10. Monica and Chandler
You might not like Monica as a character. You might be one of the few that doesn't seem to like Chandler. Maybe by series 10 you were sick of both of them. But their relationship is still one of my favourites.
They were old friends, close through Ross. They'd each done wrong to each other (Chandler bitching about her being fat, she cutting off the end of his toe) but they've also done a lot of right by each other. Both of them wanted the same things out of life and love, which their previous loves hadn't wanted. And, nicely, both of them were 'reproductively challenged', rather than it being the 'fault' of either one of them. She might be controlling and OCD, but he tries to please her, whilst also helping her tone it down a little - he loves her for it. And she loves him, even if he tried to be nice by doing the one thing he shouldn't: clean.
They had a nice romance, which started off as fun and then mellowed into the nice happy after that married couples should have, though not without bumps. (The baby issue, for example)
9. Wash and Zoe
Wash and Zoe were equals. On the ship, Zoe may have had higher command, but he was the pilot. Can't exactly go without the pilot. They were a nice, casual-serious couple. Laid back and jocular, but also capable of showing love and affection and a healthy attitude towards their marriage.
It was nice that Zoe, being a working girl, was the one to propose to have a baby - I'd have pegged Wash to be more broody. The speech where she says she wasn't going to be too afraid of losing something and end up not having it at all was just beautiful. Aside from that episode where Wash gets all testosterone-jealous of Mal, they largely don't interfere with each other's jobs on Serenity. He is a pilot. She is Mal's right hand man when doing deals and is a fighter. Each has his own job, and each has his own strengths. The epitome of how well their relationship works, despite their differences, is when they're being interviewed by The Alliance and we have the She Said He Said scene.
8. Dwight and Jim
They're not a couple, but that doesn't mean they don't have a relationship - I do platonic ones too!
Largely they are on here because of the events of Season 8, so far. There were moments in earlier seasons, but episode 18 of Season 8 sealed their spot.
They're the epitome of the (comic) frenimy variety of relationships. Jim keeps Dwight grounded by concocting ridiculous (and genius) pranks, and Dwight does his best to try to keep Jim in his place. In all their bickering, each character manages to maintain their correct rank in the office - Dwight does not become some power-grabbing lunatic, and Jim doesn't remain static, either. He did have that promotion one season.
The reason that they're more than just prank buddies is the way they deal with each other when one or the other is in need. Dwight is always there to offer a hand, wanted or otherwise. Jim has been supportive of Dwight in key moments, whether Dwight recognised it or not. Around season 3, Dwight cries on the stairs, heart broken by Angela's behaviour towards him post-break up. Jim just sits there and tells him that he knows how he feels. The moment is just right. They've crossed a line, a line that united them as fellow romantics (of a sort) with feelings. Jim doesn't pat him or touch Dwight, he simply lets him know that he understands and leaves. It was the perfect dynamic.
In Tallahassee on a business trip, Dwight and Jim shack up in Dwight's room after Dwight fumigates Jim's room (unwittingly) helping Jim avoid crazy Cathy Sims. They just sit there watching t.v. and eat ice cream. In the latest episode, Jim comes through for Dwight by looking like a bit of an idiot in a suit that's too small for him and wearing eye liner, securing Dwight's long fought-for promotion as Saber's store manager.
They work well as a team, despite their on-off rivalry.
They work well as a team, despite their on-off rivalry.
7. Georgia (George) and Rube
Dead Like Me is the tale of a girl that died and became a grim reaper. She's pretty nihilistic, when one thinks about it, not really giving an ass about anything other than the fact she'd died. It was a wake-up call, really. Dark humour from the off.
Rube is the reaper that picks her soul up and takes her to her funeral, and from there mentors and guides her. He is the boss of the group of reapers in the area, and he is largely a patriarchal figure, but particularly to George. He quickly nicknames her 'Peanut', the name he used for his daughter when he was alive, and he berates, praises and supports her. He is always there and quick to punish her when she messes up, but he is as fair as he is firm. She is actually the father figure she needed from her biological father, Clancy, who was in comparison a douche and a wimp.
