...Like a Horse and Carriage...
Oct. 29th, 2009 10:34 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jjporYeah, my claims that I would wait until tomorrow and watch both parts in one go turned out to be an idle boast. So, the most hotly-anticipated Sarah Jane Adventures guest-appearance since Russ Abbott...
I haven't read any online opinions on this yet, but I think some people might well be disappointed by the Doctor-lite nature of this first part. A lot of the spoilers and publicity seemed to suggest that this would be a full-on Doctor adventure, a "fifth special". if you will, and, well, he wasn't in this first part at all until the cliffhanger (although it looks like we'll see plenty of him in the next one, going by the trailer!). I hope this doesn't make some people feel cheated, though, because I thought this was a perfectly enjoyable episode with more than a couple of squee-out-loud moments, if you're into that sort of thing...
To be honest, the lack of Doctor in this first part didn't really surprise me all that much.I have learned to trust nothing that passes the lips of Team Cardiff. I mean, .I sort of suspected that the most dramatically apposite moment to introduce the lanky be-pinstriped one would be that "or forever hold their peace" bit, which I'd already seen in a trailer a couple of weeks back. Nobody does running into shot and shouting a goggle-eyed warning better than old Tennant. We'll miss that when he's gone! ;D
Moreover, though, I had an uneasy feeling at the idea of the Doctor guesting in Sarah Jane. Not that I didn't think it'd be awesome, I just thought; well, with the Doctor hogging all of the limelight, beating all of the baddies etc, it wouldn't really be SJA would it? Well, would it? So, I'm not going to hold relative Doctor-liteness against this story. Not unless he's scarcely in part two either, of course ! ;D
And besides, wasn't the K9 and Mr Smith show enough for anybody? I was cackling like an idiot watching their increasingly bitchy and jealous exchanges across the attic. K9 does it with more passive-aggressive style, though, I'd argue. The way he was siding with Clyde against Mr Smith amused me greatly. As did the explanation for just how the heck he got up on that throne in State of Decay (well okay, not a direct explanation, but that was the first thing that came to mind). Hint: the same way a Dalek would! Also loved his complete uselessness at lying, or rather the way he smugly dropped the kids in it by failing miserably to cover for them. You know, the way he used to drop Four in it with Romana. Well, okay _he_ didn't, technically speaking, but...
And Mr Smith totally snitched on the kids because he was feeling all jealous and bitter, I'll bet.
This is getting repetitive, but Clyde continues to be...Clyde. Here he was the only one not buying into Sarah's whirlwind romance and sudden nuptials. Quite possibly for the wrong reasons, but he was proved right in the end! And he even brought K9 to the wedding. Which was needed, I'll argue! ;D The bit where Clyde and Rani and Rani's mum were trying unsubtly to get a glimpse of Sarah's fella also amused me greatly, as did Gita and Haresh's little comedy asides at the wedding itself.
Can't we have a spinoff series were Clyde and Rani's parents team up to save the world every week?
Some thoughts:
Look, it's Nigel Havers! I remember him.
What the devil is going down in Peru that the Brig has to spend his well-deserved retirement shuttling back and forth to it?
What happened to Clyde's mum? She was awesome, but she's vanished off the face of the Earth!
In his lovely white wedding dress, the Trickster looked just like one of those nuns from that film I'm not remembering the title of. Only EVIL!!
The only thing that didn't sit well with me was the way Sarah seemed to lose her mind a little bit, as she always seems to do at moments like this in SJA. Sure, she was in love and apparently under the influence of some mind-controlling engagement ring, but I don''t know. I'd like to see her moaning about her hard, lonely life a little bit less and taking charge a little bit more. Yes, I know, I'm just bitter because when she was talking about her non-existent love life she didn't say "Apart from Harry, of course..." ;D
The little mum/son scene between her and Luke was lovely though.
Well, roll on tomorrow, I say, and Tennant's amazing bulging eyes and clenched teeth!
I haven't read any online opinions on this yet, but I think some people might well be disappointed by the Doctor-lite nature of this first part. A lot of the spoilers and publicity seemed to suggest that this would be a full-on Doctor adventure, a "fifth special". if you will, and, well, he wasn't in this first part at all until the cliffhanger (although it looks like we'll see plenty of him in the next one, going by the trailer!). I hope this doesn't make some people feel cheated, though, because I thought this was a perfectly enjoyable episode with more than a couple of squee-out-loud moments, if you're into that sort of thing...
To be honest, the lack of Doctor in this first part didn't really surprise me all that much.
