Following a hit-and-run attack by Putties to disrupt a game of volleyball, Baboo spikes the teens' refreshments with a potion he has brewed up to turn the Rangers bad. Kimberly and Billy drink them and immediately turn aggressive towards their friends. The next day, they show up at school in punk attire and start bullying other kids, and Kim even proposes a date to Skull. Meanwhile, Finster constructs a Terror Toad monster to take on the now divided rangers.
Jason, Zack and Trini are confounded by what has happened to their friends until Zordon informs them that Billy and Kim have been poisoned, and they must obtain a "Singing Squash" plant as an antidote. However, the Terror Toad arrives on Earth and the Rangers must fight it. The Terror Toad proves to be a powerful opponent and soon swallows Trini after transforming her into a sphere of energy with a beam emitted from his horn. Meanwhile, Zordon dispatches Alpha to retrieve the Singing Squash and, after a confrontation with some Putties, successfully obtains it. Zack is transformed and eaten as well while Alpha prepares the antidote and cures Billy and Kim of their short-lived punk spell.
After Zordon informs them of the Terror Toad's weakness, Billy and Kim enter battle alongside Jason. Billy and Kim chop off the Toad's horn, but he then proceeds to swallow Jason whole by capturing him with his long tongue. Billy attempts an attack, but he too is swallowed. Kimberly finds herself as the last Ranger standing and is nearly defeated by the Terror Toad and Baboo, but she puts her Power Bow to good use and saves her friends by attacking the monster's now-exposed weak spot in his neck, and then proceeds to destroy him.
Back on the Youth Center, Skull follows up with Kimberly about their date, but she rejects him. Bulk and Skull challenge the teens to a volleyball match, but they end up getting caught in the net.
Tropes
- * Adaptation Deviation: The episodes has a few examples:
- Adaptational Early Appearance: In Zyuranger, this episode's events occurred a good while after the Dragon Ranger debuted. In Power Rangers, however, it takes place before the Green Ranger Saga.
- In the original Zyuranger episode, the "Rangers" are playing tennis instead of volleyball, and they are not attacked by Golems (Zyuranger equivalent of Putties).
- This episodes includes a scene in which Finster explains the history and nature of the Terror Toad to Rita before creating him. In the original Zyuranger episode, Finster's counterpart never even makes an appearance.
- Adapted Out: In Zyuranger, there is an entire sequence where the Terror Toad's and Baboo's counterparts chase Kim's counterpart through a forest. Of course, this could not be adapted since the Japanese Ranger was out of costume during this sequence.
- Amphibian at Large: The Monster of the Week, Terror Toad, takes on the Power Rangers.
- Attack Its Weak Point: The Rangers must destroy the Terror Toad's horn and then attack his weak spot below his neck to defeat him. When Kim does the later, he spits out the other Rangers, evidently de-powering him.
- Arrow Cam: Kim's final kill shot which flies through the trees and shoots the Toad in the mouth for the win.
- Badass Minds Think Alike: Billy and Kim leap into the air and cut off the Terror Toad's horn in perfect synchronization, completely unprompted.
- Book Ends: The episode starts and ends with volleyball, the latter being Played for Laughs to humiliate Bulk and Skull once again.
- Camera Tricks: The Terror Toad is one of the few monsters in the series not to be enlarged, the show seems to make up for this by tilting the camera up at the monster to make him look more than the twelve inches or so taller than the Rangers he approximately is, being just a guy in a suit. This is also inverted when looking down from behind the monster at the beleaguered Rangers to accentuate their smaller stature.
- Confusion Fu: The Putties make use of disorienting fighting and the camera cuts become jarring, enabling Baboo to poison the drinks with the Rangers none the wiser.
- Curb-Stomp Battle: The Terror Toad overpowers the Rangers through most of the battle, but this is especially true of Trini who, after less than half a minute of fighting, is reduced to a sphere of energy and eaten by the Toad. She and the others are later freed and turn the tables on the monster, delivering their own curb stomp.
- Defeated and Trophified: When the Terror Toad swallows a Ranger, an image of each Ranger's helmet materializes on his belly, reminding the rest of us what he's done.
- Dwindling Party: The Terror Toad eats the Rangers one by one, until only Kim is left. Non-fatal version as the swallowed Rangers are later released.
- Early-Installment Weirdness: When Zordon is telling the Rangers about the Singing Squash, he shows them a scene of him obtaining the squash in his human form (which is actually Barza, the Zyuranger equivalent of Zordon). This "human form" of Zordon is never seen again in the series, and most later portrayals of pre-tube Zordon show him as his familiar blue head on a humanoid body.
- Eaten Alive: Four of the Rangers are Swallowed Whole by the Terror Toad, but are later released completely unharmed and seem unfazed by the experience, although Billy and Kim are shown having uncomfortable flashbacks in later episodes.
