Tommy Oliver is kind of boring

[Just Crouton]

This year, Tommy is coming back as the Green Ranger for the season finale of Super Megaforce (until they reveal how the Green Coin got repowered, I'm going to say either RoboKnight did it.) From what I've gathered (a Henshin Justice Unlimited article from 2013 I'm too lazy to look up), JDF is doing Super Megaforce for free. I think he said he was doing it because the fans want him back, and it was likely to also pay everyone else who wanted to come back (accounts from Rocky, Aisha, and especially Bridge's actors imply that Saban is really, really, really...really cheap.) Plus, as this is Power Rangers' 20th anniversary, this is a good chance for Jason David Frank (Tommy's actor) to promote himself and whatever he's doing (he's making a reality show on YouTube, I think.)

 

There was a rumor last year (also an HJU article I'm too lazy to look up) that JDF was in talks with Saban about making a dark and edgy PG-13 Green Ranger movie that would basically reinvent Tommy into a Wolverine-like character (because Dillon doesn't count since he's from in a different timeline, I guess), which is hilarious, but I have to commend JDF for trying to give actual characterization to the character he's been typecasted as for the past 20 years, even if said characterization is nonsensical, even for Power Rangers, and a complete 180 from whatever he was in the show (a Mr. Nice Guy? Slightly-Dark-And-Serious-But-Cool-And-Relatable Teacher?)

 

Which is the underlying problem with Tommy. As much as I can see why everyone wants Tommy on-screen, watching this show since I was little, and seeing how the show has progressed into darker stories and better developed characters, all I get from Tommy now is "I was both the first sixth and evil ranger, I summoned Mecha-Godzilla with a dagger flute for a season, then Zordon later made me leader for no reason even though Jason was already a seasoned leader and didn't screw up at any point prior."

 

Tommy really doesn't have a character because he's poorly written. All he's done character-wise in 20 years was gave Jason a little needed depth by having him guilt over not saving Tommy's powers the first time, gave Kimberly a love interest, gave Evil Kat a reason to hate Kimberly and defy Rita, and gave Good Kat a chance to become his replacement love interest when Kim left him. Dino Thunder aside, he pretty much exists to give everyone else a character arc revolving around him and because the Sentai footage either called for an additional ranger midseason or called for a Red Ranger. The problem is that he doesn't really do anything besides get the nicer toys and Ron Wasserman to sing songs about how awesome he is (until Zeo.)

 

Dino Thunder didn't do much with Tommy besides make him a mentor that references continuity now and then when relevant, gave him a dull feud with the season's villains to make him relevant to the story, and gave a Connor peptalk that led to Connor later going Super Saiyan into his Battlizer that hurls giant flaming yo-yos.

 

There was so much that could've been done with Tommy to humanize him (at least to Billy standard), like showing him with long-term guilt over the evil Green Ranger stuff (which would tie in better with the lack of Sentai footage, and they did it with Merrick in Wild Force), making the rivalry with Jason more intense after Zordon made him leader, or make him become romantically closer to Kat in the third season over their similar backgrounds as Rita's puppets (the Master Vile arc had a scene like that), which would've challenged his devotion to Kimberly and could've made that infamous Zeo episode a little less forced.

 

I notice these problems more in the post-Green Ranger episodes of season 2 onwards than the first. One notable episode from the first season called "Gung Ho!" showed Tommy and Jason at odds over some martial arts competition (Angel Grove has a lot of these), and without Rita's influence (a first for the series). When Tommy was brought back as the White Ranger in season 2, it looked like they just threw him on the screen and decided that was enough because people wanted him back. Which is sad, because for being the most popular character in Power Rangers history, Tommy Oliver is kind of boring.

 

 

 

 

 

And, for the record, I don't have an issue with JDF at all.