The Best And Worst TV Couples Of 2022

Another year of TV magic has come and gone, meaning the time has come to reflect on the all-important highs and lows of 2022. And what subject could be more important than the one guaranteed to both break and mend our hearts: romance. Did you find yourself swooning over sultry flirtations? Reaching for the kleenex when a seemingly perfect couple fell apart? Cheering for a pairing who just don't realize they belong together? Or stiffening your upper lip at a breakup just waiting to happen? Then it sounds like you were paying attention because 2022's biggest TV hits gave us a year of love that fell somewhere between joyous and chaotic.

Epic romance comes in all shapes, sizes, and settings: this year, first love bloomed in the pastel-colored halls of a high school, thrived aboard a pirate ship, survived amidst the constant threat of death, and flourished, even as it entered the danger zone. But it wasn't all first kisses and longing stares. TV might give us some of the most beautiful romances but it also provides some of the most disastrous. So why focus solely on the sweet stuff when we can delve into the toxicity? Well, dear reader, that's exactly what I plan to do.

Some of these duos were meant to be, while others have no business being in each other's company. Some had a shot but crumbled under the pressure while others triumphed over their impossible circumstances. Either way, I can wholeheartedly confirm that I loved every second of watching these romances form or fizzle, so I'm just as thrilled to thrust them into the spotlight.

Nothing strange to see here! Angela and Nathan are just your average TV couple living in a simulation where they pretend to be married and raising a child. That's normal, right? I honestly can't tell anymore. After a season of "The Rehearsal," it gets pretty hard to remember what reality feels like.

I'll be honest, I briefly dabbled with putting these two on the other side of the list. In some ways, they kinda belong together — after all, Angela makes the show impressively weird and uncomfortable, which is a task that usually falls on Fielder's shoulders. He certainly does his part, but when it comes to making our jaws hang open, Angela more than steps up to the plate. But that's pretty much where their compatibility ends. Ultimately, this fake marriage doesn't even last through the end of the season.

Of the many difficult truths that "The Rehearsal" forces us to swallow, this one is the toughest: Despite everything that fiction has taught us about fate, romance, and true love, not every couple who connects via a craigslist ad for a reality TV show is meant to be. Angela and Nathan couldn't be a worse couple if they tried.

For one thing, they have completely different approaches to parenting. Angela outright refuses to celebrate the joys of Dr. Fart and Nathan secretly sneaks their son to a Hebrew tutor without her consent. But the bigger issue is the lack of communication. Nathan skates around most of their conflicts (see: the fake swimming lessons), Angela refuses to compromise and they can't even seem to agree on whose simulation they're living in. It just wasn't meant to be — but at least we'll always have the laughs.

The way that Lenny Bruce (Luke Kirby) looks at Midge Maisel (Rachel Brosnahan) should be illegal. Luke Kirby pours so much wounded emotion into his gaze that I want to light myself on fire every time they're onscreen together. It's intense, it's dreamy and it's wholly overwhelming: It's the crackling chemistry of Lenny and Midge distilled into a single expression. I've gone on at length about these two and after what went down in the latest season of "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel," I won't be stopping anytime soon.

Midge has chemistry with basically everyone she meets — that's just an intrinsic feature of a show with sharp, rat-a-tat dialogue, and a protagonist whose personality is 99% charisma. But Lenny is different. They understand one another on an unmatched level: two immensely talented comics, drawn to the same craft and orbiting each other like satellites. They banter with breathless ease and the sexual tension has been simmering since the start. We might've been content to watch them circle each other forever, but season 4 finally pushes them to act on the attraction. They do some very blue things in a very blue room and as was expected, it's steamy, hilarious, and quietly heartbreaking.

"You are more important than God," Lenny tells Midge in the season finale, a signal that he's always listening to her. And isn't that the magic of this duo? Beyond the attraction, there's also admiration and the two can't be separated. "If you blow this, Midge," Lenny tells her, fighting back tears after pointing out that she's standing in her own way, "You will break my f****** heart." They are rooting for each other so wholeheartedly that it hurts.

The fact that Marty (Jason Bateman) and Wendy (Laura Linney) managed to stay married for four seasons of "Ozark" is even more shocking than the fact that they survived living under the thumb of a very temperamental drug cartel.

