The latest SJA two parter, "Temptation Of Sarah Jane," was just as much of a weak copy of the Doctor Who episode "Father's Day" as we'd all expected. Instead of Rose saving her dad from a car accident, it was Sarah Jane saving both her parents from a car accident. And unlike Rose, who was a newbie time traveler dropped in the deep end, Sarah Jane knew just what she was doing and did it anyway.

As usual, though, the chemistry between the main cast members elevated the material quite a bit. I love Clyde figuring out he's stuck in an evil alternate present and dealing with it, and Rani showing up in the past and saying, "Hello, ethnic person in 1951." Ha. I have to admit, though, I'm not liking season two quite as much as season one — it's just not feeling quite as much fun this time around, and Sarah Jane isn't getting to be quite as awesome. Still, next week's reunion with the Brigadier looks like it'll be everything we could hope for.

The latest SJA storyline, "Secrets Of The Stars," had almost everything. You had the obligatory references to the fact that Sarah Jane used to travel with the Doctor and now she's serving as a sort of Doctor-substitute to a gaggle of aprentices. You have the amazingly hammy villain, who can roll both his eyes and his consonants with the thrill of taking over the universe. You have Sarah Jane standing up to another bully and being the best mom ever. And you have your classic science-vs-magic storyline, where we split the difference and find out that actually magic is just the science of another universe.

For those who missed it, washed up astrologer Martin Trueman gets zapped by the stars, and it turns out astrology really is true after all — but only in the universe before ours, the one which existed before the Big Bang. Trueman gets on television and tells everyone to leave their homes and stand in circles, for reasons that remain a bit opaque. But Sarah Jane's adoptive son, Luke, finally figures out that since he wasn't born, he has no zodiac sign, and so Trueman's astrology-based powers don't affect him.

Best line ever: "You flicked a switch?! The ancient lights survived the Big Bang and you think you can stop them just by flicking a switch?" I could just hear David Tennant in my head saying, "Well, yes, I did rather."

I wonder how long before people in the Doctor Who universe stop being surprised when half their loved ones wander out of their homes in a daze. ("Oh, never mind, it's just the global mind control again. Why does it always happen during the football? Just stay off the rooftops this time, okay?")

I'm really not sure if there's any way the "Day Of The Clown" storyline could have been great. At least, no way that wouldn't have blown the hinges off the show's "kid-friendly" label. But you have to give the show extra demerits for going the "Pied Piper" route AND using the old "psychic vampire that feeds on fear" device. I did, however, like Odd Bob's awful teeth, which were by far the scariest thing in the show. (I still have traumatic memories of going to an NHS dentist.) Extra bonus points, too, for Odd Bob's horrendous attempt at a Southern U.S. accent, and Spellman's even worse German (?) accent. I know the SJA is a kids' show, but this is the first time I felt like it was talking down to my inner five year old.

(Of course, it was still better than Star Trek: Voyager's evil-clown-that-feeds-on-fear storyline. But it would have to have featured actual feces wrestling to beat that one.)

Pretty much everything else, though? Super great. Rani won me over early on, when she zeroed in on Luke as the school weirdo and told him in that confidential voice, "I'm a fan of Weird." And her parents seem like a fun supporting cast with lots of room to grow. I'll miss Maria's dad a lot, but neither of Rani's parents is one-tenth as awful as Maria's mom. And Rani really is like a miniature Sarah Jane, complete with the noseyness and the inability to let a mystery slide. I'm glad she's part of the Doctor Who universe, even if she doesn't turn out to be the Rani. Clyde was awesome, except for his horrendous jokes at the end, and Luke is always just perfect, really.

I guess the theme of this year is discovering more about Sarah Jane's own childhood, what with all the stuff that we learned about her parents' death and her Aunt Lavinia raising her. I guess we're going to be seeing more of that later in the season but hopefully it won't be quite as silly as the clown-centered flashback was this time around.

Oh, and one other minor nitpick: I can't imagine that Elisabeth Sladen is enjoying having to deliver the same speech about the wonders of the universe in every single episode. I mean, it was great the first five times, but now it's getting a bit shopworn. Maybe give her a new speech?

What did you guys think?