Valentine's Day: My Favourite TV Romances

Happy Valentine’s Day, everyone! I hope you’re all having a great weekend. I spent Friday night at the cinema with my fiance and 4 of our friends watching Deadpool, and Saturday afternoon getting tattooed (a paper X-Wing if you’re curious), so it’s been pretty romantic so far. Not! Tonight though, our fanciest wine glasses will come out of the cupboards, for a night on the sofa with the BAFTAs! Steamy.

In the spirit of today, I wanted to share some of my favourite TV romances. Spoiler alerts ahead in case you aren’t up to date with any of these shows!

Leslie & Ben (Parks and Recreation)

It took me a whole season to really get into Parks and Recreation, and by the time I came to really appreciate it’s comedy, they introduced two new characters, Chris and Ben. Change upsets me, and when Ben’s presence started to distract Leslie from her beautiful land mermaid friend Anne, I got angry. That lasted all of about 2 episodes before I came to realise just how perfect Leslie & Ben are. #RelationshipGoals right here!

Cutest Moment: Too many to count, but my tablet wallpaper has been the shot of them both on their wedding day in front of their favourite mural for some time now.

Monica & Chandler (Friends)

Any fan of Friends can tell you in a heartbeat which character they relate to most. I know I’m a Monica, admittedly high maintenance, but I’m also a bit of a Chandler, telling terrible jokes in the absolute worst situations. That’s why I loved their relationship so much. I’ve been rewatching a lot of episodes lately whilst I’ve been wedding planning, I can’t wait to show Jenna my table plan which is inspired by Monica’s!

Cutest Moment: The proposals, without a doubt.

Hannah & Adam (Girls)

Ugh. Girls is my current obsession, and I’m excited and terrified for Season 5. That ‘6 months later’ scene in the Season 4 finale was horrible! Hannah & Adam’s relationship has been so interesting to follow. I hated Adam in Season 1, then I hated Hannah in Season 2, and by Season 3 came along, I realised just how well suited they are for each other. They make each other human!

Cutest Moment: When Adam ran through New York City whilst facetiming Hannah just to comfort her when she needed him. I’m not crying again, I promise...

Oliver & Felicity (Arrow)

After a disappointing Season 3 of Arrow, we were promised a much lighter, more ‘comic style’ Season 4, and well, that lasted about 2 episodes. I’m not sure how much longer I can continue defending this show, but the only thing that’s keeping me watching each week is Oliver & Felicity. It’s been a game of ‘will they, won’t they’ for years so it’s hugely satisfying to finally see them together.

Cutest Moment: “Felicity, you have failed this omelette”. 

Ragnar & Lagertha (Vikings)

Leaving the romance topic to one side for a minute, Lagertha from Vikings is arguably the most badass woman on TV right now. I’m in love with her. And her hair. Sigh. Although her on screen relationship with Ragnar didn’t last long, there’s still chemistry there, and well, a girl can hope, can’t she! I doubt I could give forgive Ragnar for what he did though. Naughty man!

Cutest Moment: Erm. Nothing about Ragnar & Lagertha’s relationship was ‘cute’. You can just go ask Athelstan.

Jane & Michael/Rafael (Jane the Virgin)

Jane the Virgin is my ultimate guilty pleasure show! It’s so cheesy, but it’s brilliant, and unlike any other show I’ve watched, I have no idea or inkling as to which relationship is destined to be endgame, or even which I’d like it to be! I change my mind literally every episode. Sometimes, I’m just happy with Michael and Rogelio’s bromance.

Cutest Moment: Can I pick two? Hey, I created this game, of course I can. Over at #TeamMichael, the flashbacks to his and Jane’s early relationship. And at #TeamRafael, those kisses. Swoon.

Jess & Nick (New Girl)

Jess, I miss you! New Girl isn’t the same without you. I nearly picked Schmidt and Cece, because they’re adorable right now, but let's face it, no couple is as cute as Jess and Nick. I’m making a mental note right now to dedicate a whole post to them soon. Fox, please let them get back together! I’m begging you!

