text: This episode was completed on February 16, 2006, and released on March 22, 2008. The title reflects both increasing strangeness in the Rangers' affairs, as well as their mistrust of Luke.
  See the previous episode's commentary for a summary of Jetman #2.
  Whereas Jetman #2 contained both Podling and Wing King, Take Flight has split them up into separate episodes; this is the second of the two. I chose to tackle Podling and Wing King in separate episodes because I didn't feel I had ample time to reintroduce Hawk One properly in episode 2.
  This episode takes place on Sunday, April 19, the day after episodes 1 and 2.
  These are still the first battalion of Nobodies, created in episode 1.
  Dillik has just alluded to Zordon, whose signals were sent to the space station on a regular basis prior to Dillik's block. This routine communication was a function of the wormhole generator which wasn't specified overtly for quite some time (see episode 33).
  Nobodies apparently feel shame (also see episode 20).
  The Jinnsects live on a planet in an alternate dimension (though their extradimensional nature isn't stated here). When the larvae reach symbiotic age, they seek out host objects to infect and transform into monsters. Their method of reproduction was never specified, but it's possible that on occasion, one Jinnsect will infect another, creating a Jinnsect queen monster. This queen would be short-lived unless Jinnsects had a means of preventing organic meltdown seen in this episode and episode 18.
  Although the wormhole generator's dimension-spanning nature isn't specified until episode 17, I had always intended for the Jinnsects to be extradimensional, whereas Trask and Dillik were merely aliens from this universe. In retrospect, I find it surprising that it took me so long to specify outright that the wormholes were in fact bridging dimensions.
  The Jinnsects' name invokes the word "jinn" (sometimes "djinn"), also the source of the term "genie." In Arabic, it describes a type of hidden spirit, some of whom change their shapes.
  Though Dillik mentions "about fifty" Jinnsects, he actually brought 46, as revealed in episode 13. Four of them die in transit, perhaps severed by the swap zone's borders or crushed by settling rock. The rest are used as follows:
  # Monster Ep(s) Destroyed/defeated by (small) Destroyed by (giant)
  5 Somebody #1 3 melted --
  Mainframe 25-40 Zord explosion charged sword fragment
  6 Wing King 3 crash Hawk lasers
  7 Facetia 4 Casey's sword Cruiser firebird
  8 Traffico 5 Casey's Battlizer Beam Cruiser firebird
  9 Busster 6 Pete's blaster Phoenix Strike
  10 Spoutfire 7 Sky Enforcers Phoenix Strike
  11 Canhandler 7 Sky Enforcers Phoenix Strike
  12 Threadletter 8 boulder Phoenix Strike
  13 Ramenator 11 Phoenix Cannon Phoenix Strike
  14 Snapshot 12 Phoenix Cannon Cruiser firebird
  15 Disastros 13 -- Phoenix Strike
  16 Bobo 14 Sasha's Star Handle --
  17 Papyria 15 Phoenix Cannon Phoenix Strike
  18 Reverbit 16 Phoenix Cannon Phoenix Strike
  19 Hoser 17 Chris's X-strike charged flail
  20 Somebody #2 18 melted --
  21 Somebody #3
  22 Somebody #4
  23 Somebody #5
  24 Somebody #6
  25 Somebody #7
  26 Somebody #8
  27 Somebody #9
  28 Somebody #10
  29 Somebody #11
  30 Arcanum 19 Phoenix Cannon --
  31 Zephyros 20, 31 -- Quad Cannon
  32 Stackster 21-22 Shockra --
  33 Shockra 21-22 Arella --
  34 Ringo 21-22 Arella --
  35 Resa 21-22 Arella --
  36 Vibros 21-22 Boomer --
  37 Boomer 21-22 Arella --
  38 Armoros 21-22 Arella --
  39 Lockjaw 21-22 Stackster --
  40 Roadhog 21-22 Shockra --
  41 Fretter 21-22 Phoenix Cannon --
  42 Arella 21-22 Casey's X-strike Sasha-mon
  43 Swirlwind 21 Deadweight --
  44 Deadweight 21-22 Arella --
  45 Bullseye 21-22 Arella --
  46 Flamion 21 Chris's Enforcer --
  The containment field was used to ensure the Jinnsects wouldn't infect the space station itself.
