SUMMARY:
In whatever passes for nighttime on the Subcraft, Divatox slumbers peacefully. Yeah, right. She's the self-proclaimed pirate queen of evil, it makes sense she'd be snoring like freight train! She sleeps apparently naked (except for her gloves and funky eyecovering) as the vision of a woman resembling Medusa, the snake haired Greek myth, appears outside her Subcraft window. It then forms inside the bedroom, highlighted by a purple glow, telling Divatox to listen carefully and hear her now, calling Diva her diabolical daughter!
Divatox groggily tells her mother she's listening, as Mama D talks about how their family name having always been legendary among the other pirates in deep space. They ruled supreme until SHE came along, now their peers no longer think of her a witch, but a wimp. Divatox gets the picture even without opening her eyes, asking her mother what she wants her to do, telling her to get on with the motherly advice business already. Mama D scoffs, sarcastically commenting about how she never listened to her before. Since she asked, Mama D explains she needs to get rid of those pesky Power Punks right away, or she'll be piecing together scraps back at the pirate eye-patch factory, faster than she can say 'pickly-pups'! Divatox whines, since she's been trying to take the Rangers out as best she could as it is, asking her mother for something better to go on. Mama D sternly states for her to remove the leader, and the rest will fall like dominos. She repeats her word in an almost 'remove the leader' chant until Divatox ends up repeating it herself, as Mama D's image teleports away. She leaves her daughter behind, the words finally hitting her on the remove the leader scheme, calling it brilliant if she does say so herself. Her eyemask pops open, and she gives a foreboding warning to Tommy boy to watch out (and no, she does not mean Chris Farley).
[opening credits]
On the outskirts of Angel Grove, a lone truck rides casually down the desolate road with music blaring. Inside, Kat is telling Tommy, who's driving, how impressed she is he's on time today. He tries playing off that he's always on time, but she gives him a look and he finishes that remark with a mention of all the times he's late. She laughs, and he talks about what a blast this will be, he loves going camping. Kat says Justin was so excited this morning he woke up at the crack of dawn (although how she would know that, I don't want to know). Not very few miles away from where the Pink & Red Rangers are driving, a charter bus is heading toward Angel Grove. Inside, a cat is being tortured! Not exactly, it's just a teenager singing aloud to music on her headset. It's annoying the other patrons on the bus, and they shout for her to knock it off. She doesn't hear a thing, but the teen sitting across from her decides to get her attention and she finally takes the headphones off. He informs her she was singing a bit too loud for the other people on the bus' comfort, and she apologizes, saying she does that often by accident. He knows the feeling of getting carried away sometimes, finally extending his arm across the aisle and telling her his name is T.J., she shakes his hand and returns in kind by saying hers is Cassie. He asks her where she's heading, she gladly states Stone Canyon, she's got some really great relatives out there and they're going to help her crash the music scene. She wants to be a singer, asking him where he's headed, and he mentions Angel Grove, she says that's cool. Inside the Subcraft, Divatox enters the bridge, and is greeted by her nephew, Elgar. She quickly pushes him out of her way, telling her crew of peons to listen up (Porto appears but doesn't speak), they're going after the leader of the Power Rangers and she of course has a plan. She sends a school of Piranahtrons to the shore to await for her orders, laughing maniacally as she peers into the Periscope. Soon, a group of P-Trons have boarded their motorcycles bearing the Divatox-face-crest, to which we'll call Divacycles. They're right on Tommy & Kat's trail, and once Tom notices them through his mirror he gives a trademark 'Aww, man!' before telling Kat to hold on as he pops the clutch and tells the Piranahtrons to eat his dust! He swerves off the pavement and tries losing them on a dirt road, but they continue to follow on their path to destruction. Tommy drives as fast and as far as he can through the barren area, outnumbered by Divacycle riding P-Trons, there appears to be no way out! Kat tells him to drive faster, they're gaining on them.