Cutest Moment: When Nick made Jess breakfast. Twice. But ask me again tomorrow and my answer will be completely different!

Turk & J.D. (Scrubs)

Okay, okay, bear with me. I mentioned bromance, and then I thought about the most ultimate bromance of all time. Turk and J.D. from Scrubs! A bromance is still a romance, okay! I started watching Scrubs when I had a Friends shaped hole in my life, and this was the perfect remedy. Two characters with such different personalities would understandably never be that close, but the pair were hilarious!

Cutest Moment: “EEEAAAAGGGLLLEEEEEE!”

So, who have I missed on this list? Which TV romances would make your list?

Fall Season Premieres 2015

Please note, there are spoilers below, if you don't want to know the end of last season or this beginning of this one, don't read on....

I've spent a long time waiting for the Fall (or Autumn as we call it here in the land of tea and crumpets!) premieres, I have spent months feeling like I'm missing a limb when I have nothing to watch every week...  So here is my low down on the this years season premieres.....

Grey's Anatomy - Season 12

I am used to the overly dramatic and emotional finales when it comes to Grey's Anatomy but Season 11 was a disappointment, after the death of McDreamy (Patrick Dempsey) earlier in the season there was no more feels to be had.  There was no cliffhanger to wait for in the opening of Season 12, so where they usually open with a BANG, this season opened with a fizzle.  It was entertaining, don't get me wrong but just not what I'm used to, and I'm not sure about this new found bond between Meredith, Maggie and Lady Shepherd but there are definite storylines I'm looking forward to them getting their teeth into.  Owen and Amelia (will they won't they), April and Jackson (will they won’t they) and Miranda coping with the Chief job.  Lots to look forward to in the coming weeks I reckon......


Once Upon a Time - Season 5

No no no no no!!  I had a feeling I wouldn’t be happy with this season with what last season had to offer and the direction it was going to go in after the finale of Season 4.  I found Season 4 pretty average, there was no excited relationships developing, no unrequited love and no memorable bad guy (the Wicked Witch had her moments, but let’s face it Cruella, Ursula and Maleficent were ok at best!).  The season ends with Emma ‘eating’ the Darkness, so as expected Season 5 opened with her trying to fight the darkness within and stay one of the good guys.  Unfortunately, the presence of Rumpelstiltskin in her head seems to have other ideas.  Cue, 6 weeks later, countless memories lost and were back to the present day and flashback format (which I actually like) but in the present day Emma I the full blown Dark one with all the powers and evil of Gold and none of the charisma of Regina.  She has the power but Jennifer Morrison can not play a bad guy to save her life, she is terrible and I am willing them to get the Darkness out of her ASAP just so I don’t have to put up with her resting fish face any longer.  Other than that it was watchable (well Hook was watchable!).


Chicago Fire - Season 4

The end of Season 3 was tense and fortunately I was behind with last season so I didn’t have to wait long to find out what happens.  Gabby had found the young stripper, Katya dead in Casey’s apartment so I was all geared up for a murder arrest and subsequent fight for freedom for Casey as he has clearly been framed.  Instead, we got a very limp start where the police knew he didn’t do it (assumption over evidence I think!) and proceeded to get him involved in a sting operation to take down Nesbitt and his people trafficking business.  Lame indeed! (there is a possibility I am missing the bulk of the story by not watching the spin off series Chicago PD, may need to get into that!) Ok there were a few good points, Gabby and Casey are finally where they should be and Severide appears to be back to his womanising ways!  Here’s hoping they will up the drama in the coming weeks…


Supernatural - Season 11

Never ones to do anything by halves, Supernatural started with a BANG (and a cloud of black smoke)!! Dean has met with the Darkness and had a good old chinwag, Sam is fighting of strange construction workers with black veins and penchant for murder and Crowley is back on form in his usual and slightly unusual forms in the season opener.  So we know who the big bad guy is going to be but as the boys seem to have no allies left, how are they going to defeat the darkness?! I’m definitely hooked….again!

