Pretty much every romantic TV drama since, well… Hollywood started making them, has a slow-burn romance element to it. That setup of watching two characters everyone knows have enough chemistry to light up a city block, dancing around each other for years while the writers milk every ounce of tension they can get, is one of the industry’s most tried-and-true formulas. And when it works, it leaves a memorable imprint on fans.
Some shows, however, have taken things to the extreme by making fans wait too long for the obvious romance. The reaction from fans hasn’t always been pretty, because it always felt like a cheap stunt to keep viewers engaged. But no one can argue against the lasting legacy of every couple on this list.
1. New Girl (Nick & Jess)
We all knew from the get-go that Nick (Jake Johnson) and Jess (Zooey Deschanel) wouldn’t last long as just friends and roommates. All that chemistry from the grumpy bartender and the bubbly teacher wasn’t exactly subtle, and the show made sure viewers saw it too. But instead of giving fans what they wanted immediately, Fox made everyone sit through nearly two seasons of watching Nick and Jess bicker over everything from towels to bread.
Then the magic finally happened in season 2 episode 15, “Cooler.” A game of True American (basically drunken chaos in board game form) lowered their defenses enough for Nick to go for it and plant one on Jess. That night felt like Christmas morning for a lot of the show’s fans. Sure, they broke up later (because that’s basically a sitcom requirement) in season 3, spent several seasons apart dating other people, before getting back together in the season 6 finale. But the first payoff felt like winning the lottery after buying tickets for years. Compared to the other options on this list, though, fans of New Girl got off easy, having to wait for just two seasons.
2. Gilmore Girls (Luke & Lorelai)
Three things were constant in Stars Hollow: gossip, Luke’s coffee shop, and the fact that Luke Danes (Scott Patterson) was in love with Lorelai Gilmore (Lauren Graham). Even the fairly self-absorbed Emily Gilmore (Lorelai’s mother, played by Kelly Bishop) figured out the third fact in season one, which says a lot about how obvious this romance was to everyone else but Luke and Lorelai.
Luke spent years pouring her coffee, fixing her windows, and grumbling about her dating life, while secretly wishing he was the one taking her out. And the show had fans waiting until the Season 4 finale, “Raincoats and Recipes,” for that long-awaited porch kiss. Not that anyone was complaining, since watching two stubborn adults dodge their feelings in a town that quirky was half the appeal of Gilmore Girls in the first place.
3. Castle (Castle & Beckett)
Author Richard Castle (Nathan Fillion) and New York Detective Kate Beckett (Stana Katic) spent the better part of three seasons of Castle doing the weird “we’re just co-workers” dance, even when it was clear to anyone with eyes that they were crazy about each other. They even shared a kiss to fool a guard once, but neither of them was willing to risk their camaraderie on a romance that may not work.
It took a sniper putting a bullet in Beckett, at the end of season 3, for Castle to finally express how he felt to a Beckett who was bleeding out in his arms. One would think that they would kick on from that moment, but no. The show decided to continue the will-they-won’t-they torture for one additional season before the season 4 finale “Always” finally presented the payoff with a rain-soaked, emotionally charged confession scene fans of the show still talk about.
4. Bones (Booth & Brennan)
Temperance Brennan (Emily Deschanel) was the show’s best forensic anthropologist. She could identify a murder victim from a single femur, but she somehow couldn’t tell that Seeley Booth (David Boreanaz) was in love with her for six seasons. SIX!!! The man brought her some weird science gifts, looked at her like she hung the moon, and defended her to anyone who didn’t understand her generally aloof personality.
Meanwhile, she spent the whole time treating their relationship like a fascinating social puzzle. They finally sealed the deal in “The Hole in the Heart,” and several reliable sources have confirmed that the timeline was only bumped up because Deschanel got pregnant in real life and the writers had to move fast. Still, there’s no disputing the fact that some fans were furious about how long it took to get there, while others think the slow burn made the whole thing sweeter.
5. The Mentalist (Jane & Lisbon)
Jisbon shippers deserve a medal for how long they had to wait to see Patrick Jane (Simon Baker) and Teresa Lisbon (Robin Tunney) become a real couple. Their slow-burn romance spanned six of the show’s seven seasons, which meant fans only got a full season of them as a real couple before the series wrapped for good. The kiss finally happened in season 6, episode 22, “Blue Bird,” and it was everything fans had been waiting for since Jane killed a man in cold blood back in season 1 just to protect her.
Compare that to shows where the couple would usually get together because of something like that before coasting for a decade, and it becomes clear why fans of the couple still argue it was worth the wait. Also, watching Jane finally open up and let someone in after all his trauma was beautiful, even if it took what felt like forever to get there.
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