More than any of medium, TV has sold the idea that “opposites attract.” The more mismatched the couple the better, as far as TV is concerned. While it can lead to some interesting conflict, heavy chemistry and passionate pairings doesn’t always work. Sometimes couples are so mismatched and ill-suited for one another that is stops being romantic and starts being strange. Here are 9 of the most confusing TV hook-ups ranked from “best” to worst.
9. Oliver and Laurel, Arrow
In the comics on which Arrow is based, the couple of Oliver Queen and Dinah Laurel Lance is one of the most dynamic and powerful superhero romances. The Green Arrow and the Black Canary are partners in fighting crime and in life. So it makes sense why Arrow hooked up their live-action counterparts in the early seasons of the show. It was just a disaster. They were terribly dysfunctional, lacked a lot of chemistry and overall felt forced.
8. Ruby and Sam, Supernatural
It’s not as if there was sexual tension between Sam and Ruby 1.0 (played by Katie Cassidy). Still in season 4 of Supernatural when Ruby came back as Jared Padalecki’s future wife Genevieve Cortese, Sam sleeping with the demon was beyond weird. Rarely has an actual couple had less on-screen chemistry and the whole affair was an obvious attempt by Ruby to manipulate the younger Winchester.
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7. Rumple and Belle, Once Upon a Time
There’s a lot of problems with Rumplestilskin and Belle French’s on-again and off-again relationship on Once Upon a Time. The first is that no matter how much magic is going on — it always looks like Belle is making out with her young grandfather or significantly older uncle. Age might just be a number, but it doesn’t make Belle and Rumple look like any more of a mismatch. This isn’t even touching on their history of lies, abuse and how the whole relationship feels very Stockholm Syndrome-y. She did meet him by (essentially) being his slave after all.
6. Sansa and Littlefinger, Game of Thrones
When Sansa and Littlefinger first kissed it wasn’t that surprising, especially because it was clear from the start that Littlefinger was a complete freak. The weirdness is that Sansa didn’t seemed completely repulsed by Littlefinger’s advances. This could just be Sansa manipulating Littlefinger or she could be resigning herself to it. It is sad that Littlefinger is at least terrifying of Sansa’s suitors over Game of Thrones run, excluding Tyrion. Hopefully this won’t go any farther than that one awkward kiss.
5. Kendra and Ray, Legends of Tomorrow
Ray is a super-genius who made a suit that shrinks him into microscopic size. Kendra is a reincarnated Hawk goddess who no matter where she is in time is perpetually “just a barista” a few months ago. They don’t fit together on paper and they don’t fit together in action. The only (current) romance on the Legends of Tomorrow, Ray and Kendra are more likely to make you roll your eyes than have your heart melt.
4. Allison and Isaac, Teen Wolf
Though Crystal Reed’s decision to leave Teen Wolf happened after Scott and Allison broke up, in retrospect the break-up was preparing audiences for Crystal’s leave. Allison flirting and hooking up with Isaac after her break up with Scott was weird for a number of reasons. Mostly because the two characters didn’t fit nearly as well together on-screen as Allison and Scott. There was some extra awkwardness involved given the fact that the storyline started when the actors (Reed and Daniel Sharman) were dating in real life and extended on-screen after their break-up. It sadly showed on screen.
3. Erin and Andy, The Office
Once Steve Carrell left The Office, the comedy series desperately tried to capture some of the magic of the early seasons. Since Ed Helms was the biggest star at the time, the show promoted his character Andy to the forefront and tried a number of storylines to make Andy more interesting. Andy’s attraction and relationship with the cute new receptionist, Erin, was one of the biggest and most uncomfortable. The actors had no chemistry together, Erin was written to have a child-like intelligence and Andy wasn’t much smarter. The whole thing was disaster from start to finish.
2. Willow and Kennedy, Buffy the Vampire Slayer
When Buffy’s best friend came out as lesbian on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, young confused teenage girls everywhere in the early 2000’s had a role model. Willow and her first girlfriend Tara were adorable together and they taught everyone watching that love is love. When Tara was tragically killed in season 6, Willow found a newer, younger model to date. Kennedy was the anti-Tara in every respect. She was brash, unlikable and bossy. There was nothing remotely interesting about watching her and there was even less of a reason given for why Willow would be attracted to her.
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1. Rachel and Joey, Friends
If Ross and Rachel are the couple that jumps to mind when thinking about on-again/off-again relationships, Rachel and Joey comes to mind when thinking of confusing couples. Rachel and Joey might actually be better suited for one another than Ross and Rachel but Friends had no real investment in having the two stay together. It was a transparent attempt to make Ross and Rachel stay apart even longer and the two never got farther than a few make-out sessions.
But what do you think of our list? Are there any awkward couples that we missed?
(Images courtesy of ABC, The CW, NBC. MTV and HBO)
Contributing Writer, BuddyTV
Derek is a Philadelphia based writer and unabashed TV and comic book junkie. The time he doesn’t spend over analyzing all things nerdy he is working on his resume to be the liaison to the Justice League.
