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Discussion: Sexiest Couples


We’ve tabulated the sexiest characters, both male and female. We’ve brainstormed impossible cross-show couplings. And we spend way, way too much time on this site mooning over vampires. But we’ve neglected the results of all of that on-screen sexiness: the eventual pairing off of characters into the most prized of relationships—the couple.


For this week’s challenge to the death discussion, let’s talk about couples and their chemistry. Which couples just work for you, because they obviously belong together? Which characters have an undeniable attraction on screen? Which couples make awkwardly edited TV smoochies look like the most erotic thing since sliced bread?

Please note: I have a passionate dislike for ‘shipper wars, I’ve been in a bad mood lately, and I have the power to delete comments. If you like Buffy and Angel and someone else likes Buffy and Clem, live with it and respect their opinion. Otherwise, your comment will be used as cat food. Polite disagreement is a-okay. Snark, insults, and anything that sounds like “you’re wrong, idiot” is not. This site has some of the best readers out there. Let’s raise the bar on talking about couples rather than lowering ourselves to the standards of all those other sites filled with love-crazed trolls.

Now that I’ve killed the mood entirely, let’s discuss!




42 comments:

  1. The most obvious couple currently that has instant chemistry to me that I've been watching for the past 4 years are Richard Castle and Detective Kate Beckett.

    And of course, also Captain Malcom "Tightpants" Reynolds and Companion Inara Serra.

    I don't know if they'll head in this direction but John Reese and Zoe Morgan on Person of Interest.

    Peter Bishop (red universe) and Agent Olivia Dunham (blue universe).

    Mary Margaret Blanchard/Snow White and David Nolan/Prince Charming.

    Michael Westen and Fiona Glenanne "burn up the screen", sorry, couldn't resist. :)

    Con Man/FBI Consultant Neal Caffrey and Insurance Agent Sara Ellis.

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  2. Matthew, I agree about Zoe and Reese. I've read the JC doesn't like doing sexy scenes (for religious reasons), and that makes me sad because their chemistry is awesome. Maybe they could just kiss, or nuzzle? God loves nuzzling.

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  3. Gilmore girls : Luke and Lorelei were terrific BEFORE they got together. After, Titanic on a daily Basis...

    In Plain Sight : Mary and Marshall. Not a couple per se, but an extraordinary work "couple".

    Firefly : the married couple was Zoe and Wash indeed, but the "better" couple was her and Mal. Oh that complicity. Priceless.

    Castle : no need to say anything here !!

    Fringe : ditto for Olivia and Peter. Walter and Astrid for the mutual tenderness. (no more people, I'm NOT talking about sexiness)

    Dharma & Greg : for the laughter. Again and again and again.

    Sonny & Cher and Donny & Marie (brother and sister only please): for the 70's campyness.

    Pushing daisies : the poetry of Chuck and Ned.

    Sanctuary : Magnus and her protégé Will. Beautiful "work" couple also.

    Chuck (at the beginning) : Chuck's "innocence" and oh boy, Sarah.

    Leverage : Nathan and Sophie (what IS her real name ??)

    Parenthood : ALL of the couples, of ALL ages.

    Community : Jeff and Britta. AND Jeff and Annie. Oh, and Jeff and Shirley, when they're playing. Abed and Troy for the laughter.

    Nip/Tuck : you can't have an effective place like this is there's only one of the docs there.

    BSG : Starbuck and Lee. Spectacular and so....fracked up. No time for therapy, the cylons are after us.

    Alias : Sydney and Michael. A bit too much ass kicking and not enough picnics on the beach (except for the finale of course) (finally, a well deserved rest)

    Warehouse-13 : great work couple : Pete and Myka. WORK ONLY though. Play ok, but brotherly love only, ok ?!

    Artie and Doc Vanessa. Awww, finally the grumpy one is showing his soft side, and he DOES have one.

    Eureka : Carter and Allison. Jo and Zane. Henry and, euh nope, forget it. Stay a bachelor. Enough bad influence on the town already.

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  4. nuzzling

    Thanks Josie. I've learned a new word today. And yes, nuzzling IS fun.

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  5. Love this.

    Buffy and Spike.
    Willow and Tara.
    Damon and Elena.
    Veronica and Logan.
    Sierra and Victor.
    Sawyer and Juliet.
    and
    Nikita and Michael, mach one.

