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Monday

Canon Couples

My favorites. My least favorites. And so on and so forth. In no particular order. WARNING: Spoilers.

1. Trip & T'Pol. I didn't watch Enterprise when it was running, but I've picked up on some of the general plot lines recently. Our Fox station here shows the 2-part episodes over and over and over. I've been pleasantly surprised that they stuck with the Trip/T'Pol relationship (which, eh hem, I prophecied from the beginning). It is also one of the few times that I think killing off a character was appropriate. After all, T'Pol/Trip can't be the first Vulcan/Human couple. That's Sarek & Amanda.

2. Buffy & Angel. Buffy & Spike. I'm okay with both of them. I do think that Buffy & Spike had a lot of potential which was totally misused. One of the most common arguments made by the Buffy producers (about Buffy & Spike) was that, come on guys, Spike is a bad guy. Yes, he is, but they romanticized him too much to make that argument believable (besides, if you want bad, check out Angel). On the show Dead Like Me, Eric McCormack (Will of Will & Grace) shows up in a couple of episodes as an abusing boyfriend. His performance is so subtle and yet so craven, you really do believe that this guy is a horrible, horrible person. (And I must say, I was impressed by McCormack's acting. He took nice-smiley-guy Will and transformed that charm into something almost grotesque, but it wasn't overplayed either.)

3. B'Elanna & Paris. The thing I really like about B'Elanna & Paris is that they have a continual relationship. (They don't get together, break up, get together, break up a la Friends.) Check out As Time Goes By for more of the same. Dharma & Greg are another good example. And Margot & Jerry in Good Neighbors (Barbara & Tom are, of course, the heroes of the show, but the thing I like about Margot & Jerry is that their relationship functions successfully on a day-to-day basis without them resorting to psychological insights and conversations about "our feelings.")

4. Speaking of Friends: Chandler and Monica. I believed in that relationship in a way that I never believed in Ross & Rachel (the problem with Ross & Rachel is that Ross' character started out as smart/sarcastic and a little goofy. By the end of the show, they had turned him into a whiney jerk: the butt of all the jokes; he simply wasn't as funny.)

5. Al and Trudy. Speaking of butt-of-the-jokes: Tim was always making fun of Al on Home Improvement, yet it never was reduced to kick-the-guy-while-he-is-down humor. And they let Al get married. (To an heiress: how cool is that! Also, Trudy is kind, happy and matter-of-fact: a perfect fit for Al.)

6. Chakotay & 7-of-9. Believe it or not, I'm beginning to understand this relationship. I've been watching Voyager DVDs over the last year and a half. I'm about 2/3rds of the way through. It is astonishing. I thought I was passably familiar with the show, but I think, altogether, I saw about 1/8th of the episodes the first time around. I'm really enjoying seeing them all now. And I'm beginning to believe in Chakatoy & 7-of-9 as a couple. Chakatoy kind of grows on you. I'm willing to accept, much more than with Riker, that this laid-back guy is truly not interested in his own command. He didn't become a Marquis because of authority issues (although some Marquis probably did), and he is more than willing to serve under Janeway. (I never, never believed that Riker would keep giving up command positions).

7. Riker & Troi & Whorf. Speaking of Riker . . . I may be one of the few people who believed in that triangle, although it was inevitable that Riker & Troi would get together. By the time they did, however, I really didn't believe in their relationship anymore.

8. Jane & Rochester/Elizabeth & Darcy, etc. The historical romantics. I believe in them more or less based on the actors. I believe in the Dalton/Clarke Jane & Rochester. I don't believe in the Welles/Joan Fontaine Jane & Rochester (although Welles is perfect as Rochester). I haven't seen the new Pride & Prejudice yet, so I can't comment on that. And yes, I absolutely believe in the Firth/Ehle combo. I don't really believe in the Olivier/Garson combo, although I like the movie, but that's because I keep thinking Greer Garson will dump the lot of them and go off and start a business somewhere.

9. The winner of the Great If Dysfunctional Award: Grant & Bergman (with Rains as the third party) in Notorious.

10. Most touching, even transcendent: Mikako & Noboru of Voices of a Distant Star. Check out my brother's review of Voices of a Distant Star here. You can usually find Voices at Blockbuster or through Netflix.

11. The couple I would like to see: Grissom & Sarah--oh go ahead and promote the May/December relationship already. One of the negatives about cultural sensitivity is that it has become very un-okay for dramas to link up older men and younger women or, even, older women and younger men (except in a comedic sense). So much for Jane & Rochester.

12. The relationship that is doomed to occur: Hotchner & Greenaway on Criminal Minds (that's Gibson & Glaudini). I could be wrong about that; I'm hoping that the show doesn't go the Without a Trace route; I think soap operas and forensics should not mix. But if it does, that's the relationship that I'm betting will occur. (I don't mind CSI: Las Vegas' implied relationships; I do mind when the relationships begin to manage the plot, rather than the other way around. I don't watch shows like Sex in the City for a reason: oh, gag.)

13. The relationship that was doomed even though it didn't need to be and was handled totally stupidly by the producers: Assumpta & Father Clifford.

14. Greatest couple of all time: Powell & Loy in the Thin Man series.

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