The Sarah Jane Adventures: Series 1, Episodes 3-4 – “The Eye of the Gorgon” (2007)

This was the first story that made me realize that The Sarah Jane Adventures could be more than a mild diversion.  While I liked all the main characters from the start, the alien plots weren’t much to write home about – Mrs. Wormwood was all “The Invasion of the Bane” had going for it, and “Revenge of the Slitheen” had even less to recommend it than the Slitheen’s introductory two-parter in series 1 of new Who.  “The Eye of the Gorgon,” though, showed me what the series could do.

Maria could use a distraction from her confusing home life (her mom is staying over after a tiff with her boyfriend, blurring boundaries and giving Maria false hope that she might be back for good,) and Sarah Jane is quick to offer one in the form of an article she’s writing on a bit of local interest:  residents at a nearby nursing home are claiming to have seen the “ghost” of a nun.  The staff writes it off as a little attention-seeking from “the old dears,” but this being The Sarah Jane Adventures, it of course turns out to be more than that.  Before the gang knows it, a resident who’s not as far gone as everyone says she is has given Luke an alien artifact for safekeeping, which leads to him and Clyde being menaced by the sisters of a mysterious convent with a dark secret.

I’m always a sucker for stories about Earth mythology that turns out to have an alien truth behind it, so the Gorgon makes for an intriguing baddie here – bonus points for making full use of said mythology!  The story has a nice, eerie feel to it, and it gives us a really memorable one-shot character in Bea, the woman who gives Luke the talisman.  It’s such a neat idea for a character.  Someone who’s had extraordinary alien encounters but who’s dismissed as “dotty” isn’t too original, but when it’s complicated by the fact that the person really does have dementia, making the lines between what’s real and what’s not fuzzier, it gets a lot more interesting (Phyllida Law does an affecting, bang-up job with this character.)

But while this story steps up its game on the “alien plot” front, it’s still the characters, relationships, and interactions that make it for me.  I like Maria’s storyline showing the hard impact her mom’s careless actions have had on her, and how even her dad (all-around excellent father and generally painted by the show as the “good guy” in the divorce) has contributed unknowingly to Maria’s feelings of sadness and loss.  Maria’s struggles inadvertently get tangled up in the alien goings-on, forcing Maria to pull out all the stops to save her dad.  Putting in a bit of very real danger specific to him is good because it makes Maria take stock of what she’s doing with Sarah Jane, realizing the truth of the stakes involved here.  For her part, Sarah Jane is a very good adult friend, first providing support for Maria’s distress at her family situation, and later allowing Maria to vent her frustrations and fears toward her (Sarah Jane) before calmly assuring Maria that they’ll find their way out of this, because they always do.

Meanwhile, Luke and Clyde continue their gradual move toward the friendship that will be such a major part of the series.  Clyde is still working on gelling with the gang in general – you can tell Sarah Jane isn’t quite sure about him in these first few stories – and when Clyde’s eagerness to get in on the action puts him and Luke in hot water, it’s Luke’s smarts that get them out of it.  I enjoy seeing Clyde’s growing appreciation for Luke, as well as his beginning to take on the role of being Luke’s “teacher” in the ways of ordinary human teenagers, genuinely wanting to help Luke figure things out instead of just side-eyeing his “weirdness.”