[commercials]
At the campsite, Tanya finishes hammer down the tent, as Adam & Justin bring in some more firewood. Adam notices Tommy & Kat aren't here yet, to which Tanya says he knows Tommy, he was born late! Justin asks if they should be worried, but Tanya thinks they need to concentrate on getting the camp together, she's sure they'll be here soon. They return to their camping duties, Justin tossing the wood on the fire, happy to be roughing it, I guess. Back at the bus, Cassie asks TJ what's so hot about Angel Grove anyway, and he says it was kinda his dad's idea. He used to be a pitcher in the minor leagues, he's got a friend he used to play with out there, named Jake "Bull" Rosetti, who says Angel Grove has a killer baseball team. He thinks maybe he can improve his baseball skills there, Cassie asking him if he's any good, and he says that's what he's going to find out. TJ returns the question, asking if she's any good with her singing (since obviously that little number she displayed earlier wasn't her greatest), she states the same as him, that's what she's going to try to find out. The bus pulls in for a 15 minute stop at a gift shop/bathroom break, as some unreleased PR generic background music titled "Sunshine" plays. You know, if this was Dawson's Hills Place High or something, every song on this show would be flooding the soundtrack racks. Speaking of racks, Cassie is going through the sunglasses rack trying to find a proper pair. TJ is checking out postcards, but she asks him to look the way of her rack and give his opinion on her shades. He calls the flowery ones great if she's trying to contact alien lifeforms. She puts them back and says shades are the hardest things to buy, he points out a pair at top and she puts them on. They're pink & blue framed weird looking little things, and needless to say she can't pull them off without an equally punk/techno hairstyle. Down the road, Tommy & Kat continue shifting into man-made turbo to no avail, as the Divacycles unleash a few blastbolts their way! Meanwhile at the souvenir shop, Cassie asks TJ's opinion again on a glittery multicolored hat, and he gives a little midway thumbs up/down.
Elsewhere, Tommy tells Kat to jump from the truck as they're under attack, and she quickly does, landing in the grassy area to the side of the road safely. Unfortunately, she drops her Turbo Morpher Key on the way down and has no clue she lost it! She too worried about Tommy, as he swerves all over while taking hit after hit from the P-Tron posse. Finally come to a screeching halt, he exits through the passenger door (which brings him right to the center of the road, real smart move the there) and watches as the Divacycles swarm on his position. Kat screams for him to watch out, but he can hardly make two feet when the Divacycle blasts strike his truck, causing the whole thing to go up in a huge explosion! Tommy just barely misses being cooked, but still falls flat on his chest from the shockwaves. He's knocked unconscious, and the Piranahtrons are almost in range, so Kat rushes to his side hoping to get him out of there before he gets captured. All of this commotion attracts the attention of TJ, noticing the explosion and yelling, goes running in it's direction. Cassie asks him where he's going, and he tells her he thinks someone needs help, but she points out the bus is leaving in a few minutes. He presses on, as she shouts that he's going to miss the bus! At the point of the disturbance, Kat makes a frantic dash for Tommy, but the Divacycles prove quicker than she, they reach the burning truck's wreckage and Tommy's dazed body. Trying to buy him some time, she runs off into a field, causing the P-Trons to give chase. In the Subcraft, Divatox spies on the camping Rangers, planning to keep them busy so they don't rush to the rescue of their teammates. She flips a switch and two Putrapods (last seen in T:APRM) float the surface, and if they wasn't enough, she really wants to heat things up still. She ponders for a second and remembers the Flamite monster, upon saying his name, he appears in the hatch, stating he's all fired up! Back at the campsite, Justin plays with fire, while Adam & Tanya bicker like married couple over the tying of the hammock between trees. The boy gets a chuckle from this, before suddenly spotting something or someone moving behind some bushes. He decides to check this out himself, sneaking off to investigate. As he wanders around the forested area, one of the Putrapod appears on the ground unbeknownst to anyone.
Justin continues on his search, as Flamite snickers from behind a tree, ready for a Ranger roast! He starts running toward Justin, who is calling out for Tommy and Kat, thinking they're playing some kind of joke. He doesn't realize until the last second there's a monster heading his way, as Flamite jumps over him and lands in front of him. He asks if the boy has a match, but saying he doesn't need one, quickly exhausting a fire stream from his mouth at Justin! He ducks out of the way on time, as a few feet away the Putrapod begins to hatch into a monster.
