This week: From a live tarantula and the Dragon Shield to dance moves he never repeated, Walter revisits the Zack moments fans remember best.
Ask Mighty Morphin Power Rangers fans to name their favorite Zack Taylor moment, and the answers cover nearly every side of the original Black Ranger.
Some remember Zack arriving at exactly the right moment to save the team. Others remember his dance battles with Bulk, the brief period when he wore Tommy’s Dragon Shield, or the many times the show confronted him with something designed to make him panic.
After hearing the fans’ choices, Walter Jones shared the stories behind those scenes and revealed which Season 1 memory remains his personal favorite.
Zack Could Always Find a Way Back to the Team
One fan chose the episode “Lions and Blizzards,” when Zack arrives just in time to help the other Rangers defeat the latest monster.
Walter understood why that moment stood out. Zack may have been busy elsewhere, but when Zordon called, he knew where he needed to be.
When you’ve got loyalty to a team, you’ve got to be there when they need you.
Fans have even created videos imagining increasingly inconvenient moments when Zordon might suddenly summon Zack back to Angel Grove. Whatever he is doing, the answer eventually becomes the same: the team needs him, so he is going.
That loyalty was an important part of Zack, but so was the energy Walter brought whenever he entered a scene. He rarely arrived quietly, especially when dancing was involved.
His Dance Battles With Bulk Kept Getting Bigger
Walter had several dance competitions with Bulk, and he remembers choreographing them around what Paul Schrier might be able to do.
The routine would begin with something manageable, build toward something more difficult, and end with a move Walter believed would be nearly impossible for Bulk to match.
Paul kept surprising him.
Walter remembers watching him borrow footwork from a Janet Jackson video and finding unexpectedly creative ways to respond whenever Zack raised the difficulty.
Even when it was impossible for him to do, he would do something beyond what I thought he could do.
During one competition, Walter performed more turns than he had ever completed before. He spun six or seven times, dropped into a half split, stood back up, and snapped his fingers.
He immediately asked whether the cameras had captured it because he knew there was no guarantee he could do it again.
They did, and he never did.
Walter followed that move by jumping into a handstand on top of the Juice Bar counter. Bulk attempted to follow, flipped across the counter, and landed in the cakes because that was usually how a Bulk challenge ended.
The Dragon Shield Looked Pretty Good in Black and Gold
Another fan chose the moment Zack temporarily wore Tommy’s Dragon Shield during the battle with the Oysterizer.
When the monster’s slime began burning Zack and Tommy, Tommy gave him the shield for protection. Walter remembers immediately appreciating how well the gold armor worked with the Black Ranger suit.
Zack eventually returned the shield and helped Tommy finish the fight, but fans never forgot the combination. Walter has not forgotten it either.
Black and gold simply worked.
The same episode also became memorable because everyone around Zack suddenly froze, leaving him and Tommy to handle the threat. It was another moment when Zack had to step forward, even if he enjoyed the upgraded wardrobe while doing it.
A Real Tarantula Made Zack’s Fear Much Easier to Act
Several fans remembered Zack’s fear of spiders, especially the scene where Tommy places a fake tarantula on his shoulder.
The spider used at the end of the episode was rubber. The one used to capture Zack’s original reaction was very real.
Walter had never seen a tarantula up close before the crew placed one directly on his shoulder. The director told him to look at it and scream, while Walter focused mostly on preventing the spider from running into his open mouth.
I’m thinking, ‘I hope the spider doesn’t run in my mouth.
He decided to blow outward while screaming to keep it away from his face. The tarantula responded by rising onto its back legs, which did very little to make Walter feel better.
A crew member quickly removed it before anything else happened. Despite the experience, Walter later kept the spider and named him Homie because “Homie don’t play that.”
When Tommy surprised Zack with the fake version later, Walter was not pretending entirely. He was reliving a much more uncomfortable moment from earlier in the shoot.
Teaching Hip-Hop Kido Became His Favorite Memory
Fans also mentioned Zack teaching Alpha 5 how to dance, attempting to enjoy a movie date with Angela before Zordon interrupted, and showing off his basketball skills against Tommy.
Walter loved all of those scenes, but his personal favorite was teaching a group of children how to perform Hip-Hop Kido.
The fighting style belonged specifically to Zack, combining martial arts, gymnastics, and dance. Until that episode, audiences had seen him use it without receiving much explanation about what it was or how it worked.
Walter had to create a routine that still felt athletic and distinctly Zack while remaining simple enough for the children to learn.
I was so proud of them. Not only was I able to show Hip-Hop Kido as something athletic, flexible, and funky, but the kids actually picked it up.
The combination was harder than it looked. Each kick had to flow into the next movement with precise timing, but many of the children successfully learned it.
For Walter, that scene allowed Zack to become more than the Ranger who danced while fighting. He became a teacher who could pass his unique skill to someone else.
Between impossible spins, unexpected spiders, dance battles, romantic interruptions, and one very stylish Dragon Shield, Season 1 gave Walter plenty of memories to choose from. Teaching those children, however, remains the moment that brought everything Zack could do together.
What is your favorite Zack moment from Season 1? Share it in the comments, then watch the whole video here to hear Walter tell the stories behind even more fan-favorite scenes.
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