Even before the Byrdes were living life on the precipice of being murdered, their marriage was unhappy. Wendy was cheating on her husband who was not only fully aware but would spy on her having sex with other men. Believe it or not, leaving behind Chicago suburbia at the mercy of a dangerous drug cartel did not do wonders for their marriage. The next few years would see them burying bodies, bickering about how best to survive, and alienating their teenagers. Their marriage was perpetually in shambles.

The main problem is that Marty and Wendy are both convinced that they're always in the right and resent the idea of relinquishing power. Or in the words of their marriage counselor (who was later murdered because of their mistakes), "What does it say about a marriage when both husband and wife try to bribe the therapist?"

When Marty wanted to flee, Wendy wanted to stay. While he just barely resisted the urge to cheat on her, she started fantasizing about murdering him. Sure, they had some good times too, but most of that was just the heart-racing relief of surviving yet another close call. Where "Ozark" wraps things up, they've finally escaped the pressures of the FBI and the drug cartel, which is all the more reason to believe that they'll end up exactly where they started: toxic, bitter, lying, and spiraling towards disaster.

In the chaotic world of being a pirate, most problems can be solved with violence and intimidation. Nobody knows this better than the infamous Captain Blackbeard (Taika Waititi), who is secretly an eccentric dude named Ed with a soft spot that he can never reveal to anyone — or so he believes until he encounters Stede Bonnet (Rhys Darby).

A wealthy landowner going through a midlife crisis, Stede has done the eighteenth-century version of buying a sports car he can't afford: He abandoned his wife and children, hopped on a newly constructed ship, and became a pirate. Shockingly, that career change turns out to be a bigger challenge than expected but is made significantly easier when Blackbeard takes him under his wing. And then something magical happens. The Gentleman Pirate ad the most feared swashbuckler to sail the ocean blue fall in love.

Ed teaches Stede to be a pirate, while his new companion teaches him the ways of the upper class. Along with learning that there's more than one approach to life, they discover happiness they didn't even know they could achieve. While they seem like two people with nothing in common, Stede and Ed share a connection beyond anything else they've ever known. "Our Flag Means Death" could have easily been the latest in a long line of queerbaiting TV but instead, we get the comedic high of watching these two dance around a relationship that they can't quite figure out (meanwhile, everyone around them can so clearly see the heart eyes they make at each other). Very much looking forward to more of them in the new year.

Barry Berkman (Bill Hader) has a body count in (at least) the triple digits. Across three seasons, we've seen him commit all sorts of atrocities, to the point that he too worries for his soul. So why did it still knock the wind out of me when the trigger-happy sociopathic hitman dared to yell at his girlfriend in a public place? For so long, Barry managed to keep those two sides of himself separate. Sure, his work bled into his personal life from our perspective but Sally (Sarah Goldberg) is usually so wrapped up in her own world that she's blind to her boyfriend's murderous tendencies. In her defense, he had a pretty good cover as a full-fledged simp and her biggest cheerleader. Honestly, the way his world so often revolves around Sally means I too forgot to worry for her safety! But that's definitely not the case anymore!

In a series of haunting interactions, Sally comes to realize that their relationship is bad news. It takes a co-worker telling her, "Sally, you're dating a violent guy," but once that seed is planted, she sees it to be true. The yelling, the rage, the emotional abuse? The clues were always there. And unbeknownst to her, there's also the very direct danger that Barry inadvertently puts her in just by existing in her life. In more ways than one, the violence catches up with them confirming that yes, Sally should get the hell away from Barry as fast as she possibly can. Joplin Missouri is a good start but if I were her, I'd keep moving.

Is there anything more alluring that the excitement of forbidden love? It took multiple marriages and at least two dead spouses, but Daemon (Matt Smith) and Rhaenyra (Emma D'Arcy) eventually found their way into a marriage, just as we knew they would. It's fitting that a Targaryen romance would require a body count, especially one that involves two walking agents of chaos with a tendency to go after whatever they desire, consequences be damned. Given their mutual feelings, the only thing actually standing in their way was the opinions of others — something that Targaryens rarely pay attention to. Once King Viserys was too decayed to care, the relationship was theirs for the taking.

