Thoughts on Shelby and women in Power Rangers in General
All of it's under a cut because of spoilers. :)
First off, I loved Shelby. I loved that she wasn't just a girlfriend or just the heart for the boys. She has ambitions and goals and she really wants to see them through. I loved watching her try to achieve them. While Tyler was similar, his goals were more physically challenging: Wandering, finding the cave, rock climbing. Shelby's were more societal in nature: Working in a restaurant in a place she really wants a different job it, being blocked because of regulation, having to try to use connections to try to get where she wants to be. Yes, she jumps on the truck, but she tried it first verbally and it's clear from showing, not telling that she's tried before. She also isn't a glory hound. She tried to call to Chase and Koda when the monster stole the box, but when they didn't hear her, she raced after it herself. And later on, when she was talking with Tyler, she wasn't upset that he came to her aid, but thankful for it. She's clearly impulsive and doesn't always think things through, but she's also pretty smart like when she tries to talk down the monster. In this episode, I really liked that Wild and Civilization worked together to take down a monster. And both did it without overplaying the other. She also works for kids ("Work hard so that you can do what you want!") and adults. Writers don't tend to do it as much, but several of my non-writer friends worked jobs that weren't the best to get into a field. Some people with degrees will work as janitors, secretaries, in cafes, etc to try to break into their field when there's an opening. So Shelby works on that front as well.
This is the first time when we've followed a female Ranger for most of the episode. MMPR-IS were all team based in who we followed. We followed Leo in LG. I haven't watched LSR in a while, but either it was team based or Carter or maybe a mix. Time Force was team-based with a little more Wes and same with Wild Force and Cole. NS was all three Rangers. DT was a mix of the three and then Tommy more. SPD was team. MF was Nick. OO was Mack. Jungle Fury was Casey. RPM was Ziggy and Dillon. Samurai was all over the map when they were first putting out episodes, so I'm not going to count it here. Megaforce was team, but more Troy. With this episode, we have four of our five Rangers (and possibly one of our sixths) but it was Shelby who really carried the episode. In Power Rangers lore, this is amazing and when compared to its sister show, Kyoryuger, it's even better considering some of the comments the creators made about it. And I think it needs to be recognized for that.
Kendall also surprised me. She's not a bad boss. She's actually pretty tolerant all things considered, but she is the boss. She isn't going to just let Shelby go when it's against policy. And she recognizes that Chase and Koda are unconventional, but as long as the job is done, she's not going to bust them for it. That said, if they would have dropped something or broken something while they were messing around, she would have reprimanded them. I liked this about her. We didn't get to see a lot of her this time, just like we didn't with Chase and Koda, but I'm curious to see how she continues this season.
Now to the part I've been avoiding. When I was a kid, Power Ranger was better with gender. Trini is shown to be capable as is Aisha while Kim worked up to it a bit while becoming a good Ranger in her own right. But Kim wasn't the only slower fighter. Billy was right there with her. And certainly neither were terrible. When Tommy came along (more with the White Ranger than the Green), there was a problem in that all of Kim's development seemed to be pushed aside for needing him. I've joked that in the movie that Tommy can't do anything without Kim calling for him, but it was kind of a thing. Kat fell into the same role when she showed up while Tanya was good in an uncertain yet capable role. None of these ladies were bad! And since they were supposed to all be teens, I don't mind them teaming up, but I felt that pink Rangers tended to be a little more reliant on Tommy when we knew they could handle things. Once In Space hit, that went away. Yes, Ashley and Cassie had their respective love interests, but they weren't reliant on them and it didn't define them as a character. Same with Kendrix and Karone. They were good characters on their own even if they did have love interests. Maya didn't really have a love interest and had one heck of a backstory with her entire life being torn away from her and her having to work with people she had just met. In Lightspeed Rescue, Dana starts to fall into the same problem as Kim and Kat (with less needing rescued) in that a lot of her development was dependent on her father, her brother, or her love interest. Kelsey wasn't, however. Time Force had Katie and Jen. Katie was happy go lucky, she was a team player, she had reasons for wanting to get back that were mentioned more than the others. Jen had a reason for revenge and led the team. Both of them were strong characters. And even with the Jen/Wes romance, looking back on it, it felt more Jen's storyline than Wes' because of Alex. She was the one having to deal with the heavy stuff there. Alyssa and Taylor. Alyssa was a good fighter, she had some background with her dad, and she was sturdy, but less so than the previous season. Taylor had an amazing backstory, stood her ground, and was a central and important character. She went from leader to stalwart second and she didn't lose anything that made her amazing. That said, I still am completely lost on how she went AWOL and got promoted, but I'm going with The Power Did It.
