Power Rangers Lightspeed Rescue
"A Face From The Past"
Original Air Date: 08/26/00		Featuring footage from: GoGo Five #14 - Kyoufu No Uirusu (Be Afraid Of The Virus)
*2nd episode of 8th Regular Season (18th of the 8th Season by Series) *Official Fox Kids Show Number PR-1018 *18th episode of PRLR *356th total Power Rangers episode
Writers: Judd Lynn & Jackie Marchand		Director: Ryuta Tasaki
Starring Cast: Michael Chaturantabut _AS_ Chad Lee (Blue Ranger) Rhett Fisher _AS_ Ryan Mitchell (Titanium Ranger) Sean Cw Johnson _AS_ Carter Grayson (Red Ranger) Alison MacInnis _AS_ Dana Mitchell (Pink Ranger) Keith Robinson _AS_ Joel Rawlings (Green Ranger) Sasha Williams _AS_ Kelsey Winslow (Yellow Ranger) Monica Louwerens _AS_ Ms. Fairweather Ron Rogge _AS_ Captain William Mitchell Jennifer L. Yen _AS_ Vypra		Additional Cast: Aree A. Davis _AS_ Ginny Morgan Terrell _AS_ Ginny (voice) Taylor Baugh _AS_ Teacher Terence T.J. Rotolo _AS_ Fireman Tyler Foster _AS_ Young Carter Michael Forest _AS_ Olympius (voice) David Lodge _AS_ Loki (voice) Kim Strauss _AS_ Jinxer (voice) Herbie Baez _AS_ Shockatron (voice) [Note: He played Roland on Beetleborgs!]

SUMMARY:

[Scenes from "The Cobra Strikes" & "Olympius Ascends"]

Inside the Lightspeed Aquabase, all is proceeding as usual for a normal workday. Technicians and Cadets wander down the hallways, doing their usual tasks. That is, until Kelsey comes rollerblading frantically down the corridors! She bumps into people, shouting "Excuse me!" and "Sorry, my bad!" as she makes her way down to Rescue Ops, knocking one guy over and causing another to toss his paperwork in the air. Her five teammates are already in the Conference Room, catching a hurried glimpse of the Yellow Ranger as she glides into her chair perfectly. Kelsey plays off her rough trip as she unties her rollerblades, noting "Looks like I made it just in time! So, what's urgent?".. Dana shakes her head. Carter speaks for Chad and Ryan when has informs Kelsey, "We were hoping you might know!" The door to the Captain's Cabin slides open, and emerging from within is Captain Mitchell. Everyone rises from their chairs as their commanding officer enters, Kelsey holds her blades behind her back to hide. He addresses the group with what he calls a very important assignment, "I want you to take a day off!" Joel bursts out laughing, pointing at Mitchell and commenting, "Nice joke, Cap'n... You're kidding, right?" The Captain replies with an absolute denial of humor, saying that they've all worked very hard and they deserve it, ordering them to do anything they want, before dismissing them. The Ranger Recruits are stunned speechless, before cheering with smiles, Joel hugging Kelsey, and Carter hugging Dana (with Ryan joining in to make it a threesome). Joel points at the Captain slyly, to which Mitchell smiles, and Chad shouts "Let's go to the beach!"

It's a busy day at the Mariner Bay Beach, with sunbathers, surfers, and the scantily clad alike. Joel wears a white tank top and green shorts (and his cowboy hat, of course), as he gladly signs autographs for a crowd of five adoring groupies. Joel notes happily, "There's enough for everyone," causing them to giggle. Chad and Kelsey are in their wetsuits, having just come back from a surf together (each with their own color-coded surfboards, of course). They head over to where Dana, in a pink two-piece bikini, is burying her brother Ryan in the sand! Chad comments, "Boy, the waves are GREAT today!", and Ryan's head responds, "Yeah, I wish I could try them!", in reference to his position as having one body in the grave. The four laugh, before Kelsey whips her hair around, causing the water from it to splash in her teammates faces. Dana then points out Joel being "at it again," to which he looks over from his basking in his celebrity glory to wink and fire his finger at his Ranger pals. Meanwhile, in a park overlooking the skyline of the city, we find Carter, in a Lightspeed Sweatsuit, practicing a karate routine. He does rather well, these few months as a Ranger really paying off physically. Soon, he's sitting on the ground and tying his shoelace, when someone walks up to him, with the same shoes & sweatsuit on! Looking up, Carter realizes it's Captain Mitchell, and asks "What are you doing here?", to which Mitchell responds, "More importantly, what are YOU doing here? I thought I gave you the day off!" Carter replies that he never takes a day off from training, and the Captain is fine with his decision, but offers some company. Mitchell lowers his hand and helps his young soldier up to do just that. Carter is a bit surprised, "Sir, you want to train with me?", Mitchell states "Don't worry, i've still got it!". Carter is reluctant, until the Captain turns to him, motions with his fingers and urges, "Come on!"

