SATURDAY MORNINGS FOREVER: POWER RANGERS LOST GALAXY

Power Rangers Lost Galaxy is the sixth incarnation of the Power Rangers franchise, and the seventh season overall. It utilized footage from Toei Company, Ltd.’s 22^nd Super Sentai series, Seijuu Sentai Gingaman. While not a direct continuation of In Space, it was a spiritual sequel designed to transition from the Zordon-era of the franchise into the post-Zordon era.

Lush greenery probably looks alien to Los Angelinos.

After the unprecedented success of In Space’s finale, Saban Entertainment decided to continue with the franchise after initially planning to end it. Even though Gingaman was a nature-based series, Saban decided to work the concept into another space-themed show to capitalize on In Space. This made things difficult for the writers as the usable footage from Gingaman contained no space elements, and they had to tie all the American space-faring footage into the natural surroundings of the Sentai.

Terra Venture.

Initially going to be called Power Rangers: Space Jungle, Lost Galaxy was set a year after the events of In Space. The Galactic Space Alliance had launched the space colony Terra Venture to head out on an expedition to find a new world to colonize. A selection of citizens was given the chance to partake. One citizen, Leo Corbett (Danny Slavin), had to sneak his way to Terra Venture where his brother, Mike (Russell Lawrence), worked as a security officer (utilizing uniforms from the film Starship Troopers). To escape being caught, Leo disguised himself as an officer and ended up in training maneuvers with Mike’s unit, where he met Kai Chen (Archie Kao) and Kendrix Morgan (Valerie Vernon).

Trakeena, Deviot, Kegler and Villamax.

Meanwhile, the forces of Scorpius (Kim Strauss) had invaded the planet Mirinoi to try and steal the Quasar Sabers; five ancient swords embedded in a stone altar 3,000 years ago that could only be removed by the “chosen ones”. A citizen of the planet, Maya (Cerina Vincent), fled Scorpius’ Stingwinger insectoid army through a portal that opened up in front of Leo, Mike, Kai and Kendrix. After protecting Maya, everyone but Kai followed her back through to help her people. Kai eventually follows by taking the Astro Megaship, now a museum complete with Alpha 6 (Wendee Lee) and D.E.C.A. (Julie Maddalena), reluctantly piloted by its caretaker and mechanic, Damon Henderson (Reggie Rolle). There, in the heat of conflict, they drew the Quasar Sabers and became the Power Rangers. Unfortunately, the planet Mirinoi was lost to a petrification wave created by Scorpius’ general, Fuiro (Tom Wyner), and Mike was dropped into a chasm leaving Leo to take his place as the Red Ranger.

The swords in the stone/

The Quantum Swords were the primary weapons of the Rangers and shrunk to dagger-size when not in use, and were the first holstered weapon capable of destroying a monster on their own with enough power. Each was marked with their individual Ranger’s Galactabeast. The Galactabeasts were sentient Zords, a first for the franchise, used by the Rangers after they rescued them from Scorpius’ forces. They were the Lion, the Condor, the Gorilla, the Wolf and the Wildcat. A Rhino, Phoenix and Shark Galactabeast would later be discovered. Their secondary weapons were the Quasar Launchers, which could function as either powerful bazookas or staff weapons.

The Galactabeasts.

The Rangers eventually recovered the Transdaggers, which were weapons lost to time and found in the possession of intergalactic arms dealer, Horn (Blake Torney). Each Transdagger resembled a talon and took on a different secondary from for each Ranger: Red’s became a dagger that could channel fire; Blue’s became a biclaw that could project a devastating water attack; Green’s became a blaster; Yellow’s became twin melee daggers that emitted lightning with each slash; and Pink’s became an energy crossbow. The Transdaggers also allowed the Galactabeasts to combine into the Galaxy Megazord.

Two-wheelin'...in space!

Besides Terra Venture and the Astro Megaship, the Rangers utilized two other forms of transportation. The first were Jet Jammers created by Alpha and D.E.C.A. They were small personal hovercrafts that could traverse planetary surfaces or short distances in space. The second were the Astro Cycles, which were only utilized by Red, Blue and Green. Red could combine his Astro Cycle with his Galactabeast to encase it in an armor shell that could be set ablaze for a powerful attack. Both methods of transportation were exclusive to Lost Galaxy.

