Mr Smith, I need you!
Nov. 13th, 2007 09:59 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lonelybritSo I have just watched the latest ep of The Sarah Jane Adventures. Isn't this series only 10 eps long? In which case, this (ep 9) is the first part of the finale. And ZOMG IT WAS SO SO SOOOO GOOD!! WHY IS MY FL NOT EXPLODING FROM THE JOYFUL POSTS OF EXCITED/BROKENHEARTED/GOBSMACKED SQUEEE?!!
So I started off the ep about to dissolve into tears. Then a slight disappointed feeling of 'oh.' when the plot was really revealed, and I should have had more faith in the writers because less than a few seconds later I was back into the land of ecstatically happy fangirl. Ah, The Goddess of Continuity smiled on this ep in so many ways, pure pure gold.
Non-spoilery summery?
x. I officially adore Maria's Dad. He rocks on so many levels.
x. Clyde and Luke. My friendship OTP *clutches heart*
x. 'Oh no... no way, oh brilliant...' for one plot reveal.
x. 'NO F**KING WAY!' for the second.
Okay, initially I was disappointed that actually the writers weren't going to go the full hog with the idea of Luke genuinely being the son of some grieving parents. I still think it's a bit of a missed opportunity, but then it is a kid's show and possibly just a bit too much to try and tackle in just half an hour. To have had him be a kidnapped child who was memory-wiped by the Bane would have been devestatingly lovely to watch. To have it all build up and then just as my heart was about to crack, have the cop-out of 'No it's just an alien abduction plot' was, well, a cop-out.
HOWEVER. The writers regain some cred for bringing back the Slitheen, so at least it's an alien I don't mind seeing again. And they almost completely regain cred for bringing back the child of the Slitheen out to avenge the killing of his father and family. There is some complications in this cop-out, in that I am genuinely feeling a bit for the lead alien 'enemy'. Yes, I'd want to take out the folks who killed my dad pretty much in front of me.
The main goldmine, though, of course was Mr Smith. The chilling realisation that Clyde was on his own with an alien superbrain and the new tone of Mr Smith's voice as he said, yes, he knows the photo is fake because he was the one to create it. Dude.
To be honest, whilst I would love for Mr Smith to have been on an agenda from the beginning, I can't quite see it. I think I need to rewatch to listen more to what the role of this 'Ziloch' (?) is. In any case, if there's going to be a series 2 of this *crosses fingers and toes*, i wouldn't be surprised if they made it that Mr Smith had been somehow hi-jacked and at the end is 'reprogrammed' to be helpful, as frankly SJA would be a little bit screwed without her on-hand analysis/info source. THAT SAID, it would also be lovely to see them all have to cope with the repercussions of a real 'betrayal', so he stays gone when the credits roll.
On the family side of things, I was totally with Maria's dad (Alan) for freaking out and wanting to get his daughter away from it all. Of course I wanted Maria to stay, but honestly, you see the world about to end and wouldn't you want to keep your nearest and dearest safe from that? I do take off my hat to the writers in that they were sympathetic to this view, with Sarah Jane actually being the one to almost take his side and try to explain to Maria why he was doing it.
To then have Alan calm down and realise that the other side of the argument was also true, and decide to stay, oh my heart swelled. To see him, Sarah Jane, Mara and Luke all watching the shooting stars or whatever they were, ah, that be my dream 'family' unit, as such. Of course the shit hit the fans not long after, but again Alan won me by sticking by his belief in Sarah Jane despite the police, even if he didn't know her that well personally, he trusted in his daughter's opinion enough to not be happy with the situation.If this was a more adult show, e.g. AtS, I'd say this kind of niceness is generally a preliminary to being killed-off, but I can't quite see them making Maria effectively an orphan in the finale.
Anyway, we will see what happens next, mwhahaha... *rubs hands*
ETA: So, in 'Next Week' there's a shot of Clyde standing 'inside' Mr Smith. Main bits of scenery are the screen looking out, and a block of red with red numbers on it.