[opening credits.]

Carter begins to engage the Captain in physical combat, albeit slowly.. Mitchell blocks the weak moves, and says, "Come on, Carter! Don't go easy on me!" Carter obliges, and throws his best few kicks at his commanding officer, only to have the final one blocked, his leg grabbed, and then his other leg kicked out from under him! Carter leaps back up and starts throwing punches, each one blocked by Mitchell, until the final one is grabbed and used to fling Carter's entire body to the ground. Carter jerks his head in astonishment, as Captain Mitchell brushes himself off and bends down to ask with a smile, "That was fun. What's next?", before helping the teen up once more. Moments later, they're both jogging down a trail in the woods. The Captain can't keep up, sweating like a hog and gasping for breath. Carter offers to slow down a little for him, but the Captain will have none of it, saying he's already slowed down enough as it is! Mitchell keeps on pushing himself, and Carter, into continuing their rigorous exercise routine. Elsewhere, in Skull Cavern, Vypra has one of Mariner Bay's power plants on the flame-puddle screen. She notes to Loki, "After we wipe out the city's two power stations, the Ranger's Aquabase will be left in the dark!" Loki nods and states, "I have complete faith in Shockatron," calling upon the monster they've already created offscreen to appear before them. Shockatron, a green circuitry-covered creature with two horns and two little wings but no mouth, pops out from behind a pillar and reveals himself, "Shockatron here! Ready to rumble!" Meanwhile, at one of said power plants, a class field trip is going on! The teacher notes a most interesting chimney, which Spider-Man once used to shove his clone down into. She also notes that this is where they make most of the electricity for Mariner Bay. The children in her group are all wearing yellow hardhats, including one little African-American girl with a dubbed voice and a teddy bear named Jeremy. The girl, named Ginny, tells the Teacher that her bear, named Jeremy, has said that next time they should go on a field trip to the cookie factory! The Teacher chuckles, and ignores the girl's sound advice.

Back at the park, Captain Mitchell wheezes his way up to a funky looking architecture structure, where Carter is already sitting down. Hey, wait a second, that same structure is on Terra Venture, as seen in "Destined For Greatness"! Must be a popular design. Anyway, Carter facetiously mentions to the Captain, "Well you were right sir. You've still got it!". Mitchell struggles to breath and quips back, "Whatever I had, I think I left it at the bottom of the hill". Carter laughs and as he throws a bottle of water to the Captain, he jokes, "I was beginning to wonder if I should call in Dana with her ambulance!" Mitchell gulps down the water and tells him, "Laugh it up, rookie! When I was your age, I would have left you in the dust!" He then dumps the remaining water all over Carter's head. Mitchell continues reminiscing as he sits down next to Carter, "Believe it or not, but I used to train just like you. But even I took a day off every now and then." Mitchell sighs and notes that honestly, he's never seen anyone so driven as him, asking the teen why he's like that. Carter replies, "Every mile I run, every drop of sweat, i'm doing it to be as good as him." Mitchell asks who that is, and Carter tells him that he's referring to the firefighter who saved him as a kid. We get a recycled flashback from "Trial By Fire," saying he was in his room when his house caught on fire, and he nearly passed out when the fireman rushed in to rescue him. A burning board fell but he held it up so Young Carter could escape (causing the man's back to be caught on fire). Carter laments that he never found out who that courageous man was, but that's why he trains, to be as good as his hero. Captain Mitchell can only offer some wisdom, "Remember, Carter. Even heroes are only human." Carter nods and smiles. Suddenly, a dark and thunderous stormcloud forms in the skies above the city. Both Mitchell & Carter are alerted to it as a purple streak of energy spews out from within, and falls towards the power plan down below. Realizing that stormcloud is actually a teleportation gateway to Skull Cavern; Not knowing what the ball of light was, the two race down to check it out.

