Unexplosion?! : The Hand of Fear

[barkinmad]

Goodbyeeeeee Sarah Jane! I really loved you. Especially in the last few episodes. Why does that always happen? The characters become exactly who I wanted them to be in the last few episodes.

"Are we dead?"
...
"No."
"Are you sure?"
...
"Yes."

The Andy Pandy outfit made her look like she was five, but that's okay because she's adorable anyway.

I can't tell whether I liked this episode or not. It seemed alright, and had some good writing, but the plot seemed kind of...haywire. Like it didn't have a strong story that stuck together from beginning to end.

How did Sarah get her own K9? And would this be a good place to start watching SJA?

The next time I see you you'll be duking it out with Rose.

ON TO LEELA. AND THEN ROMANA!!!

Comments

[stellastars]

Hello! I'm new to your flist via the Classic Who Friending Meme. I saw this post on Hand of Fear so I thought I'd drop by and comment!

I'm vastly impressed by the fact that you're going through Classic Who in order! Me, I kinda watch chunks at a time, like all one season or all of one companion.

I have watched all of Sarah Jane's run as companion though and I had a similar reaction to this ep. I liked parts of it... except for the plot! Which made progressively less sense as the serial went on! I did love the interaction between Sarah Jane and Four though. There was some moment when they're talking about worrying about each other and it was just perfect and sweet!

As a fan of SJA, I'm of the opinion that any time, is a good time to start watching SJA. ;-) However, if you're trying to see things in order, I think Sarah appears in The Five Doctors (haven't seen that one myself yet) which either comes before or after K-9 & Company (which was... far better than I'd expected). If I remember correctly, Sarah Jane's appearance in The Five Doctors was kinda ignored by New Who, but K-9 and Co. has a few details connected with an SJA Season 2 episode. So, not sure if that will help you in your decision about watching SJA, but just thought I'd throw in my two cents!

May I ask, are you liking Leela?

[barkinmad.livejournal.com]

Hey! I remember you :P

Heh, yeah. I think I'm slightly made or compulsive or whatever, but I really do enjoy doing it this way. I feel like if you don't start from the beginning you don't really understand the context of everything? If that makes sense? But then again, my sense of the seasons gets VERY blurred, so there are pros and cons to both, I guess.

The plot did make less and less sense, it wasn't very well constructed, but I thought the actress playing girl!monster (I can't remember his/her name) was very good and played the character well, with empathy but also with malice. The part where Sarah Jane and the Doctor show their worry for each other:

Sarah Jane runs up to the Doctor against his orders.
*shrug*"I worry about you!"
"Well, I worry about you!"
"We'll worry about each other then."

(Not exact, obviously)

Is also one of my favorite parts. I feel like they should have been this way all along, but for some reason I wasn't feeling it.

Okay, so I think you've convinced me to wait until the Five Doctors and then watch K9 and Company. And since she returns during "School Days" I'm supposing that S1 of SJA occurs at the same time as S3 of DW. And jeez, I thought it was hard enough keeping track of Buffy and Angel...

I am liking Leela quite a bit, but unfortunately I haven't been able to watch more episodes of her than I had when I posted to the friending meme. I have some free time today, so I'll probably be working on that, so I'll give you another response soon (or I'll just be squee'ing all over my journal...)

Welcome!

[stellastars]

:D I know just what you mean about the context of everything. I almost feel like I need to watch all the episodes twice, because different details stand out and you notice their connections to other episodes and such. Maybe I'll watch everything in chunks and then do a straight-through-in-order watch. Someday!

My notes from when I watched Hand of Fear literally say "I am SO confused" by about the third part. It seemed like the story had a lot of potential, but just didn't quite work out.

K9 & Co. was quite fun, though the plot wasn't very well-edited towards the end of the show. And S1 of SJA... yeah, I think it does run concurrent to S3 of DW, but it might also overlap a bit with S4 of DW. Cause Journey's End comes right between S1 and S2 of SJA... I think... It is *very* confusing. Sometimes this timeline can help, but it's apparently under a great deal of revision at the moment.

I look forward to seeing the squeeing! I adore Leela, particularly her fierceness, her inquisitive-nature, and her common sense. I think it's the combination of those qualities that make her a great companion for the Doctor!