Moreover, though, I had an uneasy feeling at the idea of the Doctor guesting in Sarah Jane. Not that I didn't think it'd be awesome, I just thought; well, with the Doctor hogging all of the limelight, beating all of the baddies etc, it wouldn't really be SJA would it? Well, would it? So, I'm not going to hold relative Doctor-liteness against this story. Not unless he's scarcely in part two either, of course ! ;D
And besides, wasn't the K9 and Mr Smith show enough for anybody? I was cackling like an idiot watching their increasingly bitchy and jealous exchanges across the attic. K9 does it with more passive-aggressive style, though, I'd argue. The way he was siding with Clyde against Mr Smith amused me greatly. As did the explanation for just how the heck he got up on that throne in State of Decay (well okay, not a direct explanation, but that was the first thing that came to mind). Hint: the same way a Dalek would! Also loved his complete uselessness at lying, or rather the way he smugly dropped the kids in it by failing miserably to cover for them. You know, the way he used to drop Four in it with Romana. Well, okay _he_ didn't, technically speaking, but...
And Mr Smith totally snitched on the kids because he was feeling all jealous and bitter, I'll bet.
This is getting repetitive, but Clyde continues to be...Clyde. Here he was the only one not buying into Sarah's whirlwind romance and sudden nuptials. Quite possibly for the wrong reasons, but he was proved right in the end! And he even brought K9 to the wedding. Which was needed, I'll argue! ;D The bit where Clyde and Rani and Rani's mum were trying unsubtly to get a glimpse of Sarah's fella also amused me greatly, as did Gita and Haresh's little comedy asides at the wedding itself.
Can't we have a spinoff series were Clyde and Rani's parents team up to save the world every week?
Some thoughts:
Look, it's Nigel Havers! I remember him.
What the devil is going down in Peru that the Brig has to spend his well-deserved retirement shuttling back and forth to it?
What happened to Clyde's mum? She was awesome, but she's vanished off the face of the Earth!
In his lovely white wedding dress, the Trickster looked just like one of those nuns from that film I'm not remembering the title of. Only EVIL!!
The only thing that didn't sit well with me was the way Sarah seemed to lose her mind a little bit, as she always seems to do at moments like this in SJA. Sure, she was in love and apparently under the influence of some mind-controlling engagement ring, but I don''t know. I'd like to see her moaning about her hard, lonely life a little bit less and taking charge a little bit more. Yes, I know, I'm just bitter because when she was talking about her non-existent love life she didn't say "Apart from Harry, of course..." ;D
The little mum/son scene between her and Luke was lovely though.
Well, roll on tomorrow, I say, and Tennant's amazing bulging eyes and clenched teeth!
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no subject
Date: 2009-10-29 11:32 pm (UTC)I loved all the little Classic references they're working in this season. The flashback, the Brig in Peru (is he still a Classic reference? hmmm...), Metebelis III. etc.
And the way they kept doing fake-outs with the TARDIS landing noise throughout he episode, though, I've no doubt that will be explained in the next episode as the Trickster keeping the Doctor away, or something. I mean, is it just me, or did the Google-Eyed One seemed a bit... out of focus? Blurry?
Anyways, I'm jumping for next week. I'm a bit disappointed with how the writers are continuing to retard Sarah-Jane's character, but it was as over-bearing as I'd feared it might be, and while the wedding did come up quickly I think they let a reasonable amount of time pass with all these days and weeks... she must've known him for at least 2-3 months. Still insanely fast but...
Anyways, looking forward to the next bit. And glad that it's the Trickster; I've been wanting to see him and the Doctor duke it out for some time, and maybe figure out what the heck the Tricker is anyways. 'Cause I'm pretty sure he's somehow Time War related...
no subject
Date: 2009-11-01 04:39 pm (UTC)Hmm - good call on the spluttery TARDIS noises too; that was more or less what they actually explained in Pt 2.
Yeah, it's kind of unfortunate that the least enjoyable aspect of any given SJA story is often the dodgy characterisation they're giving SJ this week. Lis Sladen acts it all with sincerity, though, as Peter Cushing used to say of his own dodgier film appearances, and more power to her for that. More stuff like that cracky alien-possession scene in the first story, I say, and less whinging about how lonely she is. As I said though, her and Luke were nice together in this first part.
Was it you who was talking about the Trickster totally being some aspect or avatar or whatever of the Black Guardian? Because that's my preferred theory now after seeing the second part; I mean, they more or less came straight out and said it with all of the Key to Time malarkey.
no subject
Date: 2009-10-30 12:22 am (UTC)Also, K-9 rules the passive-agressive. Emotionless computer? Not.
no subject
Date: 2009-11-01 04:31 pm (UTC)No, K9 is excellent; I love how pleased he is with himself the whole time. And why wouldn't he be?
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Date: 2009-11-02 12:12 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-11-02 12:13 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-11-02 08:50 pm (UTC)And of course not, when Harry called her it...I bet she even ended up tolerating "old thing", "old girl", etc... ;D
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Date: 2009-11-02 11:30 pm (UTC)*I put that in quotes because I don't think there's anything ''less'' about being a friend.
no subject
Date: 2009-11-03 08:19 pm (UTC)