People that aren’t doing it: Non-romantic TV relationships that work

Homicide: Life on the Street

The Baltimore Police Department’s homicide unit was full of great partnerships. My two favorite teams were Detectives Frank Pembleton (Andre Braugher) and Tim Bayliss (Kyle Secor), and Meldrick Lewis (Clark Johnson) and Mike Kellerman (Reed Diamond). They were friends through the good times … and the times that one of them killed someone. Although that last part understandably didn’t go over well.

Human Target

In season one, Human Target was all about the men. It created a great trio in the characters of cavalier Christopher Chance (Mark Valley), cynical ex-cop Laverne Winston (Chi McBride), and the enigmatic but dangerous Guerrero (Jackie Earle Haley). All of them came to each other’s rescue at least once. And whether you loved or hated the addition of girls to the cast in season two, give the show credit: it didn’t allow that to change the sharp banter and strong bond between the guys.

Justified

Romance is in the air right now on FX’s modern western. Yet equally as prominent — and oftentimes more compelling — than who Raylan Givens (Timothy Olyphant) is bedding are his interactions with former friend turned enemy turned sort of friend Boyd Crowder (the magnificent Walton Goggins). Boyd likes Raylan, but Raylan doesn’t quite return the favor, although he begrudgingly admits that Boyd comes in handy.

And Raylan likewise has well-developed, constructive relationships with his fellow Marshals, Art Mullen (Nick Searcy), Rachel Brooks (Erica Tazel), and Tim Gutterson (Jacob Pitts). In fact, many of the show’s best lines came from Raylan and Art’s moments together.

Law & Order (the franchise)

Over more than two decades of television, there were and are plenty of good relationships among this brand. The original series saw Jerry Orbach’s Lennie Briscoe have chemistry with all of his partners — whether it was the hotheaded Mike Logan (Chris Noth) or the smooth-talking Ed Green (Jesse L. Martin), Briscoe had a distinctive friendship with each of them.

Criminal Intent partners Robert Goren (Vincent D’Onofrio) and Alex Eames (Kathryn Erbe) aren’t a couple, but they launched the show and are widely considered to be the heart of it.

And across the pond, I’m going to miss the bond between British coppers Matt Devlin (Jamie Bamber) and Ronnie Brooks (Bradley Walsh) when Bamber leaves after the upcoming sixth series. “Confession” still stands as one of my favorite episodes of the show, largely because of the connection we see between them.

Leverage

Leverage came into being with two couples clearly established: Nate and Sophie, and Hardison and Parker. Regardless of how you feel about either of both of those pairings, what about some love for the friendship between Hardison (Aldis Hodge) and Eliot Spencer (Christian Kane)? The “hacker” and the “hitter” play so well off one another.

Nikita

The most passionate response to my previous article was from Nikita fans. They fervently support their romantic pairings in that fandom; but what also makes the show great is that all of the relationships amongst the characters have a significance and an entertainment value. Whether you’re talking about Nikita (Maggie Q) and Alex (Lyndsy Fonseca), Nikita and Owen (Devon Sawa), Alex and Amanda (Melinda Clarke) or Jaden (Tiffany Hines), Michael (Shane West) and Birkhoff (Aaron Stanford) or Percy (Xander Berkeley) … every character is connected to almost every other in a significant way that is both entertaining to watch, and has some sort of impact on who they are. There’s plenty of depth in Nikita beyond romance.

Southland

I’ve never seen police partnerships as gut-wrenching as those on Southland. Former rookie Ben Sherman (Benjamin McKenzie) finally pushed partner John Cooper (Michael Cudlitz) into facing his addiction demons when his poor health nearly got Sherman killed. And speaking of killed, is there anyone who wasn’t sobbing when Sammy Bryant (Shawn Hatosy) lost his partner and best friend, Nate Moretta (Kevin Alejandro)?

