I loved Fugitive of the Judson before “you know what” happened. Before either of the “you know whats” happened.

The Judoon are truely delightful villains. I can’t get enough of how they talk, especially when The Doctor talks Judoonese, which she did, though we didn’t know it at the time. I love their rigidity to protocol and how it works as a plot device to show-off The Doctor’s cleverness. I love their rehinocerous heads and how they’ll kill you for looking at them sideways if it breaks a rule and reimburse you for your knitting if protocol requires it.

I love me some angsty, moody Doctor and we get her in spades being all cagey and sketchy with the Fam, right at the top of this episode. So far, Chibnall is doing a fine job of redeeming himself for the completely superficial Doctor of last season.

As I’m watching this, I’m feeling all satisfied with the crumbs that Chibs has seen fit to let drop from the table. I’m thinking, “This is alright. I can work with this. I think Series 12 will be OK after all. I mean, we got The Master back, right?”

Then it happened. The first thing. The thing I didn’t even dare to dream to hope for.

Captain Jack is back.

Captain Jack is back.

Captain Jack is back.

He was so far removed from any sense of possibility in my mind that I didn’t even recognize his voice. I thought the guy telling Graham not to move was the dorky, inappropriate, boundary-crossing, stalky guy from the coffee shop. So, when that glorious smile in the military duster opened up his gorgeous arms and hollered, “You missed me, right?” I screamed and leapt off the couch.

And in one moment, I forgave Chibnall for so much of Series 11. He made it up to me. To us. To the fans. He was going to take care of our show, protect it, nurture it, shepherd it forward with all the love and devotion we fans could hope for. All was right in the world. It was enough.

Then…then…You know what’s coming…Then they did it. They addressed the only thing that had diminished my joy in Whitaker as The Doctor.

They gave us a female person of color as The Doctor.

Ah, now this is a completeness I didn’t think would be possible with Doctor Who. Such gratification. As Hermione says at the end of Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince, “It’s all going to change now, isn’t it?”

The reveal of a secret Doctor who finally…

…finally…

takes care of unfinished business.

A middle-aged, woman of color Doctor, at the heart of a mysterious, complicated, timey-wimey, inpenetrable, series-long story arc.

Bliss.

I am so on board for this. Bring it. I can’t wait for the ride.