10 TV Couples who looked like soulmates but were super toxic—like matches and gasoline 

TV shows often give us such 'made for each other' couples that we end up setting unrealistic expectations about love, overlooking just how toxic in reality it can actually be. What looks like a dream come true relationship usually ends up being nothing but two people dragging each other down with their insecurities and diffidence. Here is a list of 10 TV couples who initially look like soulmates, but when you really pay attention to their equation, you will end up seeing just how toxic they can truly be for each other, no matter how epic their love story seems to be.

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1) Ross and Rachel (Friends)

Ross and Rachel from the famous sitcom Friends, although ending up together, are perfect examples of a toxic couple. No matter how ‘made for each other’ they may seem, especially with their long history, their love story is filled with its own drama. They both are slightly immature and are trapped in a cycle of possessiveness and jealousy, which sometimes starts hindering their work life and ambitions. They lack communication skills; in fact, it's so poor that the majority of the reasons for their 'on again-off again' relationship were misunderstandings. If we really think about it, Ross is in love with the idea of Rachel, back when he was an awkward high schooler and she a popular, beautiful girl, while Rachel holds on to him because of her own attachment issues.

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2) Meredith and Derek (Grey’s Anatomy)

Meredith and Derek’s relationship from the very start seemed wrong, especially as he was her boss and married. Their relationship is filled with secrets, infidelity, and an overwhelming power imbalance. Both of them are very ambitious, which ultimately leads to ego struggles as they refuse to back down. What might seem like a perfect love story between two big-shot surgeons is actually a facade for double standards, emotional abandonment, and toxic dependency. Moreover, Derek often undermines just how strong Meredith is and sets out on a white horse to act like a savior when, in reality, she is a strong, independent female who really needs to work on her abandonment issues.

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3) Barney and Robin (How I Met Your Mother)

Barney and Robin from How I Met Your Mother, at first, seemed like a couple everyone adored, especially because of their shared humor and undeniable chemistry. Turning lovers from friends gave an even more solid foundation to their relationship, but if only things were as perfect as they seemed. The core problem of their relationship was the emotional unavailability both of them harbored. They found it difficult to be vulnerable and acted indifferent and cool when they actually should have been honest and vocal about how they felt. They constantly needed validation from each other and their friends and rushed into commitment when they should have let things take their own course.

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4) Elena and Damon (The Vampire Diaries)

The only good thing about Elena and Damon’s relationship from The Vampire Diaries is how good they look together as a couple. Their chemistry is sensational, and they are perfect examples of opposites attracting—with Elena being a good and kind girl while Damon is a dark, brooding vampire who only has eyes for her. Their love story was exciting and unpredictable, especially their unwavering loyalty towards each other, but with time the cracks in their relationship started becoming more visible. Their love was an all-consuming obsession that made them so blindsighted that they started encouraging the recklessness of each other, even when it could not only harm their friends and family but also themselves. Most of the time Elena felt guilty for choosing Damon over Stefan, while Damon’s life centered around self-hatred for the pain he thought he had inflicted on his brother, so both of them eventually ended up in a toxic co-dependency.

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5) Chuck and Blair (Gossip Girl)

Chuck and Blair at first seem like a power couple, especially because of their shared ambition and need for power. They accepted both the good and the bad about each other and had developed a deep emotional connection. But deep down, their love is the product of manipulation. They thought pain and dysfunction were the foundation of love and ended up in a toxic cycle of self-destruction. In a true sense, their relationship borders what one would call emotional abuse, especially with how they treat each other at their lows. Betrayal of trust is another constant recurrence between them, tainting their luxury fairy-tale love story.

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6) Aria and Ezra (Pretty Little Liars)

Aria and Ezra from Pretty Little Liars had red flags all over their relationship. Ezra was Aria’s teacher, and no matter how much they tried to overlook it, their huge age gap could not be denied. Their bond might be one based on shared intellectual and creative interests, but it was filled with toxic behavior like spying and controlling each other. The constant betrayals and lies they inflicted on each other kept on increasing their trust issues, making them cross all limits by following each other and installing surveillance cameras. Moreover, Ezra wanted Aria to be solely dependent on him, which pulled her back from her other relationships, like the ones with her family and friends.

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7) Lucas and Peyton (One Tree Hill)

Lucas and Peyton’s life from One Tree Hill wasn’t exactly a bed of roses. They did have a great emotional connection, but often the chaos in their lives overshadowed their moments of tranquility. Lucas most of the time gaslighted Peyton when he would do something wrong, instead of apologizing, like when he cheated on her. Their habit of keeping most of their feelings to themselves, despite being in a relationship, led to a lot of unnecessary drama and misunderstandings that could have easily been avoided. In a true sense, they have hurt each other more than they have loved each other, making their pair a perfect example of toxic relationships that are ignited more by dependency than mutual growth as humans.

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8) Archie and Veronica (Riverdale)

Archie and Veronica were passionate, they were loyal, and they supported each other through their respective hard times, but what they were not was entirely honest with each other, which fractured the very foundation of their relationship. They had a lot of baggage in their lives, which they actively tried to hide from one another, resulting in them developing trust issues. Moreover, both of them had different goals in life, which led to somewhat of a power balance between the two, which resulted in a lot of toxic traits emerging between them, including emotional manipulation and identity suppression.

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9) Buffy and Spike (Buffy the Vampire Slayer)

Spike being a vampire and Buffy a vampire killer was the first sign their so-called “enemies-to-lovers” relationship is just the audience viewing them through rose-tinted glasses. The start of their relationship is the basic foundation of toxic relationships—using each other as a means of punishing themselves, which is as abusive as it gets. Spike deluded himself into thinking he loved Buffy, when in reality it was nothing but an obsession that resulted from both of them sharing a certain traumatic darkness. Spike emotionally isolated Buffy from her other relationships, which is a telltale sign of toxicity in a relationship. Love is not supposed to be destructive or painful, but unfortunately, in their case, it was the only feeling they knew.

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10) Rory and Dean (Gilmore Girls)

Rory Gilmore from Gilmore Girls has had her fair share of toxic relationships, but none as prominent as her first love—Dean. At first they seemed all sweet and charming with their small-town sweethearts love story, which felt really heartwarming. But eventually the toxic signs emerge, starting with the blatant insecurity Dean constantly felt in regard to Rory’s academic ambitions. Moreover, around Rory’s family, Dean always felt pressured to fill the mold of someone he is not, which left him confused and conflicted about his self-identity. The perfect word to describe their relationship would be stagnant, as they were constantly entrapped in a cycle of insecurity, emotional manipulation, and attachment issues, especially with both of them refusing to accept reality and grow out of their comfort zones.