Warning: This article includes MAJOR SPOILERS for Doctor Who season 15, episode 4, "Lucky Day"!

With Doctor Who season 15 being the year of toxic boyfriends, I’m happy we have a generally unproblematic male character like Colonel Ibrahim to balance it out. Because of the shortened season, Doctor Who season 15 is halfway over, and it’s won back over many skeptical fans who were ready to abandon the show. People seem way more excited about Ncuti Gatwa’s Fifteenth Doctor now that they’re traveling with Belinda Chandra instead of Ruby Sunday.

However, the new season hasn’t completely abandoned promise that Belinda, Ruby, and the Doctor travel together. Ruby’s episode, “Lucky Day,” also creates an interesting pattern because of the toxic boyfriend storyline.

Doctor Who Has Had 2 Toxic Boyfriends In 4 Episodes

Alan & Conrad Are Both Toxic Men Who Treat Their Girlfriends Horribly

Of the past four Doctor Who episodes, two have featured toxic boyfriends who manipulate and lie to their girlfriends to get what they want. First, Alan tries to control everything about Belinda in “Robot Revolution,” showing that their relationship is more about control than love. After they break up, he goes to galactic lengths to gain as much power as possible to force her to marry him. He sees her as rightfully his.

Similarly, Conrad is a terrible person who targets Ruby Sunday in “Lucky Day,” getting into a relationship with her under pretenses. While she thinks she’s finally finding happiness, he’s simply luring her into a trap to “expose” aliens as a hoax, UNIT as liars, and Ruby as crazy. Unfortunately, he doesn’t even feel guilty about the fact that he breaks her heart in the process.

With season 15 only having eight episodes, this means at least one-fourth of the episodes focus on the theme of toxic relationships. However, the depiction isn’t even remotely intended to hate on men as a whole. Doctor Who contrasts the dangerous, manipulative men with those who behave in loving ways throughout their relationships, like Reginald Pye, who adores his wife, and Colonel Ibrahim, who is a great coworker (and possibly more) with Kate. The latter feels more impactful since he has appeared in more than just one episode of Doctor Who.

Doctor Who Needed A Character Like Colonel Ibrahim In Season 15

Colonel Ibrahim Respects The Women In Professional Relationships With Him

Though we haven’t seen much of Colonel Ibrahim and Kate Stewart onscreen, the few scenes we’ve gotten of them seem promising. They act like they genuinely care about each other, trusting and protecting one another. What’s more, the duo shows that they can handle conflict in a healthy way. Ibrahim and Kate don’t always agree, as shown when he thinks she went overboard with Conrad, and they’re in a good enough spot that he feels that he can speak up about it.

It’s still unclear whether these two are in a romance or just have camaraderie. Although RTD spoke about their romance, it hasn’t been confirmed onscreen. Either way, the way that Colonel Ibrahim respects women in any type of relationship with him is excellent to see. I’d almost rather they just be trusted coworkers because a romance would be potentially problematic. She would technically be his boss if he was a UNIT employee, which would create a power imbalance in their relationship.

Kate & Ibrahim's Relationship Will Become More Important In Doctor Who's Spinoff

The Of UNIT Will Return In The War Between The Land And The Sea

Whether they are in a romantic partnership or just extremely good friends at work, the relationship between Kate Stewart and Colonel Ibrahim will play a major role in the Doctor Who spinoff, The War Between the Land and the Sea. The show will bring back an old Doctor Who villain, the Sea Devils. When the Doctor is off Earth, the species will come out of the oceans, making UNIT take action.

Russell T Davis explained at the San Diego Comic-Con that “[the Sea Devils] wake up, and they see the state of the oceans that we have put it in. We have wrecked the place, and it is war – war on an epic scale” (via BBC Doctor Who). Both Jemma Redgrave and Alexander Devrient are confirmed as cast of The War Between the Land and the Sea, meaning Kate and Colonel Ibrahim will definitely return. Hopefully, the spinoff will finally confirm the state of their relationship after their Doctor Who appearances.