Why S.P.D. Fucking Rocks
Following in the footsteps of mariko_azrael, who is writing on why Wild Force is her favorite season of Power Rangers, I'm going to be writing on another season that seems to get crapped on a lot by fans, my personal favorite season and indeed probably my favorite show/fandom out of EVERYTHING.
Which means I get to tl;dr about S.P.D. :D I'm thinking this is going to be one of multiple parts, so I can spend time organizing my thoughts.
I will warn any readers from the outset that I am perfectly aware that I'll probably be showing bias toward/talking more about Bridge and Sky than anything else, and also that I am very opinionated and can get (over) defensive when talking about S.P.D., but I'll try my best to be neutral. I also have limited knowledge of other PR seasons so comparisons will be sparse in that respect (S.P.D. and JF are the only seasons I've seen recently AND and their entirety, the rest I've either not watched in years or only seen bits and pieces of).
So let's get started, shall we?
Why is S.P.D. seemingly such a hated season within the fandom? Yeah, it's relatively popular here on Livejournal, but in some places on LJ, and especially in the other major fandom hangouts, it seems like everywhere I go I see discussion on how much it sucks ass.
Yet, like with Mariko with Wild Force, I've never seen a solid reason as to WHY so many insist that it sucks. All I hear are statements like "S.P.D. is shit and its fans are morons" or the obligatory mention of The Ultimate Sucky Evil That Is Bruce Kalish. Now, me, I tend to judge seasons on their own merits, rather than who the producer is, but that's just me.
So, I'll take a look at why I love S.P.D., and try and delve into the mystery of why it gets dumped on so much, too.
Part One: Personalities & Team Dynamics
I think one of my favorite aspects of S.P.D. can honestly be one of the most off-putting, as well.
It's the fact that the B-Squad really isn't nice to each other for a lot of the season.
This is kind of a rarity in Power Rangers, because most seasons either tend to start the characters off as established best friends (like in Ninja Storm; Shane, Dustin and Tori were close before they ever became Rangers) or they have some token initial tension but gel together really quickly (like in the original MMPR; 5 kids from very different cliques just clicked despite the occasional misunderstanding). In both cases, there are sometimes mid-season episodes where more tension crops up, but it's relatively minor and easily resolved, gone in an episode or two.
Not so in S.P.D. The Rangers were a very diverse set of people and personalities, and boy howdy, was this played up as much as possible to do so in the world of PR.
First, there's the Jack & Z versus Sky, Syd and Bridge dynamic. They're two opposing groups coming from very different backgrounds. Jack and Z had lived together on the street for years, and even before then, it was implied that they both lived with poor families. They are street smart, and while they were growing up, they learned independence and mistrust of authority- and more importantly, they also learned empathy for those who were in a similar situation. They learned to rely on themselves and each other for what they needed in life, but they also used their talents to share what little they had with others. As Greg Aronowitz mentioned, they stole because they thought it was the right thing to do. The fact that it was illegal didn't even enter into it- they did what they thought was right. Then, when they came to S.P.D. and chose to become Power Rangers, they were paired with these three cadets and suddenly had rules to follow and a Commander to answer to. Sky, Bridge and Syd were from a structured, organized environment, where following the rules and obedience to one's superiors was valued and required to advance. Aside from that, Syd was spoilt by her parents and apparently had a very happy and productive childhood. Sky did have hardship because he lost his father, but he seemingly spent his formative years doing what he thought would make him happy, training to be the Red Ranger. Little of Bridge's background was ever mentioned, and there's not enough canonical evidence to support my personal pet theory that he was bullied and an outcast and came to S.P.D. to find a place to belong, but he seemed to have a happy enough home.
So when you mix these two together? Bang. Jack and Z were very different from the others and very, very aware of it. Z seemed to mix in with the others pretty quickly, whereas Jack had more trouble and never really fit in and became comfortable with his new life entirely (as evidenced by his behavior at the end of the series). So it's no wonder they had so much conflict, even beyond the initial period of high tension.