  At least that's how much it would weigh according to my estimations. I wouldn't be surprised to learn I missed the mark.
  The Jinnsects wouldn't infect the rock of their home colony; this was a species defense mechanism. But it would be understandable if readers concluded from this that Jinnsects can't infect rock at all.
  I didn't show any sentai Jinnsects because I felt their puppetry was a bit lacking. I kept their appearance, however, to match the Jinnsects embedded in the early monsters.
  The Jinnsect which creates the Somebody (and later Mainframe) may be counted as #5 of 46, the first four in the tally being those which died in transit.
  I wanted to rule out organic hosts early on, to indicate that under normal circumstances, inanimate objects were to be used as hosts. The name "Somebody" was just a natural evolution from the term "Nobody," whether or not it sounded especially creative.
  In episode 13, I thought to use Chris's eating of Pete's meals to represent the strength of their friendship. This retcon gave new significance to Chris's rejection of Pete's breakfast offer here. (For those unfamiliar with the term, "retcon" is short for "retroactive continuity," as when additional details or context are added to earlier material; retcons may or may not violate previous continuity in the process, but I aimed to avoid such violations in my retcons.)
  Initially, Casey was a bit clingy toward Luke.
  Chris refers to Luke's departure in episode 2, wherein he left Casey and Maggie behind to battle Podling's pod.
  The Hoverbirds' thermal "night vision" imagery will be seen in episode 26. It activates automatically in low light levels, at least until Dr. Bering's AviMorpher upgrades in episode 31.
  Chris had a sour attitude in episode 2.
  Apparently he did, at some point this morning.
  The Rangers haven't yet realized that the villains can also see through their Hoverbirds. I found this dynamic interesting.
  Dillik simply isn't familiar enough with humans to tell them apart very well.
  Actually, Luke is fine, having been to church and grocery shopping. Casey doesn't know this because the Morphers' talk buttons don't work. (The defective talk button was a retcon I added in episode 10 to explain the hereos' failure to use their talk buttons.)
  In Jetman, the White Ranger seemed to use her blaster quite a bit, so I reflect that here. It's also easier to fire a blaster than wield a sword when one has no martial arts training.
  Casey clearly doesn't know her strength while morphed.
  Casey has compassion for living things, including her Nobody attackers.
  The ability to re-form was shown in episode 1. It will not appear again.
  This references Pete's difficulty flying in episode 2.
  Jinnsect monsters' personalities tend to reflect their host objects; in this case, the Somebody enjoys fighting.
  The "you again" will make the others suspicious that Luke is hiding something, but it actually reflects the Somebody's origin as a Nobody Luke fought in the quarry in episode 1. Jinnsect monsters' memories involved their host objects, not their Jinnsects, which were only minimally aware of their surroundings.
  The Jinnsect is being rejected by its organic body.
  My early plans for Luke included his religious beliefs, as I felt they would be interesting when contrasted with the alien events around him. Though Power Rangers doesn't generally speak of religious affiliation (aside from Judaism, occasionally), I found it only natural to mention it. I don't attempt to endorse any particular faith by doing so, however. Luke simply happens to be a church-going Christian.
  Dillik has monitored the Jinnsects' activity with the wormhole generator, if for no other reason than to identify a colony at symbiotic age. One is left to wonder what kinds of organic hosts have been infected by Jinnsects in their home dimension.
  Their territorial nature was my explanation for the one-moster-at-a-time formula, though it wasn't applicable in this episode. It did become important in episodes 21 and 22.
  This cafe appears several times throughout the series. It was my version of a "hang-out" location for the team in their civilian lives, though it was used less frequently than I originally expected.
