Power Rangers Zeo
"A Few Bad Seeds"
Original Air Date:5/6/96		Featuring Footage From: Ohranger #05- - Gekiai!! Honoo no Kyoudai (Violent Love!! The Brothers Of Flame)
*Regular Season 3 Continues (4th Season By Series) *Official Network Show Number PR-354 *11th episode of PRZ *166th total Power Rangers episode
Writer: Richard Goodman		Director: Vickie Bronaugh
Starring Cast: Catherine Sutherland _AS_ Kat (Zeo Ranger 1, Pink) Nakia Burrise _AS_ Tanya (Zeo Ranger 2, Yellow) Steve Cardenas _AS_ Rocky (Zeo Ranger 3, Blue) Johnny Yong Bosch _AS_ Adam (Zeo Ranger 4, Green) Jason David Frank _AS_ Tommy (Zeo Ranger 5, Red) Paul Schrier _AS_ Farkas "Bulk" Bulkmeier Jason Narvy _AS_ Eugene "Skull" Skullovitch Gregg Bullock _AS_ Lt. Stone		Additional Cast: Bob Manahan _AS_ Zordon (voice) Donene Kistler _AS_ Alpha 5 Richard Wood _AS_ Alpha 5 (voice) David Stenstrom _AS_ King Mondo (voice) Barbara Goodson _AS_ Prince Sprocket (voice) ? _AS_ Pollenator (voice) ? _AS_ Adrian (voice)

CAPSULE SUMMARY:

At the Angel Grove Junior Botanical Society Greenhouse, there some stuff going on. Rocky & Adam are among those students in the botany class, as are Bulk & Skull. Seems Rocky's mixture of seeds have resulted in a fast growing plant hybrid. In just a day it's grown a foot tall, and it seems to like to eat metal. Nothing unusual there, it's just Rocky doesn't know what plants he crossed to make it. Meanwhile, Skull deals with the painful death of his own plant nearby. Soon, Rocky & Adam decide to take a sample of the plant and show it to Alpha to try and understand what he hath wrought. Of course, neither of them notice that the plant is moving and looking at them funny with its mouth hungrily open. They really need to rent "Little Shop Of Horrors", either version. Anyway, after the Ranger Teens depart, Bulk & Skull wander over to Rocky's plant and plan to cause trouble, when it grabs Bulk and bites off a chunk of his police badge! The plant grows rapidly after each metal meal, though oddly, there seems to be no cause for alarm concerning a living plant made by high schoolers. Bulk & Skull trim off some of Rocky's plant, transplant it over to Skull's pot, and scheme to get a passing grade that way.

Guess what? King Mondo is spying on the plant life, and wants to use it to his advantage. But instead of doing the job himself, he has Sprocket take the task yet again (Queen Machina is seen, but not heard). Back on Earth, Lt. Stone surprises his two Junior Police Recruits with a sudden visit. Seems Jerome Stone is one of the AGBS's founding members (as we see in a later Zeo Season 1 episode, his yard is covered with tons of flowers!) and he wanted to make sure the bumbling duo didn't ruin the good name of botanical engineering. He leads Bulk & Skull off to a place where he knows to find good food for plants. Rocky & Adam return to the greenhouse soon after, while awaiting Alpha's test results. They bump into Prince Sprocket & his Cog buddies, who distracts our two heroes with a bit of friendly chitchat. Spotting the Cogs escaping the scene with both Rocky's & Skull's potted plants, Rocky & Adam Morph into Zeo Rangers 3 & 4, and try to hold the Cogs off. There's a brief battle (how Rocky knows the other plant is Bulk & Skull's, is never explained), but ultimately, the Cogs get away with the plants. Rocky & Adam return to the Power Chamber, hoping Alpha will have some answers by now.

Lt. Stone shows Bulk & Skull the wonderful world of manure. Poops on! Jerome's loving connection to cow dung will later be mentioned in PRT's "The Gardener Of Evil". He ends up playing Biff Tannen after Skull accidentally dumps a bucket of 'black gold' all over him. The radio report on the theft of several rare plant species is soon heard, and Bulk & Skull are on the job to save the Earth day! Up on the Machine Skybase, King Mondo has altered Rocky & Skull's plants into strange monster creatures. The blue-green one is named Pollenator, and speaks in third person with a Rocky Balboa accent (get it? Cause Rocky made him? Ha.), and the other, deeper green in color, is never totally named. He's later called "Adrian" by Pollenator, in yet another Rocky reference, but only Swamp Thing knows what his real name is (he does speak in an accent, always going "Ja" for no reason). Mondo zaps Adrian with his power staff, and by inflicting pain on Pollenator's "cousin", he encourages him to go to Earth to spread his deadly pollen spores.