And then, casting aside the two-groups dynamic, their individual personalities came into conflict, as well. This was deliberate on the producers' parts, and I liked this, because it seems very realistic.
Jack wanted to help people, but had his own personal way of doing things and at first mistrusted the authorities he had to answer to and disliked being told what to do and how to live his life. He also had little confidence in his own ability to lead, taking advantage of his position, and even later on in the series took the blame for their lack of a final victory on himself. His biggest obstacle was learning how to trust, to set a good example, and be a leader.
Sky desired nothing more than to be the Red Ranger, and when that was within reach, his own pride and arrogance cost him that. He was angry at Jack for getting the position, but more importantly, he seemed to be angry at himself. He was aware that it wasn't Jack's choice to be Red and that blaming him would accomplish nothing, but still took it out on him to deflect the anger he felt at losing what he wanted. He had to learn to loosen up and to treat his teammates as his friends, not just his colleagues, and that S.P.D. wasn't the be-all-and-end-all of life, his or anyone's.
Bridge had to deal with a feeling of not belonging, which manifested itself in his low self-confidence though much of the series. He has difficulty expressing himself in a clear and understandable way. Too, he has trouble standing up for himself and others. His biggest challenge, aside from growing a spine, was to learn how to relate to the others better, and try to be clearer and more persistent, rather than getting frustrated and running off by himself when he couldn't make the others understand his perspective.
Z, aside from the aforementioned problem just fitting in, had the problem of always wanting to see the best in people. True, it's not a BAD thing, but it led her to trust blindly (especially in the case of Piggy), which had negative consequences several times.
Finally, Syd did have problems relating to the others, as well as some trouble with self-centeredness and a thirst to prove that she was just as good a Ranger as the others and didn't NEED things handed to her. Other than that, though, she appeared to be the most well-adjusted member of B-Squad.
So, yeah, my point. I LIKE that we had these 5 very individual people, with individual goals and motivations, and their own problems to deal with. It felt very real, rather than having these 5 very different people instantly get along with very few problems, or only the token scuffle here or there. It also made their moments of friendship, when they were able to cut the crap and get through their differences, that much more sweet and special. Their growth as people and as a team was very stark and obvious, and I just eat that up.
Questions, comments, criticisms?
Which means I get to tl;dr about S.P.D. :D I'm thinking this is going to be one of multiple parts, so I can spend time organizing my thoughts.
I will warn any readers from the outset that I am perfectly aware that I'll probably be showing bias toward/talking more about Bridge and Sky than anything else, and also that I am very opinionated and can get (over) defensive when talking about S.P.D., but I'll try my best to be neutral. I also have limited knowledge of other PR seasons so comparisons will be sparse in that respect (S.P.D. and JF are the only seasons I've seen recently AND and their entirety, the rest I've either not watched in years or only seen bits and pieces of).
So let's get started, shall we?
Why is S.P.D. seemingly such a hated season within the fandom? Yeah, it's relatively popular here on Livejournal, but in some places on LJ, and especially in the other major fandom hangouts, it seems like everywhere I go I see discussion on how much it sucks ass.
Yet, like with Mariko with Wild Force, I've never seen a solid reason as to WHY so many insist that it sucks. All I hear are statements like "S.P.D. is shit and its fans are morons" or the obligatory mention of The Ultimate Sucky Evil That Is Bruce Kalish. Now, me, I tend to judge seasons on their own merits, rather than who the producer is, but that's just me.
So, I'll take a look at why I love S.P.D., and try and delve into the mystery of why it gets dumped on so much, too.
Part One: Personalities & Team Dynamics
I think one of my favorite aspects of S.P.D. can honestly be one of the most off-putting, as well.
It's the fact that the B-Squad really isn't nice to each other for a lot of the season.
This is kind of a rarity in Power Rangers, because most seasons either tend to start the characters off as established best friends (like in Ninja Storm; Shane, Dustin and Tori were close before they ever became Rangers) or they have some token initial tension but gel together really quickly (like in the original MMPR; 5 kids from very different cliques just clicked despite the occasional misunderstanding). In both cases, there are sometimes mid-season episodes where more tension crops up, but it's relatively minor and easily resolved, gone in an episode or two.
