40 Favorite TV Couples of the Decade

This decade, 2010-2019, has brought huge changes to TV and, resultingly, TV couples! We are now in the age of streaming and we can binge a series like The Expanse is one sitting. The shipping comes at us fast and furious, as in the case with Netflix’s The Society.

Networks like Hulu and Youtube have joined “prestige TV” programmers like HBO and Showtime in providing bold, edgy, and experimental shows. And our couples from tried-and-true shows like Grey’s Anatomy continue to take us on romantic journeys on a week to week basis. 

Another huge change to couples on TV during this decade is the inclusion of BIPOC and LGBTQIA couples. While cis white straight ships do continue to dominate the TV landscape, only about half of our list is this type of couple. That’s worth celebrating! 

As we move into the new decade, we know that TV will experience more transformation. We are excited to see it because of the example of how change can be a wonderful thing for our favorite TV couples. 

Here, in no particular order, are our top TV couples of the decade!

1. Oliver Queen & Felicity Smoak (Arrow) 

There’s something remarkable about looking back on Oliver Queen and Felicity Smoak’s relationship over the years.

It’s amazing to see how much these two have grown from partners to friends to boyfriend/girlfriend to spouses and parents. They’ve pushed each other, never holding back, and have always been there to support each other, allowing each other room to grow as individuals, Oliver and Felicity, too.

Being a hero isn’t easy and neither is love. But, Olicity has managed to navigate the minefield that is hero-dom with so much care with each other, a team within a team, ready to fight when it was them against the world–despite all of the times they’ve had to say goodbye over the years for the sake of the city, world, and the multiverse–that every moment they shared together feels well-earned and so perfectly organic, reinforcing Oliver’s words during Arrow Season 4, “nothing worthwhile ever comes easy.”

Their love story has become such an integral part of Oliver’s journey, and ultimately a cornerstone of Arrow’s story in general, that it’s hard to imagine their story ending any other way but with the pair by each other’s side.

Even when The Monitor’s mission keeps them apart, there are still moments in the final season that serve as reminders that they will fulfill their promise to find each other again and that their love really is “bigger than the freaking universe.”

2. Jake Peralta & Amy Santiago (Brooklyn Nine-Nine) 

Every second of Jake Peralta and Amy Santiago’s love story on Brooklyn Nine-Nine has been toit.

This cop couple went from competitors to lovers, a severely underrated trope. Peraltiago getting to the lovers stage is a blast to watch. The “we have to kiss so we don’t blow our cover” bit gets me in the good-good feels every time. 

And then, they went from lovers to so much more. What makes this couple truly exceptional is how Peraltiago gets more interesting AFTER they get together (Take that, Aaron Sorkin).  Jake makes the most perfect proposal on television, ever. Then, Amy delivers the most heartfelt and cheeky wedding vows of all time. We can only hope for our partner to tell us that it’s our butt, our butt is da bomb. 

The pair rely on each other and thrive with each other, without ever becoming co-dependent. Amy isn’t willing to stay with Jake, the love of her life, if he doesn’t want kids. The courage and confidence it takes to be willing to make that choice is remarkable.

It is rare that a couple on TV is an excellent role model AND gives all the feels. Peralitago is that couple. NBC has ordered an eighth season Brooklyn Nine-Nine, so we know we’ll get to see more of this ship sailing through calm and stormy seas.  

3. Mickey Milkovich & Ian Gallagher (Shameless)

We thought we knew what shipping was. And then, Mickey and Ian go from fistfight to full-on hooking up and we realize, we only thought we knew. 

This couple takes chemistry to the next level, much like the entire show Shameless. Forget warm fuzzies, the heat between these two starts a fire in our pants. We love it. 

Don’t get us wrong. In so many ways, Gallavich is an example of what NOT to be like as a couple. Violence is deeply enmeshed in their union. Sometimes between the two of them, always in their environment. 

Part of the joy of TV couples, though, is we get to support and love ones that in real life we would avoid at all costs. The chemistry between actors Noel Fisher and Cameron Monaghan is electric, and not just sexual chemistry. They have a bond that you can just feel radiating from the TV screen. It is an eternal, soul reaching kind of connection. 

We are all screaming from the rooftops that we get to see the gallant Gallavich on Season 10 of Shameless. 

4. Elena Alvarez & Syd (One Day At A Time)

Elena’s “first time” storyline with her sydnificant other Syd is one for the books. It is sweet, awkward, and prioritizes consent. The importance of earnest and realistic depictions of formative couple moments can’t be overstated. Elena and Syd show us young-love in a full and funny way. We are smitten.