And so we have the "House of the Dragon" power couple: a Dragon Queen and her Wife Guy husband, always awaiting the opportunity to behead someone on her account. Isn't love beautiful? Say what you will about their many flaws, but these two are a match made in seven hells. Who else would embrace a blood ritual wedding ceremony except these two weirdos? Just as Daemon could only ever find happiness with a platinum-blonde dragonrider with fire in her veins, Rhaenyra wants someone capable of helping her win her throne. Together, they will undoubtedly rain fire across Westeros for many seasons to come.

C'mon. We have to be honest with ourselves. They belong in this category and we all know it. I enjoyed their onscreen chemistry just as much as the next gal but let's not pretend to be 100% okay with how this grown man-child could barely make it through a single episode without making bedroom eyes at *shudder* his teenage niece. We tried to placate ourselves with the fact that, fine, I guess Rhaenyra is in love with him too and incest is such a Targaryen norm that we can just pretend it's not happening. But our favorite a****** Daemon Targaryen couldn't even let us have that.

And honestly, what did we expect? We watched the man murder his first wife, so who was surprised to discover he could be an absolute dick to Rhaenyra too? It's bad enough that he indifferently ignored her as she painfully gave birth to HIS daughter, but then he caps it all off my flipping out and choking her because of some prophecy talk? The rightful Queen of Westeros deserves so much better.

HONORABLE MENTION: Alicent Hightower and Viserys Targaryen. A lot of awful things happened in "House of the Dragon," but I struggle to remember feeling more uncomfortable than watching the corpse-like figure of Viserys crawl atop his child bride (after his spongebath) to make more heirs in the same bed where his previous wife died giving birth. As for Alicent, she silently lets it be, staring emotionlessly up at the ceiling in vague pain. Nobody does steamy sex scenes like HBO, amirite?

TV couples are often great at the courtship dance of will-they-won't-they. The art of slow burn buildup has been perfected time and time again. But where they typically fall apart is in actually pursuing a relationship, especially one that involves two people still finding their way. But where others crumble, Ivy (Lake Bell) and Harley (Kaley Cuoco) barely faltered.

While Ivy spent the season embarking on an eco-terrorist world domination mission and finally coming into her own as a full-fledged villain, Harley came to the shocking realization that she might be more of a hero than she thought. Hell, she even starts hanging out with the Bat family! She basically becomes an honorary member! Making matters worse, when Ivy's plan gets a little out of hand, the girlfriends basically end up on opposite ends of a battlefield. Even still, their relationship comes first. Put to the test, Harley and Ivy do as they always have: They let their differences make them stronger. There's room for two distinct individuals in this relationship, just as there should be.

HONORABLE MENTION: The Joker and Bethany. What they have is both real and insanely entertaining.

Generally, it's a really bad sign for your relationship when your husband schemes with your daughter to murder and bury you before running off to Europe. But it's nothing that can't be salvaged after a couple of sips of rat's blood, right? Very wrong. Louis (Jacob Andersen) and Lestat (Sam Reid) are the epitome of a toxic relationship and have been from the very start. The root of the problem is that they started in such a dangerous place, with Lestat coaxing Louis into a life of vampirism without giving him a heads up. From then on, they were doomed not to mesh — even after his change, Louis was tied to his humanity in a way that Lestat refused to understand.

They certainly had a glorious honeymoon period: Lestat was an intoxicating charmer who drew Louis in with ease. The adoration went both ways and together, they seized happiness, power and a grand mansion. But once that period passed and they realized how long eternity could feel, everything fell apart. Beyond the hilarious failure of their attempt at an open relationship, it becomes obvious that neither of them can really provide what the other wants. And realizing that is so crushing that the bitterness festered.

Spoiler alert — making a vampire daughter does not save their marriage. It just proves how different they truly are. In the end, Lestat can't make Louis love their lifestyle anymore than he can make him stay.

Lexi (Maude Apatow) and Fezco (Angus Cloud) could not be a more mismatched pair.