Inside the power plant's control room, Shockatron is on the scene, and begins to rough up some workers. Shoving one worker against the control panel, Shockatron then connects a cable from his arm into the computer systems! This causes sparks to fly and alarms to sound, as the entire energy complex is rocked to the core. The whole place shakes, people flee in panic, and a fire breaks out from falling debris. The class field trip ends up caught in the middle of all of this, the Teacher leading Ginny down a stairway, and then letting the girl go with the rest of the students as they make their way out, flames burning around them.

[commercials]

Chaka Khan... I mean, Shockatron (I feel for you!) rips through the metal garage door of the power plant and emerges on the outside. He is riddled with evil laughter, commenting successfully, "One down and one to go!" Shockatron heads off to the next power plant, as the sirens of a Firetruck grow closer behind him. Two Firetrucks approach the burning complex, with Captain Mitchell and Carter also in tow on foot. They're suddenly rocked by the quaking explosion coming from the power plant, prompting Carter to hit his Rescue Morpher and Morph into the Red Lightspeed Ranger. Once his suit has completely encased his body, Carter spots Captain Mitchell racing off over to a Firetruck. Mitchell puts on a firefighter's uniform post haste, Red Ranger is baffled by his actions, asking him "Sir, what are you doing?!" Mitchell responds, "Same thing you're doing!", as he puts on his hat and grabs the tools needed for the job. Carter is still reluctant to let the aging fireman risk his life, but can't argue with his tenacity! Captain Mitchell and the Red Ranger pass a badly burned worker in need of hospitalization, on their way into the burning building through the opening left by the demon. Inside, the Teacher leads her young students down the stairway as quickly as she can. Nearby, Mitchell finds a man pinned down under debris, and promises that he'll be fine and not to worry. Red Ranger helps another worker become free of his destructive prison, as Mitchell gives his victim his oxygen mask to breath easy as the four of them all make their way out together.

The outside of the power plant is a raging circus, with firemen spraying water on the fires, burned workers getting help from paramedics, and just generally people running around coughing from the smoke. As the Captain & Carter get the two workers to safety, the Rescue Rover pulls up. It's driven by Ryan, with the rest of the Power Rangers seated within, all five of them Morphed. They quickly jump out (Titanium Ranger rolls off half of the hood for no reason at all, except the stuntman probably had an itch on his back) and rush to the aid of Captain Mitchell and Red Ranger's rescued victims, among others. The radio attached to Captain Mitchell's shoulder gets a call from Ms. Fairweather, to which he answers, and she informs him that; "Shockatron is now attacking the other power plant!" Mitchell apparently curses and then gives Fairweather a "Roger" to that transmission. He relays the news to the Rangers, telling them "The monster is heading to another power facility. You've got to stop him! I'll keep things under control here." The Rangers hop to the order and race off to the other power plant on foot (Uh, guys, you've got the Rover a few feet away!). Meanwhile, inside said other plant, Shockatron talks to himself, "When I shut down this power plant, Mariner Bay will be in total chaos!" He then shoots off his cable linkup into the building, and begins to infuse the systems with what must be some sort of virus. Elsewhere, the six Power Rangers have likely decided that "Hey, it's our day off! Let's do things in style for a change!", as they're now on their rarely used Lightspeed Cycles! Titanium Ranger, lacking a bike, sits in the Red Rescue Speeder, and makes funny hand gestures in the breeze.