One Day At A Time allows us to go with the young pair on a path of discovery. The little gestures between the queer couple, especially the non-binary love card, are nuggets of joy that we will continue to need in the coming decade. 

Syd and Elena are a couple that gives us hope and earns their place on our Top 40 Couples list.

5. Nikita & Michael (Nikita)

Talk about enemies to lovers! Nikita‘s Nikita and Michael (Mikita) are the only couple on our list who have both been ordered to kill the other and have actually given it a try. They could never because at the root of their harshest conflicts was a willingness to do anything to save the other, including sacrificing themselves. 

If their one on one combat is any indication of how Mikita work between the sheets, these two are incredibly well matched. Maggie Q who plays Nikita and Shane West who plays Michael have a warm, but never quite soft, chemistry. Don’t get us wrong, Nikita and Michael are both sexy as hell, but when they are together the tension is mature and forlorn in addition to sexual. 

It’s the kind of relationship that a pair builds when they are constantly in survival mode. 

Nothing about Mikita is mundane and that’s just how we like them. The happy ending these two deadly agents get is beyond deserved. We imagine them continuing to live an adrenaline rush relationship, just a whole lot more safely outside Division.  

Also, the way he touches her face, come on.

6. Alicia Florrick & Will Gardner (The Good Wife)

Will and Alicia are a mature couple. On The Good Wife, all the characters are carrying bulky and heavy baggage. For Alicia and Will, in the face of all that mire and noise, their love lasted. Even at the heartbreaking end, they lasted.

We will never get over Will’s death. It’s not fair. NOT FAIR! But, love isn’t fair. Alicia is haunted by the lost chances, the guilt, and the worry. She feared that Will hated her and it turns out his love for her hurt even worse.

Before all that, they were a pair with a sexy gravitational pull. There were elevators, people, elevators. Alicia Florrick is a woman who has mastered the art of putting others’ needs before her own. Will is her guilty pleasure. He is what she wants for herself.

It’s important that there was a point in time where Alicia let herself have what she wanted, just because she wanted it. Life got in the way, but, nothing can take away those months when Alicia felt true happiness and pleasure being with Will.
The Good Wife managed to make love complicated in the way that life is complicated: weird, wonderful, tantalizing and tragic.

7. Root & Sameen Shaw (Person of Interest)

Root and Shaw are not a couple for the faint of heart. Tech sci-fi show Person of Interest doesn’t really do happy endings. Even without cute couple moments, or any chance of a first date, Shaw and Root manage to give us something more important. Their connection shows us that the capacity to love shapes us into humans more than anything else.

Root and Shaw are two no-nonsense STEM geniuses. They don’t cuddle, they kill. But that doesn’t make their care for each other, especially Shaw’s undeniable feelings for Root, any less sincere.

It just has different wrapping. For those of us who love the type of love that the lovers would prefer not to have because it complicates their mission, it makes it impossible to pull the trigger, Root and Shaw are a gift. 

Love stories that we find in the least likely of places are some of the most powerful ones out there. 

8. Grizz & Sam Eliot (The Society)

Grizz and Sam are perfect together. If only they weren’t trapped in a psychotic alternative universe dystopia! Then again, the dimension jumping bus ride brought them together. So, can we really complain?

This couple is the freshest and briefest on our list. In just ten episodes The Society gives these two gay teenagers a beautiful and heartwrenching romantic arch. Sometimes it’s about the QUALITY, not the quantity, of scenes. 

Sam is a deaf character played by a deaf actor who gets a smokin’ hot love story. In fact, it’s the hottest romance on the show. Disabled characters are so often portrayed as ancillary, undesirable, sexuality-less people, and that is unacceptable in this decade! The Society does it right by giving us a gay, sexy couple that provides excellent disability presentation. 

Sam lies to Grizz about being the baby’s bio father, even though Grizz represents his greatest hope in life. Sam’s need to honor his promise and protect his best friend Becca is greater than his need for happiness. There is something so beautiful and painful about that sacrifice. It at once makes Sam so worthy of Grizz’s love and painfully further from getting it.

The mix of pain and pleasure, oof, this is a dream couple. Grizz better get back from his camping trip soon so he can reunite with his dream lover Sam! After all, he was “preparing for when I get back.”

9. Waverly Earp & Nicole Haught (Wynonna Earp)

Waverly Earp and Nicole Haught, much better known as Wayhaught, are an idyllic, candy-coated, red hot ship. 

At the beginning of Wynonna Earp, Waverly is dating her high school sweetheart. We get to see her awaken to her attraction to Nicole and realize her relatively tepid feelings for her boyfriend. 