Vampire Diaries – Season 7

I was already annoyed with this season of vampire Diaries, before it even started, here’s why… In every other season, if someone has died, got trapped in an alternate universe, been possessed or lost their humanity, under no circumstances do they give up.  In fact, they always happen to come across and artifact, person or spell to help them bring that person back, until now!  As Nina Dobrev has left the series, they have had to trap Elena in a spell tied with Bonnie’s life so Bonnie dies, Elena wakes up – simple!  So in previous seasons they would have killed Bonnie for a second or two with a spell and hey presto Elena is awake and all is right with the world.  Obviously, this has to be different because Dobrev has left the programme but it’s annoying that the whole premise of the Vampire Diaries has just changed completely – why didn’t they just fully kill her, no chance of resurrection or spells and be done with it.   Other than that though, I really enjoyed it and am looking forward to what the rest of the season involves now we have new bad guys, the Heretics involved.

The Flash - Season 2

Oh so many feels…. I thought I had cried as much as I possible could over Barry Allen but they manage to stretch it that much further.  I cried happy tears and sad tears but all in all it was a great opener.  Getting a little bit bored of Ronnie being killed off…again… but hey ho – that should be the last time (fingers crossed!!).  Loving the new mentor in the form of Dr Stein, played by Victor Garber and hoping to see a view visits from Oliver Queen and co in the episodes to come.

Arrow - Season 4 

Speaking of which, there will have to be a crossover episode soon to find out who’s grave Oliver was standing over (please don’t be Felicity, please please please)  Laurel has somehow managed to become a new level of irritating and I can’t hope enough that it’s her grave that Oliver is standing over.  Loving Thea’s new bad-assery although it feels like she may spiral out of control very quickly and it will be down to Oliver to save her (or Roy if we are feeling hopeful!).  All in all a great opening and definitely got me itching to see the rest of the season, let’s hope it stays this good unlike last season that seemed to deflate from the middle onwards in my eyes.


Nashville - Season 4

The end of Season 3 was a cliffhanger to say the least, Deacon and his sister both went in for surgery so she could donate part of her liver to Deacon.  The episode ended with Rayna being told there was bad news..... I spent months panicking that Deacon may be dead - only to realise 2 days before the premiere that its likely his sister that had died and Deacon blamed Rayna for forcing her into.  However, what I actually got was his sister in a coma and Deacon 100% fit and healthy and just a little bit upset about his sister’s condition!  It was just a bit bizarre that it started and there was no real drama, other than Juliette's breakdown... I hoping it will step up the drama....and soon!

The Meaning of NSFT, NSFP and NSFD

We can get a little crazy sometimes, us Flick Chicks. You should see some of our emails to each other when we're blog planning. There's lists of lists, colour codes, side comments, and then side comments of side comments. Somehow, it all makes sense to us. You might have seen us mention NSFT, NSFP or NSFD before, and we might do it some more now that we've told you what they mean!

If you've read our About Us page, you'll know a little about how this all started. While we sent our emails back and forth, with mini reviews and recommendations, we also tagged warnings too.

I used to travel to and from work by train, and my journey was an hour each way, so it was a great opportunity for me to catch up on my TV shows and films. Now, if you've ever commuted to work using public transport, you know how busy it can be. Quite often I would find the person sat next to me staring at my tablet screen, and well as several people standing watching it too.

I remember clearly this one journey, I was watching an episode of Arrow, and just as we pulled into Birmingham New Street and flocks of people got onto the train, Oliver Queen and Laurel Lane get all friendly and started kissing and taking each other's tops off. I'm actually turning pink just thinking about it again. What was I meant to do? Shut my tablet down and let everyone think I was watching soft p*rn? Or wait it out in the hope that it was only a kiss, just to find that it got worse?

