''Power Rangers RPM'' is the seventeenth season of the television series ''

Power Rangers ''Power Rangers'' is an American media franchise created by Haim Saban, Shuki Levy and Shotaro Ishinomori built around a live-action superhero television series, based on the Japanese tokusatsu franchise ''Super Sentai''. It is currently ow ...

'' and is an adaptation of ''

Engine Sentai Go-onger is Toei Company's thirty-second installment in the Super Sentai metaseries of Japanese tokusatsu television series. It aired from February 17, 2008 to February 8, 2009, replacing ''Juken Sentai Gekiranger'' and was replaced by ''Samurai Sentai Sh ...

'', the thirty-second Japanese ''

Super Sentai The is a Japanese superhero team media franchise consisting of television series and films produced by Toei Company and Bandai, and aired by TV Asahi. The shows are of the '' tokusatsu'' genre, featuring live action characters and colorfu ...

'' series. The season was the eighth and final to air on

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial American ...

stations. ''RPM'' was also the final season to be produced and distributed by

BVS Entertainment BVS Entertainment, Inc., previously known as Saban Productions, Saban Entertainment and Saban International, is a subsidiary of the Walt Disney Company. Founded on April 24, 1980, as a music production company by Haim Saban and Shuki Levy, it ...

and Renaissance-Atlantic Entertainment, putting the series on a one-year hiatus until the premiere of ''Power Rangers Samurai'' in 2011. ''

Power Rangers Beast Morphers ''Power Rangers Beast Morphers'' is the twenty-sixth and twenty-seventh seasons of the American television program ''Power Rangers''. The first season premiered on Nickelodeon on March 2, 2019, while the second season premiered on February 22, 2 ...

'' (2019), which was produced by the franchise's current owner

Hasbro Hasbro, Inc. (; a syllabic abbreviation of its original name, Hassenfeld Brothers) is an American multinational corporation, multinational toy manufacturing and entertainment holding company founded on December 6, 1923 by Henry, Hillel and Herma ...

, through its Allspark Entertainment Division, was its direct sequel.

Story

An AI

computer virus A computer virus is a type of malware that, when executed, replicates itself by modifying other computer programs and Code injection, inserting its own Computer language, code into those programs. If this replication succeeds, the affected areas ...

named Venjix takes over all of the Earth's computers, creates an army of robot "Grinder" droids and destroys or enslaves almost all of humanity. Only the city of

Corinth Corinth ( ; , ) is a municipality in Corinthia in Greece. The successor to the ancient Corinth, ancient city of Corinth, it is a former municipality in Corinthia, Peloponnese (region), Peloponnese, which is located in south-central Greece. Sin ...

remains, protected by an almost impenetrable force field from the toxic atmosphere of the wasteland outside. To combat Venjix's encroaching evil, the mysterious Doctor K creates the RPM Power Rangers to fight him off, recruiting Air Force pilot Scott Truman, hero obsessed mechanic Flynn McAllistair, and reformed airhead socialite Summer Landsdown to operate their weapons and gear. Later, Doctor K recruits Dillon, a rebellious drifter whom Venjix had experimented on, and Ziggy Grover, an inept thief whom Dillon begrudgingly befriended, as 'Series Black and Green'. During their fight against Venjix, Dillon attempts to recover his memories of his life before being experimented upon, eventually leading him to discover that Venjix's general Tenaya was actually his sister; his attempts to get her to rebel against Venjix are met with resistance not only from Tenaya, but also Venjix, who has her upgraded in order to suppress her remaining humanity. It is also revealed that Doctor K was the one who created Venjix, having intended to only use it to escape her confinement in the treacherous Alphabet Soup program along with 'test pilots' Gem and Gemma, but was intercepted before she had a chance to install the safety protocols, allowing Venjix to escape into the outside world. Gem and Gemma are ultimately shown to have survived Venjix's assault on Earth, having recovered the prototype 'Series Gold and Silver' Ranger gear when escaping Alphabet Soup. Eventually, Venjix, having created a body for himself in order to personally destroy the Rangers, manages to infiltrate and attack Corinth, taking over the city and crippling the Rangers in the process. However, Tenaya eventually defects from Venjix thanks to Dillon and helps fight back, resulting in a building destroying Venjix. In the aftermath, Scott, Gem, and Gemma lead a fighter squad run by Scott's father, Flynn opens up a computer store with his dad, Ziggy and Doctor K intend to open a children's school, and Dillon, Summer, and Tenaya leave Corinth to help rebuild Earth.

