Friday, June 2, 2023

Fandom Friday: Random Fandom Thoughts #35: 9-1-1 Bad Romances and Mighty Morphin Power Rangers 30th Anniversary Special


Happy Friday! I know it's been a while but I'm posting Fandom Friday and it's early. So what are some of your fandom thoughts? Well, here are a few of mine:

- I recently rewatched the first season of 9-1-1 and I always got the feeling that Fire Captain Robert "Bobby" Nash didn't really think 9-1-1 Dispatcher Abigail "Abby" Clark was right for Firefighter Evan "Buck" Buckley. But since Bobby gave Firefighter Howard "Chimney" Han his honest opinion about Chimney's relationship with Tatiana in the episode Next of Kin (season 1 episode 3). This resulted in Chimney not only getting mad at Bobby but also ending up in a serious car accident. Chimney's accident proved that Tatiana was not the one for him since she couldn't even be bothered to go to the hospital to see him.

Despite giving Chimney the truth, I don't think Bobby wanted to risk being that honest again. So with Buck, he gave him advice and guided him to ensure Buck's relationship with Abby didn't end up as doomed as he probably thought it would be. No surprise, Buck and Abby's relationship didn't work out despite Buck's best effort and following Bobby's advice. However, this was not a love story that was meant to last. Abby and Buck were at different life stages and their romance would have eventually fizzled out even if Abby hadn't decided to take a long soul searching European vacation. She really should have broken up with him before she left. Instead, communication between them became few and far between to none at all leaving Buck pining for months waiting for Abby to return. He would eventually end their relationship by writing her a letter.

Bobby's advice giving efforts didn't end because he continued to give Buck advice throughout the series. In the most recent sixth season, Buck was in a coma in the episode In Another Life (episode 11) after being struck by lightning. And in his dream, that version of Bobby gave Buck some good advice. He said "If what matters to you most is how other people see you... then you haven't learned a damn thing."

Too bad this piece advice didn't stick with Buck when he woke up. Because near the end of the season he met Natalia, a Death Doula, in episode Death and Taxes (episode 15). He then started dating her and ended up in a relationship with her in the last two episodes of the season: Love in the Air (episode 17) and Pay It Forward (episode 18). Natalia is a death obsessed woman who only seems to be interested in him because he died. And although he barely knows her, Buck seems to believe that she "sees" him and understands him. However, it was shown in all three episodes that she doesn't see or understand him. So, Buck is currently is another soon to be failed relationship that the advice from dream Bobby would have prevented.

(9-1-1 season 1 episode 6: Heartbreaker)




- And for more thoughts on 9-1-1 bad romances, I can't stop thinking about the constant use of the word "nice" in regards to Edmundo "Eddie" Diaz talking about dating or the women he's supposed to be interested in. He described his date in the episode Breaking Point (season 4 episode 8) and then later on his relationship with Vice Principal Dr. Ana Flores in episode Suspicion (season 4 episode 13) as being nice. And in the sixth season 14 episode Performance Anxiety, he called his soon to be blind date Vanessa nice twice. And funny enough, that was after his Tia Pepa said she was very nice.

The first time Eddie called her nice was when he was at work talking with his friends and co-workers about his upcoming date. And the second was after the date when he told his Tia Pepa that "she was... very nice". Calling someone or a relationship nice is one of the most boring descriptive and nice is not enough. He never seems to have any chemistry or real spark with any of the women he meet. And calling someone nice seems to be the only word he can think of in regards to the women he meets and dates. And no surprise since he's constantly being forced into dating. It feels like nice is what he's been told he should look for, except that doesn't work for him. And it really shouldn't be the only thing he can think of to describe his love life. Because "nice" simply isn't enough especially for romance.

I find it interesting that throughout the seasons, Bobby has given Eddie good relationship advice. However, Eddie never seems to fully understand what Bobby is saying and then ends up making bad romance decision. And the most recent is trying to start something with Marisol, a woman he met during an emergency in episode Home Invasion (season 6 episode 5) and reconnected with at a hardware store in episode Love is in the Air (season 6 episode 17). Eddie completely disregarded the good advice Bobby said about not searching for love but finding something special. This already feels like a copy and paste of his last relationship with Ana and will be yet another failed relationship (if his love interests isn't written out before hand, see Entertainment News #24). And at this point, I wish Bobby would stop being so subtle with his advice and just tell Buck and Eddie the epic romance they are constantly looking for is with each other. But that's a topic for another post.

(9-1-1 season 6 episode 14: Performance Anxiety)





- I genuinely loved Mighty Morphin Power Ranger: Once & Always the Power Rangers 30th Anniversary Special that's on Netflix. I loved this so much I wouldn't mind if another special was made. So far, I've watched this special two times and I just might watch it again. It was really good, they found a way to blend the nostalgia with new elements that honor the Power Ranger legacy and this new story. There's a lot of action but it's the story that gets to shine as the Rangers try to stop Rita Repulsa's plan. And I love that it lets the Rangers and Trini Kwan's teen daughter Minh deal with their emotions around Trini's death. But there was also plenty of room for humor in this. I loved that Billy Cranston (Blue Power Ranger), Zack Taylor (Black Power Ranger) and Minh Kwan got to be the center of the story.

I loved seeing Rocco "Rocky" DeSantos (Red Power Ranger) and Katherine "Kat" Hillard (Pink Power Ranger) stepping in as additional help after the rest of the active Rangers (Red, Green and Pink) were captured by Rita. And not to be overlooked was the appearance of Aisha Campbell (Yellow Power Ranger) and Adam Park (Black Power Ranger). And although they were no longer active Power Rangers they were still out there being heroes as members of S.P.A. (Space Patrol Alpha). Unfortunately, Aisha and Adam were not going to be there in time to help stop Rita but they did make it there in time to help. Even though I wish Farkas "Bulk" Bulkmeier and Eugene "Skull" Skullovitch had appeared in the special, I did like the little cameo of the billboard for their company, Skullovitch & Bulkmeier’s Bulk Food Co. As I said, I really enjoyed watching this.

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