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| The Judoon leader and her mysterious employer, Gat (Ritu Arya) |
THE PLOT:
When the Doctor detects an alien signal, she quickly identifies it as the Judoon - who have erected a force field around the city of Gloucester, despite having no jurisdiction on Earth. The Judoon are searching the city for a fugitive, and have closed in on the apartment of Lee Clayton (Neil Stuke) and his wife, Ruth (Jo Martin). The Doctor impersonates an Imperial Regulator, which allows her to get into the apartment to question the couple.
It is immediately obvious that Lee is hiding something - But with the Judoon preparing to attack, there is no time to investigate. The Doctor agrees to smuggle Ruth out of the apartment and to keep her safe, while Lee surrenders. That's when Gat (Ritu Arya), the Judoon's employer, arrives. She knows Lee... and knows that he is not the fugitive. Their true target is Ruth, who is hiding secrets even from herself.
Meanwhile, the Doctor's companions are teleported to a distant spaceship, where an old friend has a message for the Doctor...
CHARACTERS:
The Doctor: The main action is bookended by two TARDIS scenes. The first establishes that the Doctor has been searching for the Master, certain that he'll have escaped from the Kasaavin. She again evades her companions' questions about her home and is openly irritable, complaining that they "ask too many questions." The end scene carries the opposite tone. The Doctor looks not just rattled, but outright defeated by the revelations of the episode. "Time is swirling around me... Something's coming for me." Her next words seem to confirm that she's been keeping her current companions at a distance to protect them. "I've lived for thousands of years, so long I've lost count... You don't know me, not even a little bit."
Ryan: As in The Ghost Monument, they don't let the Doctor wallow in self-defeat. I'll refer again to the Eleventh Doctor's words: "My friends have always been the best of me." Graham and Yaz back up Ryan as he tells her that they do know her: "You're the Doctor. Whoever you were in the past or are in the future, we know who you are right now." Earlier in the episode, the Doctor's old friend decides Ryan is his favorite of the three companions... largely because Ryan is the one who calls him "cheesy" to his face.
Yaz: The end scene is a stark counterpoint to the first TARDIS scene, in which the Doctor is actively trying to keep her companions from knowing her. In that scene, Yaz even snaps at her, "Don't lie to us" - with an unspoken again at the end of the sentence. Yaz was once the Doctor's strongest advocate, the one who bonded with her immediately. This season, perhaps because of that very connection, she is the most suspicious, sensing that something is going on that she refuses to share. Even at the end of the episode, the Doctor's only revealed a little bit more than before - And I would be very surprised, and disappointed, if her secret-keeping doesn't come back to bite all of them by the season's end.
Graham: Um, present. Again. After getting the best material in Series 11, Graham seems to have been largely shunted to the periphery this year, to the point that I'm starting to wonder if he should have left at the end of Resolution. It's actively frustrating, given that Series 11 so often showed how effective the character could be, that Series 12 seems content to just have him be "the funny one" in the Greek chorus of companions. Hopefully, this will be rectified in the back half of the season - Because at this point, use of the companions in general and Graham in particular is the only area in which Series 12 is not outshining Series 11.
Capt. Jack Harkness: Yes, Jack is back, at least as part of a subplot in this episode. "Did you miss me?" he asks as he teleports into the room, and the answer is a resounding "Yes!" John Barrowman is a delight, and his "B" plot accomplishes three important things: (1) Interacting with him gives the companions something to do that's actually fun and interesting; (2) His warnings about "the lone Cyberman" set up plot threads that I'm guessing will be followed up at the season's end; and (3) It is just a flat-out good time to spend a few scenes in Jack's company. It's fairly obvious that Barrowman had limited time on set - All of his scenes are in a single set, and likely were shot in a single, very packed day. But he's on form, the character writing is spot on, and he leaves with a promise that he will return - Maybe not soon (maybe not this season), but in due course.
THOUGHTS:
Writer Vinay Patel penned my favorite episode of Series 11, the emotionally charged historical drama, Demons of the Punjab. I'll admit, in the wake of Ed Hime's Orphan 55, I was nervous that Patel's episode would also disappoint. But his sophomore Who story, co-written with Chris Chibnall, is almost as good as his first one - and has the benefit of being a lot more fun to watch.
Fugitive of the Judoon is a breathless rollercoaster ride of an episode. After a couple of sedate scenes that establish Ruth, Lee, and Ruth's life, the Judoon arrive - a nice, fan-pleasing inclusion that does not in itself mean an episode of any particular weight. But then we get that initial TARDIS scene, referencing both the Master and the Doctor's secretiveness, practically spelling out for us that This Is An Episode That Matters.
The following scenes, as the Doctor bluffs her way past the Judoon, have the staples of a good, fun Doctor Who runaround. Then the episode reveals Jack. And as the story progresses, it becomes apparent that Jack's return is the least of the surprises waiting for us.
By the end, the Doctor knows Ruth's secret... and in so doing, she is left knowing less than she did before the adventure started. "Everything that you think you know is a lie," the Master told her in Spyfall. We don't yet know where all this is heading (I could make a couple guesses... but they would probably be wrong). As of right now, however, I am excited to enjoy the journey, not least because thus far Series 12 is performing well above my expectations of it.
Overall Rating: 9/10.
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