Adam lays on the hammock back at camp, telling Tanya the secret to these things is to make no sudden movements, just relax. He puts his arms around his head, Tanya finishes securing the hammock, giving him a joking 'right', as they both hear the cries of help from Justin engaged in heated battle with Flamite! The two Ranger teens are alerted, Adam tipping over his hammock and falling to the ground, but quickly leaping up as he and Tanya rush to Justin's aid. As they race across the campsite, the Putrapod is fully grown and lashing out at them, preventing them from helping their young friend! Tanya knows this ugly tongue wagging creature is another one of Divatox's calling cards, as she & Adam prepare for war. Elsewhere, Cassie tries telling the bus driver TJ's only going to be gone a few more minutes. He has a schedule to keep, telling her he's sorry and asking if she's coming with them or not. She's hesitant to leave her newfound pal behind, so the bus takes off without her, leaving Cassie hauling her heavy suitcase off into the area TJ went (where'd TJ's baggage go, then?). As she makes her way to see what the problem was, she hears Kat loud groaning, so Cass tosses her luggage behind a tree and takes off in that direction. Kat's finally run out of breath and falls to the ground, as the Piranahtrons depart their bikes and close in for the kill. Kat's not giving up without a fight, throwing them any punch or kick she can muster out. Nearby, TJ watches the truck ablaze, trying to figure out what's going on when Cassie quickly approaches and scares him a tad. He asks her what she's doing there, and she quips that she's missing her bus, obviously. He fills her on what he knows, which is nothing, as they spot Kat sparring with the school of P-Trons in the distance. Teej wonders where those dudes came from, Cassie says nevermind where, but what are they?! He doesn't know, but he does know he needs to help that girl, Cassie grabbing him back as he tries to rush to her aid (have I said that term enough in this episode?). She tells him to wait, he doesn't know what he's getting into messing with weird creatures, but he can't just stay there and do nothing, breaking away from her and going after Katherine. Cassie reluctantly follows, not noticing a Putrapod just hatching on the side of the road!
[commercials]
TJ & Cassie brave their way through the smoky remains of the vehicle, completely overlooking Tommy's unconscious body lying on the ground as they pass. As Teej & Cass attempt to help Katherine, Piranahtrons notice the good Samaritans and turn their attention on them. Cassie is ready to get out of there, lest face annihilation by fishfaces, not that she has much of a choice when the P-Tron storm through the two, giving them not choice but to defend themselves and fight back! Did they take karate courses when they were young? Do these skills just come from within their being? Think what you will, Cassie's just despairing over what she's gotten herself into. Meanwhile, Justin tries escaping Flamite's grasp, jumping through an opening of a large tree and splitting himself off from the monster. Time to get serious here, Justin whips out his Turbo Key and readies to Shift Into Turbo, as Flamite tells him time is one thing he doesn't have, reaching between the trees and knocking the key out of Justin's petrified hands! Over at Camp, Adam & Tanya hop around while taking on the Putrapod, appearing to have the upperhand on the all-brawn, no-brain monster. Justin is being pinned to a tree by Flamite, shouting to his friends that he could use a little help over there! Tanya & Adam prepare to take Putrapod down, Adam putting the hurt on the creature while Tanya gets a plan to lure him over to the well-placed hammock. She leads the ickapod toward the hammock, ducking under it as he gets tangled up in the netted frame, falling and getting a boo-boo on his noggin. The two Ranger teens laugh at his misfortune, before remember Justin is getting the snot beat out of him across the way. Flamite still has Justin lifted up and pinned on a tree, Justin calling him a stupid flame-broiled piece of jerky not helping things any. Adam & Tanya finally make it, and the monster doesn't appear ready to play with three Rangers at once. Over at the other place, Kat continues struggling against the Piranahtrons, gaining enough ground to stop and notice TJ & Cassie giving her assistance and wondering who they are. All three end up taking on more than enough P-Trons per person to make ya seasick, TJ telling Cassie he should have listened to her, and she responds she should have listened to herself! The two teens throw the Piranhas through a loop, Cassie flipping and taking one down, TJ asks where she learned to fight like that, and she points out her ancestors invented it! The fighting continues there, and back at the campsite, Flamite just won't let go of Justin, Adam & Tanya trying their best to yank the monster off their teammate. Adam tells him to Morph, but he dropped his key so that's not an option. Tanya gets thrown off Flamite, just as Alpha comes on her Communicator and tells her Tommy & Kat are in a heap of trouble. She responds by telling the robot that so are they, returning to the heated tug-of-war.
