The student body is getting ready for a big costume party at the Juice Bar. Ernie yells to everyone to keep working on the preparations, and the workaphobes Bulk and Skull try to beat a hasty retreat. Kimberly jokes that their ordinary punk gear are great costumes, and Ernie orders then to string some decorations up, ruining their escape attempt. Zack follows after Angela like a lovesick puppy, and Tommy offers to help Kim with the paper mache face she's painting. Bulk and Skull mess up with the stapler and yank the tinsel over, causing some chairs to fall like dominoes and propel a bucket full of paint onto Bulk's head, much to Skull and the Rangers' amusement. Rita hits on the idea of infiltrating the costume party with one of her monsters. Finster creates a knockoff of the classic Frankenstein's Monster and they send it to Earth. The teens have prepared their costumes and start to walk from Billy's to the dance. Billy is Sherlock Holmes, Trini is Pocahontas, Kim a pink princess, Zack an Ancient Egyptian Pharaoh, and Jason is Robin Hood. Tommy is delayed because he needs to finish off his effort. Skull is trying to find a great costume for Bulk, who is being comically jostled by a fan to dry off the paint so that he can win the costume prize. Next thing Skull is dressed as Captain Hook and Bulk is Peter Pan. Bulk refuses to wear wimpy green tights. Next up, they try a two-man horse costume and he refuses that too. Then they settle on "Old Elvis" and "Young Elvis." Grooving to his songs, Skull accidentally kicks Bulk with a dance move and puts his back out. The camera pans over to the window, showing that Frankenstein has shown up outside the house, growls and walks off.
At the party, everyone is dancing and having a great time; Ernie has gone as Dracula and serves as the DJ. Angela rebuffs Zack's offer to dance, telling him "Go back to your tomb, Tut!" much to his disappointment. We see that Bulk and Skull have actually gone for the amazingly original choice of... punks. Even more surprisingly, Alpha 5 has shown up! Billy asks why he's here and he explains he wanted to get down with the Rangers and a costume party would be the perfect cover with which to do so. Frankenstein shows up, roaring menacingly, but Ernie is merely impressed by the efforts of this new "party goer." In a cave, Finster, Squatt, and Baboo along with the Putties have discovered a means of making improved Super Putties using a machine. Several girls hit on Alpha like groupies at a concert, and Zack is actually jealous of the attention. He, Jason and Billy discuss the impressive costume used by Frankenstein, and Billy - acting in his Sherlock Holmes persona - suggests that it might, in fact, be Tommy. Two guys take Kim and Trini dancing, unwittingly saving them just in time from a bear hug by the Frankenstein. It attempts the same attack on Jason but a ditzy girl drags it off to dance too. It tries to swipe her several times but she reacts as if it's pulling dance moves, finally enraging it and it throws her at Bulk and Skull who catches her. Zack and Trini share a look of concern. Ordered by Bulk to get him, Skull lamely shoots a toy dart at it and it picks him up and tosses him at Bulk. They run away with it in hot pursuit. The team sense something is up and Billy follows after them into the countryside, observing its behavior. It staggers into the cave where the Putties are shoveling enhanced clay together into a big boulder. Billy wanders deeper into the cave and accidentally triggers an infrared laser detection system. Rita orders the Frankenstein after him.
It finds him and he realizes it isn't Tommy. "It's time for molecular transmutation!" he cries, morphing to even the odds. The Frankenstein roars and pulls the bolts out of its neck, which has chains attached too to attack the Blue Ranger. It easily defeats him and Rita orders the Putties to move the boulder, which triggers an earthquake in the city. She hovers into the air on it and verbally threatens the panicking civilians. The earthquake affects the cave too, so Billy runs off to warn the others, and also the Juice Bar. Ernie writes it off as a minor natural earthquake, but Billy explains the situation to the others. They have to teleport to the Command Centre without Tommy. Zordon explains about the Super Putties and their Nigh-Invulnerability, causing Alpha's head to literally spin on his neck in shock. They try to hail Tommy but can't; he is attacked by Putties outside the Youth Center. He fights them off using his backpack as an Improvised Weapon. The others scramble against Frankenstein, but it easily handles them using a bowling ball and a chain before Rita grows it. The Megazord doesn't fare much better and she enjoys the spectacle. The Rangers summon the Mega Power Sword, only to find the Monster is capable of shrugging off blows from even this powerful weapon. Wrapping the ball and chain around the Megazord's neck, Frankenstein throws it through the air. Tommy fights off the Putties for good, and Zordon sends him to help.