6. Willow and Tara
Yeah, it was pretty obvious they'd be on this list.
Willow's Other Love - after Oz left (and she is still waiting, in a way. She locked her High School self away the day that he slept with Veruca) she pretty much went the other end of the spectrum. I'm not saying she's "not a lesbian" or whatever. I don't tend to go for labels, I mean, she did say that seeing Giles sing reminded her why she found him sexy at High School. Just sayin'.
Their love was just beautiful. They brought each other out of their shells - Willow freed Tara from the shackles of anxiety and nervousness, and they shared more than just a hobby, their witchcraft was almost a life style. It was a very special bond between them that Willow and Kennedy will never have. (Sorry for all you Kennow shippers out there) Willow looked after Tara when Tara had her mind taken by Glory. She risked a lot to get it back from Glory, too. Tara loved Willow so much that she left when she had to, as much pain as it caused. Had Joss Whedon not done his MASSIVE DICK MOVE, they'd have had an enduring relationship, I think. That or he'd have Tara fall in love with someone else in order to trigger Willow's Black Willow arc. Which wasn't the best arc they could have done.
5. Buffy and Giles
I don't care what anybody says, I think this relationship was just lovely. Maybe I'm just jealous that Buffy had Giles as her adopted father. Or that he's always there. Or that she got Giles at all. Bitch.
Yeah, I'm jealous.
He is stuffy and flabbergasted at Buffy's attitude in the first series or two, but he understood her. He understood her whining and weird behaviour at the start of series 2. He understood most how to get Buffy talking about what went down with Angel. He knew something huge had happened to make her just take off - I mean, accepting death and not dying permanently messed her up a little end of series 1, so naturally something catastrophic happened to her when she stabbed the man she loved. He suspected correctly that the spell must have worked.
He is her safety blanket, but in some way, she is his. They give each other stability (in a chaotic way) in their lives and roles in society. The reason Giles lost his place as an official Watcher *was* his relationship with Buffy - he cared for her the way a real loving father would care for his daughter. They frustrated each other sometimes, but they helped each other grow: she made him loosen up a bit (Jenny, helped, too, except she died) and he helped her accept adult responsibilities in season 5 and later. (He tried at the start of season 4, but felt guilty and turned up late at the end of episode 1) Both have given each other life lessons - Giles more than Buffy - but some scenes are just perfect and touching: when he 'lies' to her and tells her life is amazing and happy endings; when he talks to her about love; when she recognises him as a demon; when he tells her how to be an adult for Dawn.
4. Kate Beckett and Richard Castle
Let me get something very clear from the off: I do not want them to have sex. I don't mind the sexual tension, but I was actually a bit disappointed when they kissed. But then I guess that added further to their dynamic - the unspoken affection they have for each other.
Right. Castle and Beckett. A fantastic crime-fighting team. He pissed her off, she mystifies and inspires him. They catch the bad guys and finish each other's sentences. He is an excitable child, she the reprimanding reluctant mother hen. It works. It's funny, endearing and has the potential to be the best sort of friendship that could ever develop. They have each other's backs. It might even be true that they love each other - but as seen in my favourite t.v. couple at number 1, there is no need for a sexual dynamic. Indeed, I think that the day they finally 'do it' is the day that I and others will lose interest, and their rapport with begin to fail. Just because sexual tension is delicious does not mean that it will work if it is acted upon. Unless she becomes Alexis's step mum, but without any of the sex and romance being shown. Then maybe that'd work, in some weird way.
3. Pam Halpert (nee Beasely) and Michael Scott
The Dream Team.
Yes, he annoyed her at times, but ultimately, their relationship grew out of their belief in each other. When Pam put her work into a gallery show, and her own fiancé failed to show any support or interest, it was Michael that praised her art and even wanted to buy a piece for the office. Michael also helped Pam get with Jim, indirectly, by telling Jim to never give up, when Jim admitted his feelings to Michael on the Booze Cruise.
