Getting
started on my classic-companion Big Damn Hero moments. Susan is first up, and I’ll admit that she
was kind of a tough one. But despite her
reputation for only crying and twisting her ankle, I managed to find some
valuable contributions from her.
The Flaming Skull (“An Unearthly Child: The Forest of Fear” – Series 1, Episode 3)
Technically,
it’s Ian who applies the idea toward a plan (frightening the cavemen so they
can escape,) but it’s Susan who hits on the notion of how to scare them: putting a
skull on top of a torch so it looks like flames are emanating from the
bones. Pretty clever and highly
effective!
Going Through the Forest (“The Daleks: The Survivors” – Series 1, Episode 6)
Now, I’m
not arguing that Susan is terrified throughout this adventure – in fact, that’s
part of the point. She’s a nervous,
freaked-out girl making her way through the creepy-ass Skaro jungle alone at
night, all while suffering under the effects of radiation poisoning, to get the
medicine she and the others need to counteract the effects. No small task, but Susan gets the job done.
Crossing the Stalactite Bridge (“The Keys of
Marinus: The Snows of Terror” – Series
1, Episode 24)
While
searching for one of the keys, Susan and her friends wind up in a tight spot in
a frozen cave with Ian fending off the key’s guardian. If one of them can get across a deep chasm,
they can reattach a rope bridge so the others can get across. They’ve bridged the gap with what looks like stalactites,
reasoning that, given time, they’ll freeze together and someone can cross on
them, but there’s no time to wait. What
I like about this moment is how determined Susan is throughout. She’s completely focused on the task at hand,
and even when one of the stalactites breaks off and she nearly falls, she doesn’t
falter. It’s not often we get to see her
being so steady.
Protecting John (“The Sensorites: The Unwilling Warriors” – Series 1, Episode
32)
“The
Sensorites” is probably Susan’s best story.
I like how her latent telepathic energy is heightened by the Sensesphere
and how receptive she is to mediating between the humans/Doctor and the
Sensorites. Here, seeing how the
Sensorites are weaponizing their telepathy against John, Susan gets the idea to
do the same thing to them, with her and Barbara amplifying the same thought – “We
defy you” – to drown out their own message.
Guiding Barbara through the Aqueduct (“The
Sensorites: A Desperate Venture” – Series
1, Episode 36)
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