Scorpius.

Because Seijuu Sentai Gingaman vs. Megaranger was in production at the time of filming, the Gingaman villains were unavailable for use. Furio’s costume was from the final villain of Denji Sentai Megaranger and wasn’t used in its Saban counterpart, In Space. Scorpius was created specifically for the show, resembling a large spider with tentacles instead of legs. Scorpius’ ambition was to gather powerful objects around the universe for himself. The only thing Scorpius cared about more was his daughter, Trakeena (Amy Miller), and often kept her out of his campaigns to keep her safe. Initially, she was a vain, spoiled weakling until she received combat training from Villamax (David Lodge), a noble warrior, and her father’s powers after the Rangers destroyed him. Scorpius’ two other generals were Treacheron (Derek Stephen Prince), who despite his name was fiercely loyal, and Deviot (Bob Papenbrook), who was cowardly and always sought to acquire more power for himself; going so far as to eventually kill Scorpius and attempt to kill Trakeena. Along with the Stingwingers, Scorpius and Trankeena employed a variety of monsters who, for the first time in the franchise, could grow on their own.

Captain Mutiny.

Later in the show’s run, the Rangers retrieved the Galaxy Book: a book that held immeasurable power and information on subjects such as the Galactabeasts and the Lost Galaxy. An attempt by Deviot to steal the book sent Terra Venture to the Lost Galaxy. There, they encountered a new foe, the space pirate Captain Mutiny (Mike Reynolds). He ruled and plundered the Lost Galaxy with his crew: Barbatax (Richard Epicar), an enforcer and slave-driver; Hexuba (Rajia Baroudi), a sorceress; and a legion of Swabbies, Mutiny’s foot soldier that only spoke in stereotypical pirate lingo. Mutiny also had his own assortment of monsters that he used against the Rangers. Mutiny and his crew traveled on the giant Titanisaur, which also doubled as a powerful weapon.

The Galaxy Rangers: Kendrix, Kai, Leo, Damon and Maya.

Power Rangers Lost Galaxy debuted on FOX as part of the Fox Kids programming block on February 6, 1999. The series was primarily written by story editor Judd Lynn, with Jackie Marchand, Carlton Holder, Jill Donnellan and Denise Skinner. Lior Rosner, Jeremy Sweet, Inon Zur, Shuki Levy and Haim Saban served as the music composers. Despite the name, the “Lost Galaxy” aspect of the series didn’t come into play until more than halfway through the season; however, it was originally intended for Mirinoi to be part of the Lost Galaxy. Lost Galaxy was the first show in the franchise to be set away from the fictional city of Angel Grove, California, and to feature full grown adults with professions as the Rangers instead of teenagers in high school. It was also the first to have the Rangers in stock clothing when de-morphed, where previous incarnations wore different outfits in their respective Ranger color. The Rangers also actively participated in the permanent destruction of the main villains, who before this point where allowed to continue on while their minions suffered all the real defeats.

Bulk and the Professor working in a cafe.

While not in Angel Grove, Bulk (Paul Schrier) and Professor Phenomenus (Jack Banning) were amongst the citizens who were on Terra Venture where they ran a café after bombing out of the science division. Jason Narvy, who played Skull, opted not to reprise his role so that he could return to school. He did, however, make a cameo appearance in the first episode to close out his character’s story; being forgotten on Earth by Bulk and the Professor.

The Magna Defender. Friend or foe?

The Rangers gained an ally of sorts in the Magna Defender (Kerrigan Mahan). Defender was on a quest to enact vengeance against Scorpius after his invasion of Defender’s home world led to the death of his son, Zika (Ryan James). Centuries prior, Defender arrived on Mirinori to release the Lights of Orion, a mysterious energy source that could greatly enhance a being’s powers, but was defeated by Treacheron and dropped into a pit; where he remained until Mike Corbett was also dropped in, allowing Defender freedom by possessing Mike. Eventually, after realizing his thirst for vengeance was putting others in harm’s way, Defender would separate from Mike and then bestow his powers upon him. This allowed Mike to fight alongside the Rangers as the new Magna Defender, complete with the bull-like Torozord and the Magna Sword (which could transform into a Magna Blaster). The Rangers also gained the powers of the Lights of Orion, which increased their natural powers as well as that of the Galaxy Megazord.