Now the later seasons. Tori. Tori was the calm center of her triad and the one to bring the boys in line. I never felt like she got lost in a team of five boys. You knew Tori, Tori did what needed to be done, and you never just saw her as Blake's girlfriend. Kira was similar with Dino Thunder, but they honestly switched who sided with who from episode to episode based on the situation. While she was the heart of the mind, body, and heart, she wasn't really Team Mom. She was just another side of triad. Yes, she rushed after Trent and really wanted him fixed while her mind and body counterparts were less sure, but that's kind of her role regardless of romantic interests. I never felt like her character revolved around Trent and being a love interest. SPD had Z and Syd. Both of them were capable. Both of them were different. Both of them were fighting for different reasons: Z because she wanted to be involved in something great and Syd because she was proving herself and its what she wanted to do. Neither were pushed as a love interest and they both were important members of the team. Mystic Force had Madison and Vida. V was out there, she was involved in things and she was the team hot head with cheerful Chip at her side. Maddie was her calmer, quieter sibling. My problem with Madison is that there wasn't a lot to her. She was Team Mom and she was Nick's love interest and Vida's sister. A lot of her character was like with Dana: based off other people instead of being a person herself. That said, both girls (and Chip and Xander) got pushed aside for Nick in that series, so yeah. OO had Rose and Ronny. I honestly thought them over and any problems I have with them, I have with pretty much most of the cast. They're just not well-developed characters. So, because of this, I don't really feel right judging them as hard. Instead, I'll say that they were about as developed as everyone else, both of them seemed to be members of the team for good reason, and they did fine. Jungle Fury. First of all, I liked Jungle Fury and I liked the show that came after it, RPM. But both Lily and Summer had similar problems to me. They seemed to be there to enhance their male teammates rather than really team with them in terms of development. Casey learns to have faith in himself, RJ deals with the demons of his past with his dad, Dom learns to be more responsible, Theo learns to loosen up a bit and actually ask the girl he wants out. Lily dates Theo at the end. Summer's character development was all in her (wonderful) backstory, but at the end, she's more part of Dillon's story than her own. Now, we had this early with the others characters, notably Kim, Kat, and Dana and that wasn't as bad so why is it now? Well, they're the only female teammates. With the other three, there was still Trini, Aisha, Tanya, and Kelsey. With Maddie and Alyssa, there was V and Taylor. With Summer and Lily, those were the only female Ranger that little girls had that season. And that's a problem. I had trouble watching Samurai and Megaforce, so I don't feel as confident about remarking on those shows. That said, several of my friends in fandom have talked about it whether in their journals or other means. Here's a quick link to the Toku ladies podcast: http://tokuladiespodcast.libsyn.com/
Now we have Shelby. If rumors are right (and it follows the sentai in this respect) then we'll have another female Ranger too. But for now, we have a Pink Ranger whose story we were following. Who was one of the first of her team. Who was the head character of the pilot. She's smart, emotionally strong, brave, impulsive, doesn't always think things through, is quick on her feet, is ambitious in all the right ways, is distracted from her job when it comes to what she wants, and who plays well with others. And I would be remiss if I didn't mention that this wonderful character who I have already fallen in love with is a POC. We have not had a black female Ranger since Katie in Time Force. That's fourteen years. So if they can keep this up, if they can break the cycle they've recently gotten themselves in with women, I'm excited. Regardless, I salute Shelby's portrayal in this first episode regardless. And I'm finally feeling like I can say to my goddaughter "Look, Kitten! There's a Pink Ranger for you!" instead of her just grasping at whatever they give her. She's five now and white, but she wants more girl characters and gods know how hard I try to find her some. Shelby is a character I'm hoping will be worthy of my baby girl to emulate.
