempt to open it which they assume it contains secrets of the Power Rangers. Meanwhile, Zack, Kimberly, and Trini discover that the Sentinel Statue is covered in foul-smelling slime and attempt to contact Zordon with no return response. Billy and Jason, after investigating the spot where Rita's Dumpster used to be, teleport to help investigate the statue themselves just as Zedd sends the Z-Putties to attack and distract them. The teens make quick work of the clay soldiers and attempt to contact Zordon again but still with no return response. Sensing something is wrong, the Rangers teleport to the Command Center, failing to notice that the Sentinel Statue has suddenly grown a porcelain mask behind itself.

Meanwhile, Tommy is just finishing a swim in a lake in a remote location, and as he dries himself off, he is suddenly teleported off the face of the Earth. Back in Angel Grove, when the Rangers arrive at the Command Center, they find Zordon and Alpha gone and the place dark, but Billy discovers a disk that records the recent activity of the Command Center. Before he can fully decipher the recent recorded binary code, however, Zedd brings his monster to life, and it attacks the city. The Rangers morph and teleport to stop Nimrod but are easily overpowered. Zedd wastes no time in making his monster grow and the Thunder Megazord is summoned. However, Nimrod summons his minions, AC and DC. All three blast the Megazord, severely damaging it.

Billy heads back to the Command Center to see if he can find out what happened and manages to open the hidden door of white light which, after a moment of freefalling, leads him into another room where he hears Alpha and Zordon's voices. He looks through a grate into a lower room and is amazed to see the twosome in the process of creating a new Power Ranger.

Billy hurries back to his lab where the other Rangers have returned to regroup after Nimrod seriously damaged the Thunder Megazord and relays his findings to his friends who act with initial disbelief and ask him if he's absolutely sure it's a new Ranger, and who is it. Billy confirms that he is certain a new Ranger is being created but doesn't have any more information. Kimberly mopes about Tommy, saying he should have been the one to be selected to be this new Ranger. Zack and Trini begin to agree with her however Jason trusts that Zordon and Alpha have their reasons. Billy agrees, reminding them that Lord Zedd has proven to be far more powerful than Rita and the team needs a new Ranger, no matter who it is.

Meanwhile, Bulk and Skull have tried everything they can to open Rita's Dumpster, but nothing has worked so Skull suggests seeing Ernie about a way to open it. When they leave, Rita struggles to open her dumpster herself but is unable to.

Back at the Command Center, Alpha and Zordon restore full power to the systems and summon the Rangers. Before heading there, the Rangers agree that they need to respect Zordon's judgement no matter what. Arriving, Zordon announces the Rangers are about to meet the newest member of their team, saying that since the Green Ranger powers were completely destroyed, he was convinced a new Ranger was needed. A candidate was selected and now it is time for the five to meet the White Ranger. The White Ranger descends from the sky, landing in front of them. Zordon tells the White Ranger to reveal his identity and the mysterious newcomer removes his helmet surprising everyone. Billy smiles, and Kimberly faints on the spot.

The White Ranger is then revealed to be none other than Tommy and the others are very happy to find that their old friend has been repowered. Tommy and everyone else greets each other and Tommy then gently wakes Kimberly up and she is more than happy to see him and they hug. Zordon apologizes to the other Rangers for being secretive, but he and Alpha had to ensure that Lord Zedd doesn't interfere. Kimberly thought that Tommy lost his powers for good, but Alpha corrects her that it was the Green Ranger powers that were gone for good. Zordon tells everyone that Tommy has proven himself with his courage and strength and made him an obvious choice to take on the new powers which have been created by the light of goodness and can never be taken away by evil magic like the Green Ranger's were. Zordon presents Tommy with a new Zord—the White Tigerzord—and a new white saber that he can use to operate it named Saba which has the ability to talk. He also reveals that Tommy is the new leader of the team.

Meanwhile, Bulk and Skull return to the Skullovitch workshop with a giant can opener and attempt again to open the Dumpster, while at the Command Center, the Rangers are alerted to Nimrod's next attack as well as Bulk and Skull's attempt to free Rita. The Rangers must split up to repair the Zords, secure Rita's Dumpster, and battle Nimrod all at once. Billy and Trini are sent to repair the Zords, while Jason, Zack, and Kimberly are given the task of securing the Dumpster. As for Tommy, he is sent to battle Nimrod until the others are able to aid him in defeating the Scarlet Sentinel.

The Rangers (minus Billy and Trini) morph and teleport to their assigned locations. Jason, Zack, and Kimberly must battle the Putties before they can reach Bulk and Skull and steal the Dumpster from them while Tommy, after a brief argument with Saba, sends in the White Tigerzord against Nimrod. It converts to Warrior Mode and battles the monster. Tommy almost wins until Nimrod summons AC and DC again and the threesome triangulate their attacks and shut the new Zord down.

Fortunately, the Rangers have just repaired their Zords, and Jason summons the Red Dragon Thunderzord to aid Tommy. Tommy brings his Tigerzord back on-line, and Red Dragon Thunderzord leaps on Tigerzord Tiger Mode's back, riding it into battle. Then, after it leaps off the Tigerzord's back, Tommy reinitiates the Tigerzord Warrior Mode, and the Thunderzord Assault Team is summoned. The White Tigerzord joins with the Assault Team Zords to become the Mega Tigerzord, who quickly disposes of Nimrod and its minions.

The Power Rangers then head for the Skullovitch workshop and put Rita, who has just escaped from her prison and scared Bulk and Skull into unconsciousness, back in her dumpster and send her back into deep space. Afterwards, at the Angel Grove Youth Center, the Rangers as well as others celebrate Tommy's return to Angel Grove with the planned surprise party but as Jason remarks to Tommy "But I think that *your* surprise... was more of a surprise... than *our* surprise." During the celebration, Richie shows off his karate trophy and the Rangers convince him to show them one of his moves. However, he ends up kicking the cake out of Ernie's hands and it hits Bulk and Skull who always seem to conveniently arrive in the wrong place at the right time. The episode concludes with Tommy remarking, "It's good to see some things never change."

## Why It Is A Fauxnale

White Light was one of the final episodes to feature the entire original *Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers* cast before pay disputes saw the departures of Austin St. John, Walter Jones, and Thuy Trang. As such it feels like a 'last hurrah' for the original band of friends. The series ties up the last remaining loose ends from the Green Ranger Power Loss story arc that had been running since Tommy's return to the series back in season one, culminating in his ascension to leader of the Power Rangers with a new near-indestructible power set, and also brings the show full circle by involving Rita Repulsa being released from a space dumpster.