"Without your memories, you have no purpose, Mister Smith. Without purpose, you can't destroy the Earth."
TECHNICAL SPECS: First aired Nov.19 2007.
IN THIS ONE... Mr. Smith makes the moon crash into the Earth.
REVIEW: Mildly disappointed by the actual finale, but the only way The Lost Boy could have maintained its quality is if it had been more than two parts. The plot is just too complex, and there are too many villains, for a single episode to cover everything without it going at breakneck speed and, ultimately, fudging the ending. And so the Slitheen become allies by necessity and quickly disappear from the story. Alan proves to have a devastating virus that can make Mr. Smith sing "Daisy" (what hasn't he told us?), and K9 is called in to have a laser fight in the attic, getting back to his roots as the Doctor's deus ex machina. Mr. Smith is shut down, but the Moon un-crashes itself anyway. He's been "rebooted" and will now have saving the Earth as his sole purpose (that's what I call glossing over something). It's all rather too easy, in the end.
It's all action-action-action, which isn't what Sarah Jane Adventures does best. Sarah blows up security systems, makes motorcycle guards wipe out (what. the. heck.), and threatens Slitheen with vinegar bottles. Luke is driven around in a van and makes stuff explode with the power of his mind. It's the second apocalypse in a row, and no one will ever mention this one in any other program either. Laser fire, viruses that affect alien computers (like in Independence Day) and Clyde inside Mr. Smith magically hacking and texting from within. It verges on the ridiculous, when it's not something we've seen before countless times. No, what SJA does best is character and heart and family, and at least, that's the takeaway in Sarah's slightly cheesy final narration.
There ARE some very good character moments, of course, but they're few and far between. My favorite is Maria walking back into Sarah Jane's life, matter-of-factly announcing Luke's parents are Slitheen. Who's the veteran here? Alan makes a good Adventurer as well, not used to this world so he can be on par with teenagers, but providing a father figure that just hasn't been part of SJA's fantasy world, a dad to Sarah's mum. Chrissie gets interrupted during the moon crash just as she was about to tell him she loves her. Could they be on the mend by next season? Sarah inviting her into her garden, showing there are no hard feelings about, y'know, calling child services on her. And of interest is the secret origin of Mr. Smith, of course. But for the boys, hero moments, sure, but not much in the way of character beats. Clyde marvels at the tin dog. Luke looks pained a lot. I needed more. Perhaps the Slitheen were one element too many?
REWATCHABILITY: Medium - A big action blow-out that momentarily forgets what the series is really about.
IN THIS ONE... Mr. Smith makes the moon crash into the Earth.
REVIEW: Mildly disappointed by the actual finale, but the only way The Lost Boy could have maintained its quality is if it had been more than two parts. The plot is just too complex, and there are too many villains, for a single episode to cover everything without it going at breakneck speed and, ultimately, fudging the ending. And so the Slitheen become allies by necessity and quickly disappear from the story. Alan proves to have a devastating virus that can make Mr. Smith sing "Daisy" (what hasn't he told us?), and K9 is called in to have a laser fight in the attic, getting back to his roots as the Doctor's deus ex machina. Mr. Smith is shut down, but the Moon un-crashes itself anyway. He's been "rebooted" and will now have saving the Earth as his sole purpose (that's what I call glossing over something). It's all rather too easy, in the end.
It's all action-action-action, which isn't what Sarah Jane Adventures does best. Sarah blows up security systems, makes motorcycle guards wipe out (what. the. heck.), and threatens Slitheen with vinegar bottles. Luke is driven around in a van and makes stuff explode with the power of his mind. It's the second apocalypse in a row, and no one will ever mention this one in any other program either. Laser fire, viruses that affect alien computers (like in Independence Day) and Clyde inside Mr. Smith magically hacking and texting from within. It verges on the ridiculous, when it's not something we've seen before countless times. No, what SJA does best is character and heart and family, and at least, that's the takeaway in Sarah's slightly cheesy final narration.
There ARE some very good character moments, of course, but they're few and far between. My favorite is Maria walking back into Sarah Jane's life, matter-of-factly announcing Luke's parents are Slitheen. Who's the veteran here? Alan makes a good Adventurer as well, not used to this world so he can be on par with teenagers, but providing a father figure that just hasn't been part of SJA's fantasy world, a dad to Sarah's mum. Chrissie gets interrupted during the moon crash just as she was about to tell him she loves her. Could they be on the mend by next season? Sarah inviting her into her garden, showing there are no hard feelings about, y'know, calling child services on her. And of interest is the secret origin of Mr. Smith, of course. But for the boys, hero moments, sure, but not much in the way of character beats. Clyde marvels at the tin dog. Luke looks pained a lot. I needed more. Perhaps the Slitheen were one element too many?
REWATCHABILITY: Medium - A big action blow-out that momentarily forgets what the series is really about.
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