The Time Force Tracker works overtime to scan through the ages of the PR Universe, finding those who stand out the most. This week, the Tracker spots Trip.
A personal favorite of mine, Trip managed to touch many of our hearts as the Green Time Force Ranger.
As all great things in life, his character underwent huge changes during the 2001 television series. Beginning as a shy, needs-to-be-protected kind of guy, Trip evolved into a character that is so non-two-dimensional that I consider him one of the top Power Rangers of all time.
So what is it about this green-haired Xybrian Time Force Officer that makes him a dominant Ranger? Well, for those of you with short-time memoty lose, let's recap a few things. Without trip...Jen, Lucas, Katie and Ciruit would have been blown to the Shadow World if not for Trip waking them up seconds before the Time Ship exploded. Without Trip, the Electro Booster would be non-existent, thus the Rangers would not have defeated the centipede monster and Wes and Eric would have been obliterated in the Clock Tower by the Cyclobots if not Wes had found the Electro Booster and set to self-implode, allowing them time to escape and to deep-fry some Cyclos! Without Trip's partial pychic-ability, Jen and the gang might not have made it to where Alex was defeated by Ransik, thus Alex could not have given Jen his Chrono Morpher and tell her to capture the mutants.
Is this all that this kid is good for? Being a Billy Cranston-wannabe with psychic powers? No, no, no, no...NO! You see, unlike Trip, Billy was never able to create a device so ESSENTIAL to the Ranger's arsenal that it would be needed in nearly EVERY fight. What am I talking about? Circuit. Yes, it was this little mechanical owl that set the Tie Ship to bring Jen, Lucas, Katie, and Trip to the year 2001 and was the ONLY contact with the year 3000 (until Wes and Eric eventually found another way.) And yes, Billy did create the communicators which established direct contact with Zordon and Alpha 5, but those watches weren't nearly as cute as wittle ol' Circuit! If only they had made a life-size Circuit action figure, then I could cuddle up with him at night and share little stories about...what? THERE"S NOTHING WRONG WITH THAT! Oy vey, back to the topic. (don't worry Circuit, I'll get back to you later!)
During the course of "Time Force," we saw Trip go through amazing changes, rather than seeing the same old personality again and again ***cough***carter grayson***cough***. No, Carter was more cardboard than Sylvi (Trini's little cousin turned to cardboard in PR's ninth episode.) Trip, on the other hand, EXELLED where Carter failed. Going from backwards-rookie to courageous warrior wasn't an overnight thing. First, he had to overcome his self-doubts(which many of us can relate to I'm sure)by showing off what he was best at- weapons! Thus the birth of the Electro Booster! As time progressed, so did his courage towards girls. Although he didn't run off with a mermaid like Chad Lee did, he was able to face the challenge, no matter if it seemed IMPOSSIBLE, or even if he picked some flowers that happened to have a bee in them(it's okay Trip!). Also to note, his advanced knowledge of computers certainly got the Rangers out of some jams, and I'm sure that the Silver Hills Space Center is thankful for not being, well, blown up. Same goes for the Wild Force Rangers. If not for Trip shutting down the nuclear power core, the WF and other TF Rangers would not have stopped the mass polution on Turtlecove posted by Master Org. So you see, Trip has made many lives of the villians miserable, which makes him a top-notch Ranger in my book.
And in the end, we see happily that Trip turns out to be top-notch Time Force Officer as well.
Now Circuit, where were we....