At the Power Chamber, all five Ranger Teens teleport in. Alpha's analysis reveals that Rocky's hybrid plant will continue to grow in size and strength. Adam, always one with the green thumb, seems to know Skull planted a branch in his pot, making the trouble double. General word, Mondo wanted the plants to use to create a powerful new enemy, one which has to constantly eat metal to stay strong. Suddenly, the alarms sound and the plants are found in Angel Grove, eating old cars at the Auto Wrecking Yard. Our five heroes Morph into Zeo and make the scene. They meet Pollenator & Adrian, and a fight ensues. Needless to say, the Zeo Rangers don't fare well against the strength and blasting power of these odd creatures. Adrian is about to activate the pollen attack, when he falls off Pollenator's shoulders. Polly is angry at his "cousin", and he begins to beat him for doing it "on purpose". King Mondo gets frustrated with the seed siblings and does some replanting by unleashing some power from his staff. Both plant monsters are teleported back to the Skybase by this, and receive a scolding from the King, who wants them to get to trashing the Rangers instead of eating. Mondo only wants to send Pollenator down next, but he refuses to go without his pal. Pollenator fights his way through some Cogs, and gets to his double's side, only to have Mondo blast them apart. Mondo threatens to grind them both into mulch for his petunias if Pollenator doesn't get back there and destroys the Rangers. Adrian is never seen nor mentioned again, so either he starved to death, or Mondo mulched the worthless weed as promised.

Rocky & Adam stroll through the streets, Rocky feels responsible for the plant monster and heads to the library by himself to search for a way to stunt its growth. As expected, Pollenator ambushes Rocky, who Morphs into Blue Ranger, and the two spar for a bit. Polly gives his "creator" a gift, by opening the flower buds on his shoulders and releasing the pollen spores he was named for. Rocky's doused with these spores, Pollenator claims he'll end up as "one of us". Blue Ranger barely manages to teleport back to the Power Chamber. Elsewhere, Bulk & Skull, in their Patrol Bike, litter the streets with heaps of metal trash. They're trying to bait the plant into appearing so they can capture it. Putting a "free lunch" sign on their Bike, the bumbling duo then hide in some bushes and await an episode where they actually do something useful. Back at the Power Chamber, the Ranger Teens are shocked to see Rocky's new look. His face is painted gold and leaves grow around his ears, and he's acting like he's stoned. Zordon & Alpha explain that the pollen spores are systematically taking over the cells in Rocky's body, turning him into a Plant Man (cue drum riff). Rocky hops up out of the special bed thingy I can't remember what it's called, and says "Hey, I know you guys! You're the Chowder Rangers, aren't you? Hahaha!". Because nobody knows what plants were crossed, finding an antidote is proving tricky. In the most innuendous line in PR history, Rocky comments to Kat, "You got nice leaves. And your branches aren't bad either!" Kat, dangerously worried by the hormonal plant hitting her, tells Alpha to hurry up and cure him!

On the Skybase, Mondo commends Pollenator on a job well done. He allows Polly to go get himself a snack while waiting for the Rangers to show up again. "Didn't I tell you that you'd work better on your own?", Mondo mentions, and of course, Polly never speaks of Adrian again. Ja. Mondo feels victory is within his grasp. Back at the Power Chamber, Florentine Rocky is laid down for a nap. His teammates are called into the city to fight Pollenator, who has just eaten and is at full strength. The Zeo Rangers face him, using their Zeo Laser Pistols in Saber Mode. Then they try out a few of their Zeo Special Weapons (like, two of them). Pollenator throws a few blasts at them, and a couple of prickly things from his shoulders. The other Rangers taken down, Tommy charges into battle, only to have Polly laser whip his Zeo Saber out of his hands and out of reach.

At the Power Chamber, Alpha has finally figured out the identity of the mystery plant, but doesn't know what's making it grow so fast. The mutation is killing Rocky, who utters out on his deathbed "Rose... Bud..", err I mean, "Oxygen...". Zordon realizes that by surrounding Rocky with pure oxygen, they can cut off the carbon dioxide intake the plant needs to breathe. Alpha does so, and within moments, Rocky is cured of his itchy rash. He hops out of bed and Morphs Into Action, joining his Zeo Ranger teammates on the field of battle. They lock on "power pods" to their Laser Pistols, and blast 'celery head' with 'pure oxygen' energy blasts. Pollenator is struck, he falls and explodes, shouting "I coulda been a condenda'!"

Back at the Greenhouse later that day, Adam is sorry for Rocky losing his plant project. Not to worry, this time, Rocky knows just what seeds he's going to use, basil & rosemary. The only thing he can ruin with those is pasta! The two Ranger Teens hear some commotion coming from the bushes, where they find Bulk & Skull still staking out for the plant. After Rocky & Adam leave the bumbling duo alone to continue their mission, Bulk & Skull soon assault a gardener. They end the show fighting with a lawn mower.