First off, I loved Shelby. I loved that she wasn't just a girlfriend or just the heart for the boys. She has ambitions and goals and she really wants to see them through. I loved watching her try to achieve them. While Tyler was similar, his goals were more physically challenging: Wandering, finding the cave, rock climbing. Shelby's were more societal in nature: Working in a restaurant in a place she really wants a different job it, being blocked because of regulation, having to try to use connections to try to get where she wants to be. Yes, she jumps on the truck, but she tried it first verbally and it's clear from showing, not telling that she's tried before. She also isn't a glory hound. She tried to call to Chase and Koda when the monster stole the box, but when they didn't hear her, she raced after it herself. And later on, when she was talking with Tyler, she wasn't upset that he came to her aid, but thankful for it. She's clearly impulsive and doesn't always think things through, but she's also pretty smart like when she tries to talk down the monster. In this episode, I really liked that Wild and Civilization worked together to take down a monster. And both did it without overplaying the other. She also works for kids ("Work hard so that you can do what you want!") and adults. Writers don't tend to do it as much, but several of my non-writer friends worked jobs that weren't the best to get into a field. Some people with degrees will work as janitors, secretaries, in cafes, etc to try to break into their field when there's an opening. So Shelby works on that front as well.
This is the first time when we've followed a female Ranger for most of the episode. MMPR-IS were all team based in who we followed. We followed Leo in LG. I haven't watched LSR in a while, but either it was team based or Carter or maybe a mix. Time Force was team-based with a little more Wes and same with Wild Force and Cole. NS was all three Rangers. DT was a mix of the three and then Tommy more. SPD was team. MF was Nick. OO was Mack. Jungle Fury was Casey. RPM was Ziggy and Dillon. Samurai was all over the map when they were first putting out episodes, so I'm not going to count it here. Megaforce was team, but more Troy. With this episode, we have four of our five Rangers (and possibly one of our sixths) but it was Shelby who really carried the episode. In Power Rangers lore, this is amazing and when compared to its sister show, Kyoryuger, it's even better considering some of the comments the creators made about it. And I think it needs to be recognized for that.
Kendall also surprised me. She's not a bad boss. She's actually pretty tolerant all things considered, but she is the boss. She isn't going to just let Shelby go when it's against policy. And she recognizes that Chase and Koda are unconventional, but as long as the job is done, she's not going to bust them for it. That said, if they would have dropped something or broken something while they were messing around, she would have reprimanded them. I liked this about her. We didn't get to see a lot of her this time, just like we didn't with Chase and Koda, but I'm curious to see how she continues this season.
Now to the part I've been avoiding. When I was a kid, Power Ranger was better with gender. Trini is shown to be capable as is Aisha while Kim worked up to it a bit while becoming a good Ranger in her own right. But Kim wasn't the only slower fighter. Billy was right there with her. And certainly neither were terrible. When Tommy came along (more with the White Ranger than the Green), there was a problem in that all of Kim's development seemed to be pushed aside for needing him. I've joked that in the movie that Tommy can't do anything without Kim calling for him, but it was kind of a thing. Kat fell into the same role when she showed up while Tanya was good in an uncertain yet capable role. None of these ladies were bad! And since they were supposed to all be teens, I don't mind them teaming up, but I felt that pink Rangers tended to be a little more reliant on Tommy when we knew they could handle things. Once In Space hit, that went away. Yes, Ashley and Cassie had their respective love interests, but they weren't reliant on them and it didn't define them as a character. Same with Kendrix and Karone. They were good characters on their own even if they did have love interests. Maya didn't really have a love interest and had one heck of a backstory with her entire life being torn away from her and her having to work with people she had just met. In Lightspeed Rescue, Dana starts to fall into the same problem as Kim and Kat (with less needing rescued) in that a lot of her development was dependent on her father, her brother, or her love interest. Kelsey wasn't, however. Time Force had Katie and Jen. Katie was happy go lucky, she was a team player, she had reasons for wanting to get back that were mentioned more than the others. Jen had a reason for revenge and led the team. Both of them were strong characters. And even with the Jen/Wes romance, looking back on it, it felt more Jen's storyline than Wes' because of Alex. She was the one having to deal with the heavy stuff there. Alyssa and Taylor. Alyssa was a good fighter, she had some background with her dad, and she was sturdy, but less so than the previous season. Taylor had an amazing backstory, stood her ground, and was a central and important character. She went from leader to stalwart second and she didn't lose anything that made her amazing. That said, I still am completely lost on how she went AWOL and got promoted, but I'm going with The Power Did It.
