On July 30th, we celebrate International Friendship Day. As you may know, the owners of All Too Creative are Becky and Vonnie. We’ve been friends for more than a decade. That is why for this International Friendship Day we’ve decided to gather the best TV show friendships. We explain why these friendships are so meaningful to us as viewers.
It is very important to have good representation when it comes to friendships. The values we are shown in media influence the relationships we cultivate in our reality. If you see a healthy friendship, you’re more likely to see the disparities in friendships that don’t offer you what you need. Friendships are also a reminder that platonic love is just as important as romantic love, as we often tend to forget.
Meredith Grey & Cristina Yang
Grey’s Anatomy
This is one of our favourite TV show friendships. Meredith and Cristina’s friendship in Grey’s Anatomy is so special because of how fans have watched them grow over the years. They start off as interns, struggling to get things right, and excel into exceptional doctors. We see them constantly being so fiercely protective over each other. They are both so differently, yet so similar. And, of course, they are each other’s person – the Twisted Sisters. It felt like the first real representation of adult female friendship, and still remains one of the best. They are so deeply intertwined in each other’s lives.
Meredith and Cristina are always honest with each other. They call one another out for their mistakes and celebrating each other’s successes. They both feel like such well rounded characters as individuals, but when you put them together, they make each other whole. The worst things in the world could happen these two and they’d still hold onto each other for life.
Jake Peralta & Charles Boyle
Brooklyn Nine-Nine
The friendship between Jake and Boyle feels like a super accurate representation of adult male friendship. Particularly one built in the workplace. They may seem like polar opposites at first, but they soon find out they are platonic soulmates. These two weren’t just best friends, they were literally each other’s die-hard fans. Let’s be real, Boyle 100% would’ve taken a bullet for Jake and vice versa.
What we love most is that, from the outside, their friendship seems quite surface level. They joke around, make light of everything, and don’t take anything to seriously. However, when you grow to understand them a bit more, it changes. You see that they understand each other perfectly and can, in fact, have deep conversations.
Leslie Knope & Ann Perkins
Parks and Recreation
One of the most central dynamics of Parks and Recreation is Leslie and Ann’s friendship. It’s, again, diving into the reality of adult friendships. Anyone who’s watched this show will know that Leslie is overly obsessed with building connections with other people. When Leslie and Ann meet, it’s like Leslie found that friendship she’d always been looking for. They become each other’s go-to person for just about everything.
What’s so special is the reality of friendships not being perfect. These two bicker, fall apart, and then soon come back together. What stands out most Leslie frantically searching for a ‘new best friend’ when Ann moves away. Soon, she realises that nothing can replace friendship like that, but that that’s okay. When you meet your platonic soulmate, you just know.
Scott McCall & Stiles Stilinski
Teen Wolf
If our readers know anything about us, it’s that we’re huge Teen Wolf fans. Have been and always will be! The friendship between Stiles and Scott is honestly the perfect representation of teenage boy friendships. Except, of course, they’re dealing with supernatural creatures. These two have been best friends since their childhood, growing and changing together. Stiles is one of the first people Scott tells about becoming a werewolf. He’s trusting him with this insane occurrence in his life, asking for his help to guide him through.
It may be seen as a pretty stereotypical friendship dynamic. Scott is the cool lacrosse player and Stiles is his goofy best friend. But, as the show develops, we see Stiles grow into a confident teenager who defies this stereotype. Stiles and Scott really do work as a team to help each other grow. Whether it’s supernatural threats or falling in love, they’ve always got each other’s backs. Instead of saying ‘I love you’ to each other, they instead say ‘I need you’. It’s their own way of showing each other how much they care for one another.
Willow Rosenberg & Buffy Summers
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
This is one of the best TV show friendships that really stands out to us, mostly because it’s the first one we remember seeing. Right from the beginning of the show, we see a classic high school friendship that soon becomes more complex. These two seem to only build upon their friendship as the show continues. Initially, they are presented as that classic ‘popular girl and sidekick’ trope. However, Willow quickly pushes back and Buffy lets her shine a little more.
Buffy and Willow soon become the absolute dream team, both when it comes to friendship and the supernatural world. We love that these two never undermine each other, or try and fight to be the better character. They seem to both perfectly contribute to the dynamics of a supernatural TV show, using their best attributes to come together and excel.
Lydia Martin & Allison Argent
Teen Wolf
Is there anything we love more than unlikely friendships? Nope! All of the best TV show friendships tend to start out that way. If you’ve watched the show, you’ll know that it didn’t seem like they’d make likely friends at first. However, they soon hit it off and become inseparable. Their friendship became the sisterly version of the brotherly friendship we see in Scott and Stiles. This pair genuinely had so much faith in each other, always encouraging the other and supporting them in the strange supernatural world they live in.
They are a real reflection of a lot of female friendships. There’s always one, like Allison, who is sweet and compassionate. Then there’s the other, like Lydia, who is more stubborn and sarcastic. Throwing a trope like this into Teen Wolf is likely what caused fans to really become attached to this friendship. It connects with a lot of young viewers, reflecting friendships they have in their own lives. Although Teen Wolf largely became about love, outside of the supernatural, of course, friendship was equally as important.
