Why Tommy & Kimberly Works

[~*Cathy*~]

In the spirit of the JK thread I posted, where it lists "evidence", I was wondering: what makes TK work for you? WHY are they your fave couple? What makes them so good for each other?

I want GOOD reasons here people LOL, not the cheesy lame ones that I've seen some people give for certain couples (I've read some reasons in the past for another couple (that just clashed terribly IMO) that just made me cringe! LOL). We know that we've got the best PR couple in history here so lets hear why they're the best!

I'll give my reasons later on, after I've thought them through and gathered my thoughts some. I'm curious as to what you guys think, so let's have them!

[Kim]

Another can of worms, huh?

Tommy and Kimberly are they ORIGINAL Power Couple. They started out as the new kid and the popular girl, and their friendship, while tested by his stint as the Evil Green Ranger, grew. Each episode we watched the chemistry grow, we watched the feelings subtly start peeking out, we watched a romantic relationship unfold, and in The Green Candle Pt. 2, we watched it full blown bloom with the loss of Tommy's powers and their first kiss.

During his subsequent second go as the Green Ranger, we watched Kimberly's worry for his life take center stage, and we watched him start to become the man we all knew he could be. We also watched their bond strengthen.

When Tommy returned as the White Ranger, we watched a year and a half courtship explode into a full blown relationship. They had a few months of romantic interludes and then third season started and we watched as they were tested yet again - with the loss of Kim's powers and the arrival of Katherine. We watched the tables turn - now it was Tommy worrying about Kimberly, who was dangerously close to losing her life by pushing her powers, as limited as they were, behind their limits. Tommy's unselfishly loving act of letting her go to pursue her dreams made us all sigh at the romance of it, but also we all felt our hearts break, knowing this was it. They were going to be tested in a way they had never been before.

While I hate the letter and everything that it represents and everything that happened immediately following it, I think that was definitely a growing event for them. May I also point out, Tommy completely wigged out over Kim and Jason's capture in Turbo, to the point of almost completely ignoring Kat in several points, who was his GF at the time. He even went so far as to pull off his helmet mid battle to get Kim to come back to her senses. If he didn't love her, if he didn't feel things for her still at that point, that wouldn't have happened. He didn't do it for Jason, who's his best friend, he did it for KIM.

While I would have loved to see Kim back in DT, I'd like to think even though she's not mentioned but once, the fact that Tommy had a lot of throw back comments to her in DT that he was thinking about her - about her not being there, what it would have been like had she been. I'd also like to think they mended the bridges and even if they aren't romantically together, they're at least friends again.

Tommy and Kim work for me because I grew up watching them fall in love, and I watched them fall apart. I watched them support each other, watched them worry, watched them lust, and watched them do all the things you think a high school romance should be. Despite how the writers ended it, I hate to tell them that Tommy and Kim were true, soul shaking, soul mated love at it's best. They were the kind of thing you don't see anymore.

[~*Cathy*~]

Very well said Kim, thanks! You hit most of the points I thought of already. They were just a great couple, and it was a wonderful romance while it lasted. And you totally don't see that anymore, especially on PR (darn you Disney! *shakes fist*).

Just curious... when you say "Tommy had a lot of throw back comments to her in DT" can you give me some examples? I know you've seen the series more than me, I've only seen it through one time. I can't think of anything past the Legacy of Power episode.

And yes... I opened up another BIG ole can of worms. What can I say, I love worms. :-D Don't ya just love me? LOL

[.liz]

Tommy did say "Catch you on the flipside", right? I think it's in Disappearing Act ;D

[Kim]

Sorry, shoulda been more specific. Other than the picture Kira found of the old team when Tommy was stuck in Uniform, the writer's for DT had a lot of what i call "throw back" comments. It seemed like every time we were turing around, we got quotes from Kim - Catch you on the flipside, there was another one from MMPRTM i think it was Have a nice trip, see you next fall. Those are the two I remember off the top of my head, but I distinctly recall him using several others throughout the season that just screamed Kim. Could have just been me, but that's what I remember.

[~*Cathy*~]

Ah, I remember those lines now! LOL Of course they made me think of Kim too.

[Terra]

WOW what a thread...Good one Cathy!!!

TK works for me first of all because look at them, they are smokin hot together.

But for the other reasons as well... like it brings back those first love moments. They have this love that starts of slow and builds over time. Not a faced paced moving we met tonight ended up in bed and never see one another. (not that there is anything wrong with a fling either *raises eyebrows*) LOL But their love is like this slow burn that turns into so much more. We got to watch it build up from that first glance to the (what they want us to believe) last kiss. The concern, worry, protectiveness for one another, happiness, and love they have and give one another.

Damn its making me sound sappy here LOL....but its like they gave me back the feelings of the first and lasting love. Because NO MATTER what your first love is never forgetten...and for them they get their second chance... Cathy gave that to me in Birthday Blues!!!! lol

[rapunzl]

Tommy and Kim were everything that I always wanted and couldn't have.