We never have to wait too long for Wayhaught. Even when they face deadly injuries and challenging breakups, this pair finds a way back to each other. They are magical that way. 

Waverly is literally magical. The extent and source of her powers remain a mystery, but no matter what they are, Waverly is sure to use them to return to the love of her life.

Wayhaught’s story is romantic and their costuming reflects that whimsy. The visually luscious way Wayhaught is styled is another special thing about this Top 40 couple. 

10. Coach Eric Taylor & Tami Taylor (Friday Night Lights)

Coach and Tami are marriage goals (that phrase is probably retiring this decade, so we need to get in our last chance to use it).

The Friday Night Lights foundational couple isn’t an example of a perfect marriage. It’s an example of the type we’d actually want. 

Tami and Coach go through trials and tribulations. What makes them stand out is how Tami is able to communicate honestly about her anger, her fears, her hopes without threatening to leave her marriage. 

In the final season of the Jason Katims show, Tami gets an opportunity for a dream job in a different state. Coach Taylor is a man who has always had his family support him in his job, so he doesn’t understand how to change positions and let Tami be the lead. 

He’s a typical man in that way and that isn’t shown as a bad thing, just a real thing. 

Tami Taylor’s plea to her husband outside the restaurant will stay with us forever. “We have sacrificed a lot, both of us, for your job… It’s my turn babe.” It’s an honest and strong claim that Tami makes in a loving way. She is perfection. 

Coach and Tami are one of the decade’s top couples because of how they show us a real partnership. None of that realism undermines how sexy they are as a couple. We are attracted to them as individuals and how they are attracted to each other.

Coach and Tami give us hope that marriage is just as wonderful as the pre-proposal stuff. Clear eyes, full heart, can’t lose. 

11. Dr. Cassandra Railly & James Cole (12 Monkeys)

Dr. Cassandra Railly and James Cole (Casserole) are destined to be together with a big, fat capital D. Time, plague, torture, the prophet: nothing can keep Casserole apart. 

This sci-fi ship isn’t just an adventurous love story. Things get dark, really dark. Casserole forces us to think about how far we would go to save our memories, our life, with the person we love. Would we destroy the world? 

Moments of levity and joy, especially the dancing, bring us closer to this fateful couple. The butterfly clip will always be the sweetest Christmas gift of all time.

In the end, Cassie and Cole’s story is perfectly heartbreaking. Because of the great gift of TV, we never have to let go of Casserole. We can just push play and watch the heart of 12 Monkeys start to beat again. 

12. Michael Guerin & Alex Manes (Roswell, New Mexico) 

Alex Manes and Michael Guerin have a cosmic connection that is sealed with a kiss at an alien museum. It just doesn’t get much better than that 

Roswell, New Mexico is full of couples dripping with chemistry. Alex and Michael, ship name Malex, stand out because of the tortured core of their breathtaking love story.

While they embrace and desire the parts of each other that others have rejected, they still carry the trauma of their pasts and it prevents them from having an open relationship.

There is a future for these two; they fit like interstellar puzzle pieces. But, before they do, they both need to heal from the past. We can’t wait for the sweet hot pain. Bring it on, Roswell, New Mexico Season 2!

13. Lucy Preston & Wyatt Logan (Timeless) 

From their first meeting at Mason Industries, when Wyatt smugly calls Lucy ma’am, Lucy Preston and Wyatt Logan have a searing love connection. The professor and the soldier quickly become partners; they make a perfect team, along with their third, Rufus, because of their different perspectives and strengths. 

Throughout the too brief series, Lucy and Wyatt, Lyatt, travel in time to protect the past and end up saving each other. Along the way, they build a Timeless trust, the hard-earned result of having to make difficult choices about the historical truths they discover. Their shared history allows them to continue on even when it seems like there is no point.

There is time on their missions for romance, especially on Timeless Season 2 Episode 3, “Hollywoodland.” We get it, Wyatt. Lucy’s song made us love her even more, too. Wyatt’s enduring loyalty to the vows he made to his dead wife gets in the way and fans get/have to revel in the exquisite pain of an almost-love story.

Ultimately, though, they are meant to be. It is written in the tomes of fate that this Babydoll and her Sweetheart will make history. They are the most timeless couple of the decade. 

14. David Rose & Patrick Brewer (Schitt’s Creek)

David and Patrick on Schitt’s Creek are simply the best. Better than all the rest. Truly, these two lovebirds give us such hope. David is a neurotic and delightful pessimist. His sister Alexis might have plenty of suitors in the small town, but it seems like David is going to have an impossible time. 

