TV Couples Who Never Should Have Ended Up Together

The recipe for an unforgettable TV couple has a few essential ingredients.

Take a heap of sizzling chemistry, add just the right dose of angst and slow burn (this is key: not too much, not too little), and throw in a scoop of authenticity, mutual respect and encouragement, and you’ve got a couple worth shipping. 

As a lover of all things romance, I freely admit that nothing keeps me watching a show quite like waiting to see if my favorite character finally ends up with the person they’re meant to be with. 

But nothing is more frustrating than a rift between writer and viewer. Sometimes, as an avid fan, you interpret a character’s romantic needs very differently from what the writers want you to believe is best for them. 

And sure — there are plenty of other reasons why the seemingly perfect endgame gets forsaken, like actor scheduling conflicts and show departures.

But when the story fundamentally misses the mark, leaving us with a romantic pairing that feels inauthentic to all the hard-won character growth? You better believe I’m screaming at my TV. Especially when, more often than not, the right pick is sitting right there! 

Now’s my chance to seek justice for the characters who deserved much better than the romantic endings they got. 

Read on to see if you agree with our list of couples who never should have been together — and who we think should’ve ended up together instead.

Peyton Should’ve Ended Up with Jake

I’ll be honest: while watching One Tree Hill, I always felt the writers were trying to force the narrative that Lucas and Peyton were meant to be endgame from the pilot, and I never bought it.

Peyton and Lucas were, in a word, destructive.

Their relationship was often defined by self-interest and a lack of transparent communication, and someone — whether Brooke or even Lindsay — was always caught in the crossfire of their dynamic. 

It made it very hard to buy into the idea that they were the healthy relationship to root for when they consistently damaged their friendships and relationships in their efforts to be together. 

Now Jake and Peyton? They were perfectly matched.

Not only did they exude infinitely more chemistry, but they were the type of couple you couldn’t help but cheer on. They encouraged and lifted each other up, consistently bringing out the best in one another. 

Their loyalty to each other was far more convincing — and appropriate — than Lucas and Peyton’s. We were robbed of seeing the family they could have built together.

In an alternate universe where Bryan Greenberg didn’t leave One Tree Hill for October Road, and where the real-life drama between Sophia Bush and Chad Michael Murray never occurred, maybe Peyton and Jake would have had the future they deserved.

Caroline Should’ve Ended Up with Klaus

There’s probably no The Vampire Diaries endgame that’s more hotly contested than that of Stefan and Caroline. 

Admittedly, I’m not their biggest hater. I liked that their relationship took its time and was built on mutual trust and support.

Friends-to-lovers often gets the short end of the stick, dismissed as less passionate — and therefore less interesting — than other romantic tropes. 

But I loved that Stefan and Caroline’s relationship proved that a love that matures and grows quietly and slowly is just as valuable as a love that’s blinding and dramatic.

That said, there is no The Vampire Diaries couple I ride harder for than Caroline and Klaus.

Yes, their chemistry is off the charts, but their potential was astronomical. They could have been unstoppable. 

No one challenged Caroline quite like Klaus, and no one brought out Klaus’s softness and humanity quite like her.

I still fundamentally believe Klaus would have offered Caroline the life she always dreamed of, and I still fantasize about a world where they lived happily together, raising their kids side by side.

Rory Should’ve Ended Up with Jess

I hate, with a fiery, burning passion, that Rory ends up pregnant with Logan’s baby at the end of Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life. (At least it’s strongly implied that it’s his).

I firmly believe leaning into Rory’s infidelity in the revival was a terrible choice that unraveled all the character growth she showed in Gilmore Girls’ later seasons. 

One thing that could have rescued Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life? Giving Rory and Jess the shot they desperately deserved.

Jess certainly wasn’t free of problems and faults during Gilmore Girls’ run.

But by the end of the show, he had evolved into the type of man that would have offered Rory what she truly needed.

Jess and Rory understood each other’s intellect in a way that none of her other partners fully grasped.

