Who is TV’s greatest “will they/won’t they” couple?

A recent will they/won’t they arc that’s imprinted in my heart and mind forever is Fleabag and Hot Priest. Fleabag’s transcendent second season was essentially a modern romantic comedy for the ages. For starters: Phoebe Waller-Bridge and Andrew Scott share unbelievably electrifying chemistry. In six short episodes, they bring to life a heartfelt relationship with an extraordinary obstacle: Will he choose his faith, or succumb to his feelings for her? Their connection—established by him noticing she breaks the fourth wall—and intense longing goes back-and-forth, ending with an agonizing “It’ll pass.” It’s all utterly charming and heartbreaking. What’s not to love? [Saloni Gajjar]

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3 / 10

Nick and Jess, New Girl

Over the course of seven seasons, Elizabeth Meriwether crafted one of sitcom’s best “will they/won’t they couples” with Jessica Day (Zooey Deschanel) and Nick Miller (Jake Johnson) in New Girl. In the first few seasons, the two circle around each other as roommates, friends, and potential romantic interests. Ultimately it does not work out when the two date in season two, as they simply have too much to figure out. Nick and Jess move on (kind of) to new relationships, and spend periods of time alone for self-reflection. Eventually, this leads up to the moment in the season six finale when they realize they truly do want to be together, and a chase up and down the elevators to Lorde’s “Green Light” ensues. Jess and Nick’s relationship is goofy, tender, and rooted in mutual support, making it an easy one to root for. While the timing was off the first time around, viewers knew they were meant to end up together. [Gabrielle Sanchez]

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4 / 10

Peggy and Stan, Mad Men

I mostly soured on the “will they/won’t they”s while waiting for Jim and Pam to make their decision. But that didn’t stop me from getting all wrapped up in the romances of the employees of Sterling Cooper on Mad Men. Peggy and Stan (Elizabeth Moss and Jay R. Ferguson) kept their secret flame alive for roughly the entirety of the back half of the series as they bounced between almost good-enough partners and the newfound but unsatisfying freedoms of the sexual revolution. Nevertheless, in their final scene together, the show dips unapologetically into rom-com territory, delivering one of the most joyous and satisfying moments of the series, a welcome bit of a fan service that no one was mad about. Who could be? It was so nice to see Peggy get everything she wanted. [Matt Schimkowitz]

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5 / 10

Issa and Lawrence, Insecure

There are a lot of moments from Issa and Lawrence’s relationship that land them at the top of my “will they/won’t they” list. Like the explosive blowout fights. Or the moments of quiet, mature conversation (see above). I could also point to the very real (often exhausting) debate they sparked about relationships between Black men and women, or even just marvel at the on-screen chemistry between Issa Rae and Jay Ellis. But most of all, I love how their relationship felt real. To me, “will they/won’t they” relationships on TV can often feel predestined, like the unseen TV gods are slowly pushing these two hot people towards each other without rhyme or reason. But I never felt that from Issa and Lawrence. Even amid the messiness, there was always a spark of mutual attraction. [Baraka Kaseko]

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6 / 10

Jim and Pam, The Office

Unlike Matt, I was always on board with the saga of Jim and Pam from The Office, from the highs of “Casino Night” to the lows of Pam getting back together with Roy (and Roy’s brother taking a bath on his jet skis), right up to the “it’s a date” talking head scene. My favorite thing, though, is the little meta twinkle of everyone in the office immediately getting sick of them—a little nod to the fact that the storyline that drove so much of the show’s early years had effectively wrapped up and that it was time to move on. [Sam Barsanti]

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7 / 10

John Crichton and Aeryn Sun, Farscape

Few shows have ever gone to further lengths to keep its obvious alpha couple apart than sci-fi odyssey Farscape, which threw everything in the book at lost astronaut John Crichton and recovering space-fascist Aeryn Sun to in an effort to deny Ben Browder and Claudia Black’s irresistible chemistry. Deaths, clones, competing love interests, more deaths, wormholes, farting Muppets: Nothing could keep those two apart for long, though, crafting one of sci-fi TV’s best, and most brutal, love stories in the process. [William Hughes]

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8 / 10

Fox Mulder and Dana Scully, The X Files

For me and my spooky little elder millennial heart, there is only one answer to this question: Fox Mulder and Dana Scully. Eventually, they did get together, had a kid, and broke up. But it was better before all that happened, honestly, back when they were trying to pass off their obvious obsession with one another as mere professional courtesy. Mulder was staring at Scully with lovesick awe, and Scully was coming up with excuses as to why she had to tag along on whatever harebrained mission Mulder was on that week, all the way back in season one. The first six seasons of the show are so thick with deep hugs, little smiles, gentle touches, and flirtatious banter that it was almost anticlimactic when they finally smooched for real in the season seven episode “Millennium.” [Katie Rife]

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9 / 10

Sam and Diane, Cheers

With all due respect to these maybes-come-lately, the O.G. will-they-won’t-they couple are still the Alpha and Omega of this field. Sam Malone and Diane Chambers from Cheers (a.k.a. Ted Danson and Shelley Long) cast a very long shadow, for the simple reason that, to this day, no one has done it better. Over the course of five seasons (and then the series finale in season 11), the pair elevated the art of the potential relationship two-step, aggravating and enrapturing each other in equal measure. And what equals: Diane and Sam both gave as good as they got, with no cheap shot so low they couldn’t wiggle under it to find an even cheaper one. And yet, through all that, the chemistry they generated was electric—so much so, that a six-year break couldn’t dim their passion. Or their knack for emotionally fucking with one another. [Alex McLevy]

10 / 10

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