Power Rangersfailed Tommy Oliver, but a legacy season from the 2000s thankfully redeemed him. It is easy to understand why Tommy became the face ofPower Rangersduring the 1990s. Theoriginal Green Rangerwas an instant favorite character whose popularity contributed toMighty Morphinbecoming a pop culture phenomenon, even though Tommy only joined the show in episode 17. Be it as a brainwashed villain or as a hero, the Green Ranger was as cool as a character could be.
Even afterMMPRhad run out of Dragon Ranger footage to use, it only made sense to keep Tommy around. It did not take long for Tommy to return after losing his Green Ranger powers, this time as the even more powerful White Ranger. From then on, Tommy was no longer the outsider – he was now the team’s leader, replacing Jason. However, as much as I enjoyed seeingmy favorite Power Rangerlead the team,the rest of the Zordon Era did not know how to use Tommyand almost ruined the character.
Power Rangers Gave Tommy Oliver Too Much Focus During The Zordon Era
Tommy Was Everywhere Between MMPR Season 2 And Turbo
Too much of anything can be bad, and that is exactly what happened to Tommy inPower Rangers. We went from Tommy being the cool new kid who would sometimes fight alongside the core Rangers to him leading three different teams and having four different sets of powers in just three years.Tommy was everywhere during the early 1990s, especially after he became the White Ranger. With Jason no longer on the show,Power Rangersfound in Tommy its new leader, but it never properly developed the character so that he would earn that position.
Power Rangers Dino Thunder
Black
In terms of lore,Tommy succeeding Jasonmade a lot of sense – the White Light made him the strongest member of the team. By the time the show went fromZyurangertoOhrangerand had to switch up the color scheme, it was only natural for Tommy to become the Red Ranger. That said,I don’t think Tommy ever quite worked as a Red Ranger.The problems with the character became even more noticeable inTurbo, during which it seemed like not only Tommy but the rest of theMMPR/Zeocrew had become parodies of themselves.
The Original Green Ranger Always Worked Better As An Extra Ranger Than As A Leader
Tommy And Red Just Didn’t Match
Not all characters are meant to be protagonists or leaders, which might have been the case for Tommy. The original Green Ranger was much cooler when he was an extra Ranger off doing his own thing than when he was the leader. Tommy was reckless and not the best strategist, not to mention how he would always try to solve things on his own. Of course, there was only so much nuance that a character could have inPower Rangers. But even when compared to Jason, T.J., and Andros,Tommy wasn’t as interesting as a leader.
Tommy is the onlyPower Rangerscharacter to have worn more than three colors on the show.
Tommy was not the onlyMMPRcharacter that the show failed in the long term. In fact, by the time the new Turbo Rangers came in, the show desperately needed a breath of fresh air. Every possible dynamic between the remaining original characters had already been explored, withTommy being the Red Rangerin two different seasons. It seemed as ifPower Rangersdid not know what else to do with Tommy other than having appear everywhere, including the two movies. Even as a massive Tommy fan,I was glad to see the show move on to different characters duringTurbo.
Power Rangers Dino Thunder Redeemed Tommy Oliver (By Turning Him Into Zordon)
Having Tommy Be An Older, Wiser Ranger Was A Great Decision
I never would have imagined that Tommy, of all characters, would grow up to become a formidable mentor, which is why I was pleasantly surprised with howDino Thunderturned out. Jason David Frank’s character could have easily overshadowed everyone else on the show, yetDino Thundermade it so that Tommy was always serving the new Rangers' stories. Granted, Tommy quickly became a Power Ranger again inDino Thunder, but he was a mentor to Kira, Ethan, Connor, and Trent first and foremost.
Tommy may not have been a great leader during his Red Ranger days, but he was an amazing “Zordon” inDino Thunder. The fact that one of the most reckless, individualist Rangers was now wise enough to guide four high schoolers while also having time to suit up himself made Tommy far more interesting than he had ever been. Tommy even reflects on his evil Green Ranger days duringDino Thunder’s White Ranger arc and helps his pupils save Trent.Dino Thunderis a fantasticPower Rangersseason, and it gave us the absolute best version of Tommy.
