Power Rangers in Space

infobox television
show_name = Power Rangers in Space


format = Action-Adventure
runtime = 30 minutes
creator = Haim Saban
Shuki Levy
executive_producer = Haim Saban, Shuki Levy
producer = Jonathan Tzachor
co-producer = Paul F. Rosenthal, Koichi Sakamoto, Scott Page-Pagter, Judd Lynn
story_editor = Judd Lynn, Jackie Marchand
starring = Tracy Lynn Cruz
Christopher Khayman Lee
Patricia Ja Lee
Roger Velasco
Selwyn Ward
Melody Perkins
Justin Nimmo
Paul Schrier
Jason Narvy
Jack Banning
country = United States
network = FOX
first_aired = February 6, 1998
last_aired = November 21, 1998
num_episodes = 43
preceded_by = ""
followed_by = ""
imdb_id=0120575

"Power Rangers in Space" (often abbreviated as PRiS or referred to as simply In Space) is a television show that aired in 1998 as the sixth season of the Power Rangers franchise. It was the first full series to be handled by showrunners Judd Lynn and Jonathan Tzachor.

It was loosely based on, and involved footage from, the Japanese television show "Denji Sentai Megaranger", the twenty-first Super Sentai series. The show was a turning point in the history of the Power Rangers franchise, as the season brought about the end of six seasons worth of storylines and was the ending of the practice of having the Power Rangers be a continuous serial-style show with a regular cast that carried over from one season to the next. What is notable is that the theme of this series bears absolutely no similarities to its Sentai counterpart, along with its successor, ' and as opposed to both ' and "".

The theme of "Megaranger" was technology, such as the internet and, mostly video games, but because of a misinterpretation by the creators' part, namely seeing the "Megaranger" mecha flying in space, it was mistakenly believed that the theme of "Megaranger" was space exploration (fitting that the series seemed very Star Trek influenced, along with its successor). By the time the mistake was discovered, it was decided upon that the space theme would be kept.

Though it initially had air to it similar to Mighty Morphin Power Rangers and Power Rangers Zeo, Power Rangers in Space eventually took a darker, more emotional turn.

ynopsis

When the Turbo Rangers lose their Megazords, and have their Power Chamber destroyed by Divatox and her army of Pirahnatrons, they (minus Justin Stewart, who stays behind to live with his father) leave for space, in search of the original team's old mentor, Zordon. They come across the Red Space Ranger, Andros, who initially doesn't trust them, but after they help him in battle and help save his Astro Megaship, he gives them all new Astro Morphers randomly, allowing them to transform into the Space Rangers. With the aid of new allies and old, such as the Silver Space Ranger, Zhane, and the Phantom Ranger, they face the monstrous Dark Specter, his herald of evil, Astronema and Astronema's loyal general and adopted father Ecliptor.

For the bulk of the series, the plot involves the Space Rangers trying to find Zordon, who's being prepared for death at the hands of Dark Specter so that the monster can absorb his powers into his own. To keep the Rangers from doing this, Astronema and Ecliptor launch attacks on Earth to keep the Rangers busy saving the planet instead of traveling to alien worlds, while past villain Divatox is reduced to planet hopping while taking Zordon from planet to planet to hide him from the Rangers. This culminats in the eight episode Psycho Rangers arc when Astronema releases evil, insane robotic Rangers on Earth to hunt down and kill the Space Rangers. The arrival of the Psycho Rangers come on the heels of Andros discovering the truth about Astronema, that she was Karone, his sister. It takes time for her to come to grips with this, but she proves to the Rangers who she really is by turning against Dark Specter and rejoining her brother. The remaining Rangers realize they were wrong about her and accept her. This does not last long, as the arrival of the sadistic Darkonda results in Karone being re-brainwashed and Ecliptor being defiled when Darkonda (who had multiple lives) forcibly gives Ecliptor cybernetic implants to remove any trace of good within him.

In the final two parter of the series "Countdown to Destruction", everything comes full-circle when Dark Specter attacks the Earth and all remaining strongholds of good in the universe while absorbing Zordon's life into his own at long last. The Space Rangers, Alien Rangers, Phantom Ranger, Blue Senturion, Gold Zeo Ranger, and KO-35 rebels fight hard, but are outnumbered and outgunned. The Space Rangers, having lost two out of their four Megazords, fight hard to defend Earth, but even with weapons such as the Battlizer, they are overwhelmed and forced to regroup. Darkonda decides he is done with being an underling and destroys Dark Specter with a weapon meant for Earth, but is wiped out as well. Astronema then declares herself the "Queen of Evil" now that Dark Specter is gone, and Andros, in a last-ditch effort, goes to the Dark Fortress to try to turn her back to good.

As the five remaining Space Rangers fight on Earth, Andros finds Zordon in the Fortress. Although no longer in danger of losing his power, Zordon tells Andros to shatter the energy tube, allowing his energy to wipe out the forces of evil (those allied with Dark Specter). Andros refuses and Astronema attacks. Andros, unable to hurt his sister, is beaten badly in the process. Astronema is about to kill her own brother when Andros deflects her fire back at her, severely wounding her and knocking her unconscious. Ecliptor comes in and his caring for Astronema returns after seeing what had happened. The two of them fight, with Andros winning. Finally, he shatters Zordon's tube, allowing Zordon's essence to expand throughout the universe, but killing him in the process. Almost all of the known villains in the Power Rangers universe are disentegrated into dust, while Lord Zedd, Rita Repulsa, and Divatox are changed into normal humans, no longer evil.

