15th January, 2013

The Sarah Jane Adventures series 4, episode 1 "The Nightmare Man" part 1.

     It is with both delight and melancholy that my wife and I begin the final two seasons of The Sarah Jane Adventures. Having enjoyed the first three seasons, and knowing that one of the stories from this season reveals much of the fate of several of the Doctor's companions, I'm not sure why it took me this long to purchase the fourth season DVD box set. Perhaps the recent gift of the latest edition of Mad Norwegian's "AHistory" has renewed my interest in the obsessive details of the DW narrative. Or maybe we were afraid to begin these final chapters of Sarah Jane's story, knowing that there would be no more new adventures to look forward to once we finished these episodes. Whatever the true motivation, while this feels overdue, we now own the last two season box sets and we're both ready to dive in feet first.
     There is a brief "in memory of" for Liz opening the episode, (obviously for the DVD release, since she was still with us when the season aired) which elicits an "awww" from my wife, Elaine, and reminding us (as if we could ever forget) of the ongoing sting of losing a favorite companion way too soon. The opening is practically unchanged, and corny as ever, but still fills me with a child-like anticipation for the coming adventure. Ironically, I felt confident telling my 3 year old that the show wouldn't be scary, knowing that the scares are extremely mild, but this story is opening with a very spooky vibe. The quick cutaways, and the creepy laughing of the title villain are making a liar out of me. Whatever damage we may be doing to our toddler's psyche, however, I'm actually quite digging this vibe. I'm anxious to find out exactly what Luke has done to bring about "the end of the world".
     Cutting back to a year previously kicks in my continuity obsessiveness. Is this flashback set in the "present" of the series, or is the scene with him recording his message current? I rather like the idea that Luke skips a year of high school and starts college early, as it would show some character development, even if it breaks up the gang at the school. I just have a sneaky suspicion that after part two, the show might hit the reset button, either by having Luke somehow change his mind about going to Oxford, or by making the year since the "flashback" scene some sort of aborted timeline. I hope I'm wrong.
     Elaine and I try to distract our little one with the appearance of K-9. Since his appearance doesn't seem to be required for the plot, his appearance would seem to imply that hes part of the regular cast now. Can we expect to see him in every story this season? I never quite understood why he was used so sparingly in previous seasons. Do they have to pay Bob Baker and the estate of Dave Martin every time he appears?
     The scene in which Luke confesses his fear of not being missed in the VW with Sarah Jane really resonates with us, which is mostly from knowing what we now know. Is it just us projecting our expectations in seeing some extra emotional context in this goodbye scene, or did Liz suspect what was to come? According to reports, she was not yet diagnosed at this time, but my wife at least, believes that she knew on some level.
     My wife and I come to the same conclusion: This story has the same plot of "A Nightmare on Elm Street"! There's even a scene where Luke is trying to stay awake, afraid that by falling asleep he'll enter the nightmare and somehow endanger the world. It's not clear how and if the Nightmare Man can bring about the "end of the world" that Luke is afraid of. It could just be part of the hallucinations the nightmares are inflicting on Luke. Whatever the level of danger, the Nightmare Man does seem to enter the "real" world in the cliffhanger, and undoubtedly we'll learn more tomorrow...