Cast and characters

RPM Rangers *

Eka Darville Eka Darville (born 11 April 1989) is an Australian actor. He is best known for his roles as Scott Truman in ''Power Rangers RPM,'' Pip in '' Mr. Pip'', Malcolm Ducasse in ''Jessica Jones'' and Diego in '' The Originals''. Biography Early lif ...

as Scott V. Truman, Ranger Operator Series Red *

Ari Boyland Ari Boyland (born 10 August 1987) is a New Zealand film, television and stage actor. As a child, he had a breakout role in the New Zealand cult hit science fiction drama series, '' The Tribe'' (1999 - 2003). He also played the role of Brodie ...

as Flynn A. McAllister, Ranger Operator Series Blue *

Rose McIver Frances Rose McIver (born 10 October 1988) is a New Zealand actress. She portrays Samantha Arondekar in the CBS supernatural sitcom ''Ghosts'' (2021–present), Olivia "Liv" Moore in The CW supernatural comedy-drama series '' iZombie'' (2015–2 ...

as Summer M. Landsdown, Ranger Operator Series Yellow * Milo Cawthorne as Ziggy R. Grover, Ranger Operator Series Green *

Dan Ewing Daniel M. Ewing (born 3 June 1985), is an Australian actor. He appeared on Seven Network's ''Home and Away'' series as Reuben Humphries in 2007. In 2011 he returned to the show and rose to prominence for his portrayal of Heath Braxton. Ewing ...

as Dillon, Ranger Operator Series Black * Mike Ginn as Gem, Ranger Operator Series Gold * Li Ming Hu as Gemma, Ranger Operator Series Silver Supporting characters *

Olivia Tennet Olivia Tennet (born 4 January 1991) is a New Zealand actress and dancer best known in her home country for her role as Tuesday Warner on the nightly medical drama ''Shortland Street'', along with several roles in television and theatre. Outside ...

as Dr. K *

James Gaylyn James Gaylyn (born January 9, 1954) is an American actor and musician based in New Zealand. He is best known for his appearances in the ''Power Rangers'' franchise, which was an American adaptation of ''Super Sentai''. Biography Gaylyn moved to ...

as Colonel Mason Truman * Damien Avery as Colonel Hicks * Mia Koning as Vasquez * Murray Keane as Benny * Angela Shirley as Clara Landsdown * Stephen Papps as Martin Landsdown Villains *

Andrew Laing Andrew Laing (born 1966) is a New Zealand actor best known for his role as Dr. Geoff Greenlaw in the popular soap opera, ''Shortland Street ''Shortland Street'' is a New Zealand Prime time, prime-time soap opera centring on the fictitio ...

as the voice of the Venjix Virus *

Adelaide Kane Adelaide Victoria Kane (born 9 August 1990) is an Australian actress and model. She first gained recognition for her roles as Lolly Allen in the soap opera ''Neighbours'' and Tenaya 7 (later Tenaya 15) in the children's series ''Power Rangers RP ...

as Tenaya *

Mark Mitchinson Mark Mitchinson (born 6 July 1966) is an English-born New Zealand actor. He trained at the Guildhall School of Speech and Drama in London. He won an award for his portrayal of convicted murderer Colin Bouwer in the television drama ''Bloodlines ...

as the voice of General Shifter * Charlie McDermott as the voice of General Crunch * Leighton Cardno as the voice of General Kilobyte * John Sumner as Fresno Bob

Episodes

Production

Australian actor

, who previously starred in series three of ''

Blue Water High ''Blue Water High'' is an Australian television drama series, broadcast by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation on ABC (Australian TV channel), ABC1 and on Austar/Foxtel Nickelodeon channel in Australia and on various channels in many other ...

'', was reported to have a role in September 2008 in what was then unknown as ''RPM'' or ''Racing Performance Machines'' which began production in September 2008 in

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

. Heidi Kathy Bradhurt had been cast as an extra, but her profile initially listed her as the Yellow Ranger, named "Kayla," whose name and actress had since been changed to "Summer" played by

Daniel Ewing George Daniel Ewing Jr. (born March 26, 1983) is an American former professional basketball player. He currently works as a scout for the Los Angeles Lakers. College career A guard from Duke University, Ewing played for four seasons at the co ...

had been reported in November 2008 to be playing a major character named "Dillon," revealed to be the Black Ranger. Other cast members include Murray Keane in the role of "Benny", Charlie McDermott voicing "General Crunch", and Jason Hoyte as a guest role named "Mr. McAllistair". Executive producer Eddie Guzelian was dismissed midseason due to creative differences and replaced with former series writer and producer Judd Lynn. Lynn did not immediately return when the franchise was reacquired by Saban but returned as showrunner with ''

Power Rangers Dino Charge ''Power Rangers Dino Charge'' is the twenty-second season of the long-running television program ''Power Rangers''. Using footage, costumes and props from Japanese 37th Super Sentai Series '' Zyuden Sentai Kyoryuger'', it is the first season to ...

