YMMV / Power Rangers Time Force

• Alternate Character Interpretation: A decent sized amount of the fanbase feel that Ransik's in the right here; at the very least, the government he's rebelling against definitely seems to have some creepy aspects that are never really addressed.
  • There are theories going around that Alex being revived after being killed in the first episode was probably a pretty traumatic experience for him (some theorizing that he actually remembers being dead, and this is what caused him to act so coldly towards the team when he comes back. While others theorize that the changes in the past resulted in a different upbringing for Alex which led to his colder personality. There are also theories that he was never going to erase the Rangers' memories in the finale, and was merely testing their resolve, but while he knew that the Rangers would go back to 2001, he was completely caught off-guard by Jen returning her engagement ring to him.
• Anticlimax Boss: Quarganon, the Super Demon in the Time Force/Lightspeed Rescue team-up episode. Vypra and Ransik's plan in the entire episode revolved around unleashing him, with the Rangers desperately trying to stop her. Not only that, but he's called a Super Demon, and we've heard that term once before: in the title of the Lightspeed Rescue episode "Rise of the Super Demons," in which Olympius and Diabolico take on their final forms, which were powerful enough to hand a Curb-Stomp Battle to ALL the Megazords, necessitating the use of a dangerous experimental one that painfully drains the users' life to power itself. As such, if you haven't seen PRLR you're still expecting him to put up a fight worthy of two Ranger teams, but if you have, you're expecting a god-tier walking engine of destruction. Instead, he lasts a handful of seconds, presenting less threat than many a Monster of the Week in both series. (Not that the amount of power needed to do it was small potatoes - no less than five Super Mode-wielding Rangers. It's just that he ends up being a quickly and easily beatable footnote in an episode that's supposedly about the desperate race to stop the summoning of an incredibly dangerous one-demon army.)
• Awesome Music:
  • A lot of the BGM in this series just kicks ass- especially the music from the first formation of the Megazord.
  • Special mention has to go to the theme song which is still considered to be one of the strongest (or for some THE strongest) Power Rangers theme tunes. TIME FORCE!!! TIME FORCE!!!
  • From the GBA game, they recreated the Time Force theme, and it sounds good, depending on who you ask.
• Evil Is Cool: Ransik is one of the most well liked villains in the entire franchise. He dresses in cool Mad Max-esqe leather clothes, has a refined and snarky voice, can remove bones from his body that become swords and is one of the most complex villains in the franchise.
• He Really Can Act: Put Jason Faunt and Erin Cahill on screen together, you will get magic every time. Toss in the likes of the late Ed Albert, Dan Southworth, and Vernon Wells, and you get one of the best ensembles in PR history.
• Germans Love David Hasselhoff: The original Mirai Sentai Timeranger was an infamous Acclaimed Flop in Japan, getting good critical acclaim among its adult Periphery Demographic but having absolutely dreadful toy sales that held the lowest franchise sales record for the next eighteen years. In contrast, despite Time Force having relatively few changes to the original Sentai plot compared to most Power Rangers series, the plot was simplified enough to make it understandable for the target children's' audience, and toy sales were much stronger.
• Hilarious in Hindsight:
  • The Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers episode "Reign of the Jellyfish", in which a Time Capsule is buried while the rangers talk about their hopes that the world of the future will have no wars, no violence, or prejudice becomes this with regards to how the year 3000 is. Also doubles as Harsher in Hindsight.
  • Reuben Langdon appeared in two episodes of this season. He and Dan Southworth would later star in the Devil May Cry games alongside fellow Power Rangers alumnus Johnny Yong Bosch.
    • Dan Southworth in particular plays a more serious rival to the protagonist. Three years later, he'd become the iconic voice of another more serious rival. This in turn wraps all the way back to Power Rangers: Battle for the Grid, where he'd reprise his role as Eric but with a proverbial bakers dozen of Vergil Shout-outs effectively merging the two roles.
    • Incidentally and ironically, Vergil behaves more like the more blatantly power-hungry Naoto than he does Eric, at least until his revival and defeat at the end of Devil May Cry 5, where Vergil reconciles with Dante and gains a dynamic not unlike Eric's post-series dynamic with Wes.
  • The two-part episode "Movie Madness" unintentionally predicted future seasons by featuring the rangers in a Wuxia setting, a samurai movie setting, a tribal setting, and rangers as cowboys.
