Cracking their sizzling chemistry: Beloved TV couples whose 'will they/won't they' moments spark magic on-screen
On one hand, there are couples like Lily and Marshall, the Lobsters, who restore our faith in love and lifelong relationships. And on the other hand, there are dynamic duos like the 221B Baker Street dwellers, Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson, or Riverdale frenemies Archie and Jughead, whose non-sexual antics keep the fans hooked and the plot moving.
Somewhere between the made-for-each-other pairs and the eccentric twosomes lies TV's "will they/won't they" couples, whose sizzling chemistry makes for some unimaginably addictive storylines and tensions that go straight through the roof.
What's their relationship status? Does he have feelings for her? Will she ever give in to his boyish stunts? These are amongst the million questions that torture and haunt us after the episode is over, and continue to linger each time these dynamic on-screen couples get together, and god forbid, have some time to themselves all alone.
With their undefined status quo, however, these darling duos keep the heat up through multiple seasons, ensuring an ever-growing TRP and moments that will make your jaws drop.
Grab some popcorn and some coolers, coz' they might set the temperatures soaring again.
Castle and Detective Beckett - Castle
For almost seven seasons, ABC's crime drama, Castle, continued to bank on the blazing chemistry between its leading pair - mystery writer Richard Castle (played by Nathan Fillion) and NYPD homicide detective Kate Beckett (Stana Katic).
Amidst all the drug-addled crimes and bullets-flying scenes, it was Castle and Beckett's shameless flirting, romantic hits and misses that kept the spark alive. Besides the sexual spark though, there was something about this pair, the fact that they could challenge each other's mettle, that fueled many intriguing episodes. In fact, Castle creator and executive producer Andrew Marlowe himself had admitted that getting the pair together by the end of season 4 was quite a task.
“Not doing it would have been even ballsier because I think the audience is near its breaking point,” he told Entertainment Weekly, adding, “And it’s 2012, people fall into and out of bed together all the time. If it had gone on any longer, we would have been bad storytellers.”
Meanwhile, show's star Katic, had a slightly different perspective. "I think it's a smart chemistry. Both of them are crazy about each other and they're also capable of giving each other a hard time and challenging each other to be the better version of the person that they are," she once told Parade.
Oliver and Felicity - Arrow
While some romances are just meant to be, at times, there are couples who are brought together by a series of events, and who at a first glance might seem to have zero compatibility or future; but then these are the pairings that set our hearts racing in anticipation of what the future holds.
Arrowverse's very own millionaire-turned-vigilante, Oliver Queen, portrayed by Stephen Amell and the gadget-geek Felicity (Emily Bett Rickards), have spun such a tale on the CW show over the course the past seasons. After keeping viewers on their toes for a considerable moment, the series showcased a successful romance between the two, albeit a short-lived one.
Gushing about their equation and the introduction of a third leg to this romance, executive producer Andrew Kreisberg had quipped: "We always said that if you're gonna have a love triangle, it has to be equally-sided. Oliver and Felicity, obviously, they have their dynamic and their chemistry and their relationship, but what we didn't have on the show was somebody who was her comedy equal."
Lucifer and Chloe - Lucifer
There's no denying the insanely electric chemistry shared by the devil and his love interest, detective Chloe Decker. In the Fox series Lucifer, it is perhaps upon Tom Ellis-played Mr. Morningstar and Lauren German's character, Decker to drive the otherwise lackluster-plot. Whether it's with their constant banters, the star-crossed moments when the two kissed, or times when they stayed apart from each other, Luci and Chloe spell "magic" together and we just can't wait for the two to give in to their feelings.
In the recent season, however, adding complexities to the plot is Tom Welling-played Lieutenant Marcus Pierce, whose romantic fiddling is hard to give a miss.
"It's strange because Lucifer is not used to having any sort of competition, certainly on the sexual front. So I think he's been very safe in the knowledge that he and the detective have a very special connection," Ellis had teased to TV Guide.
Harvey and Donna - Suits
Despite a very palpable sexual spark going on between them right since season 1, fans weren't given what they had hoped for; which is a Harvey-Donna union, for the better, after six-long-seasons.
The characters brought to life by Gabriel Macht and Sarah Rafferty, were taken to an complex zone with Donna becoming hell-bent on proving her loyalty, and Harvey taking a very different route relationship-wise with Dr. Paula Agard. Many a heart was left broken as the Darvey-ship sank for once and for all.
What Suits left fans with, instead of an archetypal office romance, is a TV couple, whose timing and compatibility is unmatched, keeping few ends loose forever.
Booth and Bones - Bones
Speaking of rousing romances, the build-up to the romance of crime-solving pair Dr Temperance 'Bones' Brennan (played by Emily Deschanel) and FBI Agent Seeley Booth (David Boreanaz), was one of the most exciting ones, but that was until the two actually got romantically involved.
The lead pair of Fox's crime procedural drama had viewers hooked to every little twist and turn of the plot. Interestingly, over time, the duo's bickering died down and instead the two developed a bond - where one could even risk his/her life for the other. Throughout the seasons, especially before the birth of their child, their chemistry is “natural and organic,” but “they’re not all over each other,” in the words of executive producer Stephen Nathan
"They’re not the couple you go on a date with that you never want to see again because they’re making out at dinner. We don’t want to do that," Nathan had said squashing unreal sexpectations of fans.
Mulder & Scully - The X-File
If there's one single reason that fans could narrow down to while expressing their love for the American drama series airing on Fox, The X-Files, it would be the tensions and the sparks that frequently fly between co-leads Fox Mulder and Dana Scully; the characters played by David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson.
They might have had a difference of opinion, one skeptic and the other inclined towards alien conspiracies; but at the end, their feelings for each other tend to take over everything else; making them one of the epic couples on TV. So much so, that it was this chemistry, which anchored the show through multiple seasons.
Carrie and Brody - Homeland
A CIA-thriller, Showtime's Homeland depended heavily on the intense and complex dynamics between CIA operative Carrie Mathison and Nicholas Brody, the US Marine, who is believed to have joined forces with Al-Qaeda during his time in imprisonment.
Indeed, the crime thriller that drew majorly from the current affairs and the political climate of the time made for a thrilling watch. But apart from the intriguing missions and secret tasks in the Middle East, if there's something that sustained viewership was the on-again and off-again relationship of Carrie and Brody.
Battling trust issues and international-level anti-social agents, whenever, the two got together - the sparks were evident and unrivalled.