White Light

White Light is the seventeenth and eighteenth episodes of season 2 of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. It features the return of Tommy Oliver to the team as the White Ranger and new team leader.

Synopsis
Lord Zedd launches an attack with a monster so powerful that the Power Rangers are hopelessly outmatched, but hope shines bright when their greatest ally returns with new powers. Meanwhile, Bulk and Skull have found a familiar-looking Dumpster and are trying to open it, unaware of its cackling occupant.

Part 1
The day begins at Angel Grove Youth Center, when Kimberly tells Billy and Trini that Tommy wrote her in a letter that he would be coming home at the end of the week, and the Rangers decide a surprise party must be planned for his return.

Meanwhile, Zordon and Alpha 5 embark on a secret mission and shut down the Command Center. This change in energy alerts Lord Zedd in the Lunar Palace on the moon, and he decides that now is the time to destroy the Rangers, so he alters the Sentinel Statue in Angel Grove Park—a statue of a giant fist—with his magic. When matured, the statue will transform into his strongest monster yet, Nimrod the Scarlet Sentinel.

Back in Angel Grove Park, Bulk and Skull continue their never-ending quest to find out the Rangers' identities and, when a meteor crashlands to Earth, they find the Dumpster in which Lord Zedd imprisoned Rita Repulsa and take it to Mr. Skullovitch's workshop at Skull's house to attempt to open it. Meanwhile, Zack, Kimberly, and Trini discover that the Sentinel Statue is covered in foul-smelling slime and attempt to contact Zordon, with no return response. Billy and Jason, after investigating the spot where Rita's Dumpster used to be, teleport to help investigate the statue themselves, just as Zedd sends the Z-Putties to attack and distract them. The teens make quick work of the clay soldiers and attempt to contact Zordon again, but still with no return response. Sensing something is wrong, the Rangers teleport to the Command Center, failing to notice that the Sentinel Statue has suddenly grown a porcelain mask behind itself.

Meanwhile, Tommy is just finishing a swim in a lake in a remote location, and as he dries himself off, he is suddenly teleported off the face of the Earth. Back in Angel Grove, when the Rangers arrive at the Command Center, they find Zordon and Alpha gone and the place dark, but Billy discovers a disk that records the recent activity of the Command Center. But, before he can fully decipher the recent recorded binary code, Zedd brings his monster to life, and it attacks the city. The Rangers morph and teleport to stop Nimrod, but are easily overpowered Zedd makes his monster grow, and the Thunder Megazord is summoned. However Nimrod summons his minions, AC and DC. All three blast the Megazord, severely damaging it.

Billy heads back to the Command Center to see if he can find out what happened, and manages to open the hidden door of white light, which, after a moment of freefalling, leads him into another room, where he hears Alpha and Zordon's voices. He looks through a grate into a lower room and is amazed to see the twosome in the process of creating a new Power Ranger.

Part 2
Billy hurries back to his lab, where the other Rangers have returned to regroup after Nimrod seriously damaged the Thunder Megazord, and relays his findings to his friends who act with initial disbelief and ask him if he knows who this new Ranger is and if he's absolutely sure. Billy confirms that he is certain a new Ranger is being created, but doesn't have any more information. Kimberly mopes about Tommy, saying he should have been the one to be selected to be this new Ranger. Zack and Trini begin to agree with her, however Jason trusts that Zordon and Alpha have their reasons. Billy agrees, reminding them that Lord Zedd has proven to be far more powerful than Rita and the team needs a new Ranger, no matter who it is.

Meanwhile, Bulk and Skull have tried everything they can to open Rita's Dumpster, but nothing has worked, so Skull suggests seeing Ernie about a way to open it. When they leave, Rita struggles to open her Dumpster herself, but is unable to.

Back at the Command Center, Alpha and Zordon restore full power to the systems and summon the Rangers. Before heading there, the Rangers agree that they need to respect Zordon's judgement no matter what. Arriving, Zordon announces the Rangers are about to meet the newest member of their team, saying that since the Green Ranger powers were completely destroyed he was convinced a new Ranger was needed. A candidate was selected, and now it is time for the five to meet the White Ranger. The White Ranger descends from the sky, landing in front of them. Zordon tells the White Ranger to reveal his identity, and the mysterious newcomer removes his helmet surprising everyone while Kimberly faints on the spot.

The White Ranger is then revealed (to the audience) to be none other than Tommy, and the others are very happy to find that their old friend has been repowered. Tommy then gently wakes Kimberly up. Zordon apologizes to the other rangers for being secretive, but he and Alpha had to ensure that Lord Zedd doesn't interfere. Kimberly thought that Tommy lost his powers for good, but Alpha corrects her that it was the Green Ranger powers that are gone for good. Zordon tells everyone that Tommy has proved himself with his courage and strength and made him an obvious choice to take on the new powers, which have been created by the light of goodness and can never be taken away by evil magic like the Green Ranger's were. Zordon presents Tommy with a new Zord—the White Tigerzord—and a new white saber that he can use to operate it, named Saba which has the ability to talk. He also reveals that Tommy is the new leader of the team.

Meanwhile, Bulk and Skull return to the Skullovitch workshop with a giant can opener and attempt again to open the Dumpster, while at the Command Center, the Rangers are alerted to Nimrod's next attack as well as Bulk and Skull's attempt to free Rita. The Rangers must split up to repair the Zords, secure Rita's Dumpster, and battle Nimrod all at once. Billy and Trini are sent to repair the Zords, while Jason, Zack, and Kimberly are given the task of securing the Dumpster. As for Tommy, he is sent to battle Nimrod until the others are able to aid him in defeating the Scarlet Sentinel.