Frankie Bergstein & Grace Hanson
Grace and Frankie
What makes this friendship so special is that it didn’t start as one. Grace and Frankie were married to two men who were best friends, so they needed to get along for the sake of them. However, when their husbands reveal that they had been together romantically for the past twenty years, Grace and Frankie find refuge in one another. Not only because they are forced by the living arrangements to be around each other, but because there is no one else who would understand what they’re going through better.
Grace and Frankie could not be more different. Grace is a logical, headstrong business-owner who isn’t that affectionate. Frankie is free-spirited, creative and not afraid to show her emotions. The two make a comedic pair, but it is nothing compared to how endearing they are. From going to not liking each other, to being each other’s ride-or-die, we witness Grace and Frankie find loyalty and honesty where they lacked in their marriages. The two complete each other, with Frankie making Grace take life less seriously, while Grace helps Frankie become more responsible. They do not change who they are, but they do improve each other.
Petra Solano & Jane Villanueva
Jane The Virgin
This is another case of one of the best TV show friendships that did not start well. Jane and Petra’s beginnings were particular to say the least. Jane was going for a pap smear, Petra was going for an insemination, they both had the same gynaecologist who mixed them up. They became family without meaning to, since Jane gave birth to Raphael’s (Petra’s boyfriend at the time) child. They had seasons of competing against each other for Raphael’s love. However, in the end, they realised their makeshift family was what they treasured most. When Petra gets into a new relationship, Jane worries that Petra’s girlfriend is influencing her negatively against her. Jane tells Petra she loves her, and that she doesn’t want to lose what they have. They are each other’s family, helping one another through the difficulties of motherhood, grief, and everything else life throws at them.
Jane and Petra’s friendship is proof that romantic love isn’t everything — having a support system outside of your partner is necessary. While Jane was raised in a family of women, who taught her how to show love and emotion, Petra was raised by a mother who punished her if she showed anything other than coldness. Jane showed Petra what it is to be loved, and that you don’t have to shy away from emotions because even if you don’t show them; you still feel them. Keeping them locked will do you more harm in the long run. Jane and Petra have found a safe haven in each other.
Rebecca Bunch & Paula Proctor
Crazy Ex-Girlfriend
In the show, Rebecca moves to California to try and get back together with her ex, Josh. She gets a job at an office, where she meets Paula. At first, the relationship is superficial. Paula is bored with her life, so hearing about Rebecca’s unhinged plan to get back together with Josh makes her want to get involved. She starts plotting with Rebecca about ways in which she could get closer to Josh, but the progress of their friendship sneaks up on us. You might think that outside of the entertainment purposes, Paula doesn’t care about Rebecca, or Rebecca about Paula unless she’s helping her.
However, that is proven wrong time and time again. As Rebecca’s mental health declines, Paula is there for her and it is in those moments where we see how much love she has for Rebecca. In a similar way, Rebecca learns that not everything is about romantic love, and that the friendship she has with Paula is a main factor of her building a new life for herself on the West Coast.
Alina Starkov & Genya Safin
Shadow and Bone
This is a powerful friendship, and not only because the characters have actual powers. Alina and Genya meet in a situation where neither of them want to be, but they have to because of abusive men in power. Alina finds comfort and solace in Genya, who has been in that situation for far longer than she has. Genya is one of the first people to treat Alina with kindness instead of hospitality and envy, and Alina gives Genya hope that there might be an escape from the life she had been living after all. When the situation gets dire, Genya betrays Alina. Later on, Alina escapes and Genya is punished for it. In both cases, they are suffering because of a man who is pitting them against each other for their survival.
What is so powerful about them is that when they reunite, they both have been through horrendous abuse at the hands of men. They could’ve turned against each other and blamed the other for not being there, but instead, they immediately comfort each other and the forgiveness doesn’t even have to be uttered because it is felt. When Alina first sees Genya, who is hiding her facial scars, she runs to her and wraps her in an embrace. The moment is very emotional, as you can see two women who have every right to be angry at everyone around them, but instead decide to lean on each other for support.
Clary & Izzy
Shadowhunters
When Clary is propelled into the world of Shadowhunters, there is only one person who doesn’t treat her completely awful and is understanding of the shock that is to discover your whole life is a lie — and that is Izzy. Although Clary develops a romantic relationship with Jace, there is no one who is more fitted to show her the new world she’s entered than Izzy. Although they seem very different at first, they both share qualities that strengthen their friendship, such as kindness, loyalty and ambition. They do not leave each other behind.
Clary and Izzy’s friendship development is so strong that you feel the empty spot that was in their lives before they met each other. Izzy, although growing up with Jace and Alex as her brothers, expresses how she always felt the need for a sister, which she found in Clary. Clary was an only child and despite having a best friend, Simon, Clary finds it difficult to confide in him after entering the Shadowhunter world, because would not understand. That is where Izzy comes in and gives Clary what she needs — support through this instability. Their friendship gets to the point where they decide to become Parabatai, a relationship similar to soulmates, essentially being the other half of each other.
We’re totally here for all of these best TV show friendships. What are your favourites? Let us know below. If you need more TV to binge, check out this article on the best TV families:
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