The Rangers down on Earth are excited that they won except Ashley who thinks that Andros is not coming back and is saddened by this. The Dark Fortress touches down on Earth, and Andros, with his sister's seemingly lifeless body in his arms, emerged. As he cries for her, she is restored to normal and the Rangers are overjoyed. Andros, Zhane, and Karone decide to stay on KO-35 as the other Rangers go back to Earth. Andros and Ashley walk hand in hand and share a tearful goodbye. Ashley becomes depressed because she misses her Andros, her love interest in the series. Andros decides to go with the Rangers and says to set a course for Earth. Andros and Ashley share a joyful hug in each other's arms, as Zhane and Karone come on board as they all head to Earth.

Characters

The Space Rangers

;Andros: The Red Space Ranger; a native of the planet KO-35, he uses his Ranger powers to defeat Astronema and try to recover his sister. He is portrayed by Christopher Khayman Lee.;Theodore Jay "T.J." Jarvis Johnson: The Blue Space Ranger and the former Red Turbo Ranger. He is portrayed by Selwyn Ward.;Carlos Vallerte: The Black Space Ranger and the former Green Turbo Ranger. He is portrayed by Roger Velasco.;Ashley Hammond: The Yellow Space Ranger and former Yellow Turbo Ranger. She is portrayed by Tracy Lynn Cruz.;Cassie Chan: The Pink Space Ranger and former Pink Turbo Ranger. She is portrayed by Patricia Ja Lee.;Zhane: The Silver Ranger; he is kept in stasis for several years because he was injured in his last battle saving Andros. When he is unfrozen, he helps the Rangers out, but is affected by a morphing time limit, which he is later able to remove. He is portrayed by Justin Nimmo.

Allies

Arsenal

*Astro Morphers: Wrist mounted gadgets worn by the five core Space Rangers, developed on KO-35; utilized for morphing and communication. With a cry of "Let's Rocket!", the Rangers open up their Morphers to reveal a keypad, and punch in "335" then "Enter" to morph.
*Digimorpher: Cell-phone-based morpher used by Silver Ranger. He enters the digits "2580", which spell out "Mega", to morph.
*Battlizer Gauntlet: The Red Ranger's special morpher-like gauntlet possesses 3 functions.
**1. Energy Punches/Chops - Covers Andros's fist in bright red energy, increasing the impact of his punches.
**2. Laser Blast - A small laser that is capable of cutting through nets or stunning opponents.
**3. Battlizer Armor - This function, first activated by Carlos's friend Silvy, grants the Red Ranger an armored battlesuit equipped with a rocket launcher and flight capabilities.In order to control the Delta Megazord, the wearer simply speaks commands to the Battlizer Gauntlet. e.g. "Delta Megazord, transform, now."
*Astro Blaster: Standard Ranger sidearm which can be broken into two separate blasters.
*Spiral Saber: Red Ranger's personal weapon. It features a distinct drill-like blade, and could be combined with an Astro Blaster and equipped with a "Booster" attachment at the blade's tip to increase its firepower.
*Quadro Blaster: Combined form of the Black, Blue, Pink and Yellow Rangers' signature weapons.
**Astro Axe: Blue Ranger's personal weapon.
**Lunar Lance: Black Ranger's personal weapon.
**Star Slinger: Yellow Ranger's personal weapon.
**Satellite Stunner: Pink Ranger's personal weapon.
*Super Silverizer: The Silver Ranger's personal weapon doubles as a blaster and a sword.
* Galaxy Gliders: Surfboard-based transports used for both atmospheric and interstellar travel.
*Silver Cycle: The Silver Ranger's personal vehicle, armed with laser blasters, can also become a Galaxy Gilder.
*Megatank: A small, armored transport used for interplanetary missions.
*Galactic Rover: A sleek dune buggy piloted by the Silver Ranger developed by refugees on KO-35.

Zords

The Zords in "Power Rangers in Space" are based on various Space vehicles. The Astro Megashuttle was used by four of the Turbo Rangers to leave the Earth to try and help Zordon. The Astro Megaship is Andros' personal spacecraft that could combine with the Megashuttle to form a Megazord. The Delta Megaship is given to the Space Rangers by the Phantom Ranger. Andros wins Zordon's keycards and the Space Rangers learn the location to the Mega Voyager, five new space vehicles. Zhane is given the Mega Winger by the KO-35 Rebels.
*Astro Delta Megazord
**Astro Megazord
***Astro Megaship
***Astro Megashuttle
**Delta Megaship/Megazord
*Winged Mega Voyager
**Mega Voyagersaw
***Mega V1 ("Robo Voyager"), piloted by Andros as the Red Space Ranger
***Mega V2 ("Shuttle Voyager"), piloted by Carlos as the Black Space Ranger
***Mega V3 ("Rocket Voyager"), piloted by T.J. as the Blue Space Ranger
***Mega V4 ("Saucer Voyager"), piloted by Ashley as the Yellow Space Ranger
***Mega V5 ("Tank Voyager"), piloted by Cassie as the Pink Space Ranger
**Mega Winger, piloted by Zhane as the Silver Space Ranger

"Note: The Mega Voyager is the only Megazord in Power Rangers that doesn't have the word "zord" in it. It is simply known as the Mega Voyager"

Episodes

ee also

*"Countdown to Destruction", the finale episode