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  6. I don't have enough time to give this proper thought at the moment, but my gut reaction choices were:

    Coach and Tami Taylor (Friday Night Lights). Probably the best portrayal of the reality of marriage --- I loved how they related to each other and still obviously loved each other and were attracted to each other after all their years together --- stable, loving relationships are sexy, people!),

    John Crichton and Aeryn Sun (Farscape). The exact opposite of a real-life kind of relationship, but the actors were fantastic together, and the characters were meant for each other. So sexy! I essentially started watching Stargate SG-1 in Season 8 because of how much I loved Ben Browder and Claudia Black together.

    Leslie Knope and Ben Wyatt (Parks and Recreation). Ben and Leslie wonderfully complement each other. I love how they get each other's quirks, can be totally weird together, and support each other's dreams. A real favorite of mine.

    And Billie just reminded me: I loved Sawyer and Juliet.

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  7. ChrisB, don't read this comment!




    (She's watching Lost for the first time.)




    Amen for Sawyer and Juliet. That scene with the sunflower convinced me of the beauty of their relationship in 30 seconds.

    Veronica and Logan, absolutely!

    Jack and Ianto, too.

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  8. Ditto to a lot of these: Beckett/Castle, Sawyer and Juliet, and the couples on Parenthood.

    I also really like Callie and Arizona on Grey's Anatomy. Michael and Hannah were great on Awake (esp. considering how tragic their life was). From Bones I think Bones and Booth are great together, but I really like Hodgins and Angela. From How I Met Your Mother, I think Marshall and Lilly are adorable. I also love Penny and Leonard from The Big Bang Theory. And finally I love Jim and Pam on the Office, but I liked the British equivalents even better (Tim and Dawn).

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  9. The photo is perfect, and I should have included Spike and Dru, who for me got overshadowed by Spike and Buffy. One of my favorite fan objects is an 8x10 Spike and Dru photo that James Marsters signed back in 1999 before he was even a cast member, and Juliet Landau signed for me in 2002. I always loved Spike and Dru. His love for her was the key to his character.

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  10. Spike and Dru are great. (I even named my female rat Drusilla, and if I had a male rat, it would be called Spike. However, rats tend to make much worse couples than vampires or humans and I don't fancy having a litter of rat babies to take care of :) ) Spike and Buffy had better chemistry though.

    My most favourite couple is David Tennant's Doctor and Billie Piper's Rose. They are great together, and even if they officially weren't an item, I refuse to believe that THIS amount of hugging and hand-holding was entirely platonic :)

    Other couples I love, in no particular order:
    Damon and Elena (Vampire Diaries),
    Jeff and Annie (Commmunity),
    Eric and Pam (True Blood),
    Apollo and Starbuck as well as Bill Adama and Laura Roslin (Battlestar Galactica),
    Simon and Alisha (Misfits),
    Jack and Gwen (Torchwood).
    Also Nathan Fillion, in every role he's ever played, with everybody he's ever come to contact with. One of Jeff's quotes from Community fits him perfectly: "It's called chemistry. I have it with everybody." :)

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  11. Sarah/Bryce (Chuck)
    Neal/Alex (White Collar)
    Peter/Elizabeth (White Collar)
    Eric/Nora (True Blood)
    Alcide/Sookie (True Blood)
    Brian/Justin (Queer as Folk)
    Dean/Bela (Supernatural)
    Blaine/Kurt (Glee)
    Kurt/Sebastian (Glee)

    And my Real Life OTP would be:

    Matt Bomer/Simon Halls.

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  12. Sark with everybody. Except Sloane. That's going too far.

    Billie, I was so happy that I found that picture so easily; it was the first thing that came to mind in terms of pure sex appeal. The runner-up was going to be Sawyer and Juliet with the flower, actually. Then Ianto and Jack, although I've never been pleased with the still photos of them that I've seen.

    I want to add a few to my list:

    Jack and Irina on Alias.

    Fred and Wesley on Angel.

    Ygritte and Jon Snow on Game of Thrones.

    Joan and Don from Mad Men, although their chemistry is all about not doing it, and I sincerely hope they do not.

    Raylan and Winona from Justified.

    Sherlock and Irene Adler from Sherlock.

    Special Agent Dale Cooper and Audrey Horne from Twin Peaks

    And a special shout-out to the Doctor and Donna from Doctor Who. Their friendship was beautiful because it wasn't romantic.

    Maybe we should do a best friendships thread next week. I've run out of sexy topics.