Sometimes Fez is a warm teddy bear of a human — protecting Rue like she's his little sister and doling out compliments to the oft-ignored Lexi that are sweet enough to rot our teeth. Other times, he beats a high schooler half to death at a party or commits a brutal robbery. Or, y'know, continues his profession as a drug dealer. Meanwhile, Lexi dressed up as Bob Ross for Halloween and is the only sane teenager in this entire show. Needless to say, nothing about this duo should work. But somehow, in the pit of despair that was season 2 of "Euphoria," Fexi became our saving grace.

Shyly flirting in a convenience store? Long, meaningful phone calls? A "Stand By Me" sing-a-long? Their budding romance is probably the closest that this show ever gets to capturing teenage innocence. Lexi and Fez go from chatting about God at a New Year's Eve party ("Talking to you was one of the best parts of my whole year") to regularly confiding in each other over the course of the season. Fez being in awe of her every move is a welcome boost of confidence for Lexi, who learns to come out of her shell in response.

And the nerves they have around each other are sweet and a welcome reprieve from the kind of anxiety that "Euphoria" usually inspires (remember the episode where Rue nearly got sold into a human trafficking ring? What a fun show!). I so deeply want them to get their happy ending — for Lexi to get the love story she fantasized about and the guy who anxiously puts on a suit in the hopes of looking handsome for her. I want Fez to stop fearing for his life long enough to enjoy something easy and sweet. But alas, this is Sam Levinson's world that they're living in.

I don't expect things to go well for them when "Euphoria" returns for a third season, but we'll always have the wholesome moments they shared earlier this year when their hearts thrummed with the beginnings of young love ... before everything fell apart.

HONORABLE MENTION: Cal's high school romance with his best friend, Derek. Their fifteen-minute love story is one of the season's biggest heartbreakers.

Nate Jacobs (Jacob Elordi) should not be allowed to interact with other human beings, let alone engage in romantic relationships. He's a 6'5" menace to society with the world's worst case of daddy issues. He's toxic, dangerous, and outright abusive. There's no point breaking down his various romantic entanglements — the problem is always Nate. This young Parick Bateman has no business roaming the halls of a high school or the planet Earth because he should be chained up and yeeted into a volcano.

It's not like "Euphoria" would become a stress-free hour of TV without him, but it would certainly do wonders for my blood pressure if he was out of the picture and far away from the women of this world. Watching him make the switch from one girlfriend to another was uniquely terrifying and honestly, didn't even stop him from wreaking havoc on multiple women's lives. In a particularly harrowing moment of this *checks notes* high school drama, he sneaks into his ex-girlfriend's room, whips out a gun, and forces her to play Russian roulette.

Under normal circumstances, I might suggest Nate Jacobs and Therapy as a potential best couple, but no amount of treatment can save this demon spawn.

Just thinking about Nick (Kit Connor) and Charlie (Joe Locke) is enough to get the heart fluttering. "Heartstopper" shows young love at its finest, with these two nervous teens forging a beautiful friendship before slowly coming to terms with their mutual feelings.

All the highlights of young love are on full display: the overanalyzing, the lingering stares, the pinkies brushing together. They swap sweaters, share milkshakes, and have the tenderest moments. Not much time is spent on the "will they, won't they," because obviously they will — don't you see the way they look at each other? It's more a question of when the hell will they figure out how to say what they feel?!

In the end, it's worth the wait. Nick and Charlie understand the basics of a relationship better than some of the adult couples on his list: empathy, mutual respect, and clear communication. Okay, fine, sometimes they're a bit iffy on that last one, but it's a teen romance, what did you expect? The important thing is how mindful they are of each other's feelings, and how ultimately, nothing else can get in the way of that.

And on the bad end of the high school sweetheart spectrum, we have Jaine and Tariq.

This relationship was doomed from the second "Abbott Elementary" began, and it's not because of Gregory. Sure, we all immediately clocked Janine's chemistry with her newest co-worker and were more than prepared to sit on the edge of our seats, impatiently waiting for the Jim/Pam of this show to do away with the romantic obstacles and finally recognize that they're perfect for each other. But even if he never entered the picture, a breakup was looming on the horizon.