Lost Galaxy meets In Space.

Lost Galaxy began the tradition of the annual Power Rangers team-up; wherein the team from a previous incarnation would join the current team to help defeat a common threat (a tradition in the Sentai series). In this case, the Space Rangers from In Space came to help the Galaxy Rangers defeat the revived Psycho Rangers; evil Rangers created by In Space’s main foe, Astronema (Melody Perkins), designed to destroy the Ranger whose color they emulate. The two heroic teams combined their energies and destroyed most of the Psycho Rangers. Psycho Pink (Vicki Davis) managed to survive and renewed her function to destroy pink Power Rangers. Kendrix ended up sacrificing herself to save the life of Cassie Chan, the Pink Space Ranger (Patricia Ja Lee). This was the first death of a Power Ranger, and a necessary one as Vernon had to leave the show for treatment after learning she had leukemia. Vernon remained in the main credits, however, so that Saban could help pay for her chemotherapy. This also meant that a subplot involving a developing romance between Kendrix and Leo had to be abandoned.

Saban originally intended to have Lee replace Vernon in the show for the remainder of the season. However, they refused to pay her more than the guest-star rate and she quit shortly after filming her crossover scenes. Instead, Perkins was brought back as Karone, the sister of Red Space Ranger Andros (Christpher Khayman Lee) and the good aspect of Astronema. She disguised herself as her evil alter-ego in order to interrupt the auction of the Pink Quasar Saber and retrieve the sword from evil hands. Kendrix’s spirit would later come to Karone while she was in danger and give her the mantle of the Pink Galaxy Ranger. She remained in the role until Kendrix’s resurrection at the end of the season when the Galaxy Rangers returned their Quasar Sabers to the altar.

Airing the same day as “Redemption Day”, Power Rangers: The Lost Episode was a special hosted by original Mighty Morphin actors Austin St. John and Walter Emanuel Jones, his first return to the franchise since walking off in a pay dispute before the third season. The episode showed clips from all the incarnations of the franchise thus far, as well as footage from Kyoryu Sentai Zyuranger when discussing the origin of the show. Also seen was the original pilot version of the first Mighty Morphin episode, “Day of the Dumpster”. The original pilot featured Audri DuBois as Trini and gave several characters and objects different names than what would be used in the series.

Life after Rangers: Reggie, Amy and their three kids.

Lost Galaxy would be the final time Bulk would serve as a series regular, making guest-appearances in future incarnations, and was the final season to feature Phenomenus. Skull would return in guest spots as well down the line. Following the series, Rolle and Miller would end up getting married. In a featurette on the Power Rangers Super Megaforce: The Legendary Battle DVD, Rolle shared an anecdote on how when a kid recognized them both while shopping at Toys ‘R’ Us, he explained that he was “tricking” Trakeena to save the universe.

Mighty Morphin Power Rangers #29 reveals the origin of Terra Venture.

In BOOM! Studio’s Mighty Morphin Power Rangers comic, an R&D tech corporation named Promethea was introduced. It was a city-sized island built off the coast of San Francisco developed by former 1969 Power Ranger, Grace Sterling. During the “Shattered Gird” crossover event in 2018, it was revealed that the entire structure was capable of space travel and would eventually become Terra Venture in the future. Karone is also featured in the event as the only surviving Galaxy Ranger. Following the event in the story “Beyond the Grid”, the Magna Defender was announced to be a member of a new team of Rangers, the Solar Rangers, that included the Ranger Slayer (an alternate Kimberly Hart), the Red Space Ranger, the Yellow Zeo Ranger, and the Green Samurai Ranger, along with Heckyl from Dino Charge and comic-exclusive characters Ellarien and Remi.

Red Galaxy Ranger in Power Rangers: Super Legends.

