Power Rangers has its own version of Skynet, and it led to a Terminator-style post-apocalyptic future. While Power Rangers is usually associated with Mighty Morphin, there have multiple seasons since the original series ended in 1995. Power Rangers would continue to follow the Angel Grove characters until 1998 when Zordon’s death led to the beginning of a new era for the show. Some of the best Power Rangers seasons had nothing to do with MMPR and took the saga in unexpected directions.

This includes Power Rangers R.P.M., which aired from March 7 to December 26, 2009. Similar to most of the seasons released after In Space, R.P.M. had little to no connections to the series that had come before it. Although R.P.M. was eventually part of two crossovers – Clash of the Red Rangers and Dr. K’s Beast Morphers cameo – the series took place in a separate corner of the Power Rangers multiverse. One of the most underrated Power Rangers seasons, R.P.M. gave the show its own post-apocalyptic future born from a war between humans and machines.

Power Rangers R.P.M. Gave The Show Its Own Version Of Terminator’s Skynet

Power Rangers R.P.M.’s Venjix is a sentient program that took over Earth

Power Rangers R.P.M. takes place in an alternate future where a computer program became sentient and took over the world. Venjix, which was created to be a computer virus that would help in military espionage, eventually infiltrated the internet and overruled most of the rule’s digital infrastructure. It is established in R.P.M. episode 1 that, a year after it became sentient, Venjix was controlling 37% of the world’s systems. That number only continued to grow, plus the virus became capable of creating other machines, including monster robots. Soon, Venjix had an army.

Ironically, Venjix was created by Dr. K, the scientist who would help Earth fight back by assembling a team of Power Rangers. Funnily enough, Dr. K’s Ranger Operator program was already in development when Venjix served humanity, meaning this artificial intelligence helped create the Power Rangers that would one day fight its army. Although there are plenty of sci-fi stories about A.I.s taking over the world, R.P.M. has a lot of direct connections to Terminator. Even the way Venjix went from a military-made computer program to head of an army of robots mirrors Skynet’s story in Terminator.

Power Rangers R.P.M.’s Post-Apocalyptic World Made It Different From All Other Seasons

R.P.M. told a self-contained story that stood on its own

There is a reason why R.P.M. takes place outside of the main Power Rangers chronology. By setting R.P.M. aside from Power Rangers’ usual timeline, the show was able to tell a post-apocalyptic story where the stakes were higher than they had ever been. Considering every new Power Rangers season has a different motif, the idea of a doomed future where humanity would have to slowly reclaim Earth would not work in the main timeline. Additionally, nothing in Time Force or SPD, both of which explored the future of the Power Rangers timeline, suggested humanity once lost a war against machines.

R.P.M. made the most of the Super Sentai show it was based on, Engine Sentai Go-onger. This was the first Power Rangers show to have a car motif since 1997, yet R.P.M. could not have been more different from Turbo. The characters are all well-developed, Dr. K is a very unique Ranger mentor, and the dynamic between the team is great. R.P.M. was not the first Power Rangers season to ditch the franchise’s usual formula, but it is one of the best examples of how the show can try different things and still deliver something good.

R.P.M. Remains One Of Power Rangers’ Best Seasons 15 Years Later

R.P.M. is a forgotten Power Rangers gem

The early 2000s were very positive for Power Rangers, with series that went beyond Angel Grove and Zordon following the death of the original Power Rangers mentor in 1998. Ninja Storm was a particularly important turning point for the show as the first season was made entirely under Disney and shot in New Zealand. Although early plans for Ninja Storm included making it a Mighty Morphin legacy sequel featuring a civil war between teams led by Tommy Oliver and Jason Lee Scott, it ended up being the first of many standalone seasons produced by Disney.

R.P.M. marked the end of the Disney era, and while the show had seen better days, the 2009 season was a worthy conclusion to what was an overall positive phase of the franchise. Given how so many Power Rangers seasons are about high school kids or young adults trying to balance their superheroes and personal lives, series like R.P.M. will always stand out. R.P.M. is one of the most mature Power Rangers seasons and works as a solid sci-fi show even for those who never watched any of the franchise’s shows.