Back at the first power plant, the silly Teacher has lead the kids into a tightly sealed room! She can't open the door, Ginny and the others are scared, and if the fire and smoke weren't bad enough, a cave in of debris traps them in there completely! Ginny hugs Jeremy and tells him not to be afraid, promising to save him. Meanwhile, on the road to the second power plant, the Lightspeed Cycles start to encounter fiery garbage lying in the street. That is just precursor to a horde of Batlings in their way, who thought it would be funny to create a roadblock using a dumpster, some trash, and a burnt out old car! Carter urges his team to get them, but they just travel in a straight line, causing the Batlings to jump out of the way and roll on the ground uselessly. Red Ranger fires his Cycle's laser systems, tearing a path through the roadblock with ease. The Lightspeed Cycles maneuver through it simply. At the first plant, the Teacher has the kids staying low on the ground as the room continues to be enveloped by flames. Ginny coughs, and they await their fate as crispy critters. That is, until Captain Mitchell busts through the fiery debris blocking their way out! With the opening clear, Mitchell removes his mask and shouts for them to follow him down the hallway. The Teacher gets the kids moving, but Ginny accidentally leaves Jeremy behind! Mitchell orders the kids to stay together and stay low, but Ginny foolishly does neither, slipping behind the Teacher and heading back to save her crummy teddy.

At the second power plant, the six Lightspeed Rangers track Shockatron down into his little hiding spot within the apparently empty complex. Standing on a platform above them, Shockatron calls out, "Rangers! How predictable!", to which Carter shouts back, "We're here to shut you down!" Shockatron finds this ridiculous, boasting that they'll never stop him, and to prove it, he's calling on Batlings. Not the most convincing move, I admit. The Batlings appear out of thin air, and prance in with their little swords whipping about. The Rangers engage them in hand to hand battle, even Ryan, who despite not being in the Sentai footage of the Ranger/Batling quarrel, gets some smooth moves in on his own. So smooth, that it appears that the main five Rangers leave him to take care of the Batlings abruptly, while they go get beaten out into the courtyard of the power plant by Shockatron! He gives Yellow Ranger a particularly nasty gash with his claws, before taking on both Blue & Red Rangers at once. He manages to grab Carter in a hold, until Titanium Ranger makes the scene, leaping into the air and coming down hard on Shockatron's back with his Titanium Axe! Red Ranger is freed, and immediately shouts, "V-Lancers, Online!". His red metal V forms in his right hand in a flash, and the Lancer in his other. Connecting both components together, as do his teammates with theirs (except Ryan, who doesn't get his own V-Lancer). The five twirl their V-Lancers around Shockatron as they stand in a circle, intimidating the monster (Titanium Ranger swinging his Axe in hand). They begin to strike at Shockatron, who proves to be quite wily, blocking every attack, and jumping into the air to get away from them. Pink & Green Rangers, teaming up, leap higher and double slash Shockatron's back before landing successfully. Shockatron is smoking, and his recovery gets interrupted by Red Ranger attacking him with a rushing slash attack. That's all it takes, Shockatron sparks considerably, then erupts in green electricity, before exploding into a shower of meaty chunks. Our heroes pose for a repose, before Carter notes they need to get back to the fire. The team shouts "Right!" in unison, and then takes off together.

[commercials]

The Lightspeed Cycles speed back to the first power plant (I guess with Shockatron dead, the second one's viral troubles are over), the smoke heavy in the air, even outside of the place. The Teacher and her students sit in a group together, with the lady telling them, "Don't worry, kids. The firemen will save Ginny!" Red & Titanium Rangers overhear this, Ryan hops out of the Speeder and rushes to the children's side, as Carter stops a firefighter nearby to ask where Captain Mitchell is. The fireman tells him that there's a little girl still missing and he went into the building to find her. Pink Ranger gasps "Oh no!", and Red Ranger notes "He'll need backup!" as he darts towards the building. The fireman tries stopping Carter, telling him it's too dangerous, as the whole place is about to blow. Looking at the scorching power plant, Carter only cares that he has to help the Captain, and races into the building. Dana cries for him to be careful, and the fireman continues telling Red Ranger to stop. He doesn't hear him, and gets inside as quick as he can. Somewhere inside, Ginny is clutching Jeremy and covering her mouth as she coughs from the smoke inhalation. Captain Mitchell searches for her by name, and finally discovers her collapsed on the ground. He quickly gives her his oxygen mask to breathe from. Red Ranger journeys up the stairs, encountering flames everywhere he turns. Braving the heat, he treks onward. Above, Mitchell helps the girl through the room, only to suddenly spot a large pipe above the door start to overheat. It bursts without warning, prompting the Captain to race over and brace himself against it before it can block the exit. The steam spews out of it, as Mitchell grunts an order for the girl to go around him. She pauses, and then drops his mask, before doing as ordered.

