Austin St. John leftPower Rangersmidway through season 2, but the original Red Ranger would return to the show two years later forPower Rangers Zeo. When Austin St. John, Walter Emanuel Jones, and Thuy Trang left the series due to a contract dispute,Mighty Morphin Power Rangersestablished that Jason, Zack, and Trini were going to leave Angel Grove to participate in a peace conference in Switzerland. While the new Red, Black, and Yellow Rangers were great,Power Rangersdidn’t handle this transition well and abruptly moved away from three of the show’s most important characters.
Theoriginal Power Rangerswould never assemble on TV show ever again after that. Thuy Trang tragically passed away in 2001, while Walter Emanuel Jones would only return to the franchise 29 years later inPower Rangers: Once & Always. That said, it didn’t take too long forAustin St. John’s Jasonto show up again. Those who were watchingZeowhen it came out in 1996 were shocked to learn thatthe person Tommy was searching for to become the new Gold Ranger was Jason, who had been away from the series since 1994.
Austin St. John Was Offered To Return To Power Rangers For Zeo & The Turbo Movie
Jason Appeared In The Latter Half Of Power Rangers Zeo & The Turbo Movie
WhilePower Rangers Zeocame out before thePower RangersTurbomovie, Austin St. John was originally in talks to return as Jason for the upcoming film when he was offered to return to the series (viaFanward). Shuki Levy, one of the producers and writers of the show, asked Austin St. John if he would also like to return to thePower Rangersseries in addition to the new movie. Jason would not appear inZeofrom start to finishbut instead in 17 to 20 episodes as the Gold Ranger.
Similar to the Green Ranger inMighty Morphin Power Rangers,theZeoGold Ranger was going to be a Sixth Ranger. In other words, he would have a slightly different costume, a unique set of powers, and would only appear in a handful of episodes. The Gold Ranger was described to Austin St. John as the most powerful character that they had ever done on the show, with Jason being a replacement for Trey of Triforia. St. John liked the pitch and signed up forPower Rangers Zeoin addition toTurbo: A Power Rangers Movie.
Trey of Triforia existed in three identical forms at the same time.
The Gold Ranger appeared for the first time inPower Rangers Zeoepisode 27. This was still Trey of Triforia, who kept his identity hidden for a while but later revealed himself to thePower Rangers. With Trey no longer being able to use his powers,the Rangers had to find someone worthy of becoming the Gold Ranger.Tommy knew just the right person, and in “A Golden Homecoming,” he shows up with Jason. This episode marked Austin St. John’s return to the show and sawJason become the new Gold Ranger.
What Happened To Jason Between MMPR Season 2 & Power Rangers Zeo
Jason Was Very Different In Zeo Compared To Mighty Morphin
One of the most interesting aspects of Jason’s return inPower Rangers Zeois that we don’t know what he was up to betweenMMPRseason 2 and his Gold Ranger era. Jason was wearing a trench coat, a headband, and sunglasses in the desert when he and Tommy showed up, suggesting that the original Red Ranger was quite busy offscreen. Jason’s return was meant to shock everyone, especially because fans had been theorizing about the identity of the Gold Ranger since Trey first appeared. Whilemany assumed Billy would be the new Gold Ranger, Jason was the actual replacement.
In the comics, we have a lot more context about what happened to Jason after the events of “The Power Transfer.” Whilethe comics are not canon to the TV show, they do offer some very interesting retcons and storylines that make the original series much better. In the BOOM! Studios’Power Rangerscontinuity, Jason, Zack, and Trini were never in a peace conference. Instead, they went on a secret mission and became Omega Rangers. Jason and the others were operating in space for a while during the latter half ofMMPRseason 2.
Jason had an edge to him inZeothat wasn’t there inMMPR.
More recently in the comics’ continuity, Jason left the Omega Rangers and officially retired from being a Power Ranger, leaving Trini as the new Red Omega Ranger. Considering that this happened when the comics were still somewhere in the lateMMPRseason 2 era, there is still a huge gap in Jason’s story left to be covered. However,the mysteriousness surrounding Jason’s character inZeoadded a lot to his return, as he wasn’t just simply the original Red Ranger back with a new costume. Jason had an edge to him inZeothat wasn’t there inMMPR.
Jason Became The Sixth Ranger In Power Rangers Zeo (While Tommy Was The Red Ranger)
Jason And Tommy Switched Roles In Power Rangers Zeo
Perhaps the coolest thing about Jason’s return inPower Rangers Zeois that this time, he was the Sixth Ranger, while Tommy was the leader. This was the opposite of their dynamic inMighty Morphin Power Rangers, during which Jason was the Red Ranger, and Tommy was the Sixth Ranger. Being a Red Ranger means putting your team first and having to have all the right answers, whilethe Sixth Ranger always gets to be a little more unpredictable and operate within their own rules.This is one of the reasons why Jason was so different inPower RangersTurbo.
Power Rangers’ Greatest Mystery Has Remained Unsolved For 26 Years And Might Never Be Answered
The most important Power Rangers battle happened 26 years ago, yet the show never explained the Mighty Morphin team mystery that came with it.
Whether Tommy worked as a Red Ranger is open for debate, but seeing Jason as a Sixth Ranger was very interesting. We watched Jason be the confident, wise leader for dozens of episodes ofMighty Morphin Power Rangerswhile Tommy got to be the “cooler guy” with a different costume and his own theme song. InZeo, the roles were reversed. Tommy was learning how to be a better leader, whileJason seemed more relaxed and was just happy to be there working with his friends again.
After The Turbo Movie, Jason Would Still Return To Power Rangers Twice
Jason Showed Up In “Forever Red” And “Grid Connection”
Power Rangers Zeoends with Jason returning the Gold Ranger powersand going back to retirement. However, inTurbo: A Power Rangers Movie, Jason is forced back into action after he and Kimberly, the original Pink Rangers, are kidnapped by Divatox and brainwashed into fighting their friends. Jason and Kimberly don’t really get an arc in theTurbomovie and don’t learn much about what they had been up to since their previous appearances. Still, it was fun seeing two of the original Power Rangers interacting with theTurboteam even if briefly.
1993-1994
1996
1997
2002
Power Rangers: Beast Morphers(cameo)
2020
Jason would have two big appearances inPower Rangersafter theTurbomovie. The first was in 2002’sPower RangersWild Forcefor the “Forever Red” crossover, in which Jason reunited with Tommy and used hisMMPRRed Ranger powers for the first time since 1996. The other was inPower Rangers: Beast Morpher’s “Grid Connection" from 2020, in which Jason also used hisMMPRpowers and got a rematch against a new version of Goldar. The original Red Ranger was technically in “The Legendary Battle” andOnce & Alwaysas well, but with his helmet on and no lines.
