WiC Watches: Doctor Who season 12

Episode 1205: “Fugitive of the Judoon”

What the heck just happened on Doctor Who, my fellow Whovians? How is the series managing to pull off such twists and keep such secrets?! When this week’s episode first began, I wasn’t sure I was going to enjoy it. But a little less than halfway through, things took a drastic turn, and I was so into it. Plus, the strange twist at the episode’s end left me (and I’m sure all of you) with so many questions.

First things first: the infamous rhino aliens known as the Judoon make their return to the Doctor Who stage. They’ve always been a strange, peculiar entity, one that has changed my perception of rhinos forever. Their purpose is basically to track down assigned targets, a “police-for-hire” type of situation. Of all the iconic Doctor Who villains/aliens, I’m not particularly attached to the Judoon. However, it seems like this season is all about bringing back some of the OG aliens, so I will deal.

In any case, the Judoon arrive in Gloucester looking for their target, but it’s unclear who it is they’re on the hunt for. We meet 44-year-old woman Ruth and her husband Lee, who seem to have some connection with the story, specifically Ruth (brace yourself for a twist in a moment).

But before I get into the rest of the episode, I have to talk about the best twist we’ve had in a while: the return of Captain Jack Harkness. Yes, that’s right, John Barrowman appeared in last night’s episode and it was all kinds of wonderful.

We don’t get to see a whole lot of him during the episode, but the fact that he returned at all made my heart happy beyond explanation. It’s been a while since we’ve seen him, and back during the Rose Tyler and Ninth Doctor days, he made any episode he was in absolutely hilarious.

For the brief amount of time Captain Jack comes back, he leaves a cryptic message behind for the Doctor with Graham, Yaz and Ryan: “Beware the lone Cyberman.” Side note: The three companions end up with him after being suddenly zapped away; it’s all very strange and jumbled.

Now, I know Whovians have been waiting for the return of the Cybermen and Daleks based on promos and interviews. So the fact that Captain Jack refers to the Cybermen — well, Cyberman — here is huge. Unfortunately, he vanishes before we find out anything more concrete, but I sure hope he’ll be back again.

Okay, so onto the next twist! I am frazzled as can be over this, and I have no idea what it means for the history of this world. As the episode goes on, it becomes clear that there is something going on with Ruth and Lee, and that they may not be who they claim to be.

Lee sacrifices himself for Ruth while simultaneously guiding her via text on how to take out the Judoon. Now, why would two humans know how to do that, and why? As it turns out, Doctor Who was waiting to drop a bomb on us unlike anything this show has ever seen before.

Ruth leads the Doctor to the lighthouse where she grew up, and that’s where we get two shocking revelations: first, the Doctor finds an unmarked tombstone under which is buried…wait for it…a TARDIS! And secondly, Ruth is apparently another version of the Doctor. Mind. Blown.

Let’s take a moment to really take this revelation in. We have ourselves another version of the same Doctor, but it’s a regeneration that our Doctor cannot recall, and vice versa. Not to mention, Ruth is a black female Doctor. This is a very strong statement from Doctor Who and another first for the franchise ever.

So what does this mean? Is Ruth an earlier version of the Doctor? If so, that means Whittaker’s Doctor is not the first female Doctor. How crazy is that?!

The whole episode is all sorts of nuts because we (along with the Doctor(s)) have no idea what’s going on. Oh, also a Timelord by the name of Gat is on the hunt for Ruth. And considering Gat, Ruth, and our Doctor are all from Gallifrey, it strikes me as strange that Ruth and Gat didn’t know about the current state of Gallifrey: burnt to a crisp.

Are there multiverses lapping over each other? Could this be the Doctor Who version of “Crisis on Infinite Earths“?

I’m so confused, but in the best way possible. Thank you, Doctor Who, for keeping us Whovians on our toes.