Back in the day, the casting direction for Power Rangers seemed to make it a point to prioritize athletic skill over acting experience (in case that wasn’t obvious). The original 6 were all martial artists, dancers, or gymnasts in one form or another. This was presumably to make the unmorphed fight scenes as believable as possible by having the actors do many of their own stunts while showing their faces. Sure, their line delivery may not have been Oscar-worthy most of the time, but they could at least kick some ass. As the show went on, stunt doubles became more heavily utilized. Thus, not as many Rangers got as much unmorphed fighting focus. In that respect, Chad Lee is an exception to the new rule.

NAME: Chad Lee
RANGER DESIGNATION: Blue Lightspeed Ranger, Power Rangers Lightspeed Rescue
BASE OF OPERATION: Mariner Bay
FIRST APPEARANCE: “Operation Lightspeed” – Power Rangers Lightspeed Rescue
LAST APPEARANCE: “Time for Lightspeed” – Power Rangers Time Force
PERSONAL WEAPONS/GEAR: Blue V-Lancer; Battle Booster (w/ Blue Lightspeed Megabattle); Blue Lightspeed Cycle
ZORDS: Aqua Rescue 2; Rail Rescue 2; OmegaZord 2
PORTRAYED BY: Michael Chaturantabut

PROFILE

An accomplished martial artist and swimmer, Chad worked as an aquatic entertainer at a theme park. During one of his routines, he was rudely interrupted by some dudes in black suits. He soon learned that he’d been chosen by Captain William Mitchell to become the Blue Lightspeed Ranger and defend Mariner Bay from a recently reawakened group of Demons bent on reclaiming their territory. No more Shamu for you.

Chad is the strong, silent type, which makes him a good counter to Kelsey, the playful and bombastic Yellow Ranger. The two spent quite a bit of time together, whether it be during training exercises or coaching Chad on how to talk to girls.

Sensei Tamashiro, who taught Chad in the ways of karate, was disappointed to find that he had become a Power Ranger. I guess literally fighting evil with karate moves isn’t a practical application for martial arts skills. Anyway, Tamashiro is approached by a Demon named Cyclopter, whom he had tossed down a flight of stairs moments before. Cyclopter begged for Tamashiro to train him, to which he agreed. With his new training, the monster was even able to kick Chad’s ass. The only explanation he could seem to muster for this was that Tamashiro was mad at him for abandoning his training. But when Cyclopter turned against his master, Chad was the one to take him down. He gained Tamashiro’s respect, and all was well.

While chillin’ out at the beach, Chad met a cute mermaid lady named Marina (of course) picking litter out of the ocean. He encountered her again later while fixing some cables outside the Aquabase and she saved him from a rock slide. Naturally, they’re smitten with each other, but Vypra tricked her into setting Chad up for a trap. He managed to escape and saved Marina from a weighted net. Tragically, Marina could never walk on land, which sorta throws a wrench in the whole “relationship” thing. Apparently, Chad had never seen The Little Mermaid.

Marina later comes to the surface and recruits Chad and the other Rangers to help her retrieve her father Neptune’s stolen trident. The Demons wanna use it to drain all of the water from Mariner Bay. Vypra captures her (again) and Chad rescues her (again). Sadly, Marina can’t stay on the surface for too long, so their rendezvous is short-lived. What a tease. They can go swimming, though, I guess.

Chad, along with the other Lightspeed Rangers, stopped Queen Bansheera from releasing a horde of demons from the Shadow World and unleashing them upon Mariner Bay. When the Rangers needed to escape the Aquabase as it was under attack, Chad took the initiative to navigate the flooded escape route for the safety of his teammates. His mission completed, Chad decides that he can spend his newfound free time surfing. Even though he had already continued surfing as a Ranger. Whatever.

About a year later, Chad returned with the other Lightspeed Rangers – and a sexier hairdo – to help the Time Force Rangers stop a zombified Vypra from awakening a superdemon. Also he’s a lifeguard now.

SUGGESTED VIEWING

I think it’s fair to say that Chad gets some of the weakest focus out of any Blue Ranger. It’s a shame, because he’s a lot of fun to watch in action. I’ll always recommend “The Chosen Path” because of this. You get a silly-fun training sequence with the Sensei and Cyclopter, and a pretty dope unmorphed fight between our blue aqua boy and the monster of the week.

RANKING

Chad’s average. He’s doesn’t become a total “Background Ranger” like many other Blues do, but he doesn’t illicit a lot of intrigue, either. His relationship with Kelsey is cute but like many of the “shy” Rangers, Chad doesn’t get a whole lot of spotlight. But what he does get are some classic standalone episodes that will likely give him an edge in future rankings. For now, I’m putting him below Kimberly as number 2 in the Children of Zordon.