[commercials]
Katherine's Piranahtron pounding continues, as the Putrapod monster begins to approach the mostly knocked-out Tommy near what's left of the truck (wonder if evil space alien attacks are covered by his insurance company?). Cassie & TJ are also fending off tunabrains, Cass calls this crazy, not wanting to get involved in this. Teej tells her what are they supposed to do, leave that lady here with those weird creatures? TJ rushes off to help Kat with her crowd of P-Trons, Cassie once more reluctantly tagging along despite her best judgment. In the woods, Flamite tosses Adam toward where he threw Tanya aside as he continues strangling the life out of poor Justin. They need to Morph, to which Flamite is not ready to let happen, dropping Justin and turning his attention their way. Tanya & Adam pulls their Turbo Keys out, but the pointlessly extending hand movements give Flamite a chance to kick them out of their hands, the keys falling somewhere among thousands of leaves! TJ makes a high-kicking impression on Kat, taking a whole slew of Piranhas down with one blow. He asks Kat if she's okay, she says she is but they need to get out of here. Cassie asks who she is and why those creepy-looking things are after her. No answers come, as the fishdrones come back with vengeance, Kat getting worn out from the exhaustive fighting, searching around for Tommy. She spots him, being dragged away helplessly by a Putrapod!
She gives the ever-popular "Tommy!!" yell as a Piranahtron tries grabbing her while her back is turned (likely trying to shut her up, sick of hearing that line constantly these hundred or so episodes). Justin makes a mad dash of a Turbo Key, grabbing it (but hey, whose key did he take?!) as Adam goes one-on-one with Flamite. The hot-blooded monster spews some more fire at the Green Ranger, leaving a trial of flames on the ground around where another Turbo Key lies. Adam leaps through the ring of fire, and snatches the Key, tossing it between his hands because the metal has heated up from the flames! This distraction gives Flamite a chance to attack, but Tanya stops him and frees Adam of another beating, knocking the monster behind the cinders of his own making. The three defenseless Rangers regroup, Adam still playing hot potato with his key, while Flamite quotes Jim Morrison by saying he's going to set the world on fire! Alpha makes an appearance, calling them from the Power Chamber and urging them to help Tommy & Kat as soon as possible! They leave the forest fire raging, and take off to find their teammates, Flamite following.
Back at the scene of the stuff, Kat screams Tommy's name still, witnessing his capturing before punching the P-Tron and racing for her boyfriend. By the time she reaches the wreckage, Tommy & The Putrapod have disappeared! This gives her a chance to yell his name again, knowing she has to find him. Cassie takes down the Piranhas she was battling and heads to Kat's side to tell her that this is crazy, they've got to get away from here. She refuses to leave Tommy in the hands of Divatox's forces, the Piranahtrons making a beeline for the two females as TJ yells for them to watch out! There's more kicking and hitting and such to the backdrop of the burning truck, Kat pausing for a moment to watch her saviors in battle. She smiles at their abilities, likely thinking 'hey! I smell replacements!' Elsewhere, the Putrapod carries the beaten Tommy into a cave in an undisclosed location, dropping him hard against the floor in the center of a room. Tommy stirs a bit, but never quite opens his eyes to scope out the assemblage of evil surrounding him. Divatox gloats she finally has the leader of the Power Rangers right where she wants him, at her feet where he belongs! She, along with Rygog, Elgar & the Putrapod, laugh evilly at her latest victory. Tommy groggily tries to regain consciousness, but the explosion took too much out of him. One too many "aww man"'s, huh, Tom? The bad guys laugh, while standing over the defeated hero.
[scenes from "Passing The Torch, Part 2" (featuring the unused "Operation Meltdown" line); end credits]
_BLOOPERS:_
Justin is attacked by a runaway camera, to which he finds amusing. He's never seen The Evil Dead, has he?; Flamite races down the path, slamming his head on a tree limb and falling over; TJ asks Cassie what she's doing there, as she slides down the side of the hill. The crew, and TJ find that funny, as her knees likely get torn up on the gravel; Tanya thinks we need to concentrate on...Yeah! Pointing at the camera and flubbing her line; Adam kicks toward the camera, falling over painfully to the ground in likely his Jackie Chan impression. He can laugh about it, at least!