Patrick is a ray of freaking sunshine and the sweet, down-to-earth, and unaffected way he shows his love for David is surprisingly powerful. During a decade of much woe, it is the most beautiful of surprises for a gem of a character like David to find his Romeo (sans the tragedy).

The serenades set this TV ship apart from the rest. And, the show gives them a natural and thorough romantic development, from crush to nuptials.

When it comes to couples of the decade, these two lads are the Schitt. 

15. Chuck Bartowski & Sarah Walker (Chuck)

Chuck and Sarah are a classic soft sci-fi couple. They dance around in a will-they-won’t-they formation to the beat of the spy-case-of-the-week drum. 

Just because Chuck and Sarah are classic doesn’t mean they are ordinary. No ordinary couples make our Top 40 list! The chemistry between actors Zachary Levi and Yvonne Strahovski is exceptional. The nerdy guy gets to be a hero and the hot heroic blonde gets to be a nerd. The personality balance between the brave lovers is so fun to watch. 

Chuck is lighthearted for a spy romance, which and allows us to grow close with this couple without the constant threat of death. We will always remember the bomb countdown kiss and that beautiful wedding. We think Sarah will remember it all eventually, too. 

16. Donna Paulsen & Harvey Specter (Suits)

Donna and Harvey epitomize the slow burn. For eight seasons, EIGHT SEASONS, this super-hot, super-smart pair was “just friends.” Harvey justified this by staying in the classic scaredy-cat camp of “I don’t want to lose you and our friendship if it doesn’t work out.” We the TV jury sentence Suits to a lifetime of giving us Darvey GIFs for its slow burn crimes. 

Donna knows Harvey so well, and has since their very first meeting, that she stayed by his side through his fear-based indecision. The agony was great for this top couple. Mostly OUR agony, waiting for Harvey to get his head out of his butt.

Once he does, the gavel isn’t the only thing banging in Darvey’s life! Impossibly, the Darvey get together is worth the wait. The complete glee we feel, Donna feels, and Harvey feels at Darvey being a canon married couple is enough to fill twenty seasons of TV. (But, don’t ever do that to us again, TV. TYVM).

17. Cosima Niehaus & Delphine Cormier (Orphan Black)

We dig a couple of STEM lesbians in love. Cosima and Delphine face some obstacles early in their love life. But, once they establish trust and prioritize loyalty to the sestras, they are unstoppable. 

Delphine stays by Cosima’s side through it all, even Cosmia’s sickness. That kind of devotion is so sexy. 

The sestras on Orphan Black become a very tight-knit family. Delphine is really the only person on the show to be considered a sister, even though she doesn’t share DNA. The journey the couple goes on from ambivalent lovers to full-on soul mates is richly satisfying. We love them!

18. Marcus Kane & Abby Griffin (The 100)

Grab your fur blanket and hop in bed with this rivals-to-lovers couple, Kane and Abby from The 100. Kane and Abby are both bosses who lead from their own well-developed ideas of morality. Because of those strong perspectives (and let’s be honest, mutual stubbornness), this couple fights more often than it agrees. 

What makes Kabby work, aside from their smoldering chemistry and ridiculously alluring locks, is that they both are sacrificial, brave warriors. They aren’t afraid to die; they are afraid they won’t succeed in helping others survive.

Watching them battle to ensure the survival of humanity, first individually, and then as a team, and then again individually, made their relationship take on a greater role than an ordinary romance. It was kind of like their love saved the world. 

Many of us don’t accept how the characters in this couple departed the show. But the strong development of this #TeamAdults pair warrants their inclusion on the list of our favorite couples. 

19. Amanita Caplan & Nomi Marks (Sense8)

Even though Amanita isn’t in the Sense8 cluster, her connection to Nomi feels supernatural. They are on the same wavelength and can anticipate each other’s needs. It is super hot! Amantia is action-oriented brave and Nomi is vulnerability-oriented brave, and together the two STEM geniuses are the bravest couple on this list. (Both our STEM lesbian couples on this list are crazy courageous!)

Honestly, we could have selected any and all of the couples on Sense8 for this list. Hernando and Lito and Daniela, Sun Bak and Detective Mun, Kala and Wolfgang, Will and Riley, the entire orgy-rific cluster as a whole re all our favorites! But, Nomi and Amanita take the top of the top spot for good reason. 

We get to see the development of Nomi and Amanita’s relationship from beginning to down the aisle. They anchor the series and are why the cluster is able to survive. Also, they are a lesbian relationship between a trans woman, played by a trans actress, and a multiracial woman, played by an Iranian-Ghanian actress. That representation is stunning and so important for us to see this decade.