You know, whilst I always thought it looks very nifty, I did wonder what the red numbers in the opening credits were all about.
It's Mr Smith. Dude, the whole thing. Mr Smith. Well well well.
So I started off the ep about to dissolve into tears. Then a slight disappointed feeling of 'oh.' when the plot was really revealed, and I should have had more faith in the writers because less than a few seconds later I was back into the land of ecstatically happy fangirl. Ah, The Goddess of Continuity smiled on this ep in so many ways, pure pure gold.
Non-spoilery summery?
x. I officially adore Maria's Dad. He rocks on so many levels.
x. Clyde and Luke. My friendship OTP *clutches heart*
x. 'Oh no... no way, oh brilliant...' for one plot reveal.
x. 'NO F**KING WAY!' for the second.
Okay, initially I was disappointed that actually the writers weren't going to go the full hog with the idea of Luke genuinely being the son of some grieving parents. I still think it's a bit of a missed opportunity, but then it is a kid's show and possibly just a bit too much to try and tackle in just half an hour. To have had him be a kidnapped child who was memory-wiped by the Bane would have been devestatingly lovely to watch. To have it all build up and then just as my heart was about to crack, have the cop-out of 'No it's just an alien abduction plot' was, well, a cop-out.
HOWEVER. The writers regain some cred for bringing back the Slitheen, so at least it's an alien I don't mind seeing again. And they almost completely regain cred for bringing back the child of the Slitheen out to avenge the killing of his father and family. There is some complications in this cop-out, in that I am genuinely feeling a bit for the lead alien 'enemy'. Yes, I'd want to take out the folks who killed my dad pretty much in front of me.
The main goldmine, though, of course was Mr Smith. The chilling realisation that Clyde was on his own with an alien superbrain and the new tone of Mr Smith's voice as he said, yes, he knows the photo is fake because he was the one to create it. Dude.
To be honest, whilst I would love for Mr Smith to have been on an agenda from the beginning, I can't quite see it. I think I need to rewatch to listen more to what the role of this 'Ziloch' (?) is. In any case, if there's going to be a series 2 of this *crosses fingers and toes*, i wouldn't be surprised if they made it that Mr Smith had been somehow hi-jacked and at the end is 'reprogrammed' to be helpful, as frankly SJA would be a little bit screwed without her on-hand analysis/info source. THAT SAID, it would also be lovely to see them all have to cope with the repercussions of a real 'betrayal', so he stays gone when the credits roll.
On the family side of things, I was totally with Maria's dad (Alan) for freaking out and wanting to get his daughter away from it all. Of course I wanted Maria to stay, but honestly, you see the world about to end and wouldn't you want to keep your nearest and dearest safe from that? I do take off my hat to the writers in that they were sympathetic to this view, with Sarah Jane actually being the one to almost take his side and try to explain to Maria why he was doing it.
To then have Alan calm down and realise that the other side of the argument was also true, and decide to stay, oh my heart swelled. To see him, Sarah Jane, Mara and Luke all watching the shooting stars or whatever they were, ah, that be my dream 'family' unit, as such. Of course the shit hit the fans not long after, but again Alan won me by sticking by his belief in Sarah Jane despite the police, even if he didn't know her that well personally, he trusted in his daughter's opinion enough to not be happy with the situation.
Anyway, we will see what happens next, mwhahaha... *rubs hands*
ETA: So, in 'Next Week' there's a shot of Clyde standing 'inside' Mr Smith. Main bits of scenery are the screen looking out, and a block of red with red numbers on it.
You know, whilst I always thought it looks very nifty, I did wonder what the red numbers in the opening credits were all about.
It's Mr Smith. Dude, the whole thing. Mr Smith. Well well well.