    • Also, Vernon Wells gets to reference his role in Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior. And what was his character's name? Wez.
• Ho Yay: Wes and Eric. They act like they had a bad breakup a while back.
• Jerkass Woobie:
  • Eric. He's a jerk when we first see him, rejects Wes' friendship and is not much of a team player outside the Silver Guardians. Still, he had to struggle to get to where he is while his old friend seemingly got everything handed to him. And for all of his sternness, Eric is a much nicer person than he lets on.
  • Frax, as well, once you learn his backstory.
• Just Here for Godzilla: Newer fans are likely drawn towards the season thanks to Dan Southworth as Eric, and they're equally likely to be Devil May Cry fans.
• Magnificent Bastard:
  • Ransik is the most powerful Mutant criminal in the year 3000. Shunned by society for his mutations, Ransik forges a criminal empire to take control as part of his revenge and later travels to the year 2001 when his conquering in the future is no longer feasible. Ransik brilliantly orchestrates his escape from prison using a distraction before making his way to 2001. Ransik constantly comes up with ingenious plans to put the world under his control by exploiting the powers of his Mutant followers for schemes to acquire more wealth by using them as distractions or traps against the Time Force Rangers. Ransik eventually fights the Rangers personally and deals them a Curb-Stomp Battle and is nearly about to defeat them till his daughter is injured in the battle. Ransiks renounces his hatred due to what it's doing and later aids the Rangers against the Mut Orgs in Wild Force, nearly giving his life to leave the Mut Orgs vulnerable to defeat. Devious and charming, Ransik ends the series as the only main villain never defeated in combat by the Rangers.
  • Frax was once a kind scientist named Dr. Louis Fericks, who saved the life of Ransik but was repaid by being left to die. Dr. Fericks saved his own life, and become the robotic villain Frax and would secretly come to be Ransik's second-in-command. Over the course of the series, Frax carries out ingenious plans such as manipulating the feelings of a Mutant lackey to make the Lackey serve as a distraction for his scheme to acquire Trizyurium Crystals for his giant robots or destroying Ransik's antidote after plotting against him as a way to pay him back. Frax helps aid his creation Dragontron against the Rangers and even creates a device to siphon the powers of the Megazord to help it. Frax later sends his next robot monster to attack the city while he fights the Rangers on the ground, before revealing after its defeat it was simply a test run to gather data for his ultimate creation. Even after he's captured by Ransik, Frax valiantly fights to allow Ransik's daughter Nadira to let go of her hatred and get a better life, at least allowing him the moral victory in death.
  • Eric Myers/Quantum Ranger grew up dirt poor and strived through ambition to become greater. Eric is able to obtain the Quantum Morpher and expertly takes down a Mutant criminal through quick thinking and tactics. Aspiring to greater heights, Eric is even willing to attack Red Ranger Wes Collins and leave him for dead in his quest to control the Quantasaurus Rex. Over the series, Eric expertly takes down various Mutants and aids the Time Force Rangers against various foes, using his skills and knowledge to wipe the floor with them. Yet at the same time, despite his ruthlessness, Eric can be genuinely empathetic when it comes to aiding others. Over the series, Eric becomes much more of a friend to the Rangers and helps them save the day. Snarky, with a bad boy attitude and with a huge competence level, Eric would seal his position as one of the most iconic Sixth Rangers in the franchise.
  • "Trust and Triumph": Turtlecon is a particularly intelligent turtle-themed Mutant criminal with the ability to create his own pocket dimension. Luring the Rangers into a trap, Turtlecon sends them into this dimension, where they have to face off against doppelgängers of themselves who are specially designed to beat them. Turtlecon effortlessly hunts them down and is seconds away from destroying them before his dimension is shattered. Even then, Turtlecon swears not to go down without a fight, enlarges himself and creates a copy of their Megazord to nearly allow him victory.
  • "The Last Race": Dash is a race car driver-themed Mutant who was once Blue Ranger Lucas's friend and rival until he was arrested for reckless driving. Freed in the present, Dash helps Nadira pull off amazing escapes during her robberies and his quick thinking saves the day for her. Taking human form, Dash uses the opportunity to sneak off and challenge Lucas to a race which he nearly wins. After his antics nearly cause harm to others, Dash realizes the error of his ways and allows Lucas to take him in, acknowledging him as the better man.