Poor Jenna got to hear all about it the next say and so 'Not Safe for Train' was born. Unfortunately, for me, NSFT includes anything that involves two characters kissing. I watched What's Your Number too on the train once and I'm pretty sure I remember a scene where Chris Evans opens his apartment door, completely naked - that was a good scene ;-). Thankfully that was at a quieter part of my journey.

Moving swiftly on, Jenna travels far and wide quite often in her job now and watched a fair few films on her plane journeys.  And so NSFP was born after an awkward incident where I thought it would be safe to watch Spring Breakers on a flight to Dubai, it was not safe!  If you have seen the film, you might remember the first 5 minutes which includes boobs, arses and more boobs!!  Then as Allie said you have to make the decision of whether to turn it off (and potentially let people think you were watching p*rn on a plane) or leave it on and hope it gets less NSFP, this did not get any safer, in fact I had to turn it off because leaving it on made it look like I was watching porn, it was just neverending!!

Then there is my Dad, we are both big film fans so we go to the cinema a lot.  Allie will kindly provide me with updates as to whether a film is NSFD (not safe for Dad) i.e. is there awkward sex scenes that go on for more than 2 minutes.  This is an even worse situation, you have to just sit there and it feel like one scene is longer than the rest of the film put together.  You can't get up and 'get a drink' or 'go to the loo' because then you are highlighting the fact that its happening when so far we've done well pretending nothing is happening.  But then there is Dallas Buyers Club, I knew what the film was about but I didn't expect the first half an hour of the film to be sex scene after sex scene and as Allie hadn't seen it I had no NSFD warning.

So if you are commenting on any of our 'Looking forward to seeing...' posts and you know it's NSFD, please give me a clue as I can't suffer Dallas Buyers Club situation all over again....

I just hope we still have readers after admitting all this crazyness!

Currently Watching...Arrow (Allie)

As a DC Comics fan, I felt it my duty to watch Arrow when it first came out. I never really got into Smallville; I started watching it at around Season 7-8, at a time when I didn't know the characters well at all. By the time I knew who Green Arrow was and some of his stories, it didn't matter how cute Justin Hartley was, he wasn't badass enough! Cue Arrow...

 

 

Some of my friends instantly wrote this off in the first episode, saying that Oliver (Amell) showed no emotions and was wooden, but I didn't agree. The next few episodes that followed were awesome too and I loved the island flashbacks. However, from about episode 7-8, it all slowed down dramatically, or so I thought at least. This was at a time when I was getting the train to work, and so I carried on watching more to fill in the daily commute than anything else.

Thankfully, the last 4 episodes of Season 1 blew me away and the finale was one of the best I've seen in a TV Show. I was so glad I stuck it out! Major kudos goes to Manu Bennett, who plays Slade Wilson. By far my favourite character!

Fast forward to now and I've just finished Season 2. SPOILER ALERT for any UK readers who recorded it last night! I thought the finale was good, but it didn't have the shock factor that Season 1 had, in fact, I was more shocked at Episode 20, Seeing Red, when Slade made Oliver choose between his mother Moira and his sister Thea. If they could have incorporated that last scene into the finale itself, then this would have been one of the greatest episodes in TV history. That episode had me hiding in my hoodie, crying and shouting at the TV. I still don't think I've recovered from it yet, I never will!

Again, Slade Wilson just made this Season awesome, I'm really going to miss him and I hope the show continues to be great without him. Who can forget this moment?

I'm also a shameless fan of Olicity, and I'm seriously hoping/thinking/convinced that the whole 'I love you' thing wasn't just a game. I've been wishing and wishing for them to get together since Season 1 and so I'll be eagerly waiting for Season 3!

Bonus!

 

I also can't wait for The Flash to start soon!

Top 10 TV Characters (Allie)

We started off our Top 10 series with Film Quotes, and next we've done TV Characters! I know we're the Flick Chicks but hey, we watch a lot of TV too, and just try and think for a moment how hard a Top 10 Film Characters list is going to be. I could fill a top 10 with Ryan Reynolds and Benedict Cumberbatch characters, so just be grateful that I'm taking time to think about it properly! So, in order, here are my Top 10 TV Characters...