Sports Night

Possibly my favorite friendship on TV of all time is that between Casey McCall (Peter Krause) and Dan Rydell (Josh Charles). BFF’s since well before we met them, Casey and Dan remained inseparable both professionally and personally. Dan was there when Casey was going through his divorce from wife Lisa, and pushed him into revealing his feelings for boss Dana Whitaker (Felicity Huffman). In turn, Casey helped Dan deal with his tricky relationship with Rebecca Wells (Teri Polo), and always looked out for Dan’s professional future, even if it wasn’t with him. They bantered, they fought, they made up – but they were always the best of friends.

The Chicago Code

Shawn Ryan‘s great new cop show has some wonderful relationships within it. At its core is the friendship between Chicago Superintendent Teresa Colvin (Jennifer Beals) and Detective Jarek Wysocki (Jason Clarke). Former partners, currently collaborators, they have a deep respect for one another that’s always evident. It’s believable that they have the long history we’re told about. The relationship crackles with energy. They’re not afraid to push and challenge one another as much as they support one another.

Jarek’s partnership with rookie detective Caleb Evers (Matt Lauria) is nothing to scoff at, either. Matt Lauria described it best: it’s a give-and-take, a chess match between two competent people who expect to get back as much as they give. Jarek never lets Caleb off easy, and Caleb doesn’t take Jarek’s attitude. At the same time, though, Jarek doesn’t hold back a compliment when Caleb earns it, and Caleb looks out for his partner’s well-being even when Jarek himself doesn’t. I’d ride with either of them. Preferably both.

The X-Files

While Mulder and Scully were meant for one another, they had healthy, intriguing relationships with other people as well. Both of them had a great bond with their boss, Assistant Director Walter Skinner (Mitch Pileggi). After Mulder’s abduction at the end of the seventh season, Skinner was there every step of the way for Scully (Gillian Anderson). And Mulder (David Duchovny) had a thoroughly entertaining ongoing feud with Alex Krycek (Nicholas Lea), who killed Scully’s sister, Melissa. And let’s not forget their friendships with the Lone Gunmen (Tom Braidwood, Dean Haglund, and Bruce Harwood). …

Third Watch

There were loves and losses throughout the entire run of Third Watch. But nothing affected me more than the two police partnerships — which were also deep friendships — that were at the core of the show. Maurice “Bosco” Boscorelli (Jason Wiles) and Faith Yokas (Molly Price) were there for each other through thick and thin; Faith supported Bosco even at the expense of her own career. And when Faith was inside a bank during a dangerous situation (in “Mothers’ Day”), Bosco dropped everything to come to her rescue.

And the show started with veteran beat cop John “Sully” Sullivan (Skipp Sudduth) looking out for rookie Tyrone “Ty” Davis, Jr. (Coby Bell) after having worked with Ty’s father, but tables were turned when Ty didn’t hesitate to come to his partner’s aid during what he thought was a life or death situation (in “Officer Involved”) and later to get him the help he needed with his alcoholism.

White Collar

White Collar wouldn’t be the same show without the great friendship between Neal Caffrey (Matt Bomer) and Mozzie (Willie Garson). Thanks to season two’s “Forging Bonds,” we’ve seen that Mozzie helped impart some of the criminal wisdom that made Neal the con man we know and love. He’s still there, day in and day out, willing to do what needs to be done to help his friend — particularly evident in the search for the killer of his girlfriend Kate. Even if he doesn’t like what it entails, Mozzie always supports Neal, and that’s the definition of a true friend.

There are plenty of other friendships, partnerships, family relationships, and adversarial relationships that could be placed on this list. I’m sure that I’ve left off quite a few (not intentionally!) in this already long roll call. Feel free to comment below and tell me about your favorites, and why they hold your attention.

None of these pairs are in bed together, but they’re all effective, either entertaining us or shaping each other, or oftentimes both. It is my hope that we appreciate the relationships on television that aren’t about romance just as much as we discuss and promote the ones that are. It’s not that one type of relationship is better than any other, but that they all have value.

Brittany Frederick is an award-winning entertainment journalist who fell in love with TV at the age of nine and has been in a happy relationship ever since. She can be found at multiple websites including her own DigitalAirwaves.net, is the webmistress of the fansite ChicagoCodeFan.com, and the Official President of the Human Target Fan Club.

Clacked by Guest Clacker
on Apr 14, 2011 @ 11:00 EST5EDT