  • "Time Force Traitor": Steelix is a suave steel-themed Mutant who used to be a member of Time Force but sold out their secrets to their archfoe Ransik for a big price. Imprisoned by Pink Ranger Jem, Steelix is freed in the present and stalks and disarms her of her Morpher. Luring her into an abandoned warehouse, Steelix is able to use his expert fighting ability and quick thinking to keep her on her feet. Steelix eventually brainwashes her to "bring her to his way of thinking" and send her against the heroes.
  • "Reflections of Evil": Miracon is a zany brain-themed Mutant criminal with the power to send himself and others into his own Mirror World. Luring the Rangers into a trap, Miracon sends them into various mirror worlds where they're forced to defeat various powerful Mutants. Even after they best that, Miracon proves himself to be a remarkably cunning combatant who's able to counter every move they make. After enlarging himself, Miracon is still able to dominate the fight and takes control of the Time Shadow Megazord to have it destroy the main Megazord, coming extremely close to total victory.
• Narm:
  • Put Jason Faunt and Erin Cahill on screen together, and you get magic every time. Put only one of them on screen at a time, and you get some of the biggest Narm in the history of Power Rangers.
  • Alex's not-death in the first episode, during which Erin Cahill desperately overacts Jen's emotional reaction - while the final interactions between the two are heartbreaking, Jen's slow-motion Big "NO!" is funny every time it's shown, and it's shown a lot in flashbacks.
  • Any scene involving Nadira, but especially her "mutants can love too, daddy!" speech in the finale.
  • Mr. Collins learned Wes is the Red Ranger when his visor shattered. The performances between the two in the resulting exchange were strong but rendered a little silly because Wes' voice was muffled from the helmet being in the way. That, and the broken helmet didn't fit very well and his nose kept poking out of the hole.
  • The Cold Open of "A Parting of Ways" in which Wes in seconds by himself defeats a mutant with absolutely no buildup or explanations as to where this mutant came from. It feels more like a clip show shown at a On the Next at the start of a new episode rather than a full episode introduction.
• Nightmare Fuel:
  • Everything that happens to Frax in the finale, but especially his death, when his face falls apart.
  • The Quantasaurus Rex in its first appearance is such a raging uncontrolled beast, the sight of it charging is genuinely terrifying.
  • Venomark. A super fast mutant with a venomous bite that causes people's flesh to boil and mutate with the implication it will eventually kill them.
• Questionable Casting: What are Edward Albert, an actual, legitimate, Golden Globe-winning actor, and Vernon Wells doing in a No Budget kids show like Power Rangers?
• Retroactive Recognition:
  • The kid dressed as the pink ranger in "Uniquely Trip" was played by Britt Robinson, who would, 15 years later, go on to star in Tomorrowland.
  • Also, the guy who gets his car commandeered by the four cadets in the future period, then the tour guide (his ancestor perhaps?) who's tricked by Jen into getting him and the tourists away from the tram in "Movie Madness"? Reuben Langdon! And with Dan Southworth in the same show, well...
  • Erin Cahill is now also involved in voice and mocap acting, known recently for being casted as Rebecca Chambers.
• Sacred Cow: One of the most highly regarded seasons in the franchise's history.
• Special Effect Failure: The T-Rex in "Clash For Control, Part 1" is depicted with both a decently-animated, but poorly composited Stop Motion model; and a barely functional animatronic prop that is clearly being pulled from off-screen when it chases Wes and Eric.
• Squick:
  • Ransik's method of drawing a sword is to straight up pull a bone out of his body. No matter how cool it looks, that's just nasty.
  • Ransik's metal plating is to hide the extent of his mutation. Taken away, he looks absolutely friggin' revolting. Not only is the flesh underneath mangled and raw-looking, but it's also oozing some kind of green fluid, topped off with his left eye being sunken far enough down to almost be on the same level as his nostrils.
• Stock Footage Failure: Timeranger footage is used in several scenes important to the plot. It doesn't cause plot holes because of the similarities, but several critical scenes have Wes suddenly turning Japanese.
  • They very clearly use the same fight scene twice at different points, and there are of course the classic scenes where a building will have one floor on Japan and the next in Silver Hills.
