The will-they-or-won’t-they couple is a staple of television entertainment. With sexual tension, suspense and bickering, such couples can sustain and entertain audiences for years. Who were the 12 best will-they-or-won’t-they pairings of 2012? Find out here!
#12 Castle — Castle and Beckett
Status at the Beginning of 2012: Castle loved Beckett, but she was pretending not to know about that.
Status at the End of 2012: Love! Happiness! Kissing! Sex!
What Happened? Apparently, getting nearly thrown off a building by the man who tried to kill you a year earlier has a positive impact on one’s relationship status.
#11 The Vampire Diaries — Damon and Elena
Status at the Beginning of 2012: Although Elena had feelings for Damon, her lingering love for Stefan made sure nothing (or not much, anyway) happened.
Status at the End of 2012: Sexy-times and sire-bonding!
What Happened? Well, Elena died. That was the big thing. When she came back as a vampire, Damon was suddenly the more-attractive Salvatore brother. And the sire bond — while not responsible for the kissing — certainly helped.
#10 New Girl — Jess and Nick
Status at the Beginning of 2012: Just roommates and sometimes friends.
Status at the End of 2012: Just friends and sometimes roommates.
What Happened? Nick managed to go for every other girl in existence while not noticing the ridiculous chemistry with Jess. Both dated other people. Nothing between them went anywhere.
#9 Revenge — Emily and Jack
Status at the Beginning of 2012: Emily was engaged to Daniel, while Jack desperately searched for the missing Amanda (who he thought was a murderer).
Status at the End of 2012: Emily is shacking up with Aiden, while Jack and Amanda are proud new parents.
What Happened? Emily chose vengeance over Jack. Granted, this was a bit of a selfless decision — as was letting Amanda back in — but still it left both parties wistful for what could have been.
#8 Community — Britta and Troy
Status at the Beginning of 2012: Occasional flirting aside, any attraction was rather subtle.
Status at the End of 2012: It was vague, but it looked like Britta might be moving in. They went on a date anyway.
What Happened? Thanks to forced hugging, general weirdness and a date that went much better than Abed expected, these two crazy kids ended season 3 in a good place. We haven’t seen them since.
#7 Suits — Mike and Rachel
Status at the Beginning of 2012: They had kissed, but Rachel didn’t date at work, and Mike was seeing Jenny.
Status at the End of 2012: Just as Rachel was ready to commit to dating Mike, he went and slept with some girl from his grandmother’s funeral.
What Happened? A lot of flirting and a few stolen kisses led pretty much nowhere. That’s what happens when a pair of socially dysfunctional workaholics fall in love.
#6 Grimm — Captain Renard and Juliet
Status at the Beginning of 2012: Juliet was happily engaged to Nick, while Captain Renard barely knew she existed.
Status at the End of 2012: They were kissing in secret and kind of obsessively falling in magical love.
What Happened? Adalind. That’s what happened. The Hexenbiest’s curse on Juliette could only be broken by a kiss from a prince — Renard. The side effects, unfortunately, triggered the obsession. Since Juliette also had forgotten Nick’s very existence, things moved along in this illicit relationship.
#5 Teen Wolf — Stiles and Lydia
Status at the Beginning of 2012: Lydia lay bleeding from werewolf bites as Stiles held vigil outside her hospital room.
Status at the End of 2012: Despite Stiles being awesome, Lydia reaffirmed her love for the newly werewolf-ed Jackson.
What Happened? Lydia didn’t turn into a werewolf, which was kind of weird. She did, however, get controlled by Peter Hale a lot. This didn’t leave a lot of time to notice Stiles’ desperate advances. And she ended up being in love with Jackson anyway. Maybe next year!
#4 Arrow — Oliver and Laurel
Status at the Beginning of 2012: Laurel thought Oliver was dead. She wished he was dead. Oliver, meanwhile, thought about Laurel a lot.
Status at the End of 2012: Despite a rather passionate kiss, both seemed to agree that Oliver was not good for Laurel. She ended up dating Tommy instead.
What Happened? Oliver shot and killed a bunch of people while Tommy got all charming and moved in on the girl.
#3 Suburgatory — George and Dallas
Status at the Beginning of 2012: Dallas was still married. George figured they were friends and looked elsewhere.
Status at the End of 2012: Dating
What Happened? Dallas got a divorce. George broke up with his girlfriend and got lonely when Tessa sought out her mother and grandmother. Eventually, destiny took its pastel-hued course.
#2 Covert Affairs — Annie and Augie
Status at the Beginning of 2012: Augie was in love — with someone else. Annie was busy being a super-spy.
Status at the End of 2012: Kisses!!!
What Happened? Auggie and Parker broke it off after he made his CIA affiliation clear. Annie had a passionate affair with Simon and flirted with Eyal for a bit. But, thanks to Annie’s near-death experience, love found a way.
#1 NCIS — Tony and Ziva
Status at the Beginning of 2012: Friends and colleagues, as always.
Status at the End of 2012: Friends and colleagues, as always.
What Happened? Fan hopes for the elevator scene that ended season 9 kind of went nowhere. Sure, they bonded. But this relationship will take a lot of time to get anywhere.
Senior Writer, BuddyTV
Laurel grew up in Mamaroneck, NY, Grosse Pointe, MI and Bellevue WA. She then went on to live in places like Boston, Tucson, Houston, Wales, Tanzania, Prince Edward Island and New York City before heading back to Seattle. Ever since early childhood, when she became addicted to The Muppet Show, Laurel has watched far too much TV. Current favorites include Chuck, Modern Family, Supernatural, Mad Men and Community. Laurel received a BA in Astrophysics (yes, that is possible) from Colgate University and a PhD in Middle Eastern Studies and History of Science from Columbia University before she realized that television is much better than studying.