  Chris's dislike of Luke aside, he does remain fair-minded and slow to condemn others.
  The hymnal and groceries serve as evidence that Luke was telling the truth. The hymnal, borrowed from his new church in Spring Valley, will presumably be destroyed in episode 13.
  Luke misses flying. He is also shown demonstrating a rarely-featured button on the AviMorphers, whereby the Hoverbirds can be steered manually.
  In the sentai, this jet was flown by the team's mentor Chokan alongside the Hawkzord as they searched for the last two Rangers.
  I researched pilot-speak while writing this episode; I can't guarantee my output is completely accurate, however.
  Dillik has sent Jinnsect #6 of 46 to infect the jet seen through Luke's Hoverbird. In the sentai, the Jinnsect was released by Radiguet's giant spectral form in mid-air.
  Elements of this scene indicate my original intent to use sentai footage of the Jinnsect infecting the jet. Eventually, however, I decided to replace all Jinnsects with US recreations, which I felt would look more realistic.
  This intermediate stage in Jinnsect monster transformations is its pupal form, to continue the insect metamorphosis analogy. I assumed monsters spent a while in this pupal form prior to full metamorphosis (though the Somebody's exception may be due to its organic nature). The pupal forms would later be used as a convenient means to show monsters (or proto-monsters, rather) in US footage without having the sentai costumes on hand.
  In the sentai, this was Chokan ejecting.
  In the sentai, the jet actually snatched Black Ranger's civilian form from downtown. This took place after Red Ranger's dogfight downtown (below), which in the sentai did not end in the jet's defeat.
  It isn't revealed how Wing King knew where to find Luke, unless he simply had excellent vision.
  And yet this confrontation somehow failed to expose their identities.
  The Somebody may have secretly followed the heroes to the cafe. Further episodes will be more careful about villains somehow tracking down the Rangers without the use of Hoverbirds.
  At times, it became difficult to explain the numerous quarry scenes featured prominently in Jetman. I believe this instance, however, was explained sufficiently.
  Pete's Hoverbird has detected the jet monster.
  Wing King remembers Luke flying in him when he was a jet. Luke is shown in flashback flying a similar jet (if not Wing King's jet itself) in episode 36.
  Luke's status as a noteworthy pilot likely explains his selection for Project Jetman. It may not explain his crash-landing in the quarry (see episode 2), however.
  Wing King's desire is to rule the skies, with or without Luke's help.
  Having been holding in low-Earth orbit with the other Flyers after somehow recovering from its crash-landing, Hawk One has detected that Luke is in trouble. The Flyers would not come to the Rangers' automatic rescue once they were able to call them at will.
  A careful examination will reveal an erroneous white-helmeted pilot inside Hawk One; in the sentai, the unmorphed Red Ranger was piloting the Hawk to rescue Black Ranger from the jet's clutches.
  In the sentai, this blow was responsible for Wing King's lingering injury in the quarry; in Take Flight, I made his defeat the result of a crash downtown (see below).
  One is left to wonder why falling is a concern for winged Rangers. Perhaps this is difficult to remember when an inexperienced Ranger (even test Ranger Luke) is in free-fall. Or perhaps he would have glided down if given the chance in this instance, whereas his quarry fall (seen in flashback in episode 2) was simply due to being distracted trying to catch the Morphers.
  Clearly there was no Red Ranger catch in the sentai; this was an ordinary Hawk One shot. In Jetman, Red Ranger leaps out of the Hawk and tosses Black his Morpher in free-fall, allowing him to morph and save himself.
  Zyuranger apparently recycled Jetman's Zord cockpits. I felt this evoked pleasant connections between Take Flight and Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. This connection also makes sense within the series, given that the Flyers (and Dinozords, I posit) were designed by Zordon.
  Luke's memory of the Hawkzord has apparently been jogged.
  Red Ranger cockpit shots had to be culled from other episodes (a luxury afforded by reviewing the entire sentai series before writing Take Flight) because this sentai episode exclusively featured Red Ranger unmorphed in the cockpit.
