Commander Crayfish

ard...@my-deja.com wrote:
>Is it just me or are Saban and his writers going a little overboard
>with the sibling storyline?
>
>-First, it was Tommy and his brother on Zeo with Tommy's brother
>suspected of being the Gold Ranger.
>-Second, we had Dimitria and Divatox being supposed sisters on Turbo.
I should point out that both the Tommy/David and Divatox/Dimitria plots were
the work of Doug Sloan, back from his run as the series' head writer and story
editor. Tommy's backstory having been telegraphed from back during MMAR, and
Diva/Dims just seeming like a logical application of the classic "good twin/bad
twin" dynamic. If you are going to introduce a new villainess and a new mentor
all in one shot, might as well do something to connect them just in case you
need a trapdoor to get Zordon back once the incarnation is over, you know?

>-Third was when PR really went with the sibling storyline as they had
>the leaders be related as brother and sister; Andros and Karone
>on "Power Rangers in Space".
Judd Lynn's baby, and frankly I think it was worth jettisoning the Divatox and
Dimitria back story for us to have gotten this wonderful seasonal plotline.
Sure, we all saw it coming from the instant Astronema got snippy about her
locket and Andros confided in Carlos what had happened to him when he was 5,
but it was still a great plot.

>-Fourth was Leo and Mike as sibling Rangers.
Imported Gingaman plot. The entire Mike/Leo origin story was taken lock, stock,
and barrel from Sentai, right down to Mike's return as Magna Defender Mark II.
While I enjoyed a lot of what Judd did with the Leo/Mike relationship in season
two PRLG, it still qualifies as just another Toei hack imposed during the
"Gingaman in Space" era.
See, what I think we really needed was a scene like Leo had with Ginger in Red
Romance, talking to Karone about their relationships with their older brothers.
That would have taken care of all the complaints about plot recycling.

And also, MIKE IS NOT A POWER RANGER. He's a Magna Defender. Whatever being a
Defender entitles. He's the sixth member of the *Power Team*, but is not
actually a Ranger himself. It's like that brief period of time when Blue
Senturion aided the Rangers before Phantom Ranger made the scene.

>-Fifth and currently, the Pink and Titanium Rangers are brother and
>sister and the Captain of the Rangers is their father.
Considering that we could have had to put up with the entire team being
composed of siblings and mentored by their father and his little robot
sidekick, I would consider us lucky for having gotten off as we did. Can you
imagine PRLR had it been done in the style of Bionic Six, with all of the
Ranger Teens as children (or adopted children, since they would NEVER have a
uniformly white team) of Captain Mitchell? It wouldn't be impossible for us to
have had an outright GoGoV hack. And trust me, I think we're all better off
whenever PR tries to be as little like its respective Sentai as possible, save
for the occasional quality episode adaptation or two. And compared to the
relationship Mondo had with his children, I think I prefer the
Mitchell/Dana/Ryan dynamic... Especially when you factor in Carter and how he
really ended up becoming the "heir apparent" to Mitchell in rank, rescue
position, and color that Ryan appeared slated to have back as a child. He's
even the "son" that Mitchell did manage to save. Lots of angst potential.

"Sir, have I pissed you off in a way that's more
than normal?" - Agent Fox Mulder
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