Gregory and Janine have been dating since the eighth grade. The. Eighth. Grade. Not only is that a very long time, but it also spans the entirety of their teenage and adult years. It's given them no room to grow outside of their relationships and it very much shows. Breaking up was the best choice for both of them, giving Janine more room to explore who she is outside of their relationship and teaching Tariq that no, you will not always have a self-sacrificing girlfriend to pay all of your parking tickets.

"A League of Their Own" gives us a lot of healthy queer relationships to choose from, but Bertie (Lea Robinson) and Gracie (Patrice Covington) take the cake. Their longtime marriage is a beacon of hope for all the women still finding their footing as the series progresses. When she meets her banished family members, Max is still figuring out how to be herself in 1940's America — her dream of being a baseball player is beginning to feel impossible, not to mention the harsh realities of being a queer Black woman. Then comes Bertie and Gracie, the model of a happy, healthy relationship, proving that whether or not the world is ready to see it, they are proudly in love. Together, they welcome Max into a broader community, offer her the acceptance that the rest of her family denies and also happen to be a source of stability in a show where relationships tend towards chaos.

John Paul (Claes Bang) is quite an achievement. When we think of despicable TV characters, it's usually those with a penchant for committing fantasy-world war crimes, but JP is just your average working husband with low self-esteem, zero empathy, and a desire to psychologically torture everyone around him. He sucks so bad that his continued existence sparks the inciting incident of "Bad Sisters": His wife's sisters decide that The Prick must die.

This is a marriage so bad that it inspired a murder — and it's wholly JP's fault. Cruel and emotionally abusive, he's created a life so toxic that we spent 10 episodes cheering on his would-be murderers. But this fact is largely lost on his wife, Grace (Anne-Marie Duff) who doesn't see what the relationship has stolen from her: She's lost her confidence, her ability to care for herself, and her relationship with her daughter. We never learn the details of their origins; how did they meet? What was Grace like before JP? Did he mask his awfulness in the beginning? All we know is the present: He belittles, gaslights, and bullies her. It's a sham of a marriage, where he sucks away her joy to make up for his own insecurity. The only bright spot in this relationship is the fact that Grace will eventually be freed from it.

Anne Lister (Suranne Jones) and Ann Walker (Sophie Rundle) have never had the luxury of a simple courtship and the final season of "Gentleman Jack" is no exception. Officially moved in and basically married, they still find their relationship in a fair amount of turmoil: Miss Lister doubts that her feelings are true love and rekindles a romance with an old flame, while Miss Walker becomes bolder, starts questioning her wife and worries about the future of their relationship. But in their smallest, tenderest moments, we realize that there's nothing to fear. When reunited, their faces erupt in happiness and when apart they pen letters with the most romantic turns of phrases. Above all, they strive to make each other happy and no matter the obstacles in their way, they want their love to last. Sadly, the second season marks the end of the road for out lovely Ann(e)'s, but at least they went out on a beautiful note: "We are the only people in the whole world, on Earth, who want us to be together. It won't be easy, it'll never be easy. But we're both still here, aren't we?"

Shocker, one of the world's most famous divorces has made the list! This crumbling marriage was the centerpiece of the drama's latest season and the high point was easily their final confrontation. The "autopsy" of their marriage is where we walk a razor's edge: There's sweetness, longing, and lots of regrets as they reflect on what went wrong — but there's also so much rage, always threatening to bubble over.

This is the impossibility of Wales' marriage, according to "The Crown." In the blink of an eye, they can switch from warmth to cruelty. When they try to reflect in good faith, an omelet becomes a scrambled egg, and an attempt to finally get closure blows up into an argument. There are so many tragedies contained in this relationship but chief among them is those small moments of clarity when you can see something maybe working out. Where Charles (Dominic West) and Diana (Eizabeth Debicki) manage to communicate their feelings, their flaws, their desires, and where things went wrong. Where they own up to their disastrous mistakes, only for everything to dissolve into bitter conflict.

Kathani Sharma (Simone Ashley) is the bane of Anthony Bridgerton's (Jonathan Bailey) existence ... and the object of all his desires. These two effectively spend an entire season bouncing between yearning and hatred — or to put it in "Bridgerton" terms, burning for each other. Anthony isn't kidding when he says that line. They both drive each other absolutely crazy, but that magnetic pull trumps everything else. The "enemies-to-lovers" trope has always held the potential for the greatest of fiery romances and these two put it to great use with their frequent arguments, pent-up aggression, and longing stares.