Plus, the Netflix show has the freedom to really go there. The sex scenes between Nomi and Amantia allow us to witness the intimacy and attraction between this incredible couple. How could they not top the lists of our favorites when they show us how to be a top like that!

20. Zoe Hart & Wade Kinsella (Hart of Dixie)

From the second Zoe Hart plays Dixie with her butt on Wade’s horn, we know Wade and Zoe were going to be something special. Hart of Dixie is replete with fantastic couples, but we take our shirts off, erg, um, we mean our hats off to this main ship.

Wade starts off Hart of Dixie as quite a man-baby. Zoe is a bit of a lady-baby herself, with her fear of opening up and being vulnerable.  As they mature and grow as people, they find their way to each other. The mishaps and bumps along the way, of which there are many (Joel? Really Zoe, JOEL?), are ridiculously fun to watch. 

The joy these two bring to the screen and to our lives is what sets them apart and above some other couples. They get into such shenanigans! They make baby goats iconic. And, if you don’t mind us saying, they are one of the best couples at making-out. Hooray for Zoe and Wade on-screen kisses! 

21. Stiles Stilinski and Lydia Martin (Teen Wolf)

In the slowest of slow-burn relationships, Stiles Stilinski and Lydia Martin went from being nothing to being everything over the course of Teen Wolf’s six seasons.

Their relationship started off at the lowest possible point with Stiles pining over the most popular girl in school and Lydia ignoring him to keep her reputation intact. But little by little supernatural circumstance forced these two to work together and Stiles learned to see Lydia as a friend first and Lydia had someone value her for her intelligence.

It was this wholesome (and incredibly sarcastic) friendship that laid the groundwork for a swoon-worthy ship and the kind of adorable PDA that fuelled our need to see these two reach couple status.

After years of stumbling across dead bodies and escaping death together, Stiles and Lydia had to lose one another in order to realize how much they needed each other. With one grand kiss to mark their endgame, Stydia will forever be immortalized in the 2010s as one of the purest friends to lovers tropes of its time.

22. Dr. Jackson Avery & Dr. April Kepner (Grey’s Anatomy)

We don’t have a clear narrative reason why Jackson and April aren’t remarried right now on Grey’s Anatomy and expecting their third child. But there are so many other reasons why they’ve earned a spot on this list.

Japril is the epitome of the “best friends turned lovers” trope gone right. Perhaps that’s because the writers didn’t even realize what they had until two years into the characters’ tenures at Seattle Grace-Mercy West. Give them a few episodes at the medical boards in San Francisco, some stress-relieving sex, and some of the best natural chemistry on TV in the decade finally comes to light.

Sarah Drew and Jesse Williams make each other better actors. All you have to do to recognize the truth behind this statement is to watch a scene where their characters’ emotions are simply motivated by each other. Jackson standing up at April’s wedding to protest is one of the most iconic moments in “modern” Grey’s Anatomy history.

While their subsequent marriage is soaked in tragedy, there is a world in which it survives thanks to genuine friendship, love, and passion for each other. Through the death of their son Samuel, the show was able to tell a story that still resonates with parents who have lost children today. Plus, there is nothing more beautiful to watch on screen than a husband praying to a God that he doesn’t believe in for the miracle his wife needs.

Their daughter Harriet is the joy that came after the pain of their divorce. At one point on the show, she almost brought them back into each other’s arms where they belong. It’s bittersweet to think about. But fans will always have Montana.

23. Captain Killian Hook & Emma Swan (Once Upon A Time)

The “enemies to lovers” trope is a popular one in TV shows, but a famous pirate winning the heart of a hero is a twist on both this and the usual fairy tale story.

Emma and Killian (Captain Swan) face everything from memory loss to evil enchantments and come out of all of it together. In this Once Upon a Time fantasy land, not even Hook’s own death can stand in the way of their destiny.

Their journey is a long one, marked by setbacks and the need to prove themselves against their own pasts, but it also constantly offers hope and proof of their love for each other. These two change each other for the better, and their eventual happy ending is just the start of the rest of their story.

He traded his ship for her, after all.

24. Leo Fitz and Jemma Simmons  (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.)

It’s been a long and winding road for Jemma Simmons and Leopold Fitz with enough angst to last a lifetime. Nothing about their relationship came easy.

From Fitz’s confession about his feelings while the pair are trapped underwater at the end of Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season 1 and Simmons being stranded on a deserted planet to LMDs and the Framework, to say FitzSimmons has been through so much is an understatement.

