Top 5 Best Power Rangers Seasons

Since the 90s, Power Rangers has become one of the most popular children’s franchises around, sporting 23 different series over the course of three decades. With the release of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Rita’s Rewind, let’s look back and see what are the five best seasons of the show.

Given that there are nearly two dozen series under the Power Rangers umbrella, a few ground rules are needed. First, if a show spanned multiple seasons, like with Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, we’ll condense them into one series for simplicity’s sake. Also, we’re sticking solely to the TV shows here, so no mention of any of the films or comics, though if you want to, read Kyle Higgins’ run on the series if only for the excellent “Shattered Grid” crossover. With that said, here are the five best Power Rangers seasons, in chronological order!

Power Rangers: In Space (1998)

Power Rangers: In Space ended the “Zordon Era” of the show, which told a six-year story mostly centered around the Mighty Morphin Rangers and their mentor Zordon’s fight against evil. It found a perfect balance between the goofy elements that the series was known for and grounding it in a semi-serious plot that put the fate of the universe on the line. The season began with the Rangers being forced to flee Earth, which was made all the worse by the appearance of the United Alliance of Evil and their messenger, Astronema.

The fights in the season were excellent, thanks primarily to enemies like Astronema, her second-in-command Ecliptor, and the Psycho Rangers, but it never forgot that it was for kids and still had all the charm fans had come to expect from the show. There’s a reason fans still hold this series in high regard to this day.

Power Rangers: Time Force (2001)

Following the end of the “Zordon Era,” the series began to have self-contained seasons with minimal crossovers to past ones. This approach led to some wildly different seasons, but one of the best was Time Force. The season featured time-traveling Rangers who went back in time to prevent an evil mutant, Ransik, from taking over the world. There’s a surprising amount of character development in this season, as it features one of the more complex villains in the show and an excellent dynamic between the Red Ranger, Wes, and his teammates. The twists that the season took were all genuinely interesting ones, resulting in a season that also found the perfect balance between goofy over-the-top action and an emotional and well-told story.

Power Rangers: Dino Thunder (2004)

When Disney took charge of the series following the production of Power Rangers: Wild Force, the quality of the series became very inconsistent. Thankfully, Dino Thunder managed to become a fan-favorite thanks to Jason David Frank. Frank was a veteran actor on the series who appeared in several seasons, with him serving as the mentor figure of Dino Thunder Rangers here and bringing a lot of charisma to the team. The season itself is a bit goofier than others, but that lighter charm worked. Not every season needs to be a dour affair, and Dino Thunder has enough positive energy to make it appealing to old and new fans.

Power Rangers: RPM (2009)

RPM should not be as good as it is. It is by far the bleakest series, one taking place in a post-apocalyptic world inspired by Mad Max and Terminator, and it has some of the most devastatingly heart-breaking moments in the franchise. This shouldn’t work for a kid’s show, and yet it does. RPM treats its audience with a level of respect that earlier seasons simply didn’t, while also keeping the same energy that made kids fall in love with the series in 1993. You just have to love it when a Ranger blindly goes to save people while screaming that he’s doing so because he’s Scottish. This was the last season during Disney’s tenure with the franchise, and they really went all in on making this a memorable one.

Power Rangers: Dino Charge (2015-2016)

While the Nickelodeon era of Power Rangers is generally considered the worst, there were some bright spots. Dino Charge is a divisive series, to say the least, especially for its brain-aching ending, but it found its footing by being silly, yet not insultingly so. Other Nickelodeon era shows had eye-rolling humor and characters who barely felt developed, but Dino Charge had well-developed characters that all had unique personalities. Add in some villains who found a perfect balance between being silly and serious, and you have a cast that managed to make yet another dinosaur-themed series feel fresh and exciting. It isn’t for everyone, but if you want something on the lighter side that isn’t insultingly so, Dino Charge is for you.