It's quite a slow-burn journey, with the duo resisting their urges as long as possible — not to mention the whole Anthony-tries-to-marry-her-sister situation — but there's never any doubt about the fact that their passionate dislike has a yearning edge. It might take some time to see past their anger, but once they do, they clearly have many years of playful bickering ahead.

Clare Abshire (Rose Leslie) and Henry DeTamble (Theo James) check all the boxes of an epic, classic romance: They're separated by fantastical forces of nature, the universe asserts that they were destined to be together, they bicker, pine and so deeply love each other. But their epic tale of romance also begins when Clare is 6 and Henry is a full-grown man, in his 40s. Ew.

"The Time Traveler's Wife" will try to convince you that all is well but it's 100% not. The relationship dynamic is queasy, concerning, and made a million times worse by the fact that when Clare finally encounters her future and forever husband in her own adulthood, he isn't the suave charmer she was promised. He's a bonafide f***-boy and she has to forge him into the mature man of her dreams. "I groomed you," she tells Henry in what is somehow not even the worst moment in this series. How is this not the premise of a horror movie? Clare is barely even allowed to be a character and basically spends her whole life waiting around to love him.

Someone, please free Clare from the shackles of this predestined relationship! And while you're at it, free me from having watched it!

Oh, the irony of Joe falling in love with a woman named Love, stalking his way into her life, and actually managing to happily maintain the relationship ... Only to realize that she isn't the pure, sweet, innocent woman he hoped for. Instead, she's his perfect match! Love Quinn matches Joe's crazy, knows a thing or two about burying bodies, thinks it's romantic that he stalked her, and guess what? Her last relationship ended in murder, too! They're meant to be!

So obviously, it's a little weird to dub them a "Best Couple" when this year saw their relationship go up in a fiery blaze. After she tries to murder him (understandable), Joe turns the tables and kills his wife, poisoning her, burning her body, and making her into a local legend. But if you ignore those minor details, there's something disturbingly sweet about the way these crazies managed to cross paths and fall in love. Even though it doesn't last, watching them mop up blood, dispose of murder weapons, and put their twisted heads together is honestly pretty sweet.

The many couples of "The White Lotus" are duking it out for last place because in their own special way, all of them are dangerously awful. Obviously, the miserable marriage of Tanya (Jennifer Coolidge) and Greg (Jon Gries) is in a league of its own. General unhappiness is one thing, but things got so bad that he concocted a scheme to have her murdered —  and that's not even the worst part! The most appalling detail in all this is that even when he was days away from having her tossed overboard a yacht, Greg couldn't even muster the strength to pretend to be a good husband. Even as she tried to salvage their marriage and proclaim her love, he treated her like s*** then abruptly departed to await her death. See, romcoms?! This is what happens when you spontaneously marry someone you meet on vacation!

As for the other relationships of "The White Lotus," there was (surprisingly) less murder but plenty of dysfunction. Everything we learned about Dominic DiGrasso's (Michael Imperioli) marriage was via a one-sided phone call and based on the rage erupting from Laura Dern's performance, it was far from healthy. Meanwhile, Daphne (Meghann Fahy) and Cameron (Theo James) have settled into a disturbing pattern: He cheats on her, so she takes back power by punishing him for it. And when they're not engaging in psychological warfare, they are sickly sweet with happiness, basking in the glow of their wealth and ignorance.

As for their counterparts, Harper (Aubrey Plaza) and Ethan (Will Sharpe) go from passionless to carbon copies of the couple they once derided for playing pretend. Also, they have a tendency to gaslight each other and I sincerely doubt that's gonna stop anytime soon. The closest thing we have to a healthy couple is Rocco and Isabella who are mostly fine, other than their tendency to parade their stable happiness before everyone at the entire resort. How dare they happily banter and flirt at the front desk! Valentina was wrong to let them reunite. Nobody else should have to endure their sappy love story. This is "The White Lotus," dammit, keep that happiness to yourselves!