I know I'm dating myself (well, relatively so), but I grew up with the MMPR. I started high school when they did and I graduated alongside them. They were just imperfect enough to be able to relate with. I went through all the awkward stages with them (okay, they were never really awkward, but I was!) and when they turned in their powers moved onto bigger and better things, I left my home and everything that I felt safe with and moved into the big, bad city. Like Kim, there was that mix of excitement and regret with that move.

Having grown up relatively sheltered due to my parents' culture, Tommy and Kim seemed like the perfect couple to me. I wasn't allowed to date at all, so they were the ideal for me to emulate. Their breakup was tragic and unfair (like many in real life are), and oddly enough, coincided with my first boyfriend/best friend breaking up with me. Oh come on, I wasn't allowed to date - that doesn't mean I didn't!

Like many others, I stopped watching Power Rangers regularly after Kim left, and completely after the Letter. The show had just lost its appeal to me. I guess I'm more a romantic at heart; the big toy zords always annoyed me anyhow.

I guess they will always live on in my heart as the perfect couple. Like Terra said, much like a first love, you never really forget them.

[falconzord]

Let's not forget that Kim never once was mad at Tommy for his forgetfulness even when he forgot the exact time for their first date and Kim had to wait for him to shower and change. Also come on Tommy's ability to save Kim was always first and foremost on the show.

[~*Cathy*~]

Very well said Rapunzl. And don't worry if you're dating yourself... you're still younger than me. LOL

[shawn30]

My reasons:

1. Perfect Chemistry, the title of this very forum is one of the key reasons I think we all fell for TK in the first place. Chemistry is that rare thing that can sometimes overcome bad writing and a overall poor TV show. AJJ and JDF had it from day one. That elusive something TV producers dream of, it was nailed with TK. You can't write chemistry and you can't plan for it. Whats onscreen either pops or it doesn't. TK had a spark about them. I truly beleive that relationship did as much to catipult PR to mainstream success in the early days as the big robots and spandex, lol. To close this point, TK had that special something in the way they talked, looked at each other, interacted, and all the credit goes to the actors.

2. TK's relationship had a innocent quality about it. Both were shy towards each other, pushing friendship despite what everyone around them could see. Tommy was the cool guy who knew martial arts and was great looking and atheletic, but very shy towards Kim. He never pushed or made the first move. Kim was the bubbly, outgoing type. She was sweet in how clearly she loved Tommy and understood that she had to make every first move. There was a genuine slow build-up that felt right for their ages, and the show handled them as equals minus the typically cliched romance stuff.

3. It certainly didn't hurt that both actors are gorgious and the characters they played were very likable.

4. First love is always sweet in its own way, and watching them deal with Tommy's power losses and a couple of seperations gave their relationship some added emotional weight, despite this being Power Rangers were talking about, lol.

5. The Letter - Lets face it, as terribly stupid as TK's onscreen break-up was handled, the ships ongoing fandom now in 2008 remains the absolute biggest PR ship. I say that due to the sheer volume of TK fanfic, sites like this one, and how fans at conventions still want to see the original twleve more than any other actors. Back to the letter, with nearly a decade passed since Kim sent it, all of us have this gigantic time period that we can fill with whatever life experiences we want, be it in writing or just thinking about them. And the time period the letter gave us brings about the need/want to see first love/true love rebuilt and started again. Its the cliched happy ending everyone wants whether they act cynical or not. Tommy and Kim would be near thirty years old now and we can all imagine a million scenarios as to how they might meet up again and fall back in love. Even with Zeo, the Turbo movie, and DT those things only add more drama and would make an even sweeter love story if they somehow found their way back to each other. The Letter, stupid in its creation, gave TK a brave new world with infinite possibilities.

6. Crack cocaine - you ever sit around one afternoon after school with your crack pipe and watch power rangers when you were young? Smoking crack while watching TK flirt was just the ebst way to spend an afternoon. So if you ever run into Haim Saban or Shuki Levy, tell them that their old show made crack cocaine your drug of choice.

7. Amy Jo Johnsons tight jeans and jean shorts... Like Cambells Chicken Noodle Soup... Mmm, Mmm, good!

8. Shritless, sweaty JDF.... *women swoon*

That's all I got, lol. Later
S

[rapunzl]

You had me up through number 5...

And 6 is where you broke me. I did not expect to be laughing that hard in this thread!

[~*Cathy*~]

Leave it to Shawn to take us through serious reasons, and then leave us in stitches with his last reasons. LOL Thanks Shawn!

Love the way you put the first five, gotta agree with ya 100%.

[Kim]

Crack.....yummmmmmmmmmmmmmm......

And seriously, I use to have an outfit just like AJJ - brown hiking boots, jean skort and the pink shirt with the zipper in the front.....

Shirtless and sweaty JDF.....*drools* I so agree with Cat, Shawn, you summed that up perfectly!

[kckatnip]

Well, i cant add anything because everyone pretty much put in what i thought but i can say to me it made a diffrence in a me as a kid. I was 6 or 7 maybe and seeing tommy and kim really made me a romantic from that point on. I was so into them as a couple that after Tommy read the letter...i cried. I heard songs for weeks after that would make me feel sad and cry cause it made me think of T/k