The day after Thanksgiving, what a lovely day! I got to sleep in. The outside Christmas lights are up. All of the Christmas decoration boxes are out, and we have started decorating inside. And, best of all, Sarah Jane Smith brought me an early present!

Eye of the Gorgon - Parts 1 & 2

(TARDIS Data Core recap)

Oh now this... this absolutely could have been a Classic Who story set right in the heart of the Third Doctor era. A retirement home where the residents are seeing the ghosts of creepy nuns... a mysterious resident with Alzheimer's who is hiding an ancient artifact... a gothic abbey... and an ancient mythological creature (who, of course, is actually an alien entity and the spearhead of an alien invasion).  I loved this story so much!

In a nutshell, the creepy evil nuns of the local abbey are harboring an actual Gorgon, the last of the remaining sisters of Medusa herself. Sarah Jane investigates when a nearby nursing home starts reporting ghosts, and then one of the residents (Bea) entrusts Luke with an ancient amulet she has been hiding - an artifact first discovered by her now-deceased archeologist husband. Stuff happens, more stuff happens, Maria's dad gets turned to stone by the Gorgon, and ultimately a Gorgon invasion is foiled by Maria when she uses Bea's hand mirror to reflect back the Gorgon's gaze. Maria's dad is restored to normal, and all is well that ends well.

One thing that I particularly liked was a deftly-handled coda in which Maria convinces Sarah Jane to let her try using the amulet to cure Bea's Alzheimer's. For a moment I was worried that it would actually work, which I think would have been a dreadfully pat resolution. Instead, though, the amulet does nothing at all to heal that disease. What it does do is to bring Bea a measure of happiness, a moment of peace. It was a beautiful scene, played with an appropriate mixture of sadness and joy, and is exactly the kind of thing that Doctor Who should be doing. 

This was a near-perfect story, and validates the entire existence of The Sarah Jane Adventures. Bravo.

STATS:

Featuring: Sarah Jane Smith, Luke Smith, Maria Jackson, Clyde Langer
Episode(s): Eye of the Gorgon
Steps Walked: 7,658 today, 4,044,594 total
Distance Walked: 4.12 miles today, 2,118.12 miles total
Push-ups Completed: 82 today, 8,458 total
Sit-ups Completed: 0 today, 1,350 total
Weight: 258.72 lbs (five day moving average), net change -48.58 lbs