The Rangers (minus Billy and Trini) morph and teleport to their assigned locations. Jason, Zack, and Kimberly must battle the Putties before they can reach Bulk and Skull and steal the Dumpster from them, while Tommy, after a brief argument with Saba, sends in the White Tigerzord against Nimrod. It converts to Warrior Mode and battles the monster. Tommy almost wins, until Nimrod summons AC and DC again, and the threesome triangulate their attacks and shut the new Zord down.

Fortunately, the Rangers have just repaired their Zords, and Jason summons the Red Dragon Thunderzord to aid Tommy. Tommy brings his Tigerzord back on-line, and Red Dragon Thunderzord leaps on Tigerzord Tiger Mode's back, riding it into battle. Then, after it leaps off the Tigerzord's back, Tommy reinitiates the Tigerzord Warrior Mode, and the Thunderzord Assault Team is summoned. The White Tigerzord joins with the Assault Team Zords to become the Mega Tigerzord, who quickly disposes of Nimrod and its minions.

Then, the Power Rangers head for the Skullovitch workshop and put Rita, who has just escaped from her prison and scared Bulk and Skull into unconsciousness, back in her Dumpster and send her back into deep space. Afterwards, at the Angel Grove Youth Center, the Rangers, as well as others, celebrate Tommy's return to Angel Grove with the planned surprise party, but as Jason remarked to Tommy, "But I think that your surprise... was more of a surprise... than our surprise." During the celebration, Richie shows off his karate trophy, and the Rangers convince him to show them one of his moves. However, he ends up kicking the cake out of Ernie's hands, and it hits Bulk and Skull, who always seem to conveniently arrive in the wrong place at the right time. The episode concludes with Tommy remarking, "It's good to see some things never change."

Cast

 * Jason David Frank as Tommy Oliver (Mighty Morphin White Ranger)
 * Austin St. John as Jason Lee Scott (Mighty Morphin Red Ranger)
 * Thuy Trang as Trini Kwan (Mighty Morphin Yellow Ranger)
 * Walter Jones as Zack Taylor (Mighty Morphin Black Ranger)
 * David Yost as Billy Cranston (Mighty Morphin Blue Ranger)
 * Amy Jo Johnson as Kimberly Ann Hart (Mighty Morphin Pink Ranger)
 * Paul F. Rosenthal as Jason Lee Scott (Morphed Dialogue)
 * Judy as Trini Kwan (Morphed Dialogue)
 * Joel Rogers as Curtis Taylor and Zack Taylor (Morphed Dialogue)
 * Paul Schrier as Farkas "Bulk" Bulkmeier
 * Jason Narvy as Eugene "Skull" Skullovitch
 * Richard Genelle as Ernie
 * Maurice Mendoza as Richie
 * David Fielding as Zordon (face)
 * Robert L. Manahan as Zordon (voice)
 * Romy J. Sharf as Alpha 5
 * Richard Steven Horvitz as Alpha 5 (voice) (as Richard Wood)
 * Ed Neil as Lord Zedd
 * Robert Axelrod as Lord Zedd (voice)
 * Carla Perez as Rita Repulsa
 * Barbara Goodson as Rita Repulsa (voice)
 * Danny Wayne Stallcup as Goldar
 * Kerrigan Mahan as Goldar (voice) (as Ryan O'Flannigan)
 * Michael J. Sorich as Squatt (voice)
 * Dave Mallow as Baboo (voice) (as Colin Phillips)
 * Tony Oliver as Saba (voice)
 * Brianne Siddall as Nimrod the Scarlet Sentinel, AC & DC (voice)

Continuity

 * The comic book story "By Bug... Betrayed" takes place between the Ranger's apprehension of Rita and launching her back into space.

Songs

 * We Need A Hero (Part 1)
 * Go White Ranger Go (Part 2)
 * White Ranger Tiger Power (Part 2)

Errors

 * When Billy stated in the Thunder Megazord cockpit that he needed to return to the Command Center, the footage was flipped.
 * In one shot of White Ranger descending into the Command Center, one of the background lights moves down with him (he isn't actually descending, the camera is simply moving upwards to create the illusion.
 * Trini states that the Rangers' identities will be revealed if Bulk and Skull succeed in releasing Rita, however at no point had Rita shown any interest in revealing their identities.
 * When Jason, Zack and Kimberly go to the workshop to steal Rita's dumpster from Bulk and Skull, there are Putties waiting for them with Kimberly stating "Great, Zedd must be looking for Rita too". However, there was no implication by Zordon, Zedd or anyone at any point Zedd was looking for Rita.
 * After Tommy tells Saba to have the Tigerzord follow his movements, the Tigerzord is seen growling in Tiger Mode.
 * When Jason summons the Red Dragon Thunderzord, the Red Dairanger can be seen on its head.
 * In part 1, Lord Zedd implies that he intends to revive Tommy as the Green Ranger and turn him against the Rangers again. However, he seems to have forgotten this after Nimrod defeats the Megazord the first time.
 * In Part 1, there is a control panel pulled off in front of Alpha 5 inside the Command Center, clearly defined by the exposed wiring underneath where the panel fits on to. The reason for this is unknown, but it can be speculated that it has something to do with the "secret mission" of Zordon and Alpha creating the White Ranger.

VHS releases

 * "White Light" was first released on home video by Saban Home Entertainment, as part of a trilogy called Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: All-Time Favorites.
 * It was also released under the name "White Ranger Adventure", which commemorated the classic episodes of Power Rangers. At this time, the franchise was in its Time Force season.

DVD releases
To commemorate the 10th Anniversary of the Power Rangers franchise, Buena Vista Home Entertainment released a DVD entitled The Best of the Power Rangers: The Ultimate Rangers, where fans of the Power Rangers phenomenon were invited to vote on their all-time favorite episodes. "White Light" was one of the episodes selected to be featured on the DVD.