The Wanna-Be Ranger

The Wanna-Be Ranger is the fourth episode of Season 2 & sixty-fourth episode of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers.

Synopsis
The Rangers find themselves seeing double when Lord Zedd attacks them with Primator, a monster that can impersonate one Ranger at a time.

Plot
While Jason, Kimberly, Tommy, Billy, Trini, and Zack are enjoying a friendly basketball game, they are suddenly alerted by Zordon to the Command Center. Zordon informs the team that he will be forced to temporarily de-energize, leaving Alpha 5 in charge. After the Rangers teleport back to Angel Grove, Alpha expresses his sadness on being alone in "this big, scary Command Center".

Meanwhile, Lord Zedd senses the sudden flux in energy. Realizing Zordon's powers are down, he transforms Zack's gorilla costume into Primator, which possesses the power to shape-shift into the likeness of any of the Power Rangers, either morphed or unmorphed.

Back at the Command Center, a bored Alpha 5 is scanning the Viewing Globe when he sees a little boy, Dylan, who needs help in the park. He considers contacting the Rangers, but decides to help the boy himself, calling himself "Alpha Ranger". After scaring away Bulk and Skull, who are trying to discover the secret identities of the Power Rangers, Alpha finds Dylan and discovers that the boy has been separated from his mother. Alpha befriends Dylan, who teaches Alpha to play soccer. Squatt notices that Alpha has left the Command Center and notifies Zedd.

Meanwhile, Primator shape-shifts into a Billy look-alike and confronts Alpha and Dylan, but when "Billy" is caught in the reflective surface of his helmet, Alpha sees Primator's true form and realizes "Billy"is a fake. Primator attacks Alpha, who orders Dylan to run to safety and activates his self-destruct sequence so that Primator can't use him to find the Command Center.

With its plan thwarted, Primator transforms into a Zack look-alike and lures Kimberly and Trini into a trap, as the girls end up battling and defeating Zedd's Putties. Afterwards, the girls return to the Youth Center and confront the real Zack, who says that he knew nothing about the Putty attack. Jason tries to contact Alpha at the Command Center but gets no response. The Rangers teleport there and find that Zordon has returned. Zordon briefs them on Alpha 5's predicament and reveals that they have mere minutes to save him from self-destruction. However, they must battle and defeat Primator first. The monster confuses the Rangers with his shape-shifting abilities, forcing them to retreat and regroup at the Command Center.

Zordon explains that Primator cannot maintain his shape-shifting ability upon seeing his own reflection, using Alpha's encounter with the Primator as an example. Equipped with a mirror, the Rangers teleport back to the battlefield, but somehow get separated. They find Tommy, seemingly in pain because of his waning powers, but become wise when "Tommy" suggests they surrender to Zedd. Using the mirror he brought with him, Billy is able to expose "Tommy" as the Primator. With Primator's shape-shifting powers now useless, Lord Zedd has no choice but to make his monster grow. After a harrowing battle, the Dragonzord and the Thunder Megazord destroy the monster, but the Rangers must still rush to help Alpha before he self-destructs. The Rangers teleport to Alpha's location, and Billy is able to restore Alpha's systems to full operation with just seconds to spare, and Dylan is reunited with his mother.

With Alpha's greatest adventure ended, Zordon chides him for leaving the Command Center unprotected and failing to inform the Rangers that he would be leaving, reminding Alpha that even though he meant well, a true hero knows the meaning of responsibility. Trini then teases Alpha about being grounded for a few thousand years, and Alpha laments not ever being able to learn to play soccer.

Cast

 * Austin St. John as Jason Lee Scott (Mighty Morphin Red Ranger)
 * Jason David Frank as Tommy Oliver (Mighty Morphin Green 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 Schrier as Farkas "Bulk" Bulkmeier and Primator (voice)
 * Primator was also portrayed by David Yost, Walter Jones, Thuy Trang, Amy Jo Johnson, Austin St. John, and Jason David Frank when transformed into their respective characters. David Yost and Walter Jones were the only ones to portray Primator disguised as unmorphed Rangers, while the others provided voice work.
 * Jason Narvy as Eugene "Skull" Skullovitch
 * ??? as Dylan
 * 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)
 * 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)
 * ??? as Dylan's mom

Errors

 * The Dino Megazord is faintly visible beside the Dragonzord through the explosion Primator causes, and its right shoulder can be briefly seen in the corner of the screen when the Dragonzord begins to go one-on-one against the monster at the beginning of the fight.
 * After Zordon disappears, Jason instructs Alpha and the other Rangers to keep in contact yet the next time the boys are seen, they are at Billy's lab conducting an experiment in which their ears are covered.
 * Based on their original positions and movements during the fight between Red Ranger and the disguised Primator, it was actually Primator who was beaten back and rejoined the others. In addition, the background changes behind the fake Red Ranger between his warning and attacking.
 * In the uncut Zyu2 footage released nearly twenty years later, this is indeed the case as Primator (in the form of the Red Ranger) attacks the others while they are off-guard.
 * Trini calls Billy by name in front of Dylan when the Rangers arrive to save Alpha.
 * Zordon uses a grammatical error twice--he says, "Alpha is in the arms of Dylan, a small boy who he tried to rescue", and that Primator has the power to disguise himself as any of the Rangers, "thus making it impossible for you to know who to fight".  The correct grammar is "whom".
 * Bulk and Skull didn't seem to recognize Alpha from the costume party back in Life's a Masquerade.

Songs

 * Fight
 * I Will Win