Power Rangers RPM – 21: Not So Simple

Gemma is writing in her “awesome diary” with a unicorn on it about her experiences as part of the Rangers and her teammates. She goes through each one: Dillon, nice but broody, though who can blame him when he’s becoming an evil Venjix robot; Summer, caring especially for Dillon, and she has flippy hair, Gemma plans to ask what she uses; Scott is brave and a go-getter, but also stubborn like his father, and never see eye to eye; Ziggy can always be counted on to say something funny, though they don’t always get his humor; and Flynn, he’s just…

“A simple mechanic?” Flynn asks Gemma. He read her diary and now takes the “simple mechanic” comment to heart. He tries to prove he isn’t just a simple mechanic by showing the twins a few of his inventions. As he’s about to show the big one, the alarm sounds and Dr. K tells the Rangers about a shield breach. Off to defend the city.

The Rangers are in their megazords as the Knight bot sends negatively charged blasts that could prove very destructive their way. But Flynn has a plan, one of his inventions, a sort of wireless jumper cable for the zords he made himself, hoping to jump start the crippled zords. Dr. K flips out, ordering him not to use an unsanctioned and possibly incompatible weapon in battle. It backfires as Flynn’s blast reacts badly with the negative charges from the bot. Total system failure.

They end up finishing off the bot anyway. Tenaya puts the blame on General Crunch’s substandard manufacturing, but Venjix says the bot did its job by leaving energy in the dome to disrupt the shields later. Crunch suggests he use his “expertise” in creating another bot, but Tenaya asks for a crack at it.

Back at the garage, Flynn apologizes for the engine cell not working. He doesn’t know what went wrong, but Dr. K is happy to tell him exactly what it is. Until she repairs the bio energy channels damaged by Flynn’s gizmo, they won’t be able to use the megazords.

Dr. K warns Flynn not to ever attempt “a stunt like this ever again.” Flynn takes offense to that, it’s not a stunt, he was just doing his profession, “upgrading and improving mechanical devices.”

Dr. K snaps back, “I cut my own hair with lefty scissors and yet I am smart enough to know that as a barber, I’d be an abject failure. Funny how that works.”

Flynn, dejected, goes to throw away all his gadgets. Gemma writes in her diary, yeah Flynn screwed up, but Dr. K should at least give him credit for trying. “Maybe he’s not just a simple mechanic.”
Gem’s ready for bed and Gemma tells him to go ahead. She goes to the trash can and picks up one of Flynn’s inventions.

General Crunch is introducing to Venjix his new attack bot and Tenaya is disgusted, she could’ve done 1000x better.
Venjix: “Your job is not to create attack bots, Tenaya 7.”
Tenaya 7: “Then what exactly is my job? You know I refuse to just sit around twiddling my thumbs while…”
Venjix: “YOU WILL DO WHAT I SAY!”

Back at the garage, Gemma is working on the gadget she pulled from the trash. When the boys head up to their rooms to turn in, Flynn notices Gemma’s work. He starts to get mad at her, but she begins asking questions about the thing she was working on, genuinely interested and fascinated by his work.

Flynn says it’s a self-deploying combat weapon, but he never really got it off the ground. She says it’s brilliant and suggests she helps him give it some upgrades, that they work together. Flynn asks, “You and me? Not you and Gem? You’re not going to, um… finish my sentences are you?” “No,” Gemma shakes her head.

She suggests calling the weapon the Road Attack Zord. Flynn likes it and so begins the ’80s-tastic montage of their all-nighter together working on the new weapon.

They both end up sleeping at the table as the hammer attack bot arrives in the city. The alarms sound and Dr. K sends the Rangers off, but without their zord capabilities. Gemma tells Gem to go ahead as she and Flynn stay behind and tell Dr. K about their creation they think can help. Gemma says she uploaded all the information into Dr. K’s system, to which Dr. K isn’t liking. She says unleashing this unproven, untested technology could very well backfire and be the end of them all. She sends them off.

The other Rangers morph and arrive to take on the bot and General Crunch. Meanwhile, Flynn and Gemma are attacked by Tenaya and they give her a tough fight. Tenaya flips Gemma into the air and Flynn runs to catch her in his arms.

All the Rangers are having trouble defeating their opponents so Flynn urges Dr. K to take a chance on his new zord. She downmorphs the Road Attack Zord, the small tire-shaped thing Gemma and Flynn were working on is now bigger and rolls straight for the attack bot. It does the job, but is out of control. Gem goes to stop it, but gets skidded on as well. The other four try to stop it from attack Gem any more. Flynn tells them about the built-in shut off, giving it a good whack right in the middle. Gem gives it a whack and it’s done. Gemma apologizes to Flynn, she put added in too much power than it could handle. Flynn says that is just what they need.

General Crunch calls for the download and the attack bot embiggens. Just then Flynn and Gemma arrive in their zords, not back online thanks to Flynn’s idea of diverting the excess energy. They get into the Sky Rev configuration and Flynn let’s his little tire loose. Dr. K and Col. Truman look on as it morphs into a full-on mini-megazord. And the little guy can pack a wallop.

“I seriously hope you weren’t doubting the competence of me and my rangers Colonel,” Dr. K says with a content smile.

The Rangers finish off the attack bot. Back at Venjix HQ, Tenaya is getting scolded for her insubordination. “Very troubling” they say. Tenaya replies, “What can I say, must be the human in me.” “SILENCE,” Venjix snaps back, “You are 100% machine! Never disobey me again, or I’ll reduce you to scrap.”

Back at the garage, Gemma is writing in her diary again, saying what a great experience learning about her fellow Rangers. “I find Blue Ranger a bit more fascinating than the rest. P.S., he’s a mechanic, but he sure isn’t simple, not at all.”

As she walks to her room, Flynn pops out of his and wonders if maybe she could help him work on more Venjix destroying upgrades. She’d love to, but she looks over to Gem looking like an older brother, and says she’s going to be working with Gem on other stuff. They smile at each other and…
POWER RANGERS RPM


Episode Thoughts
Last week we got to see Gem branch out and away from twin sister Gemma. This week we got to see Gemma branch out and away from twin brother Gem.

Both great character developments, both great episodes.

This week’s episode had a very different, but awesome feel to them. Production-wise, it looked different. There’s some sort of different filter being used for the scenes at the garage and Dr. K’s lab. A little bit of a diffused glow I might say.

And of course that ’80s montage. It was made of win. So random, but yet so awesome at the same time. There was a ton of new music throughout the episode and it was definitely refreshing.

The fights, especially the Flynn/Gemma/Tenaya fight were bad ass I have to say.

Gemma and Flynn had some unexpectedly great chemistry. Kudos to Ari Boyland and Li Ming Hu. So where does that leave Scott and Gem? I still want to see some soap opera Dillon/Summer/Scott stuff that they hinted at before.

Tenaya’s moving ever closer to the inevitable jumping ship and revelation of who she really is (*wink*wink*). And Flynn’s story of always being a failure coming back into play was great continuity.

RPM has had some of the best continuity ever on Power Rangers really.
Another awesome episode. Loved it as much as last week’s.


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3 thoughts on “Power Rangers RPM – 21: Not So Simple

  1. i agree that this episode really rocks! this is the best PR season!

    i am still also waiting for the scott/summer/dilln shipment. sigh..

  2. Hi! I just came across this blog and loved your summary of the episode!

    Definitely looking forward to anything Dillon/Summer/Scott related! But a bit more of Flynn/Gemma interaction would be great too!

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