Doctor Who season 12, episode 5 recap: Fugitive of the Judoon

What the heck just happened on Doctor Who!?

Doctor Who gave us one hell of an episode this week! Seriously, it’s almost hard to imagine where we will go from here and how this big reveal will change the future of the series. This week, the rhino alien species known as the Judoon return, and with their return, we learned something pretty darn crazy.

So while the universe’s rhino cops try to seek out a man named Lee, Ryan, Yaz, and Graham are pulled into some weird ship that makes no sense at first. In fact, we really can’t figure out what’s going on here, until a familiar face returns to the Doctor Who universe.

CAPTAIN JACK HARKNESS! John Barrowman made an epic, albeit short, return for reasons that still feel unknown to me. But he did have a message for the Doctor (who he was excited to learn is now a woman), “Beware of the lone Cyberman”. Whatever does that mean? We have no idea.

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But given that Cybermen will be a part of this season, it can only mean some frightening things are to come. If I’m being honest, Cybermen freak me out. There’s just something about them!

Meanwhile, the Doctor and a woman named Ruth (Lee’s girlfriend?) are trying to make sense of the whole Judoon situation. Why are they on Earth? What do they want with Lee?

Their adventures take them to a lighthouse, a place that Ruth shares a connection with from her childhood.

However, the Doctor sees an unmarked tombstone and starts digging feverishly right by it. She keeps digging until she finds something…a purple…police box…A TARDIS!

Wait, what?

Doctor Who did not brace us for what was coming next, but simultaneously, Ruth walks out and says she is the Doctor. Our Doctor and Ruth don’t recognize each other which already raises the question, at what point in history does Ruth’s Doctor fall? We have no idea, but showrunner Chris Chibnall has already stated that Ruth is also the Doctor, not one from a parallel universe or anything crazy like that.

Also, did I mention we just got our very first black Doctor? This season of Doctor Who is not holding back at all, and they’re going all-in with the biggest and best reveals ever. 

Whovians have a lot of questions regarding this big plot twist and I’m hoping in the coming weeks we get to find out what’s going on. Whatever it is–it’s going to be great.

Doctor Who airs new episodes every Sunday on BBC America at 8 PM EST!