As with other entries in the Power Rangers franchise, Bandai produced a line of action figures and other merchandise based on the show. While the show itself didn’t receive a video game, its characters did make appearances in others. In the 2007 Power Rangers: Super Legends by Disney Interactive, Leo, Damon, Kai, Trakeena, Magna Defender, Stingwingers and the Galaxy Megazord are all featured. In nWay Games’ 2017 Power Rangers: Legacy Wars mobile game, Kendrix, the Magna Defender and Trakeena were featured.

DVD cover.

In 1999, 20^th Century Fox released the VHS Power Rangers Lost Galaxy: The Power of Teamwork Overcomes All featuring the episodes “Quasar Quest Part 1 & 2” and “Race to the Rescue.” The next VHS, Return of the Magna Defender, contained “The Magna Defender”, “The Sunflower Search”, “Orion Rising”, “Orion Returns” and “Redemption Day.” In 2003, Walt Disney Video included the episode “To The Tenth Power” on the DVD compilation The Best of the Power Rangers: The Ultimate Rangers. In 2012, Time Life Entertainment released Power Rangers: From Mighty Moprhin to Lost Galaxy containing the complete span of those shows over 40 DVDs. Shout! Factory also released Power Rangers Legacy, which contained seasons 1-20 in a collectible Red Ranger helmet package. The next year, they released Lost Galaxy as part of the Power Rangers: Seasons Four-Seven box set, and then independently in 2015.

EPISODE GUIDE:

“Quasar Quest, Part I” (2/6/99) – Leo sneaks aboard Terra Venture and ends up on a security officer training mission that leads to an encounter with Maya.

“Quasar Quest, Part II” (2/13/99) – Maya, Mike, Kai, Kendrix and Damon unsheathe the Quantum Swords to become Power Rangers, but end up losing Mike and the planet Mirinoi.

“Race to the Rescue” (2/20/99) – Maya hears the distress of the Galactabeasts being captured by Scorpius’ forces and the Rangers rush to their rescue.

“Rookie in Red” (2/27/99) – When Leo forgets to lock the weapon bay door, arms dealer Horn is able to steal the Quantum Swords for Scorpius and Leo goes after them himself.

“Homesick” (3/6/99) – Damon mentors a young boy homesick for Earth when Gasser attacks Terra Venture and puts everyone to sleep.

“The Lights of Orion” (3/13/99) – Mutantrum disguises himself as Mike in order to trick the Rangers into helping retrieve the Lights of Orion for Furio.

“Double Duty” (3/20/99) – While investigating an actress that could be Kendrix’s double, the Wise Wizard makes his move to find the Lights of Orion.

“The Blue Crush” (3/27/99) – Kai falls for an attractive woman he meets, but romance barely gets a chance to bloom when a monster attacks.

“The Magna Defender” (4/3/99) – Investigating Mike’s disappearance leads to Leo encountering the Manga Defender, who helps the Rangers battle back some monsters.

“The Sunflower Search” (4/10/99) – The Magna Defender reveals his motivations for fighting against Scorpius, but in his zeal for revenge almost ends up harming civilians in battle.

“Silent Sleep” (4/17/99) – The Chilly-Fish monster leaves everyone but Leo frozen, so it’s up to him and the Magna Defender to defeat the monster.

“Orion Rising” (5/1/99) – Maya and Kendrix battle with each other as well as the latest monster after Maya unknowingly ate a cake Kendrix baked for Damon’s birthday.

“Orion Returns” (5/8/99) – Destruxo captures the Lights of Orion, but his victory is short-lived when Impostra tricks him into using the lights on himself to “test” them.

“Shark Attack” (5/15/99) – The Rangers interrupt a battle between Treacheron and Trakeena, and Leo hears Mike talking to him.

“Redemption Day” (5/22/99) – Scorpius wants Terra Venture’s energy for his ship, but while the Rangers try to stop him the Manga Defender looks to blow up the colony to achieve his revenge.

“Destined for Greatness” (9/25/99) – Mike assures Leo that he’s meant to be the Red Ranger, and soon gains the powers of the Magna Defender to save the Rangers from Skeletron.

“Stolen Beauty” (10/2/99) – Trakeena orders a monster to steal all the beauty from the women of Terra Venture for herself.

“The Rescue Mission” (10/9/99) – Mike leads a rescue mission to an abandoned ship where a spider monster dwells and a mysterious book is kept.