10. Crixus, Spartacus (Manu Bennett)

This guy is a total badass. I could actually just leave it that and you couldn't be mad, because he just is! Seriously though, in Season 1 I just couldn't stand him, because I loved Sparty so much probably, but over the course of the show he really develops, and by the end, he was my favourite out of them all. Manu gets a bonus point too for Deathstroke in Arrow!

9. Jorah Mormont, Game of Thrones (Iain Glen)

This may be cheating a little, because Jorah is my favourite character in the book series too. I know he sounds like an unusual choice, but he's a really interesting character and his relationship with Daenerys is beautiful. I can't tell you anymore without giving you spoilers but he's one to watch!

 

 

8. Sheldon Cooper, The Big Bang Theory (Jim Parsons)

I don't watch this show as religiously as I used to but it's still one of my go-to choices when I put something on in the background. I'll eventually catch up with it all! I really struggled to pick a favourite but Sheldon probably gets the most laughs out of me. He's the perfect combination of awkward and funny.

7. Chandler Bing, Friends (Matthew Perry)

Could Chandler be any funnier? Friends might just be my favourite TV Show of all time, and I love that you can put Comedy Central on at any time in the day and there will always be an episode on. Is there anyone who doesn't own the full boxset? Chandler has that sarcastic wit that I just find hilarious, he is without a doubt my favourite from Friends!

6. Felicity Smoak, Arrow (Emily Bett Rickards)

Ugh, how amazing is Season 2 of Arrow? I have to admit, I nearly gave up halfway through Season 1 but it ended amazingly and each episode in Season 2 has been great so far. Ollie might be the obvious choice but I absolutely love Felicity. Can her and Ollie just get together already? Her sheer awkwardness is enough on it's own to make me love her.

5. Jenny Humphrey/Chuck Bass, Gossip Girl (Taylor Momsen/Ed Westwick)

Okay, I know this is cheating a little. But Jenny was my favourite character since I saw her in this show, but right now I'm in the last few episodes of Season 3, and I just can't stand her at all! I hope she goes back to her usual self. So half replacing her is Chuck, who has been his usual smarmy and cocky self, but with a whole heap of adorable added on top.

4. Jess Day, New Girl (Zooey Deschanel)

Who doesn't have a bit of Jess in them?! I love this girl with a passion and if I could steal her wardrobe I would. Another show that I'm not up to date with, but that's the joy of living in the UK. I love Jess's attitude to life in general and how she deals with day to day situations. If I could become anyone else for a day, I would be Jess!

3. Neal Caffrey, White Collar (Matt Bomer)

Oh my, this man! I'm so sad that the next Season of White Collar will be the last. I binge watched this show on the train to work for a few months and nearly missed my stop more than once. Neal is smart, witty and charismatic and he's so much fun to watch. If you've never seen this show give it a try, it's worth it for Neal Caffrey alone.

2. Debra Morgan, Dexter (Jennifer Carpenter)

You might have thought I would go with Dexter himself (In fact, I think Jenna has) but I freaking love Debra Morgan! If Jess Day is who I would like to be, Debra Morgan is who I actually am. She's kind and passionate, but she also doesn't put up with any kind of crap, and has to swear at least once every 5 minutes. Me all over.

1. Sherlock Holmes, Sherlock (Benedict Cumberbatch)

Come on, don't even pretend you didn't see this one coming. The latest Sherlock TV Show is just fantastic, and Sherlock himself is such an interesting character. I think his social awkwardness is my favourite characteristic in him though. Just when you think he can't say anything worse, he just digs a bigger hole for himself. I'm going to painfully wait through this hiatus until he's back on my TV screen.

 

Phew, what a mega post! I had great fun putting this together, and I can't wait to see Jenna's list! Do you agree with any of mine? Who would be in your Top 10?