Life on Earth can be an Adventure Too

Life on Earth can be an adventure too...in all the universe, I never expected to find a family--"The Lost Boy" 

The more I watch Sarah Jane Adventures, the more I admire it. The writing is brilliant, the characters are wonderful, and the stories are beautifully done--in season one alone, we have storylines dealing with kidnapping, Alzheimer's and child warriors.  The stories make perfect sense out of order, but also have little "bonuses" when watched chronologically--such as the idea of missing children in "Warriors of Kudlak" that reappears with heartbreaking power in "The Lost Boy."
But one of my favorite parts of Sarah Jane Adventures is the character development of Sarah Jane Smith. After her brief appearance in "School Reunion," Sarah Jane's icy demeanor in "Invasion of the Bane" is surprising at first, but if you think about all those years she spent alone, how much she felt abandoned in Aberdeen. But if you look at her reaction to Luke's "parents" in "The Lost Boy,"--oh, it hurts. Because if she loses Luke, that just means she was right to withdraw, because the world would have let her down again, she would lose the person she cares about. And how she responds when they come for her--you can tell she wants him to be happy, she doesn't want her feelings to get in the way of what's right, but it's breaking her heart.
The other characters are amazing too. Clyde starts analyzing Slitheen weakness in his first episode, and Maria knocks out someone who's holding a gun at Sarah Jane.I love Alan too--it's too bad they leave in season two. But it's a wonderful show, really good.