Now the later seasons. Tori. Tori was the calm center of her triad and the one to bring the boys in line. I never felt like she got lost in a team of five boys. You knew Tori, Tori did what needed to be done, and you never just saw her as Blake's girlfriend. Kira was similar with Dino Thunder, but they honestly switched who sided with who from episode to episode based on the situation. While she was the heart of the mind, body, and heart, she wasn't really Team Mom. She was just another side of triad. Yes, she rushed after Trent and really wanted him fixed while her mind and body counterparts were less sure, but that's kind of her role regardless of romantic interests. I never felt like her character revolved around Trent and being a love interest. SPD had Z and Syd. Both of them were capable. Both of them were different. Both of them were fighting for different reasons: Z because she wanted to be involved in something great and Syd because she was proving herself and its what she wanted to do. Neither were pushed as a love interest and they both were important members of the team. Mystic Force had Madison and Vida. V was out there, she was involved in things and she was the team hot head with cheerful Chip at her side. Maddie was her calmer, quieter sibling. My problem with Madison is that there wasn't a lot to her. She was Team Mom and she was Nick's love interest and Vida's sister. A lot of her character was like with Dana: based off other people instead of being a person herself. That said, both girls (and Chip and Xander) got pushed aside for Nick in that series, so yeah. OO had Rose and Ronny. I honestly thought them over and any problems I have with them, I have with pretty much most of the cast. They're just not well-developed characters. So, because of this, I don't really feel right judging them as hard. Instead, I'll say that they were about as developed as everyone else, both of them seemed to be members of the team for good reason, and they did fine. Jungle Fury. First of all, I liked Jungle Fury and I liked the show that came after it, RPM. But both Lily and Summer had similar problems to me. They seemed to be there to enhance their male teammates rather than really team with them in terms of development. Casey learns to have faith in himself, RJ deals with the demons of his past with his dad, Dom learns to be more responsible, Theo learns to loosen up a bit and actually ask the girl he wants out. Lily dates Theo at the end. Summer's character development was all in her (wonderful) backstory, but at the end, she's more part of Dillon's story than her own. Now, we had this early with the others characters, notably Kim, Kat, and Dana and that wasn't as bad so why is it now? Well, they're the only female teammates. With the other three, there was still Trini, Aisha, Tanya, and Kelsey. With Maddie and Alyssa, there was V and Taylor. With Summer and Lily, those were the only female Ranger that little girls had that season. And that's a problem. I had trouble watching Samurai and Megaforce, so I don't feel as confident about remarking on those shows. That said, several of my friends in fandom have talked about it whether in their journals or other means. Here's a quick link to the Toku ladies podcast: http://tokuladiespodcast.libsyn.com/
Now we have Shelby. If rumors are right (and it follows the sentai in this respect) then we'll have another female Ranger too. But for now, we have a Pink Ranger whose story we were following. Who was one of the first of her team. Who was the head character of the pilot. She's smart, emotionally strong, brave, impulsive, doesn't always think things through, is quick on her feet, is ambitious in all the right ways, is distracted from her job when it comes to what she wants, and who plays well with others. And I would be remiss if I didn't mention that this wonderful character who I have already fallen in love with is a POC. We have not had a black female Ranger since Katie in Time Force. That's fourteen years. So if they can keep this up, if they can break the cycle they've recently gotten themselves in with women, I'm excited. Regardless, I salute Shelby's portrayal in this first episode regardless. And I'm finally feeling like I can say to my goddaughter "Look, Kitten! There's a Pink Ranger for you!" instead of her just grasping at whatever they give her. She's five now and white, but she wants more girl characters and gods know how hard I try to find her some. Shelby is a character I'm hoping will be worthy of my baby girl to emulate.