“The Lost Galactabeasts, Part I” (10/16/99) – Deviot offers the services of his powerful Galactabeasts if Scorpius will make him his second-in-command.

“The Lost Galactabeasts, Part II” (10/22/99) – Deviot sends one of his monsters with the Galactabeasts to attack Terra Venture.

“Heir to the Throne” (10/23/99) – Trakeena trains with Villamax while Deviot plots Scorpius’ demise and intends to utilize the cocoon meant for her.

“An Evil Game” (10/25/99) – Trakeena attacks Leo in revenge for her father, and Deviot uses the opportunity to try and assassinate her.

“Memories of Mirinoi” (10/26/99) – A friend of Maya’s appears on Terra Venture and attempts to steal the Galaxy book.

“Green Courage” (10/27/99) – Trakeena captures High Commander Reiner in order to demand a mechanic be sent to fix the Scorpion Stinger.

“Blue to the Test” (10/28/99) – A monster takes control of Command Stanton’s mind and sends Terra Venture careening towards a star.

“Mean Wheels Mantis” (10/29/99) – When a mantis monster turns Kendrix and Maya into gold trophies, the other Rangers must beat him in a race to free them.

“Loyax’s Last Battle” (11/1/99) – A former hero looks for one final challenge, so Trakeena sends him off to fight the Rangers.

“A Red Romance” (11/2/99) – Leo becomes interested in a girl who ends up abducted by a monster, and whose brother goes off to face it alone to free her.

“The Chameliac Warrior” (11/3/99) – Trakeena sends Chamelia after the Rangers, and he defeats them by using their own moves against them.

“To the Tenth Power” (11/4/99) – When Deviot revives the Psycho Rangers, the Space Rangers return to help the Galaxy Rangers defeat them.

“The Power of Pink” (11/5/99) – Psycho Pink manages to survive and almost succeeds in killing Cassie, but Kendrix sacrifices herself to save Cassie’s life.

“Protect the Quasar Saber” (11/8/99) – Karone poses as Astronema to retrieve the Pink Quasar Saber, and ends up becoming the new Pink Ranger courtesy of Kendrix’s spirit.

“Facing the Past” (11/9/99) – Karone takes Leo to get his powers restored after the Magnetox monster destroys them only to come face-to-face with her past as Astronema.

“Turn up the Volume” (11/10/99) – Damon loses the chief mechanic position when his rival steals his invention’s plans, but the two of them have to come together to defeat the latest monster attack.

“Enter the Lost Galaxy” (11/11/99) – Deviot kills the Guardian coming to retrieve the Galaxy Book and uses it to send Terra Venture to the Lost Galaxy.

“Beware the Mutiny” (11/12/99) – Captain Mutiny seeks to take the colony citizens and add them to his slave labor force.

“Grunchor on the Loose” (11/15/99) – The Rangers hunt a monster causing massive earthquakes on Terra Venture.

“Until Sunset” (11/16/99) – Captain Mutiny captures Leo and Damon and strings them up to bake in the sun.

“Dream Battle” (11/17/99) – Hexuba traps the Rangers in battles in their dreams until Mike fights the spell off long enough to stop her.

“Hexuba’s Graveyard” (11/18/99) – Hexuba bombards the Rangers with past monsters to wear them down until Kai decides to take them out at the source.

“Raise the Titanisaur” (11/19/99) – Captain Mutiny uses the Titanisaur against the Rangers, and it takes their all and all their Megazords to defeat it.

“Escape the Lost Galaxy” (12/3/99) – Mike sacrifices his powers to ensure Terra Venture can make it through the portal back into their own universe.

“Journey’s End, Part I” (12/16/99) – Trakeena and Deviot end up becoming merged into a single being as they launch an attack that grounds Terra Venture on a moon.

“Journey’s End, Part II” (12/17/99) – Villamax takes issue with Trakeena’s attack and sacrifices himself to oppose her as the citizens make their escape to the new world.

“Journey’s End, Part III” (12/18/99) – Trakeena turns herself into a powerful insectoid monster and the Rangers battle her to save their people and new home for the final time.

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August 11, 2018

POWER RANGERS LOST GALAXY

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