26th January, 2013

The Sarah Jane Adventures Series 4 episode 11 "Goodbye, Sarah Jane Smith" part 1

     We start the final story of the season with Mr. Smith detecting a meteor heading for Earth. The meteor threatens to release a pathogen which threaten life on Earth. Arriving at the meteor crash site, the gang is surprised to learn that the threat has already been eliminated by the mysterious arrival of a strange woman. Seeking to learn more about the stranger, and wishing to determine if she's a threat to humanity, the gang chase her, but quickly lose track of her. The are surprised to find her, as she's moved into their neighborhood. The confront her at her home, and learn her name "Ruby White", but the woman rudely cuts them off and little else is learned of her motivations.
     Sarah, Clyde, and Rani go to intercept an alien invasion force. Sarah is starting to act oddly, as she shows little concern about putting the kids in danger, and gives Clyde a ray gun. The aliens, soldiers for the Dark Horde, are an advance squad of three here to determine the threat level of humanity. Sarah fails to bring her sonic lipstick, and failed to have the ray gun she had given Clyde charged, leaving the group in mortal danger. They are saved when Ruby arrives, and drats the kids in a maneuver involving three devices to which seem to imprison the alien soldiers and encourages them to teleport back to their ship.
     Sarah continues to show an alarming failure of memory, as Ruby takes over as mentors for the teens. Sarah forgets that Luke's away at college, forgets K-9's name in a webcam conversation with Luke, and perhaps most alarmingly forgets the Doctor's name. Ordering a scan from Mr. Smith, it is determined that she is experiencing an onset of dementia, and that there is no cure.While it seems to us viewers that this condition is not natural, seeing her reaction is heartbreaking knowing that Liz was just a year away from succumbing to cancer.
     Her uncharacteristic behavior continues as she invites Ruby to the attic, where she basically gives everything she has to Ruby. She gives her her house, Mr. Smith, and her role as the planet's protector. Of course, it comes to no surprise that it was all a ruse, and with Sarah no longer able to command Mr. Smith, and with her growing degradation of her mental faculties, she is powerless to prevent Ruby's scheme from succeeding. Ruby transports Sarah to her basement, where she introduces her to her "stomach" (ooookay?), chains her to the wall, and proceeds to suck her lifeforce in order to feed her external stomach. One of the more bizarre cliffhangers this show's had, that's for sure...