But through it all, they’ve done everything they can to save each other, be it traveling across an entire universe or entering the framework to save the love of their lives, it’s amazing to see them fight tooth and nail to get to each other.

The dark, heavy moments they work through makes their light, beautiful moments all the more powerful.

25. Leslie Knope & Ben Wyatt (Parks and Recreation)

We like you and we love you, Ben and Leslie. This Parks and Recreation pair pulls at our heart AND funny bone strings.

We can’t think of a couple more perfectly suited for each other than Ben and Leslie. Sure, their interest in feminist icons and small government paperwork bond them.

But the real glue holding these two together is their deeply held beliefs in the goodness of community. They care, unironically and uninhibitedly. That type of character is undervalued in this cynical decade. With Ben and Leslie, we get a couple that shares values and dorky proclivities. 

Ben and Leslie, like Amy and Jake from Brooklyn Nine-Nine, show us being together is just as fun and exciting as the lead-up. We can’t be the only ones who bet that Michael Schur has a fantastic marriage. He gives us such great couples that are just as amazing after their get-togethers. 

Ben and Leslie are the type of couple we never tire of. We will be rewatching their love story during the next decade and beyond.

26. Meredith Grey & Derek Shepherd (Grey’s Anatomy)  

Their love story began on the first episode of Grey’s Anatomy. Even though Derek is no longer with us, MerDer will always be the iconic Grey’s Anatomy couple.

They grew together and respected one another, and understood each other like no one else. That’s not to say that things didn’t become tricky as their careers moved forward and they grew their family, but they worked through it.

Sadly, their relationship ended with Derek’s tragic death — something that continues to affect Meredith’s character every day.

27. Richard Castle & Kate Beckett (Castle)

At the beginning of Castle, Kate Beckett has to hide her fangirl feelings for famous author Richard Castle because she is a serious detective! The premise of a crime-thriller writer and an actual crime solver team having to join forces is enough to make us fall in love with this couple. 

The charm and sass between Beckett and Castle seal the deal on this couple. Castle delivers on all the good tropes- undercover make-outs, anger turned to passion, recovering your kidnapped significant other and more. These two literary lovers know how to solve a crime and make our hearts beat loud. That the type of fun we expect from our favorite coupes of the decade!

28. Amy & Jonah (Superstore)

Special on aisle 2! Jonah and Amy have made it through a tornado, an accidental sex tape, and a surprise pregnancy to be on cloud nine as a couple. That resilience is part of what sold us on this ship. Another huge part of our attraction to this Superstore romance is their teasing banter and awkward love, which is highlighted by their ridiculous Cloud 9 coworkers. 

A couple that makes us laugh AND sigh with joy is a couple that hits the spot this decade. Jonah is an underrated romantic partner. It is so nice to see him win Amy’s heart on the super funny show Superstore. 

29. Jamie Fraser & Claire Randall (Outlander)

No matter how foreign a situation Jamie and Clarie find themselves in on Outlander, these two will also feel familiar to each other. Their love is classic and romantic, the stuff of legends and romance novels. We can escape into their lusty love story and imagine how it would feel to be them. Sigh, if only.

Jamie and Clarie are more than lovers; they are soul mates. As Jamie says on Outlander Season 4, “When my body dies, my soul will still be yours.” You know what, we believe it!

This couple has traveled through time and country to build a life together. It never gets old. We can only hope that Claire and Jamie will continue to smolder in our hearts for another decade. 

30. Magnus Bane & Alec Lightwood (Shadowhunters)

This year saw a lot of ups and downs for the fan-favorite couple Magnus and Alec (Malec) on Shadowhunters. They had to deal with the literal fate of the world coming between them and their duty.

With Alec being the Head of the Institute, he had to keep a more professional distance between him and Magnus, which didn’t do well for their relationship. But, they made it through all of that to finally get engaged, save the world, and tie the knot — in that order.

These two are a fan favorite because of their ability to work through major and mundane crises while keeping the flames of romance alive.  It certainly doesn’t hurt that they are two of the most attractive people on the planet.

31. Charles Brooks & Liza Miller (Younger)

Who knew that a couple that connects over New York Times’s favorite book questions would make us so darn hot and bothered? Apparently, Younger gets what makes our hearts, and other parts, tick. 

Charles and Liza just get each other. But, there are countless barriers to their union, including, prominently, Liza’s lie bout her age. At the core of their passion are a common sweetness, commitment to true artistic expression, and hard-earned maturity. Don’t be misled, however. The eye-sex these two share is more electric than any hardcore scene we can think of!