Not so in S.P.D. The Rangers were a very diverse set of people and personalities, and boy howdy, was this played up as much as possible to do so in the world of PR.
First, there's the Jack & Z versus Sky, Syd and Bridge dynamic. They're two opposing groups coming from very different backgrounds. Jack and Z had lived together on the street for years, and even before then, it was implied that they both lived with poor families. They are street smart, and while they were growing up, they learned independence and mistrust of authority- and more importantly, they also learned empathy for those who were in a similar situation. They learned to rely on themselves and each other for what they needed in life, but they also used their talents to share what little they had with others. As Greg Aronowitz mentioned, they stole because they thought it was the right thing to do. The fact that it was illegal didn't even enter into it- they did what they thought was right. Then, when they came to S.P.D. and chose to become Power Rangers, they were paired with these three cadets and suddenly had rules to follow and a Commander to answer to. Sky, Bridge and Syd were from a structured, organized environment, where following the rules and obedience to one's superiors was valued and required to advance. Aside from that, Syd was spoilt by her parents and apparently had a very happy and productive childhood. Sky did have hardship because he lost his father, but he seemingly spent his formative years doing what he thought would make him happy, training to be the Red Ranger. Little of Bridge's background was ever mentioned, and there's not enough canonical evidence to support my personal pet theory that he was bullied and an outcast and came to S.P.D. to find a place to belong, but he seemed to have a happy enough home.
So when you mix these two together? Bang. Jack and Z were very different from the others and very, very aware of it. Z seemed to mix in with the others pretty quickly, whereas Jack had more trouble and never really fit in and became comfortable with his new life entirely (as evidenced by his behavior at the end of the series). So it's no wonder they had so much conflict, even beyond the initial period of high tension.
And then, casting aside the two-groups dynamic, their individual personalities came into conflict, as well. This was deliberate on the producers' parts, and I liked this, because it seems very realistic.
Jack wanted to help people, but had his own personal way of doing things and at first mistrusted the authorities he had to answer to and disliked being told what to do and how to live his life. He also had little confidence in his own ability to lead, taking advantage of his position, and even later on in the series took the blame for their lack of a final victory on himself. His biggest obstacle was learning how to trust, to set a good example, and be a leader.
Sky desired nothing more than to be the Red Ranger, and when that was within reach, his own pride and arrogance cost him that. He was angry at Jack for getting the position, but more importantly, he seemed to be angry at himself. He was aware that it wasn't Jack's choice to be Red and that blaming him would accomplish nothing, but still took it out on him to deflect the anger he felt at losing what he wanted. He had to learn to loosen up and to treat his teammates as his friends, not just his colleagues, and that S.P.D. wasn't the be-all-and-end-all of life, his or anyone's.
Bridge had to deal with a feeling of not belonging, which manifested itself in his low self-confidence though much of the series. He has difficulty expressing himself in a clear and understandable way. Too, he has trouble standing up for himself and others. His biggest challenge, aside from growing a spine, was to learn how to relate to the others better, and try to be clearer and more persistent, rather than getting frustrated and running off by himself when he couldn't make the others understand his perspective.
Z, aside from the aforementioned problem just fitting in, had the problem of always wanting to see the best in people. True, it's not a BAD thing, but it led her to trust blindly (especially in the case of Piggy), which had negative consequences several times.
Finally, Syd did have problems relating to the others, as well as some trouble with self-centeredness and a thirst to prove that she was just as good a Ranger as the others and didn't NEED things handed to her. Other than that, though, she appeared to be the most well-adjusted member of B-Squad.
So, yeah, my point. I LIKE that we had these 5 very individual people, with individual goals and motivations, and their own problems to deal with. It felt very real, rather than having these 5 very different people instantly get along with very few problems, or only the token scuffle here or there. It also made their moments of friendship, when they were able to cut the crap and get through their differences, that much more sweet and special. Their growth as people and as a team was very stark and obvious, and I just eat that up.
Questions, comments, criticisms?