Recap: Power Rangers Operation Overdrive, Episode 1 – Kick Into Overdrive
A young man recounts being kidnapped by Baron von Gerstein who steals a relic he had retrieved and is now leaving him for dead in a plane with no pilot. The young man decides to jump out of the plane and grabs on to Baron von Gerstein who has a parachute. But the Baron manages to shake the young man off.
Turns out this was all just a dream. The young man, Mack, wakes up when he falls from a hammock having been reading an adventure novel. Spencer, his family’s butler, arrives with some lemonade for him.
Mack asks if they’ve heard anything from his father who is off on an archaeological adventure. Mack wishes he could join him on one someday, especially looking for the fabled Corona Aurora. Spencer says Mack’s father has been searching for years for something that doesn’t exist.
But Mack’s father, Andrew Hartford, has actually, finally found it: The Corona Aurora. He takes it, but that action has awakened two evil forces who had been imprisoned on different planets. A glowing figure appears to inform Hartford about what he’s done and what he has to do now.
Six months later, Andrew Hartford reaches out to four people around the world using a hologram.
There is Hollywood stuntman Dax who dreams of the day he can be the leading man.
There’s Italian Grand Prix winner Ronny.
Over in Brazil, Will is surprised to learn Hartford hired him to break into his vault to test his skills.
And in London, Rose taps a few keys in a robotics lab to stop a robot from rampaging.
Hartford has invited the four of them to his mansion. Mack is pleasantly surprised to see these new guests, but his father ushers him out of the room.
Mack and Spencer listen from out the room as Hartford tells them he needs their help to save the universe.
Hartford explains the legend of the Corona Aurora, which Rose herself has read about. Millions of years ago, brothers Moltor and Flurious fought over the Corona Aurora. But the crown cursed them and imprisoned them on different planets in their own elements.
In order to prevent anyone from trying to steal the crown, its guardian took the five jewels in the crown and scattered them on Earth. Now the brothers are on Earth to look for those jewels.
And to stop them, Hartford needs their help. With their skills and his money and resources, they can become Power Rangers.
The four of them think he’s crazy and start to leave. But the Corona Aurora’s guardian appears to them to say everything is true.
Meanwhile, Flurious and Moltor set up shop on Earth with Flurious meeting Norg, the Yeti in his lair.
Hartford brings the four new Rangers, who have accepted the offer, to his underground command center where he resequences their DNA to enhance their abilities.
“Are we gonna turn into a weird fly or something?”
Hartford says they will merely be stronger and smarter and assures them he would never have them do anything he wouldn’t do himself. In fact, he will be the Red Power Ranger.
But before Hartford can get resequenced, Mack appears, in awe of a base that had been under their home all this time. They head back upstairs where Hartford explains everything to his son.
Mack says he wants to become a Power Ranger too so he can help.
The four Rangers are outside when Will begins hearing something odd. He looks over and his eyesight allows him to see Moltor’s Lava Lizards sneaking onto the grounds. They hurry over and meet an army of them.
The Rangers battle the Lava Lizards and after Will’s eyesight, the other discover they each have new abilities too.
Ronny finds she has super speed, Dax can hop high into the air, Rose has the power of invisibility.
Coming outside with some snacks, Spencer hurries back inside to inform Hartford of what’s happening.
Hartford tells Mack to stay safe inside, but he follows them out. Spencer points Will, Dax and Ronny to bikes and an ATV in the garage while Rose and Mack join him and Hartford in the 4×4.
Mack tells Rose the four of them were awesome earlier. Rose apologizes to Hartford for not believing him.
Just then, Flurious’ Chillers stop them in their tracks. Hartford hands the Rangers their morphers. Mack again says he wants to help.
The four Rangers go on ahead and morph for the first time.
Hartford says he can’t put Mack in harm’s way. He gets out of the 4×4, but is immediately grabbed by Lava Lizards, dropping his morpher.
With Hartford getting dragged away, Mack hops out and grabs the morpher himself.
With an “Overdrive Accelerate,” Mack morphs into the Red Ranger.
The five Rangers use their new weapons to take care of both the Chillers and the Lava Lizards.
The Rangers save Hartford from Moltor who ends up getting the crown. Moltor erupts a volcano in the city and lava begins to flow throughout.
To Be Continued!
Episode Thoughts
This was a very solid premiere. It was a full episode that introduced each Ranger and main character, did a reasonably fair amount of world building and had just enough action to keep things exciting.
The adventure movie spoof to start the season is a fun way to introduce really what the season will be about. Though perhaps you might not think that if you’ve never seen this season before. But it’s a fun little scene that may seem odd at first, but will make sense as the season moves along.
The quick introduction to each of the Rangers was more than we get from many other seasons. You get a good sense of who these people are already and what their personalities might be like. They’re all interesting so far and the idea of them coming from different backgrounds allows for stories of them having to come together later on.
With Mack and Andrew Hartford, we already get some insight into their relationship. Hartford is overprotective, while at the same time maybe not being the most involved and caring father. Mack wants the adventure, but maybe also wishes his father would pay attention to him rather than always being off somewhere in the world looking for relics.
Spencer was the definitely the highlight though. You can already see how awesome his character will be in this first episode. And he will really become such an important part of the season as a whole, especially for the other characters.
We get a tease of the villain factions here. And having the backstory of the two villains already spelled out in the premiere is definitely interesting. Though their story isn’t necessarily one that would warrant a focus episode on it later on.
The endgame is clear though: Prevent the fully-jeweled Corona Aurora from falling into the wrong hands. And to do that, they need to find the jewels first. There’s a clear goal and clear antagonists. So what the season needs to do is make that journey interesting and engaging.
Overall, a fun and full premiere episode that did a good job of introducing the season.