Red Ranger calls out for Captain Mitchell amid the inferno. He finally finds him when he hears Ginny crying "I'm afraid," and Mitchell encourages her to get going. She does, and runs right into Carter's arms. He calls her a good girl and asks if she's alright, she "uh-huhs" and hugs him. Red Ranger stares over at Captain Mitchell clutching the large pipe. Carter raises his helmet visor, as he watches the Captain hurl the heavy pipe off his shoulder with a loud, agonizing scream. Carter's visor raising is due to a bout of Deja Vu, as he begins to wonder, "Could it be" upon seeing Mitchell's heroism. The Captain waves his hand and motions Carter to get the girl out of there, so Red Ranger drops his visor, and follows the order. He picks the girl up and rushes out of the building just as the place starts to become filled with small explosions, surrounding Captain Mitchell. Red Ranger gets up to the blazing rooftop and leaps to the ground with Ginny held tightly against him. He lands perfectly on the ground and keeps running, Dana is excited to see he was successful in rescuing the girl. Carter hands Ginny over to the Teacher, and tells Dana that Captain Mitchell was the one who saved her, and that he's still inside. Before they can attempt to save the girl's savior, a fireman shouts "Get back!" and other firefighters do so, as the building explodes with a sudden blast! Red Ranger covers his face and then leads the way with his companions closer to the building, all grief stricken over the apparent lose of their Captain. Calling out for him and getting no answer, Pink Ranger drops to her knees and cries. Prematurely, as Captain Mitchell can suddenly be heard grunting nearby as he lowers himself off the roof with a firehose. Carter pops his visor up when he hears him, and Dana gasps, "Father?! Thank goodness!" The six Rangers race to Mitchell's side as he lands on the ground safely, Dana giving him a big hug. He smiles, Carter tells him "Nice going, Captain," and Mitchell simply asks if the girl is okay. The visor-less Carter notes "Thanks to you, she is." Joel comments on the great job the Captain did, and Ryan gives his father a much needed deep hug.

Back at the other power plant (or from the looks of it, underneath a large satellite dish), Jinxer stands reciting a spell. "Cable and electron flux, to and fro! Recharge this monster and make him grow!" Jinxer then pitches a Demonic Booster Card at the pile of meat once known as Shockatron, and commands the monster to arise! The meat chunks become bats which swarm around and start to grow in size. Over at the scene of the near-death reunion, visor-less Carter speaks to Captain Mitchell, "Sir, there's something I need to ask you." Mitchell turns to him and is ready to answer anything. The sound of giant wings flapping rumbles in, though only Yellow Ranger notices. She looks to the sky and witnesses the gigantic rebirth of Shockatron! Kelsey informs her team that they've got big trouble, as they see for themselves as Shockatron whips his dangling cables overhead. Red Ranger drops his visor and puts off asking Captain Mitchell anything until later. Carter calls for Rail Rescues to be on track, the Supertrain rolls up, the Lightspeed Rescuezords roll out, and form together as the Lightspeed Megazord. Where is Titanium Ranger during all of this? Why he's probably back with his father, toasting marshmallows on the fire! Anyhow, the Lightspeed Megazord encounters Shockatron in the mountainous outskirts of Mariner Bay. Shockatron laughs heartily and jumps into the air, using his little wings to fly horizontally through the air, slamming his horns into the Megazord's chest, and pushing the whole thing backwards. The Megazord grabs Shockatron's shoulders, and flings him off with a good heave-ho. Shockatron rolls to the ground and grunts, just as the Lightspeed Ladder Arms are initiated. The Megazord swings its body around in place, with its arms stuck out, battering Shockatron from a safe distance away with each rotation. Shockatron falls again, Carters gets the Lightspeed Megazord Saber online, and Ignites it with fiery precision. The demon falls and the Lightspeed Megazord poses, allowing Blue Ranger to get in a triumphant line of "Yes! All right!". This proves to be one sudden shock that Shockatron won't be getting a charge from any time soon.