The lovers have found a way to be a couple, even after Liza’s betrayal comes to light. We hope for continued quirky couple moments, superhot glances, and wedding bells as Younger turns the pages on its seventh season.  

32. Beth Pearson & Randall Pearson (This is Us)

Beth and Randall Pearson are the Cool Married Couple we all wish we knew growing up. They make marriage seem like a luscious, roaring delight, which are qualities often reserved for the teen and young adult couples on the small screen. 

That is not to say that the This Is Us couple is all fun and games. In fact, their differing personalities often lead to conflict. But, they are always on the same team. And, importantly, they always like each other. Their clear ease with each other and frequently funny interactions make hem our favorite couple from the NBC hit, and one of our favorite forty couples from the decade.  

33. Clarke Griffin & Lexa (The 100)

 

Clarke and Lexa left a mark on television and on the hearts of thousands of viewers that will be felt far beyond this decade. Star crossed lovers with the weight of humanity on their shoulders, these young women forged a connection that transcends space and time, and life and death.

Clarke and Lexa’s love story is epic in so many ways but primarily for the impact that they left upon LGBTQ viewers, breaking ground and changing lives in tangible ways as so many queer fans were able to see themselves as the heroes for the first time.

From their first kiss to their final heartbreaking moments, Clexa captivated fans with a romance filled with intimacy, passion, and longing. Clarke and Lexa fought for peace at the end of the world and they found it within each other.
Importantly, Lexa’s death and the end of this couple marked an important moment in LGTBQ representation on screen. The Bury Your Gays movement responded to Clexa’s demise with a resounding passion. TV creators took heed and many have promised to do better in terms of outcomes and storylines for LGBTQ characters (we don’t necessarily see the same commitment for our intersex and ace/aro characters, which is why we cut that off at the Q)

As one of prime time television’s only bisexual leads, Clarke remains an absolute tour de force on The 100. Her story continues to be shaped by her love for Lexa, and their romance will be treasured for years to come. It is a ship that survives an apocalyptic catastrophe and one that makes it onto the list of our favorite couples.

34. Temperance Brennan & Seeley Booth (Bones)  

What began as a great will they/won’t they dynamic between Booth and Brennan on Bones eventually turned into an epic love story. Their contrasting personalities only made their relationship stronger and watching them work cases together side by side (and sometimes save each others’ lives) while also growing their family was always a joy.

Sure, they had their struggles, but they always came out stronger. These characters are proof that not every story falls flat once the couple we’ve been rooting for finally gets together.

35. Glenn Rhee & Maggie Greene (The Walking Dead)

Glenn and Maggie find love in a hopeless place. Surrounded by misery and death, the couple grabs moments of joy and even laughter on The Walking Dead. After Maggie’s initial egg smashing approach to Glenn, their real relationship blossoms. There are few times of peace during a zombie apocalypse, but Maggie and Gleen allow us to let our guard down and have fun watching them fall in love.

The high stakes of this couple’s relationship add to our visceral feelings for them. Glenn’s death is devastating in large part because we know what this will do to Maggie. It’s a tragic end to a beloved couple, but we know it is not the end of their story. 

Maggie and Glenn built a legacy. So, whether it’s with a spirit of vengeance or nurturing, we are certain this couple will reanimate to impact us in the coming decades.

36. Will Graham & Dr. Hannibal Lecter (Hannibal)

If you’re wondering about the validity of the spot Hannibal (Mads Mikkelsen) and Will (Hugh Dancy) have on this list, please direct your inquiries to Hannibal showrunner, Bryan Fuller. Fuller has confirmed that Hannigram is, indeed, canon, tweeting a photo of himself sipping coffee out of a mug with their faces on it and the statement, “My ship is canon.”

Cheeky tweets aside, Fuller manages to tell a dark and intense gay love story against the backdrop of horror and cannibalism. The connection between the two characters has spanned the spectrum of relationship complexities, and the actors that portray them have fueled it with their incredible chemistry.

The series is laced with their sexual tension throughout all three seasons, even as they both take on other lovers here and there. Their intrinsic tie to one another is undeniable and they are unable to stay away from each other for very long. Hannibal goes as far as to get himself arrested so Will can know just where to find him.

On the penultimate episode, Hannibal Season 3 Episode 12, “The Number of the Beast is 666,” Will asks Bedelia (Gillian Anderson) if Hannibal is in love with him. Instead of saying “Duh” like you know she wants to (same as the majority of the viewers watching at home), she measures her response in that characteristically smart and wicked way of hers. “Could he daily feel a stab of hunger for you and find nourishment in the very sight of you? Yes. But do you ache for him?”

