“Spyfall Part 1” officially relaunched Doctor Who last night with Jodie Whittaker’s second season as the titular character and fans are freaking out over the episode’s cliffhanger ending.
That’s right, folks. After a year-long drought, the Doctor returned to TV screens to face her biggest challenge yet, and Chris Chibnall positively had us at the edge of our seats by the end of the premiere. Indeed, the wibbly-wobbly timey-wimey nature of the twist gave way to many questions, and we now have some hints as to how it might affect the storyline going forward.
To give you a recap of everything that happened, the Doctor and her companions were contacted by MI6 at the beginning of “Skyfall Part 1” to conduct a search on a strange phenomenon that was killing secret service agents all around the globe. Later in the episode, the Doctor catches one of the alien creatures that are apparently behind these murders. The creature reveals that they’re here to take the “universe,” while the Doctor theorizes that they may be from another dimension.
With the help of her former acquaintance, an MI6 analyst called O, the Doctor faces the frontman of the company that’s connected to these aliens. After a long chase, they all end up on a plane where O suddenly unveils himself as the Master, one of the Doctor’s greatest enemies, who seemingly died as Missy during the events of season 10’s finale, “The Doctor Falls.”
And if that wasn’t shocking enough, the Master went on to say something that might affect everything we’ve known up to this point. “Everything you think you know is a lie,” he yells at the Doctor before teleporting away and leaving everyone to die on the plane.
Of course, this cliffhanger ending has left us with many questions: How did Missy survive? Who are these creatures and is the Master really in control of them? If they’re really here to take over everything and are not of this universe, do they pose a threat more terrifying than anything the Doctor’s faced before?
Thankfully, up to this point, we’ve had some clues to help us piece the puzzle together. In the first trailer for season 12, for instance, the Doctor ominously points out that “something” is coming for her, which could refer to the enigma of the Timeless Child that was first brought up during “Ghost Monument” in season 11 and left unaddressed by the end of the run.
“The Timeless Child… we see what’s hidden, even from yourself. The outcast, abandoned and unknown…” said the Remnants in the above-mentioned episode. Could it be that what’s “hidden,” even from the Doctor, is what the Master refers to as a “lie”? Perhaps, though we can safely assume that the Master is not the Timeless Child, but merely related to it.
Showrunner Chris Chibnall had previously teased us when asked about this enigma by saying the following:
“These are always good questions to be asking,” he coyly stated. “There is a new challenge that the Doctor has to face this year which is pretty profound.”
Well, it would seem that we won’t know the answers for sure until “Spyfall Part 2” premieres in a couple of days to shed light on a few things. For now, though, be sure to check out our review of the season premiere here.