[commercials]

In outer space, we see eight of our nine planets falling into an interesting zigzag position. In Skull Cavern, Vypra remarks to Loki of such, "The planets will be aligned soon!" Olympius, apparently still recovering from his dip in the bay, staggers in and screams, "The Rangers must be destroyed by the time we bring my mother back!" Vypra gives her best delivered line yet by saying "Don't worry, Prince Olympius. Queen Bansheera WILL return." Loki adds, "I guarantee it!", blurting out, "I have a plan! Huh!", in an oddly Ed McMahon style voice, "It's the plan of all plans! You'll see!" He and Vypra depart the pillar and fog filled room, leaving Olympius alone. The Prince comments to himself, "I, too, have a guarantee, Loki. I guarantee that I won't wait to see your next plan fail! It's time to take matters into my own hands!"

Finally, in the Lightspeed Aquabase, Carter wanders through the halls until he approaches the Infirmary. Taking a deep breath, he steps inside and watches as Ms. Fairweather patches up Captain Mitchell's injuries. She places a bandage on his left shoulder, the one he held the pipe on, and gives a diagnosis, "I'd say... you're going to survive. Just take it easy for a few days!" Carter notices a deep burn scar on Mitchell's right shoulder-blade. He flashes back to the fireman who saved his life, and remembers that his back, in that same area, was well scorched while holding the board up to allow him access to safety. The flashback ends, and Captain Mitchell turns to the teen. Ms. Fairweather and a female technician are all done stitching him up, both departing the room, Mitchell thanking her for the nursing as she leaves. Carter remains, his eyes still fixed on the scar. He asks, "Sir, it was you, wasn't it?", to which Mitchell has no response. Carter continues realizing, "You're the fireman who saved me when I was a kid!" The Captain calmly proclaims, "Yes, Carter. It was me". This spawns another flashback to that event, as the door slams shut, blocking Young Carter's view of his savior's face. Mitchell comments, "It's funny. I saw you looking at me as the door closed. I watched you smile, and I knew you were going to be alright". In a very nice touch of continuity, we see Younger Mitchell after the door had shut, his hair is matted down, just like the Captain appeared in his picture with young Dana & young Ryan! Flashback ends, and Mitchell continues, "It was a great feeling... and I've been keeping an eye on you ever since. Watched you become a fireman. Then I chose you to become the Red Ranger." Carter is speechless, not knowing what to say, and saying just that. He states, "I owe you so much!", though the Captain replies, "You don't owe me anything. Whatever I may have done for you, you've returned it over and over to the people that you've saved." Carter smiles and nods, "You can count on me, sir. I'm gonna train even harder than before. Up an hour earlier, two extra miles..." Captain Mitchell stops him and says, "Trust me, you train hard enough as it is. Now get out of here!" Carter follows the order, and begins to leave, when he pauses at the door. Mitchell finishes putting his suit back on, when Carter turns and tells him, "Sir? You've still got it!" The Captain smiles and nods, and Carter laughs.

Soon at the Mariner Bay beach, the Ranger Recruits have returned to their day off. Chad rushes back from another round of surfing (and judging from the outfits the gang is wearing, this scene was shot at the exact same time as the PRLR PSA "Water Safety"!), and finds Dana & Kelsey tossing a frisbee back and forth. Kelsey tosses it to Joel, who despite shouting, "I got it! I got it!", ends up losing it to Carter, who leaps it and swipes it in midair. Carter has a red flowery shirt on that matches Kelsey's shorts (they raid each other's wardrobe!?), and the five (including Ryan, taking a break from the sand) race up to Carter's side, Kelsey asking him what he's doing there. Carter comments, "Hey, it's my day off too!", Dana grabs the frisbee from his hands with surprise and asks, "You mean you're actually here to have fun?!" Carter scoffs, "What, you guys think I don't know how to have fun!?", and they all answer with a unisonmatic, "No!" Carter plans to wash that thought of their heads by grabbing a large super soaker from a water cooler and chasing them around with it. They scramble to escape the watery wrath of Carter Grayson. Up above, overlooking the frolicking scene, Captain Mitchell sits in the driver's seat of the Rescue Rover, with a wide grin on his face. He then drives off, leaving the scene just as Carter loses his squirtgun to Chad. The tables turned, Carter flees as he's bombarded with water for a second time in a row!

[Scenes from "The Queen's Return"; end credits]