The Most Underrated Power Rangers Season Came Out 25 Years Ago And Deserves More Love From The Fans

Power Rangers Lightspeed Rescue is perhaps the most underrated Power Rangers season and deserves more love 25 years after it premiered. Although the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers dominated most of the 1990s between the original show, Zeo, and the first half of Turbo, Power Rangers changed forever in 1998 with the end of the Zordon Era. Rather than direct sequels, each new Power Rangers show would now be a standalone story with very few connections to the previous series. The first season to be made under this model was Power Rangers Lost Galaxy in 1999.

The success of Lost Galaxy meant that Power Rangers’ new strategy was working, which is why the following season, Lightspeed Rescue, did something similar. Instead of Angel Grove and teenagers with attitude, Power Rangers Lightspeed Rescue took place in Marine Bay and followed a group of athletic, skillful adults whose day jobs made them the perfect candidates to become superheroes. Such a different approach to Power Rangers could have gone wrong, but Lightspeed Rescue made it work. Darker and more mature than the usual Power Rangers seasons, Lightspeed Rescue was a great start for the franchise in the 2000s.

Power Rangers Lightspeed Rescue Had Big Shoes To Fill In 2000

Power Rangers Ended The 1990s On A High Note

Power Rangers in Space and Power Rangers Lost Galaxy are considered two of the show's best seasons and changed the franchise forever. Whereas In Space wrapped up the story that had begun in 1993, Lost Galaxy showed that there could be more to Power Rangers than just Zordon and Angel Grove. Both seasons were slightly more serious than their predecessors and also included more mature stories, all of which contributed to them becoming fan favorites. Therefore, when Lightspeed Rescue came out, it had big shoes to fill.

Lightspeed Rescue was sort of similar to Lost Galaxy in the sense that its Rangers were adults working for a powerful organization. However, whereas Lost Galaxy was pure sci-fi and showed what Star Trek would look like in the Power Rangers universe, Lightspeed Rescue was more grounded and saw the Rangers working as first responders. Carter Grayson, the Red Ranger from Lightspeed Rescue, was a firefighter before being selected for the team. The group also included a paramedic, a pilot, and two athletes. While they all became friends, being a Ranger was their job and not an adventure.

What Made Power Rangers Lightspeed Rescue Such A Great Season

Lightspeed Rescue Was More Serious But Still A Lot Of Fun

Custom image of Mighty Morphin, Lightspeed Rescue, and Time Force Power Rangers

The idea that the Rangers were not exactly superheroes but rather public servants who just happened to have to deal with demons and monsters made Lightspeed Rescue special from the start. In almost 10 years of Power Rangers, we rarely got to see the heroes simply helping people. In Lightspeed Rescue, on the other hand, the Rangers often participated in rescue missions and helped firefighters and paramedics. The lore of Lightspeed Rescue was also very interesting, as it established that the governments of Earth had been developing their own Power Rangers technology.

Power Rangers Lightspeed Rescue was based on Kyukyu Sentai GoGoFive.

Lightspeed Rescue might not have had the best Power Rangers villains, but Queen Bansheera and her followers were solid antagonists. The fact that the villains were fighting among themselves and betraying each other was also interesting, especially because none of them were written to be comic relives like Rita, Zedd, and their minions. The Lightspeed Rangers operated greatly as a team, with Carter Grayson showing what a Red Ranger and leader should be like. This season also had one of the best sixth Rangers of all time, the Titanium Ranger.

There Aren’t Many Seasons Like Lightspeed Rescue In Power Rangers

Lightspeed Rescue Is One Of The Most Unique Power Rangers Seasons

Time Force Pink Ranger, In Space Red Ranger, and Lightspeed Rescue Titanium Ranger

The reason why Lightspeed Rescue has aged so well is that there are not many Power Rangers seasons like it. Of the ones that came after Lightspeed Rescue, only three can be compared to it in terms of having a darker tone and focusing on “human-made Rangers” – Time Force, S.P.D., and R.P.M. Even so, those three shows were more on the futuristic sci-fi side of things, whereas Lightspeed Rescue was relatively grounded, despite the demons. Lightspeed Rescue invited us to imagine what the Power Rangers would be like if they were an elite team of first responders with superpowers.

Lightspeed Rescue also had a great deal of character development for all its protagonists. Each Power Ranger had at least a couple of episodes dedicated to them, and whatever lesson they learned at the end of those episodes would inform their characters going forward. That is not to mention the amazing theme song and the fantastic costumes – both the Ranger suits and the Lightspeed jackets. While it may not have been as good as In Space and Lost Galaxy, Lightspeed Rescue deserves to be considered one of the best Power Rangers seasons.