No
matter the configuration, I’ll always love the Sarah Jane crew. Brave, devoted Maria, asker of Excellent
Questions, won me over the moment she saw that Arcateenian in Sarah Jane’s
garden. For my money, here are her best
moments.
Protecting Luke (“Invasion of the Bane” –
Series 1, Episode 0)
When
Maria meets Luke, he’s dressed in an odd white shift, majorly not with the program, and clearly
repeating everything she says back to her as the first living being he’s
encountered, but she doesn’t think twice about immediately helping him. The image of them running through the Bubble
Shock factory together is so iconic for both characters, and I get such a kick
out of Maria’s idea to hide in the women’s bathroom because the men chasing
them would never go in there.
Learning Bea’s Secret (“Eye of the
Gorgon: Part 2” – Series 1, Episode 4)
Maria’s
under a huge amount of pressure here (her dad’s life is on the line,) and she
has a herculean task before her (getting Bea to tell her how to save him.) Because Sarah Jane and the boys are tied up
elsewhere, she’s all alone, struggling to figure out how to reach this woman
with severe dementia and get through to her.
It’s a massive job with huge stakes, and even though she’s freaked and
desperate, Maria does incredibly well under pressure.
Stopping the Gorgon (“Eye of the Gorgon: Part 2” – Series 1, Episode 4)
Yep,
this is a big story for Maria. It could
be argued that this one is a bit of a freebie, since Bea is the one who tells
her how to defeat the Gorgon and arms her with what she needs, but you’ve gotta
love Maria’s last-second cavalry entrance, using a mirror to save Sarah Jane
and destroying the Gorgon by turning her own power against her.
Taking Out Mr. Grantham (“Warriors of
Kudlak: Part 2” – Series 1, Episode 6)
I’m
always a fan of “quick thinking in a dangerous pinch” scenarios, and Maria is
great here. As Mr. Grantham menaces
Sarah Jane, Maria recalls what Sarah Jane told her in the previous episode
about the alien metal in her attic (when touching both pieces simultaneously
with one’s bare skin, it completes an electrical circuit that knocks them out
for an hour) and uses them to temporarily incapacitate the baddie. Clear!
Searching for Sarah Jane (“Whatever Happened
to Sarah Jane?: Part 1” – Series 1,
Episode 7)
If
getting info from Bea was a tough situation, this one is all but
impossible. The Trickster has pulled
Sarah Jane out of the world, and Maria’s the only one who can remember her.
Despite the evidence of her own eyes and everyone she knows telling her
she’s wrong, lying, or crazy, Maria doesn’t give up, fighting to find out the
truth behind what made everyone else forget.
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