It's insane! It's wild! It's groundbreaking! It sometimes creates divisions. It's the true reality of when an Iconic hero has two strong potential love interests! Tommy Oliver is one such character. Of course if you examine his story even further there are even more then two. However the debate usually comes back around to the Two Pink Rangers who originally fell for him. However I do hope to do an article next year on Tommy's Possible Dino Thunder love interests. For today though the focus is Tommy and Katherine or Tomerine. I have seen first hand that fans can be divided on this subject. I've visited fan chats and fan sites over the years. Some people prefer the classic pair with Kimberly but Tommy and Katherine does have many fans. While I am a fan of both myself, I do have strong points for Tommy and Katherine. For one both of them were possessed by Rita's power and fought against it. They both know what it is like to be tempted by dark powers. The "King For A Day" two-parter was also a key event; Where Katherine's inner passion helped save Tommy from Prince Gasket. It was her bold idea to stand before Tommy as humans and not Rangers to break Gasket's evil spell. Katherine is also rather feisty based on my observations. She gets Tommy to take risks like dating Heather even though that relationship was basically doomed to fail from the start as revealed in our previous Chapter, or the time she tricked him into babysitting from the episode "Crying Out Loud." There's also the fact that she even flirted with him as a villainess when Rita wasn't looking. Her feistiness is used for other stuff too driving her to do well in School and help in the community. I guess that's why people often call her "Kat"! Tommy and Katherine also had a full out epic adventure in the first arc of the Turbo movie! Sure it's not really romantic but it was a daring mission where they had to strongly rely on each other in order to survive. It was thanks to both of them together that Lerigot was saved! In short Katherine was the pursuer here and she was very committed. Of course that's just one side of the story.
The other side is Tommy's. Tommy remains close to his starting character here but his new leadership role has helped him evolve. He takes a step back now and again and thinks situations through more. He's a great leader in Zeo, but also able to analyze tough situations more. Of course he does still take many risks but he has a bit more of a level head. It's his spirit that draws Katherine in and makes her want to keep him close. I also want to make the Point here that the best way to get over a breakup is to move on. Being upset will only slow you down. I'm very glad that lesson is in Tommy's Ranger history. The past remains with us no matter what but if you let it drag you down, it becomes your crutch instead of your anchor. Tommy was hit hard getting Kimberly's letter and it definitely changed the course of his life. Kat pushed him to strive ahead and still face the unknown. Not everyone can move on like this. It takes a certain inner strength to overcome such an event. However I think Tommy did have this all along, but Katherine did do an amazing job of reminding him how strong he really was. Still he was very nervous to finally ask Katherine out in "Hawaii Zeo." We hear in the end of the episode they saw a movie for their first date. Their chemistry in Turbo is limited due to a lot of focus on Justin Stewart and the fast pacing of the first half of Turbo. However Tommy is shown to be a strong supporter as Katherine embarks on her journey to become a dancer. They also go camping during "Passing the Torch". Ultimately I do really like both pairs but I do see a bit more challenge in this one and I see real character development here. The more developed Tommy enertains me well and gives me more reason to chear him on; I think putting him with Katherine makes more sense than finding a way to have Kimberly return out of the blue with almost no explanation. The new pairing is energetic and lively. So yeah I'm definitely a Tomerine fan and I like being one. During the third Season they retrieved the Zeo Crystal together and even then the spark was already lit. It's a pair that really grabs my attention well and continues to thrive with power. Both Characters returned for the recent Ninja Steel event "Dimensions in Danger" and according to that story they even have a son now! Of course I know both pairs will always have their fans. However I think Tomerine has grown on me a lot and I'm glad to support it. SOR's wildest events are coming soon! I suppose S can also stand for September. So we'll just call the remaining events September of Romance! Keep on morphing and Stay tuned. Also remember to keep your minds open and comments friendly. There's enough debate in this world already! Go Tomerine!
Very interesting article, because you not only analyze the Power Rangers and their adventures, but you also share some philosophical musings that show YOUR development as a writer - way to go!
"The past remains with us no matter what but if you let it drag you down, it becomes your crutch instead of your anchor." That is brilliant! What a wonderful piece of writing. I of course favor Katherine, because her nickname is Kat. And the writing in this piece is nice because it is brief enough to read at one sitting, lots of information without getting bogged down in trivia. Great job!