You and me and none of the other people ~ Thoughts on "The Empty Planet"
And now, after last week's Doctor Who insert, we get a story that swings back to the other emotional core of The Sarah Jane Adventures - the ordinary kids who become her apprentices. And this story works so well because Luke's gone; he was brilliant, but he was a complicated, alien boy, who didn't have much choice but go with Sarah Jane. Clyde, Rani, and Maria before them, were the kids who stumbled into Sarah Jane's alien escapades and found they liked being there.
This is a much better Sarah-Jane-lite episode than Mark of the Berserker, by the way - in this one, it's Rani and Clyde who begin the story, and Rani and Clyde who restore the Earth.
I liked Clyde reminding Rani he was the more experienced one, and all the military banter that led to. And a Maria reference would've been fantastic in this episode, but it's been a couple of years since she left, so I don't mind.
Really, I think they could've managed pretty well as the two only ones left in the world. That could've been intriguing to watch, if they'd had to fare for a few days instead of a couple of hours. (And it felt to me like they were gone longer than an hour and a half, but that might just be me.)
It was nice the Judoon's grounding hasn't been forgotten, and I though that was a clever way to get them alone. I wonder, though - there were reports from before the series came out that Rani and Clyde would end up visiting another planet for the first time, despite the Judoon punishment. There's only two stories left, and next week's is pretty obviously an Earth-based time-traveling one. If "they'll go to an alien planet for the first time" just referred to the few minutes Clyde was being swapped with Eleven, that's a pretty big cop-out.
Speaking of which, I still disapprove of Rani's parents being kept in the dark about what their daughter is up to in her spare time. I realize they weren't going to do anything this episode, not after the big dose of retcon and meanness that was the end of "The Vault of Secrets," but the last scene with Rani and her dad just felt awkward and kind of painful. (For proof that telling the family about aliens can be a good thing, see Rose, "The Age of Steel" et al., or Wilf and Sylvia, "The End of Time.") Besides, there were multiple occasions where Alan and Chrissie Jackson's understanding of aliens proved vital to Sarah Jane - saving Mr. Smith, knocking out Kaagh, tracking Clyde and the Berserker - so why doesn't she want to arm Haresh and Gita with that knowledge?
Lastly: This is such a shippy episode. Even if they keep shooting things down because this is a kid's show - like that time they ended up holding hands in "Vault of Secrets" or when Luke played matchmaker in "The Nightmare Man" - it cannot be denied that they would make an awesome power couple.
It would also give Haresh something to be suspicious about besides aliens. Just saying.
And that's the second time they've kissed each other on the cheek, and this time it felt like it mattered a whole lot more. If the show were going to make Rani/Clyde canon in Series 4, they would've done it in this episode. When Rani slipped the ring on Clyde's finger, and then they high-fived instead of kissing, that was a very satisfying ending to their little story. You can easily believe that high-fiving is as far as their relationship goes, or that they just didn't particularly want to snog in front of Mr. Smith.
I can see them staying best mates, though. If nothing else, it'd leave more room for Clyde/Luke.
Next week: Hey, more weird ways to fit time travel into a show without a TARDIS!
ETA: I'm assuming that since Gavin was left with Rani and Clyde, the robots had the warp shunt set to take all of Earth's pure humans - well, those who weren't grounded by the Judoon. This would've left Donna Noble alone in Chiswick for an hour and a half. Personally, I think she slept through it.
This is a much better Sarah-Jane-lite episode than Mark of the Berserker, by the way - in this one, it's Rani and Clyde who begin the story, and Rani and Clyde who restore the Earth.
I liked Clyde reminding Rani he was the more experienced one, and all the military banter that led to. And a Maria reference would've been fantastic in this episode, but it's been a couple of years since she left, so I don't mind.
Really, I think they could've managed pretty well as the two only ones left in the world. That could've been intriguing to watch, if they'd had to fare for a few days instead of a couple of hours. (And it felt to me like they were gone longer than an hour and a half, but that might just be me.)
It was nice the Judoon's grounding hasn't been forgotten, and I though that was a clever way to get them alone. I wonder, though - there were reports from before the series came out that Rani and Clyde would end up visiting another planet for the first time, despite the Judoon punishment. There's only two stories left, and next week's is pretty obviously an Earth-based time-traveling one. If "they'll go to an alien planet for the first time" just referred to the few minutes Clyde was being swapped with Eleven, that's a pretty big cop-out.
Speaking of which, I still disapprove of Rani's parents being kept in the dark about what their daughter is up to in her spare time. I realize they weren't going to do anything this episode, not after the big dose of retcon and meanness that was the end of "The Vault of Secrets," but the last scene with Rani and her dad just felt awkward and kind of painful. (For proof that telling the family about aliens can be a good thing, see Rose, "The Age of Steel" et al., or Wilf and Sylvia, "The End of Time.") Besides, there were multiple occasions where Alan and Chrissie Jackson's understanding of aliens proved vital to Sarah Jane - saving Mr. Smith, knocking out Kaagh, tracking Clyde and the Berserker - so why doesn't she want to arm Haresh and Gita with that knowledge?
Lastly: This is such a shippy episode. Even if they keep shooting things down because this is a kid's show - like that time they ended up holding hands in "Vault of Secrets" or when Luke played matchmaker in "The Nightmare Man" - it cannot be denied that they would make an awesome power couple.
It would also give Haresh something to be suspicious about besides aliens. Just saying.
And that's the second time they've kissed each other on the cheek, and this time it felt like it mattered a whole lot more. If the show were going to make Rani/Clyde canon in Series 4, they would've done it in this episode. When Rani slipped the ring on Clyde's finger, and then they high-fived instead of kissing, that was a very satisfying ending to their little story. You can easily believe that high-fiving is as far as their relationship goes, or that they just didn't particularly want to snog in front of Mr. Smith.
I can see them staying best mates, though. If nothing else, it'd leave more room for Clyde/Luke.
Next week: Hey, more weird ways to fit time travel into a show without a TARDIS!
ETA: I'm assuming that since Gavin was left with Rani and Clyde, the robots had the warp shunt set to take all of Earth's pure humans - well, those who weren't grounded by the Judoon. This would've left Donna Noble alone in Chiswick for an hour and a half. Personally, I think she slept through it.