7 TV Relationships That Literally Made No Sense
When done right, a television romance can sweep audience members off their feet, leaving us with the same radiant sense of warmth and satisfaction we might receive with the end of a long novel or an eventful journey abroad.
Having seen these characters flirtatiously interact from one season to the next, a pitch perfect TV relationship can make or break an entire TV series, providing viewers a viable reason to tune in on a weekly basis.
Sadly, not every TV pairing was meant to be, with some shows opting to focus on a couple that had no discernible reason for being together in the first place. From odd couple sitcom duos to interoffice workplace couples, here are seven bizarre TV relationships that made absolutely no sense whatsoever.
Dan and Serena (Gossip Girl)
One of the biggest reasons to watch Gossip Girl involves formulating an opinion on any one of the show’s numerous relationships. But for every couple like Chuck and Blair or Vanessa and Nate, there exists a mismatched duo whose relationship defied comprehension – such as Dan and Serena’s ill-fated union in Gossip Girl’s later seasons. Of course, their relationship (and later marriage) is made all the more difficult to explain when we find out about Dan’s dual life as the titular Gossip Girl – a secret identity he used to terrorize Serena throughout the entire series.
Kelly and Darryl (The Office)
When looking at it plainly, no two people in Dunder Mifflin’s Scranton Branch seemed more fundamentally different than Kelly Kapoor and Darryl Philbin. Yet even their insurmountable differences didn’t keep the two from enjoying a brief relationship in The Office’s fourth and fifth season. Though they were rarely shown to be as argumentative as Kelly and Ryan, Kelly and Darryl’s relationship simply seemed too far-fetched to be believable. From their contrasting hobbies to their conflicting personalities, it’s hard to imagine they had any feasible reason for dating one another in the first place, aside from Kelly desperately wanting to move on from her past relationship with Ryan.
Britta and Troy (Community)
Throughout Community’s third season, series creator Dan Harmon hinted at a growing romantic connection between Greendale’s resident killjoy Britta Perry and Donald Glover’s childish alter ego, Troy Barnes. Harmon might have had some long-term plans for the couple, but the showrunner’s abrupt dismissal prior to Season 4 left Harmon’s successors struggling to continue Britta and Troy’s burgeoning attraction to one another. Try as they might, Troy and Britta simply never seemed to work as a feasible couple, thanks in large part to the duo’s various differences in both temperament and personality. In many ways, Britta was more ideally suited to be a potential love interest for Jeff, while Troy was always at his best whenever he was paired with his doting best friend, Abed.
Tom and Ann (Parks and Recreations)
Ann Perkins enjoyed many eventful relationships over the course of Parks and Recreation, from her dysfunctional early romance with the hopelessly immature Andy Dwyer to her eventual marriage with the perpetually optimistic Chris Traeger. Sandwiched somewhere in the middle of these two meaningful connections came Ann’s on-again, off-again relationship with her polar opposite, Tom Haverford. Just as longtime fans of the show might expect, Ann and Tom’s overwhelming differences ultimately proved to be their undoing, ushering in a duo who bitterly argued with one another rather than functioning as a normal, healthy, well-adjusted couple.
Aria and Ezra (Pretty Little Liars)
Ugh, where to even begin with this one? It’s nearly impossible to condone any relationship formed between a teacher and a student, especially when said relationship has as many red flags as Ezra and Aria’s turbid affair in Pretty Little Liars. Though the series opts for a “forbidden love”-style attraction formed between the two kindred spirits, the entire relationship came fraught with problems from the very get go, as seen through Ezra’s regular manipulation of Aria and his apparent attraction to underaged students (yuck).
Jackie and Fez (That ‘70s Show)
Throughout That ‘70s Show, Fez continuously expressed a one-sided romantic attraction to his snobbish friend, Jackie Burkhart. While their relationship was always a bit confusing – perhaps even a bit creepy at times – Jackie always managed to refute Fez’s advances, leaving the hapless foreign exchange student comically desperate for romantic companionship. Imagine our surprise, then, when Jackie finally returned Fez’s affection in the final season of That ‘70s Show. Rather than ending up in the arms of her ideal boyfriend in Hyde or her equally vapid lover in Michael, Jackie inexplicably chose to pursue a relationship with the one character she had little to any chemistry or romantic compatibility to speak of with.
Joey and Rachel (Friends)
While most diehard Friends fans rigorously debate whether Ross and Rachel were right for each other, almost every viewer can universally agree that Joey and Rachel should never have been a thing. With Friends’ showrunners introducing the Ross/Rachel/Joey love triangle in the series’ final two seasons, Joey and Rachel’s relationship seemed like clear evidence the show had run out of creative steam. Thankfully, Joey and Rachel’s time together didn’t last very long – albeit their puzzling romance only continues to aggravate modern audiences over two decades later.
