A Pressing Engagement

A Pressing Engagement is the fourth episode of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. It originally aired as the fifth episode on September 9th, 1993, due to the fact that the sixth episode, Food Fight, had aired second.

Synopsis
Jason tries to break a fitness record, but Goldar has a plan to separate Jason from the others. Rita sends down the powerful King Sphinx to squash Jason.

Plot
At the Juice Bar, Jason is trying to break Bulk's bench-pressing record, but is unable to do so, because while he is doing this, Kimberly blows a huge bubble the size of her head when Zack comes by on a skate board and pops her bubble, making his spotter Ernie lose track of count. Jason doubts his ability to succeed, and fears he will become known as a quitter. The other ranger teens try to comfort him but have mixed success.

At the Moon Palace, Rita believes that Jason is not tough without his friends to help him. She decides to isolate Jason from the others and destroy him, and has Finster create the King Sphinx to separate the other rangers from him by using his powerful wings to blow them away.

Rita's plan succeeds as King Sphinx and a group of Putties attack the Earth. Jason, Kimberly, and Zack rush to face him, but King Sphinx blows the Black and Pink Rangers back to the Juice Bar. He then battles Jason, and the two are quite evenly matched until King Sphinx teleports them to a desert like area. Goldar joins the fray, helping King Sphinx fight Jason.

At the Command Center, Zordon summons the rest of the Rangers and alerts them to Jason's struggle. Somehow, the desert can't be reached, and the only way to help Jason is to send him their Power Crystals, which would allow the Rangers to teleport to the area.

In the desert, Rita has made King Sphinx and Goldar grow. Zordon sends the Power Crystals, which Jason uses to summon the other Rangers. They summon their Dinozords, and fight both Goldar and King Sphinx in the Megazord. Eventually they gain the upper-hand when they summon the Power Sword, destroying King Sphinx. Goldar retreats, and on the Moon, Rita is furious.

Back at Ernie's juice bar, Jason is able to break Bulk's bench-pressing record. Bulk himself arrives with Skull, claiming he will reclaim his record. Ernie brings out a cake for all to enjoy, which Bulk promptly ends up having his face smashed into when he trips on a weight, ending the episode on a high note.

Cast

 * 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)
 * Amy Jo Johnson as Kimberly Ann Hart (Mighty Morphin Pink Ranger)
 * David Yost as Billy Cranston (Mighty Morphin Blue Ranger)
 * David Fielding as Zordon
 * Romy J. Sharf as Alpha 5
 * Richard Steven Horvitz as Alpha 5 (voice)
 * Paul Schrier as Farkas "Bulk" Bulkmeier
 * Jason Narvy as Eugene "Skull" Skullovitch
 * Richard Genelle as Ernie
 * Machiko Soga as Rita Repulsa
 * Barbara Goodson as Rita Repulsa (voice)
 * Kerrigan Mahan as Goldar (voice)
 * Robert Axelrod as Finster (voice)
 * Michael Sorich as Squatt (voice)
 * Dave Mallow as Baboo (voice)
 * Richard Cansino as the voice of King Sphinx

Errors

 * The giant bubble Kimberly is blowing from her bubble gum is clearly a balloon.
 * For some reason Zordon didn't contact Billy or Trini to participate in the initial battle.
 * Kimberly was wearing shoes when she morphed, but was barefoot upon being sent back to the Youth Center by King Sphinx.
 * Nobody in the Youth Center appeared to have noticed or got suspicious of Kimberly and shortly later Zack just appearing out of nowhere after King Sphinx sent them there.
 * Despite facing two giant opponents, Jason doesn't attempt to summon his Dinozord.
 * Jason knows what the Power Crystals are despite not having been told by Zordon or Alpha.
 * After taking damage, an overhead shot of the Rangers in the Megazord cockpit shows the Dragonzord control panel in front of Jason. This is due to the fact the shot was taken from an episode featuring the Zyurangers in the cockpit of the Gouryuujin, which became the Dragonzord Battle Mode in MMPR.
 * After King Sphinx is destoryed, when Goldar teleports away, a tree also disappears along with him.