  This is an inside joke referring to the prominence of quarry scenes in Jetman, though the joke may have occurred a bit early in the series.
  Now the Rangers know the term "Nobody."
  Chris becomes plucky and bold when morphed, perhaps due to the sense of anonymity provided by his Ranger form.
  Unlike in some seasons of Power Rangers, my Rangers don't automatically gain martial arts prowess upon morphing. I felt such inexplicable skill would be implausible for a technology-based series. Jetman took the same approach.
  In the sentai, this girder scene was more elaborate and showed the jet firing at the Hawk from above the building; the explosions were simply due to these blasts, and the jet then proceeded to fly off and abduct Black Ranger (see above). By editing this scene down, I was able to turn it into the jet's defeat.
  Fights are probably best left choreographed by professional stunt directors.
  This Jinnsect will remain in a cocoon in the ravine, to be found by Trask in episode 24 and turned into Mainframe. When I wrote this episode, I expected the stray Jinnsect might become Zephyros, whose episode was originally planned to take place much later in the series (after the Jinnsects had been used up). Eventually, however, I moved that episode forward and created Mainframe as Trask's replacement for Dillik.
  I suspect a mention of steroids wouldn't be allowed to air.
  In Jetman #2, Wing King approached as the five Rangers were gathered together for the first time (see episode 2).
  I'm not sure about Jetman, but in my series, I wanted to make it clear that Wing King was the giant form of the possessed jet, in order to set a precedent for monsters growing after sustaining heavy damage (per his crash downtown). Unlike all other Jinnsect monsters, however, he retained an injury after growing (though we don't know whether he was destroyed downtown before growing, which might play a role in whether his injury should have been healed).
  As mentioned previously, Wing King was injured by the Hawkzord's flyby in the sentai. Here, he is injured from his crash.
  In the sentai, as the others battled Nobodies at this point (the fight later used in Take Flight episode 5), Red Ranger assaulted the giant monster in midair with his sword, but he was smacked aside. Though this was appealing due to its familiarity (Power Rangers has repeatedly featured Red Rangers attacking giant monsters in vain), I found the special effects unappealing and cut that sequence accordingly.
  Some of Wing King's shots are used out of their sentai order.
  In the sentai, Red Ranger did not call the Hawkzord. If he had, he would have had to pilot it himself, as the Flyers in Jetman were far less automated than in Take Flight.
  This is the only time one of the Flyers makes a bird sound.
  In the sentai, Wing King's leaking fuel was ignited not by the Hawkzord, but by Red Ranger's Sky Blaster from below. I felt this was too easy a monster destruction, and incorporating Hawk One into the monster's destruction fit well with the rest of the episode.
  When this episode was written, Trask's sword-polishing was merely something for him to do to look busy. As of episode 38, it was retconned into application of Ancients' tears.
  We learn the villains' plan for the first time. Dillik believes all three of these tasks were assigned by Lord Omos. To my recollection, I had not yet decided that Lord Omos was Trask's invention by this point.
  Though Trask wants this battalion of Nobodies destroyed, Dillik mercifully releases them into the wild instead, as hinted in episodes 5 and 6.
  I thought it only prudent that the villains reflect on the monster's manner of defeat and intend not to repeat it. It may be noted that the first biomass monster, Two-Fish, was full of missiles which similarly caused his demise (episode 25), but this was Mainframe's monster.
  Luke will continue to struggle with teamwork at times, however.
  He did not; rather, he must have heard the term aboard the space station.
  I thought resuming the freezeframe would make for an interesting twist on an old classic.
  Between this episode and next, Luke will have taught them to fight, but Casey will later note that Luke "went kinda fast on the swordfighting lessons" (episode 15), explaining her preference toward her Sky Blaster in combat.
  The sentai Rangers received martial arts training in Jetman #3, but their teacher was their mentor, Chokan.