Good as Gold

Good as Gold was the 50th official episode of Power Rangers Zeo and was the intended season finale, but transmission-wise, and indeed chronologically, the season finale was the Christmas special "A Season to Remember", which takes place in the future and reflects on an incident set earlier in the season. This episode resolves most of the sub-plots begun in "A Zeo Beginning" and "Revelations of Gold", while also opening up new plotlines that went unexplored, leading to a rather notorious sequence of plot holes.

Synopsis
The Gold Powers are fading fast for Jason as both King Mondo and Lord Zedd greedily pursue him, and they must be returned to Trey before all is lost... including his life.

Plot
A weakened and weary Jason is running for his life through the forest as Cogs chase him to no end to capture the Gold Ranger Powers for the Machine Empire. His situation only gets worse when Lord Zedd and Rita Repulsa arrive with their Tenga Warriors to take his powers for themselves. At the Juice Bar, the other Rangers and even Emily are concerned as to where their friend is.

King Mondo and his family come down personally to taunt Zedd and Rita by calling them them "has-beens". Rita retorts by telling Mondo that he and his Empire have turned into an intergalactic joke. The argument then escalates to violence as the Cogs and Tengas go to war with each other. While the villains argue and the minions fight, Jason escapes.

In Det. Stone's office, Bulk and Skull are stuck dusting the desk and complaining that their newly-obtained detective licenses are going to waste since Stone won't trust them with a case. The office door opens and a balloon drifts inside, which Skull pops to reveal a note from "I.K.". It tells them to go to Angel Grove Park at 4:00. In the Juice Bar, Jason arrives and immediately collapses to the floor. Ernie and Emily suggest calling an ambulance, but Tommy insists that he'll take care of his friend and helps him up.

Back with the villains, the Cogs and Tengas have completely collapsed onto each other, utterly embarrassing Zedd and Mondo. In spite of the stalemate, Mondo insists that since there's no room in the galaxy for both of them, Zedd and his crew should leave... and Zedd does exactly that! When Rita angrily demands an explanation, Zedd tells her that he has a plan to rid them of Mondo for good.

In the Power Chamber, Zordon determines that the Gold Powers are draining Jason's life-force as they fade away, and that they must be returned to Trey of Triforia immediately. Alpha sends an emergency communication to Triforia (which is intercepted by the Machine Empire along the way) and the three forms of Trey arrive in response. In order for Trey to regain his powers and save Jason, his three selves must be made one again, and Zordon calculates that the only option is to transmit a unification beam between Triforia, Aquitar, and Earth before having it strike the Golden Power Staff. The accuracy must be perfectly precise, making it a gamble to utilize, but the Rangers must do it for Jason's sake.

In the park, Bulk and Skull wait in disguise as a French-speaking man in a trenchcoat arrives. He introduces himself as Inspector Kousteau ("no relation!") and explains that he seeks two good detectives for a special assignment in France. Seeing it as their big chance to prove themselves, Bulk and Skull eagerly accept.

Out in the desert, the Rangers escort the Trey triplets and a barely-conscious Jason to the designated spot calculated by Zordon, but Quadrafighters and Cogs do not intend to let them reach it. While the Zeo Rangers hold the Machines off, the Treys and Jason stagger to the spot and take positions as Zordon and Alpha fire the beam. Upon striking the Golden Power Staff, Trey regains his wholeness and his powers.

King Mondo suddenly interrupts as he and a group of Cogs grow into giants. With no time to summon any Zords, Trey uses his Gold Powers on himself and the Zeo Rangers to become giants themselves. As the battle rages, Zedd and Rita watch from nearby, sipping martinis and cheering on the fighters. Zedd boasts that with any luck, the Rangers and the Machines will destroy each other and his plan won't even be needed, but the Rangers nonetheless stand triumphant and Mondo falls to their combined might.

In his office, Det. Stone is furious to learn that Bulk and Skull are quitting and warns them that if they leave, they had better not come back. Bulk and Skull calmly pay their respects to their longtime boss and leave, both eagerly awaiting the world of international intrigue. Now alone, Stone mutters "They'll be back" and returns to his paperwork with a sad expression.

Up on the Moon, Mondo and his family are confronting Zedd and Rita on their lack of participation in the fight. Zedd tells them that he's just out of their league as Rita gives Prince Sprocket a gift-wrapped "peace offering" before driving away in the RV. Sprocket opens the gift to discover a booby-trapped bomb that blows the Royal House of Gadgetry to pieces, with Zedd and Rita laughing at their misfortune.

Out in the park, Tommy and Jason are having some alone time. Though Jason is still a bit disappointed at being a retired Power Ranger again, Tommy assures him that they'll always be friends no matter what. As he spots Emily near the lake, Jason gets up to meet with her while Kat arrives to walk off with Tommy.

Cast

 * Catherine Sutherland as Katherine "Kat" Hillard (Zeo Ranger I: Pink)
 * Nakia Burrise as Tanya Sloan (Zeo Ranger II: Yellow)
 * Steve Cardenas as Rocky DeSantos (Zeo Ranger III: Blue)
 * Johnny Yong Bosch as Adam Park (Zeo Ranger IV: Green)
 * Jason David Frank as Tommy Oliver (Zeo Ranger V: Red)
 * Austin St. John as Jason Lee Scott (Gold Zeo Ranger)
 * Paul Schrier as Farkas "Bulk" Bulkmeier
 * Jason Narvy as Eugene "Skull" Skullovitch
 * Gregg Bullock as Detective Jerome Stone
 * Richard Genelle as Ernie
 * Lesley Tesh as Emily
 * David Fielding as Zordon (face)
 * Bob Manahan as Zordon (voice)
 * Donene Kistler as Alpha 5
 * Richard Steven Horvitz as Alpha 5 (voice)
 * David Stenstrom as King Mondo (voice)
 * Alex Borstein as Queen Machina (voice)
 * Barbara Goodson as Prince Sprocket (voice), Orbus (voice), and Rita Repulsa (voice)
 * Oliver Page as Klank (voice)
 * Ed Neil as Lord Zedd
 * Robert Axelrod as Lord Zedd (voice)
 * Carla Perez as Rita Repulsa
 * Danny Stallcup as Goldar
 * Kerrigan Mahan as Goldar (voice)
 * Bob Papenbrook as Rito Revolto (voice)
 * ??? as Inspector Kousteau

Song

 * Calling For a Hero