And Pam believes in Michael. He is essentially a man with a good heart, who simply wants the best for everyone. (Except maybe Toby.) When he splits from Dunder Mifflin and tries to start his own paper company, Pam jumps ship with him and follows him on his magical journey to the little changing room on the ground floor of the building. In the end, the title 'Dream Team' was apt, as they were a duo that dreamed of good things and a better life for themselves and others, and for their love lives.
Each gave each other good advice, wittingly or not. And it was Pam who was with Michael in his final scene, having driven and run straight from work, where Jim tells her she's just missed him. We don't hear what was said between them, but sometimes, nothing needs to be said.
2. Sherlock Holmes and John Watson (BBC)
There is a very good scene where John reminds Sherlock that he doesn't intrinsically know everything that is going on, and it is very indicative of their relationship. Sherlock has to be reminded, because he views John entirely as an equal. In doing so, he forgets that John is not a sociopathic genius, and may not have joined all the dots - or indeed, predicted all the dots - as early as he. John is Sherlock's true friend, defying what Mycroft said of him in his first scene ("I am the closest thing to a friend that Sherlock has"). Ok, I find the Sherlock-Watson ship entertaining, but I don't seriously hope that they are a gay couple. They're not a couple. The closest description to match that and what they have is "Romantic Friendship", or a "Bromance". They have a wonderful domestic life, and they do pretty much everything together, with John running tea errands and whatnot. They are not, however, gay or closeted.
(I'm still flying a little flag on a stick for Molly Hooper, in a vain hope of happiness for the dear.)
1. Jeff Collier and Kathleen "Dixie" Dixon
They are the 'Dynamic Duo' of the fictional world of Holby, in Casualty. I really feel bad for other countries not being to have this couple in their shows. They are actually what marriage should be about.
I know they're a married couple, but here is the most important thing about them: Dixie is a lesbian, and Jeff is a straight divorcee. The reason they are married is that Dixie hadn't told her father, who was dying, and asked Jeff to marry her to make him proud. Tough storyline. They were already friends, and, if I recall correctly, already living together, since Jeff was kicked out of his place or there'd been a fire or something.
This couple are best friends. They are incredibly close. They truly love each other. They care for each other's emotional and physical well-being - Dixie reminds Jeff of his limited red-meat diet, they both call each other up on stupid stunts at dangerous emergency scenes, they cheer each other up when one is down. In the latest episode, it was Dixie who was feeling low about her "trash collecting" job as a paramedic - "pick it up and take it in, then the trash is there again the next day". She felt she wasn't making "a difference." Jeff simply told her that he made a difference to his world. Awww!
When she was apologising to him for not backing away from an Acid-tripping patient covered in petrol with a lighter, she brought him what he'd been craving all day; a medium rare steak with mushrooms and chips and tomato. (Which made me damn hungry). They are constantly doing little things for each other, as a married couple would, but all the while calling each other 'mate' and 'luv' rather than a pet name that others would have given each other.
They have stuck together through thick and thin - when Jeff was shell-shocked from a college shooting, when Polly, a favourite paramedic died and they couldn't save her, Dixie grieving her father dying after finding out the marriage was a 'sham'. Well, aside from their sexualities, their marriage is the most real loving relationship t.v. has seen in a very long time. Neither of them has cheated on the other (in marriage terms) and both seem perfectly happy and content with each other. They are less likely to get divorced than any proper hetero or homo couple out there.
When she was apologising to him for not backing away from an Acid-tripping patient covered in petrol with a lighter, she brought him what he'd been craving all day; a medium rare steak with mushrooms and chips and tomato. (Which made me damn hungry). They are constantly doing little things for each other, as a married couple would, but all the while calling each other 'mate' and 'luv' rather than a pet name that others would have given each other.
They have stuck together through thick and thin - when Jeff was shell-shocked from a college shooting, when Polly, a favourite paramedic died and they couldn't save her, Dixie grieving her father dying after finding out the marriage was a 'sham'. Well, aside from their sexualities, their marriage is the most real loving relationship t.v. has seen in a very long time. Neither of them has cheated on the other (in marriage terms) and both seem perfectly happy and content with each other. They are less likely to get divorced than any proper hetero or homo couple out there.