The Megazord gets to its feet but is knocked through a building and suffers an electrical malfunction. Frankenstein tosses the Megazord in a spinning gorilla press. Tommy summons the Dragonzord at last and they double-team Frankenstein, but it manages to lift Dragonzord by its tail and throw it into the Megazord, then chucks Tommy's Zord away too. It assaults them with poisonous breath and hits them with the chain-bolts. Finally having enough, Jason separates the Megazord and calls for Dragonzord in Battle Mode. This formation is able to defend itself much better, but when it fires a bolt of energy from its dragon fin, Frankenstein is able to reflect it back at the Zord. They rev up the Power Staff, cleaving a massive hole in Frankenstein's chest and destroying him. Rita suffers another headache. Back at the party, they arrive to view the prize winner declaration. Tommy rushes off to change into his costume, and Alpha continues to enjoy female attention. Bulk mocks the robot, wondering who's really "inside the robot costume." Suddenly Frankenstein reappears from the dead to assault the Rangers again! ...Only for Tommy to reveal he's dressed up as the Monster. Ernie announces that the winner is... Alpha! Bulk and Skull are beside themselves with disappointment. Bulk demands a can opener from Skull to find out Alpha's "identity," but the robot is having none of it and runs off to safety, despite the disappointment of his groupies. The Rangers laugh at his antics.
Tropes
- Adaptational Villainy: This version of Frankenstein is far more vicious and evil than Mary Shelley's misunderstood outcast.
- All There in the Script: The girl who pulls the Monster onto the dance floor is Sharkie according to the script. Bulk catching her after Frankenstein tosses her away is proof of this as well.
- Also marks her final appearance in the show overall after which the show would only have Bulk and Skull as the school thugs.
- This is also the only episode where she has spoken dialogue (though she is clearly dubbed over by Wendee Lee, the voice actress for Scorpina).
- Behemoth Battle: Dinozords vs. Frankenstein.
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Big-Lipped Alligator Moment: Alpha's neck corkscrewing many times in a random close up. It's likely his Oh, Crap! reaction. - Breath Weapon / Deadly Gas / Technicolor Toxin: Frankenstein can spew a poisonous red gas at the Zords, choking the Rangers inside the cockpit.
- Costume Porn: The beautiful Halloween costumes in this episode, especially Kimberly's princess costume, qualify for this trope.
- Elvis Impersonator: One of Bulk and Skull's costume ideas is for Skull to go as Young Elvis and Bulk to go as Old Elvis. They drop the idea after Skull accidentally kicks Bulk in the back, injuring the latter.
- For Halloween, I Am Going as Myself: Alpha and the Frankenstein Monster, as well as Bulk and Skull, who dress up as "punks" (without realizing that's how they dress normally).
- Frankenstein's Monster: This episode's Monster of the Week. This marks the only time that Finster/Rita/Lord Zedd ever made a monster specifically based on a pre-established character from Earth's pop culture, with the design of the creature clearly inspired by Jack Pierce's iconic version of the Monster in the Universal 1931 horror classic.
- Halloween Episode: While technically not a Halloween episode (the Youth Center is just having a costume party, not a Halloween party, and there are no jack o'lanterns to be seen), thanks to all the costumes and the Frankenstein Monster himself being the Monster of the Week, this is usually considered Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers' first Halloween episode.
- Idiot Ball: The Rangers just stand there and watch while Frankenstein assaults Sharkie, Bulk, and Skull. Sure, they don't know he's one of Rita's monsters just yet, but even if he wasn't, he's still some jerk attacking people at the costume party, and our heroes do absolutely nothing about it.
- Billy doesn't figure out until Frankenstein has cornered him in a cave and is outright attacking him that the monster isn't Tommy in a costume.
- Impaled with Extreme Prejudice / This Is a Drill: How Frankenstein is taken down.
- Instant Chucks: Frankenstein can actually just pull the large metal bolts out of his neck, which are then suddenly connected by a chain, giving him an effective set of nunchucks. The concept uses a bit of Hammerspace mixed with a little bit of MST3K Mantra.
- Made of Iron: The Monster takes everything the Rangers throw at him and brushes it all off before finally being destroyed by the Dragonzord Fighting Mode. Even then, the Zord was losing badly beforehand and basically won by getting in a lucky shot.
- Make My Monster Grow: Done by Rita to Frankenstein.
- Monster of the Week: The Frankenstein Monster.
- Monstrous Humanoid: As this is what the Monster is in the original novel and movies, so too is he here.
- No-Sell: Fighting Frankenstein with the Megazord, the Rangers summon the Power Sword. The Megazord lifts its weapon high and brings it down hard on Frankenstein, who stands still, thrusts his chest out, lets the Power Sword bounce off, and laughs.
- Pet the Dog: While they don't know he's one of Rita's monstrous creations and think he's just a guy in a costume, Bulk and Skull nonetheless come to Sharkie's aid when she's menaced by Frankenstein at the costume party.
- Sesquipedalian Loquaciousness: Billy gets his funniest and most memorable example of this when he morphs to face the Monster in the cave:Billy: "It's time for Molecular Transmutation!"
- The Worf Effect: Frankenstein beats up all the Rangers and even the Megazord and Dragonzord together, but can't withstand Dragonzord Battle Mode's Power Staff. Even before the final blow he was curbstomping the Zord fairly well.