'' in 2015. An article of ''

The New Zealand Herald ''The New Zealand Herald'' is a daily newspaper published in Auckland, New Zealand, owned by New Zealand Media and Entertainment, and considered a newspaper of record for New Zealand. It has the largest newspaper circulation in New Zealand, ...

'' reported that ''Power Rangers RPM'' was to be the final season of the ''Power Rangers'' series. Production manager Sally Campbell stated in an interview "...at this stage we will not be shooting another season". A September 1, 2009, revision to '' Disney A to Z: The Official Encyclopedia'' by Disney's then-head archivist Dave Smith stated that production of new episodes of ''Power Rangers'' ceased in 2009. A re-version of ''

Mighty Morphin Power Rangers ''Mighty Power Rangers'' (''MMPR'') is an American superhero television series that premiered on August 28, 1993, on the Fox Kids programming block. It is the first entry of the ''Power Rangers'' franchise, and became a 1990s popular culture, ...

'' began broadcasting in early 2010 instead. However, in mid-2010, Haim Saban bought the Power Rangers franchise back from Disney and production was restarted during that year for a 2011 series. '' Jungle Fury'' (which was said to have low ratings) was originally set to be the final season, but obligations with

Bandai is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational toy manufacturer and distributor headquartered in Taitō, Taitō, Tokyo. Its international branches, Bandai Namco Toys & Collectables America and Bandai UK, are respectively headquartered ...

forced Disney to produce one more season.

Reception

Flixist ranked it second-best out of twenty seasons, remarking "showrunners decided to go for broke and throw everything they had into creating a post-apocalyptic film for kids. Lifting creative elements from films like ''Mad Max'' and ''Terminator'', then adding a ''Power Rangers'' layer helped give this season a vibe no other season had before. It was more creatively cemented than years past, and actually had good cinematography". Geeky Brummie ranked it third, saying "Dillon and Ziggy are two of the best rangers and work fantastically together. The season also has some of the most surprising revelations in the franchise’s history". Comic Art Community ranked it fourth, saying "The childlike elements of the base material were generally ignored for a very dark, adult season of the show that involved the attempted genocide of mankind which included various character deaths in the show".Top 10 Seasons of Power Rangers
Comic Art Community Eric Francisco, writing for Inverse, called it the darkest, the best, and "smart, clever, and so hysterically funny that it should stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the best cult science-fiction series", and echoed the connections to ''

Mad Max ''Mad Max'' is an Australian media franchise created by George Miller and Byron Kennedy. It centres on a series of post-apocalyptic and dystopian action films. The franchise began in 1979 with '' Mad Max'', and was followed by three sequels: ...

'' and '' Terminator''.

Comics

In 2018, the RPM Rangers appeared in

Boom! Studios Boom! Studios (stylized as BOOM! Studios), is an American comic book and graphic novel publisher. They are headquartered in Los Angeles, California, United States. The company is a subsidiary of Random House division of Penguin Random House sin ...

's " Shattered Grid", a crossover event between teams from all eras commemorating the 25th anniversary of the original television series. It was published in ''Mighty Morphin Power Rangers'' #25-30 and various tie-ins. A ''Power Rangers RPM'' story by Anthony Burch and Dylan Burnett was published in ''Mighty Morphin Power Rangers 2018 Annual'' as part of the crossover.

References

External links

Official Power Rangers Website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Power Rangers: Rpm

RPM Revolutions per minute (abbreviated rpm, RPM, rev/min, r/min, or r⋅min−1) is a unit of rotational speed (or rotational frequency) for rotating machines. One revolution per minute is equivalent to hertz. Standards ISO 80000-3:2019 def ...

2000s American science fiction television series 2009 American television series debuts 2009 American television series endings American Broadcasting Company original programming American action television series American adventure television series American fantasy television series American English-language television shows Cyberpunk television series Fiction about malware American post-apocalyptic television series Teen superhero television series Television series about parallel universes Television series about siblings Television series about twins Television series by Disney Television shows filmed in New Zealand Television shows set in Australia Television series created by Haim Saban American television series with live action and animation 2000s drama television series 2000s American drama television series American Broadcasting Company television dramas