- Eating the Enemy: The Terror Toad's primary method of vanquishing the Rangers is to eat them. It proves largely effective as the eaten Rangers are completely incapacitated (until Kim frees them) and he nearly eats the entire Power Rangers team. He uses two methods to consume his victims:
- The Transmogrifier: The Terror Toad can fire a prehensile beam of yellow energy, resembling a tongue, from the horn on his head. The beam can travel many yards before encircling a Ranger and tightening around their waist. The tip of the beam appears to lick their helmet, before they are engulfed in a flash of light and turned into an energy sphere approximating their ranger colour. The transformed Ranger then flies into the Terror Toad's waiting maw and he swallows them. This is used on Trini and Zack.
- Multipurpose Tongue: After the Terror Toad's horn is cut off, rendering him unable to use his beam, he can simply shoot out his physical tongue, wrap it around a Ranger, pull them into his mouth and then swallow them whole. This is used on Jason and Billy.
- Energy Weapon: Aside from the tongue-like beam from his horn, the Terror Toad has a small arsenal of energy-based abilities including an attack-reflecting energy shield and destructive energy blasts.
- Evil Gloating: The Terror Toad is constantly laughing and taunting the Rangers as he fights and eats them.
- Exploding Closet: Happens when Bulk opens his locker and a wave of assorted junk comes pouring out.
- Idiot Ball:
- The usually level-headed Billy makes the bone-headed move of making himself an easy target for the Terror Toad and is eaten alive. Of course, this is due to Adaptation Deviation.
- It's strange that the wise Zordon would refrain from telling Jason, Zack, and Trini about the Terror Toad's weak spot when he apparently knew about it the whole time. Again, likely a case of Adaptation-Induced Plot Hole.
- Makeup Is Evil: Kim is wearing a noticeable amount of makeup after going punk.
- Mind Manipulation: A unique variation as Billy and Kim's personality change is caused by a potion.
- Monster of the Week: Terror Toad.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: A literal if somewhat mild example. When Billy and Kim cut off the Terror Toad's horn (as instructed by Zordon), it appears they have gained a major advantage, but this only angers the monster who retaliates by immediately devouring Jason, making the situation that much more dire.
- Not Completely Useless: Alpha shows that he's more than just the tech guy as he reveals the ability to electrify his metal plating, which he uses to defeat a squad of Putties on his own.
- Oh, Crap!: The Terror Toad almost immediately overpowers the Rangers, and takes the opportunity to devour Trini using his energy beam. With one of the team's most capable fighters taken out and having revealed no apparent sign of weakness, it remains unknown how the remaining Rangers can save the day. Unlike the scene of Jason being swallowed whole, Trini being turned from a human into a sphere of pure energy was not shown on the precap, nor her helmet imprint materialising on the monster's belly. This sort of threat to the Power Rangers' survival was a significant step up from being beaten up, and was part of the general pattern of the serial escalation of threats they had to face as the show progressed.
- Planar Shockwave: The Terror Toad emits several as part of his destruction scene.
- Pocket Dimension: The Singing Squash only exists in one of these.
- Sapient Eat Sapient: The Terror Toad is intelligent, but as an evil minion of Rita Repulsa, he has no qualms about eating the Rangers.
- Ship Tease: This bizarro Kim suddenly finds Skull to be a hot catch and offers to go out with him. With an implication of petty vandalism as a dating activity. Bulk senses that something isn't right about this turn of events. When she later comes to her senses, she reacts with disgust to the bullies reminding them of the date, putting an end to the tease for a good part of the series.
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here:
- The Toad tries to flee after Kimberly makes him cough the others up; he doesn't get far...
- Baboo manages to pull a successful version of the trope after the Toad is destroyed.
- "Shaggy Dog" Story: After all the build up of curing Billy of the punk potion, you'd think he too would play some big role in taking down the Terror Toad. But nope, he casually gets eaten and has to be saved like the others.
- Tampering with Food and Drink: Baboo spikes the Rangers' drinks to turn them into punks.
- Took a Level in Badass:
- Kim has been a competent fighter up to this point, but in this episode, as the sole remaining Ranger, she frees her friends from the literal belly of the beast and then delivers the killing blow to the Terror Toad.
- Alpha 5 shows his badassery by taking out a group of Putties by electrocuting them.
- This is the most menacing Baboo gets in the entire series, as well as the closest he ever comes to actually fighting the Rangers personally. Just as Kim is about to shoot Terror Toad's weak spot with her Power Bow, Baboo appears out of nowhere and shoves her aside, ruining her shot. Standing side by side with the monster as they face the Pink Ranger down, Baboo declares "Well, let's get her!" and lets out a pretty decent Evil Laugh as the two advance on her.
- Women Are Delicate: Played straight when Trini is the first Ranger to be eaten by the Terror Toad (granted, Trini's Super Sentai counterpart is actually male), but is inverted when Kim saves all of her friends and finishes off the monster.
- The Worf Effect: Partway through the battle, the Terror Toad swallows Jason whole. With the leader and strongest of the Rangers neutralized, the audience is left to wonder how Billy and Kim can possibly beat the monster. Somewhat negated by being featured on the precap.