He pushed her to be what she always knew she could be. (Cue all of us collectively screaming “WHY DID YOU DROP OUT OF YALE??!)

He was the parallel to Luke, while Logan was the parallel to Christopher; both with merits, but the narrative would have been so much richer if it had followed Rory grappling with the ways in which she mirrored her mother’s path.

Serena Should’ve Ended Up with Nate

Serena absolutely should have ended up with Nate instead of Dan, and nothing can shake me from this conviction.

As Gossip Girl progresses, Serena evolves from the show’s ingenue to someone whose selfishness and recklessness cause endless repercussions for her friends. 

The girl Serena was in high school benefited from the opposites-attract relationship with Dan, which pulled her out of her darkness and gave her perspective on her privilege.

But that was not the same woman who ended the series.

Nate mellowed Serena, turning her chaos into a fun-loving freedom rather than something destructive.

Not only did the toxicity of Serena’s on-again, off-again relationship with Dan give Chuck and Blair a run for their money, but no one was quite as loyal to Serena than Nate.

He was the only one who loved her unconditionally, flaws and all.

And if you accept that Dan was in fact Gossip Girl, than there is no way to justify his years-long manipulation of Serena, and everyone in her life. The last thing it was was romantic.

Otis Should’ve Ended Up with Ruby

After all the time Sex Education Season 4 wasted pursuing Otis and Maeve, we were robbed of seeing what Otis and Ruby could have become.

Sex Education Season 1 set up Otis and Maeve to be endgame, and it was a pairing that was relatively easy to buy into.

It didn’t make sense — yet — but it made viewers eager to see how Otis could grow into someone who could be a good match for her.

But what happens when you pair Otis spontaneously with another character, and somehow — to everyone’s surprise (including the writers, it seems) — the chemistry is so strong that fans eagerly jump ship?

In the case of Sex Education, you squander it by sticking to the story’s original vision. 

Ruby and Otis not only provided such an unexpectedly satisfying pairing, but they had so much potential. He came out of his shell with her, and she found someone with whom she could be honest and open for the first time.

Technically, Otis ends up single in the Sex Education Season 4 finale, so in my head canon, Ruby and Otis decided it was worth it to give it another shot. 

Rachel Should’ve Gone to Paris

Rachel and Ross, or Rachel and Joey? The answer is a resounding “neither.” Rachel should have stayed firmly put on that plane to Paris in the Friends series finale.

Sure, I’ll concede that there’s something undoubtedly romantic about missing a flight to chase down the one you truly love.

It makes for great TV.

But given the instability of Ross and Rachel’s relationship, her choice to abandon her dream undercuts much of the character growth that had shaped her into such a strong, independent woman.

Watching her give up a hard-won opportunity for someone who never gave her the respect she deserved has always left a sour taste in my mouth.

Ross consistently let his jealousy and insecurities drive how he treated her, and it took years for him to take accountability for trying to control her in their relationship.

I would have loved to see them tease a future where they co-parented successfully, and Rachel found her happily ever after as a fashion mogul with a sexy Frenchman.

Perhaps it’s the least romantic option, but it would have been the healthiest for all involved. 

Aria Should’ve Ended Up Single (with Ezra Incarcerated)

The fact that Aria ended up with Ezra in the Pretty Little Liars finale is, quite literally, a crime. My version of a happy ending? Ezra serving time in jail.

It’s mind-boggling to remember how his sexual predation was framed as aspirationally romantic.

And to add insult to injury, even after we discover that Ezra manipulated Aria to mine their friend group for information, and that he dated Alison while she was just FIFTEEN, they still attempt to give him a redemption arc so that the two could end up together.

Absolutely foul and unforgivable. Aria, saying you deserved better is the understatement of the century.

So TV Fanatics, what do you think? Do you agree or disagree with how these couples ended up? 

Which TV couples do you think were robbed of their endgame status? We want to know all your thoughts in the comments!