The events of the finale episode do a lot to suggest that he does. And in a literal cliffhanger ending, the two men fall over the edge into the abyss, embraced together.

37. Jim Halpert & Pam Beasley (The Office)

Jim and Pam are one of those amazing couples that don’t lose their spark when they (finally) get together. This decade marks the second half of the The Office couple’s TV relationship. We see them get married in the most Jim and Pam way ever, and we see them start to raise a family together. 

One of the best scenes between the friends to lovers pair is when they are with their daughter in the car and she has fallen asleep. They don’t dare wake her up, so they set up camp in the car, finding little bottles of baileys to make it a date. That enduring fun and love of spending time together is what makes this couple so fantastic. 

Even though Jim gets a lot of credit for his romantic gestures and adoring glances (a gas station proposal wouldn’t be romantic coming from anyone else), Pam is so incredibly down with whatever scheme or shenanigan Jim wants to go for. That is beyond romantic in our opinion.  

Jim and Pam earn a spot on so many of our top ten couples of all time lists, it is no wonder they earn their spot on this Top 40 Couples of the Decade list.

38. Lady Sybil Crawley & Tom Branson (Downton Abbey)

Downton Abbey is an elegant show that highlights the intimate realities of upstairs/downstairs dynamics. The relationship between Lady Sybil Crawley and chauffeur Tom Branson melts down the rigid hierarchies that ruled society at the time. 

Sybil and Tom don’t care for such inauthentic divides. Tom is a confident and passionate man who isn’t afraid to speak his mind, even if it might make Sybil angry. Likewise, Sybil isn’t jus some ornamental person, willing to sit by while other people take care of her. 

Sybil learning how to boil water is one of the loveliest scenes on television. 

Together, Sybil and Tom defy societal norms and build a beautiful, tough as nails bond. The tragic end to their union will never stop being upsetting. It is not fair; they deserve to take on the world and grow old together. That tragedy, the loss of true, pure love, is also what makes them great. 

Tom will never find another love like Sybil and we will never find another couple like The Lady and The Chauffeur, at least not in this decade. 

39. Klaus Mikaelson & Caroline Forbes (The Vampire Diaries/The Originals)

Klaus Mikaelson, brooding, vicious vampire, and Caroline Forbes, flighty, vapid high schooler, were not an obvious choice for an epic love story on The Vampire Diaries. Klaus faced an immeasurable amount of pain and suffering in his life. Romance didn’t really seem to have a place in all that. Caroline began as a kind of helplessly useless character, one that wouldn’t seem to attract a very serious kind of love. 

Sometimes, the very best couples are the ones you don’t see coming. The violently passionate pair came into their own as they fell for each other. The deepening of their care mirrored the deepening of their characters, ultimately making them into one of our top 40 couples of the decade.

Klaroline is a “can’t be in the same room without devouring each other” kind of ship. We have plenty of warmth from our decade’s top couples; Klaroline gives us some burn. 

We aren’t complaining! After all, some of the sweetest things in life come from being torched (crème brûlée, anyone?). 

We know that somehow, in some place or plane of existence, Klaus and Caroline are together. They will be each other’s last loves, however long it takes.

40. Naomi Nagata & Jim Holden (The Expanse)

Sometimes you just want a couple that is an eye full of gorgeousness. Naomi Nagata and Jim Holden on The Expanse fit the bill. 

But, they are so much more than hot space sex (to be clear, we love the hot space sex). Naomi and Holden anchor each other; in a world where connections are based on nationality, the find a true family with each other on the Rocinante. They certainly don’t always agree, even on the biggest decisions.

That actually strengthens their relationship because they can refine their beliefs and engage in deep moral explorations. They are sparring partners who will never let the other fall. 

The show has an abundance of full-throttle space action and sophisticated political conflicts. It is busy! Noami and Holden are sometimes central to the action and conflicts, but even when they are not directly involved their relationship is enhanced and clarified by it. They are a couple of adrenaline junkies who get off on going big. 

As Naomi and Holden face difficult moral dilemmas, the need for them to use their minds matches the intensity of their physical needs for each other. That’s our kind of gravity. 

The Expanse Season 4 is streaming now and we can’t wait to see what new worlds this top couple will explore!

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Who were your favorite TV couples from the 2010s? Let us know in the comments below!

*Additional contributions by: Kat Pettibone, Esme Mazzeo, Alicia Gilstorf, Mary Misasi, Caitlin Wyneken, Brianna Martinez, Ashley Bissette Sumerel, Samantha Coley and Erin Allen.

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