Top 5 TV Show Couples That Should Have Ended Up Together
While TV Shows have gotten it right with some of TV’s most favorite couples such as Chandler and Monica (Friends); Seth and Summer (The O.C.); and Cory and Topanga (Boy Meets World), to name a few, the writers have not gotten it right in terms of couples who should have ended together too. Several reasons for this include breaking the couple up, wanting one of two to be with another character, and/or killing one of the pair off.
Here are the Top 5 TV Show Couples That Should Have Ended Up Together:
1. Jackie and Hyde – That ’70s Show:
Throughout the 8 seasons of That ’70s Show, Jackie Burkhart dated three of the four main male characters: Michael Kelso (on-and-off-again from Seasons 1-4), Steven Hyde (Seasons 5-7), and Fez (the end of Season 8). While the series concluded with her and Fez together, Jackie should have been with Hyde. The pairing of Jackie and Hyde is continually named amongst the TV Show Couples that should have ended up together.
Their relationship was an ‘opposites-attract’ (Jackie being the rich and high-maintenance one and Hyde being the chill one and rebel of the group). Despite their rocky relationship, their romance was real as Jackie made Hyde open up and be vulnerable while Hyde made Jackie become more of an aware person and appreciate the little things. However, the show’s new writers decide to break apart the perfect couple at the beginning of Season 8.
2. Karen and Keith – One Tree Hill:
Although Karen had her son Lucas with her high school boyfriend Dan Scott, Dan’s brother, Keith, was in love with her. After Dan abandoned Karen and Lucas for his wife Deb and their son Nathan, Keith acted as the father figure that Lucas never had, even though he was Lucas’s uncle.
It took years for Karen to finally reciprocate Keith’s feelings and they finally got together in the middle of Season 3. Unfortunately, we didn’t get to see much of their relationship after Dan killed his own brother with the gun used in the school shooting during the episode “With Tired Eyes, Tired Minds, Tired Souls, We Slept”. If Keith wasn’t killed too early into their romance, he and Karen could have been one of the most beloved TV Show Couples ever.
3. Rachel and Joey – Friends:
Although fans knew that Ross and Rachel were meant to be (and one of the most popular of TV Show Couples) and would end up finally getting back together in the series finale of Friends, the sitcom should have ended with Rachel and Joey together. When the pair first hooked up in the Season 9 finale of Friends, there were fans who were for and against the two pals coupling up.
In my opinion, Rachel and Joey should have stayed together (they ended things early in Season 10) during the last season because they had a solid friendship first, before having any romantic feelings for each other, and were supportive and loving with each other. During both their friendship and short relationship, both helped each other improve as people: Joey helped Rachel become less uptight towards life and be more comfortable with herself while Rachel helped Joey become more mature and respectful towards females. All of his relationships throughout Friends were short and a lot of one-night stands. As roommates, he acted as another father figure for Rachel’s and Ross’s daughter Emma.
4. Emily and Aiden – Revenge:
Throughout the four seasons of Revenge, Emily Thorne (Emily VanCamp) had to balance her relationships with love interests Daniel Grayson (Josh Bowman), Aiden Mathis (Barry Sloane), and Jack Porter (Nick Wechsler) while on her quest for revenge for her father. Her path for revenge has led to the falls and deaths of several characters.
While fans shipped her with all three men, the one that she should have ended up with at the conclusion of the series was Aiden. Of the three, Aiden, who was introduced in Season 2, was the only one from the beginning who knew of Emily’s plan of revenge and that she was the real Amanda Clarke (Emily confessed to Jack at the end of Season 2 while Daniel didn’t know until Season 4). They had a romance prior to the timeline of Revenge while training under Takeda. While aiding her in her revenge, Emily and Aiden fall back in love and get back together, but secretly as she has to manage her ‘relationship’ with Daniel at the same time. The chemistry between Aiden and Emily was very strong and viewers were convinced that if Aiden wasn’t killed at the end of Season 3, he would have been the one Emily got together with at the show’s end.
5. Rachel and Finn – Glee:
Although the couple was on-and-off-again throughout the first four seasons of Glee, Rachel (Lea Michele) and Finn (Cory Monteith) are ranked amongst favorite TV Show Couples. Despite having different personalities and desires, both cared for each other deeply enough that had both made huge sacrifices in order to make their relationship work. They were soulmates and helped each other grow as people. The love between Rachel and Finn was so strong that Michele and Monteith became a couple in real life, dating each other from early 2012 to July 2013.
However, the pair makes this list because, by the time the show ended, they didn’t end up back together. Sadly, Monteith’s untimely death on July 13th, 2013, also caused production for season 5 to be postponed. Later that year, Glee creator Ryan Murphy revealed that in the show’s original ending (the series ended after its’ sixth season in 2015), Rachel and Finn were going to get back together. Hearing these details makes fans wish that we could have seen Rachel’s and Finn’s happy ending play out on-screen.
Besides these five, which other TV Show Couples do you think should have ended up together? Be sure to let us know in the comments below.
Featured Image Source: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3126288/mediaviewer/rm585882880
I am currently a senior at The University of Miami. I will graduate in December 2021 with a major in Journalism and minor in Sports Administration.