Sarah Jane Adventures: Mark of the Beserker II

[selenak]

Still in Lower Saxonia, but slooooooowly catching up with my tv. In short: Joseph Lidster is two for two now with SJA, and unless a certain guest star makes me change my mind, has probably written my favourite SJA season 2 story in addition to having already written my favourite TW season 2 story. Which isn't to say I don't have something to critisize. *g*



First of all, the outstanding scene of the episode was the final one between Sarah Jane and Clyde. Which was lovely in itself but what made it more than that is that this entire season, not just this particular scene, has shown us Clyde and Sarah Jane growing closer, when in s2 they barely interacted, so the tag scene here felt natural when it wouldn't have last season. During the showdown earlier when Sarah Jane took Clyde's hand this struck me as well, along with finding again confirmed what several people on my flist have been saying - Rani is creating her own place with Sarah Jane & Co., but it's Luke who has moved to the apprentice/companion (I'm using the term deliberately) position Maria used to have.

Speaking of Maria: lovely to see her again, and Alan as well. With tousled hair, no less. (Yes, the dads on this show are fanservice to female watchers, KdS, you're dead on about that. Well, not Paul, of course.) And hooray for teamwork across the Atlantic! I'm guessing Alan's hacking into UNIT files won't go unnoticed and will be the reason you-know-who shows up later on.

So, with all of this, what's to nitpick? Again I must start with praise. The entire sequence with Paul wiping out more and more of Clyde's memories and emotions was incredibly chilling, all the more so because he didn't do it for muwahhaaa villain motives - he didn't get overwhelmed until the end - but because a) he loved his son, selfishly, but he loved him, and b) he had the power to do so. But the transgression here is so enormous, that Clyde not only forgiving him easily (for the use of the pendant, I mean - Clyde's issues with the original desertion, by contrast, were clearly ongoing, and the conclusion to that plot thread at the end - "I don't need you, but that kid does" - felt real) but using the pendant himself to wipe Carla's memories of the event let me with some unhappiness. Not in the sense of finding it ooc, mind; Paul would never have gotten the pendant if Clyde hadn't made his original mistake by showing him Sarah Jane's house and boasting a bit, and given how badly this sharing with one parent ended, I can believe Clyde in the emotion of the moment would go for the easy fix with the other. Still. He's underestimating Carla, I think, the same way Maria and Alan are underestimating Chrissie. But I'm not sure the narrative wants me to think that. We'll see how things play out in the rest of the season, of course.

Next week: return of the Trickster, and the repeated talk of Sarah Jane's orphan childhood this season pays off!

Comments

[neutralalienist.livejournal.com]

That was my biggest issue with the episode, as well - the show seems to take memory-stealing rather lightly, doesn't it? It makes me uncomfortable. I'm hoping it...fades away, with the pendent a the bottom of the ocean, and Carla can lecture Clyde about the huge presumption and violation. (I also wondered why they never got Maria to talk to Clyde, since he father never made him forget her.)

I still can't wait until next week!

[selenak.livejournal.com]

I was wondering about Maria, too, but I realized why as soon as Sarah Jane showed up - pure dramatic economy. They didn't want to double the effect. (As neither Maria nor Sarah Jane had been included in the "forget about..." commadments, but Sarah Jane had the advantage of being physically present and being the main character of the show.)

I had expected Clyde to be angrier with his father about the stolen memories once he realized what his father did, and while I can buy he wasn't - he probably blamed it on Paul being "under the influence", etc, plus there was the immediate crisis of Paul about to go Beserker to avert - I'm going to and thro about how we're meant to take his eventual decision to make Carla forget because it could be deliberate on the writers' part, given Clyde tells Sarah Jane that there is a lot of his father in him, and there might be a follow-up in this. Especially given the Chrissie precedent in the season opener!

Lastly, though: did Daniel Anthony rock or did he rock? Great acting in both parts. This is a very promising young man.

[ffutures.livejournal.com]

just watched this - agree entirely, memory stealing should ALWAYS have consequences. The Whoverse uses it way too often, and it's about time they dealt with it properly.

[selenak.livejournal.com]

KdS made the comparison to Gwen retconning Rhys in Torchwood's first season, which is very interesting, because that imo, shaky as the first season was, this was one of the things TW did completely right. Because Gwen in that scene realises she has hit rock bottom (and not just because about-to-be-retconned Rhys withholds forgiveness), and the narrative makes it clear it was the wrong thing to do. Also, she draws consequences: in s2, when the possibility of retconning Rhys to make her life easier arises again, she refuses to do so and insists he has the right to his memories.

[shezan.livejournal.com]

... so, until I catch up with SJA - have you seen the Obama = The Opera post at my LJ?

[thesecondevil]

Honestly, the main thing that struck me was that throwing the pendant in the ocean seems like a really irresponsible way of disposing of it.

I was surprised too at Clyde's lack of reaction to Paul erasing his memories but as far as Clyde erasing his mother's knowledge of what happened it did come directly after she explicitly told him that she couldn't handle the knowledge of what he was doing.