  • They briefly use a clip of Naoto's first morph into TimeFire in place of Eric's morph into Quantum as the actors are so similar looking that in shadow they look the exact same. The downside is, the morpher clearly still says "FIRE" on it.
  • They originally called the Mode Red Shadow Force finisher the "Time Strike" (not to be confused with the human-scale attack); they ended up renaming it the "Blizzard Slash" because they couldn't edit the name flashing behind Wes during the sequence.
• Strawman Has a Point: Alex is supposed to be seen as a jerk and a terrible leader during his brief return to the position of Red Ranger. However, Alex does raise some good points about the Rangers' lack of professionalism. They should have been focusing on battling the villains instead of being sad over Wes leaving the team. Plus, the red chrono morpher was Alex's originally.
• Super Couple: Jen and Wes are one of the most beloved and iconic ranger couples in Power Rangers history thanks to their great chemistry and interesting situation.
• They Wasted a Perfectly Good Plot:
  • The season had two episodes that could have been used to call out the systematic racism society in the year 3000 had towards mutants and how the Rangers were complacent in it, even if they themselves weren't racist towards mutants.
    • "Trip Takes A Stand" focuses a great deal on Eric's hitherto unmentioned racism towards mutants. And while Trip gives Eric a What the Hell, Hero? speech for hating those who are different from him, the episode doesn't acknowledge the fact that Time Force placing Notacon in cryogenic containment for petty theft is very much an inhumanely harsh punishment for such a minor crime.
    • "The Last Race" revolves around Lucas and his former friend, a mutant named Dash who was imprisoned for reckless driving. The episode could have brought up how sentencing towards mutants was very obviously influenced by prejudice but it never comes up.
  • "Time for Lightspeed" is only one episode instead of the usual two-parter reserved for these team-ups, it's all American footage, has a rushed plot, and no Megazord battles. It could have been so much better had they used the Super Sentai team-up movie Mirai Sentai Timeranger vs. GoGoFive as source material.
• Unintentionally Unsympathetic: Some fans see Time Force themselves as unsympathetic for propping up the racist government that makes threats like Ransik possible. In the Sentai source material, the Rangers' superior (the analogue to Captain Logan) is actually the true Big Bad of the show, and as such it's very easy to spin the main characters' bosses as villains.
• Values Dissonance: The show's handling institutionalized racism against mutants was considered revolutionary for the franchise in the 2000s but would be ripped apart if it came out in the 2010s or a decade after that. Despite having a rather valid Freudian Excuse for hating humans, most mutants on the show are written as your standard Monster of the Week who just wants to wreak havoc. Even Ransik, one of the few mutants given any real depth, is mostly portrayed as a power-hungry terrorist who, as was pointed out by Linkara, shows no real interest in actually making a better life for his fellow mutants. Making things worse is the fact that the Rangers are police officers who never really question society's treatment of their enemies. Given that state-sanctioned violence against marginalized groups has gotten a great deal of attention during the 2010s and onwards, the Rangers may look much less heroic in the eyes of some viewers.
• Values Resonance: "Trip Takes a Stand" has become one of the most relevant moments in Power Rangers history, especially in the 2010s, because of it's allegory for race-based violence involving law enforcement. Even though the victim of the incident in question is a mutant instead of a human, the message is still very clear.
• The Woobie: Almost every character gets their spotlight as this but the most notable ones are:
  • Wes, whose devastating reaction to giving up his ranger duties and having to take over his father's company after finding out his father has been hospitalized (and may even die) comes off as genuine. It's easy to feel sorry for him.
  • Jen can qualify too, after losing her fiance Alex. After finding out that Alex is alive, he becomes very dismissive towards her.
  • Trip has shreds of this but especially in "Uniquely Trip", where he feels left out from the team, not helping by the fact that he spots kids dressing up as Time Force rangers (except for green).
  • Katie gets this too in "Future Unknown", where she starts doubting her role as Time Force after fearing the possibility that it may alter time and erase her family from existence.
  • Strangely, even one of the mutants get this. Notacon was a minor criminal who only stole some vegetables to feed himself, gets discriminated by society and unlike Ransik, he has no desire to hurt anyone and is generally a Nice Guy who only committed very petty crimes and is forced to attack others out of his free will. The cryofreeze actually does wonders for him because he doesn't have to feed himself while serving his sentence.

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