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no subject
Date: 2007-11-13 10:32 pm (UTC)End of Revenge of the Slitheen, when Clyde asks where he came from - which no-one else ever does - Mr. Smith's voice suddenly changes as he snaps "your curiosity will get you into trouble, boy" and then does a Villainous Evil Laugh, suddenly switching to nicey-nice again when Sarah walks in.
I've been arguing with RL people that Mr Smith is the big bad for 7 weeks, it's nice to get vindication. :p
no subject
Date: 2007-11-13 10:44 pm (UTC)Oh, I did love that scene :) Have to admit I just presumed it was Mr Smith warning Luke not to ask too many questions as in curiosity killed the cat type of warning as opposed to being directly hostile. But you're right, if he does turn out to be evil, we did have some warning!
I think my main niggle at the moment to dismissing Mr Smith as evil from the get-go is that from the trailers it looks like his plan is to bring the moon crashing down on the Earth, which I'm assuming would be fatal to all life thereon. However if his purpose is to simply kill all life, why didn't he just let the meteor hit last week, or the Slitheen turn off the sun.
Anyway, I would prefer him to have been corrupt from the start, however I will be expecting the writers to give up a nefarious plot beyond simple life elimination. Which given their track record, if they're intending him to be the Big Bad, I'm sure they'll deliver in spades =)
no subject
Date: 2007-11-13 11:24 pm (UTC)No idea if you're interested, but thought I'd throw it out there.
no subject
Date: 2007-11-14 12:11 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-11-13 11:47 pm (UTC)Sorry I didn't squee: PG is overwriting my brain right now, but I can't wait to chew it all over with you on Friday! I'm petty enough that I actually worried it was kind of Jossing / hijacking my wip storyline - if Luke had turned out to be a mindwiped real person - so I was relieved when it was all A Cunning Ebil Alien Plan!
That whole damn show is so emotional in a strange, pure way. Alan was stellar, and I like that Maria isn't a perfect little moppet but that you get the sense of her wilfulness being an additional burden for him - the show lets us sympathise with each of them in turn. Loved Luke's helplesness in the House of Ebil - give him a mental challenge and he's away, but a physical threat is something he's just too inexperienced, too un-streetwise, to deal with. Loved Maria and Clyde's very palpable mourning and distress at school, which they got across poignantly but not too sentimentally. Loved Clyde's tenacity in riding to the rescue - it would have been easy to make him the foil to Maria and Luke, less smart and less questioning, and I love that the three of them really are differently skilled but equal as a whole.
ADORED Sarah Jane's hopelessly desperate attempt to push Maria away, because it made me ache for how much of her innate humanity, love of humanity, she must have bottled up in all those years between leaving the Doctor and meeting him again. I think he broke her heart terribly - I don't mean in a romantic sense, but something deeper. Losing him made her shut herself away from the chance of loving and risking any such loss again: now her renaissance after that second meeting, and the chance of Luke and then Maria being in her life. Damn it's all so achy.
It's maddening too - I'm too distracted with practicalities and I want to get back to the story now! Bloody Cardiff...
Oh - and 'Ashley's' bedroom had a poster for a band or musician called UNIT on the wall. I love shout-outs! I *bet* that was Harry pulling the MI5 strings to get her out of jail, too. God, God! I want all this... in Torchwood! Heart and soul, that's what I want this go around.
no subject
Date: 2007-11-14 12:30 am (UTC)I love that the three of them really are differently skilled but equal as a whole.
EXACTLY! None of them is dead weight or getting carried by the others, they all have value and shine in different ways. And oh yes, I loved how Clyde refused to delay or back down the moment he thought there was a hint of something not being all well with Luke/Ashley.
It was so so sad to see Sarah Jane responding by pushing them all away again. As you say, probably exactly the kind of thing she did after initially losing the Doctor. She had just started to make proper connections again, and then it all goes tits-up.
AND GOD YES! Please let the good writing, plot continuity, character development/continuity, pure family love vibes all be realised as successfully in TW series 2 as they have been in SJA's first one. If TW could manage that, oh, it'll be amazing =)