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  13. Anyone (besides those that have never seen it, or got into it) that ignores almost every relationship on Buffy, sells that show short. Joss Whedon's story and vision is always magnificent, but the way those characters interact was what gave that show such a spark. So much so, that I think it'd be worthwhile to make a whole discussion similar to this that is JUST the best Buffy couple! So rather than a couple in particular, I choose Buffy as the overall couples winner, every relationship was so dynamic, and the show was never afraid to "push the couples boundary". The mixed up the craziest of character matches and made it work every time.

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  14. 8. Hank Moody and every woman in California from Californication, it's a testament to the show's writing that almost every encounter is unique and entertaining. You'd think even he'd be bored after awhile.
    7. The Sookie/Bill/Eric thing from True Blood, and yes it is a thing at the moment. Recently its a either a sweet but doomed love between Sookie and Bill, a sexy but doomed love between Sookie and Eric, or a budding bromantic friendship between the dumped forces of Eric and Bill. Definitely still intriguing. Idk, maybe Alcide has a shot after all? Or Sam? Maybe?
    6. Castiel and Meg from Supernatural, this is a recent thing but a great thing nonetheless. It's just great, uptight and stoic (now half sane) angel Castiel with devious and lusty demon Meg. Keep this going, Supernatural.
    5. Buffy and Angel from BtVS/Angel, a powerful and forever closely related duo both on and off the job. I realized rewatching Buffy that Twilight is basically a rip off of this formula, only this is better because it doesn't satisfy every whimsy. It's a true love that is simply impossible for both characters.
    4. Buffy and Spike from BtVS, a twisted and fascinating pairing that evolved so incredibly. It is indeed one of the best relationships I've seen just in its complexity. Sometimes the love is heartwarming, then heartbreaking, then plain scary. And always violent (seriously the most satisfying relationship built on violence).
    3. Kate and Sawyer from Lost, another naturally hostile duo who found they had a kinship in murder and deceit. And, often by working together, they became two of the show's most heroic characters. They are also probably the sexiest couple in this list. Sex in a polar bear cage! Come on!
    2. Bill Adama and Laura Roslin from BSG, a great couple. Not in a sexy sense so much as a sense of companionship and mutual respect. They are basically the male and female leaders of humanity. I don't think there has been a better first kiss scene.
    1. Dexter and Rita from Dexter, I know, a lot of scenes of Dexter making excuses for why he didn't make it for dinner that involve him telling the truth and her not thinking anything of it. Truly though, the development of how a disturbed sociopath and an emotionally scarred single mom manage to change each others lives (and personality's) for the better and start a family? It was just wonderful. Sweet enough to downplay most of the gore and sex.

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  15. OK, here I go (no order):

    Spike & Drusilla (Buffy)
    Buffy & Angel (Buffy)
    Dexter & Rita (Dexter)
    Dany & Khal (GoT)
    Jax & Tara (SoA)
    Sawyer & Juliet (Lost)
    Eric & Pam (TB)

    Not too different from the rest listed before, but they're my favorites.

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  16. This should be fun,

    Duncan and Amanda – Highlander
    Castle and Beckett – Castle
    Veronica and Logan – Veronica Mars
    Myka and H.G. – Warehouse 13
    The Doctor and River Song – Doctor Who
    Wesley and Lilah – Angel
    Damon and Elena – Vampire Diaries
    Regina and Emma – Once Upon a Time
    Jeff and Annie – Community
    Sawyer and Juliet – Lost
    John and Aeryn – Farscape
    Willow and Tara and Willow and Oz – Buffy

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  17. There'll be more as I think about this, but my instant reaction was Bill and Laura from BSG. Great, great actors, a real slow burn relationship, genuine non-showy love and affection between them, and a wrench your heart out tear-jerking final death scene. love them both :)

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  18. Billie/Jess (too late, Josie) -- Sawyer and Juliet??? NOOOOO! I’m still on my “I Do” high and now you’re making me rethink my shipper position. Guess it’s just another reason to keep watching the show. Check back with me when I finish the series; my guess is that I’ll be with you all. :-)

    Number one for me is easy: Mulder/Scully. Best couple, ever.

    The rest?

    Kate/Sawyer -- but, see statement above...
    Castle/Beckett -- I review the show so I have to say this, but I have shipped them from season one and love them together.
    Buffy/Spike goes without saying.
    Sydney/Vaughn
    Elena/Damon
    Bones/Booth -- until she gave birth in a manger. That, for me, was the Great White. I’m done.
    Joey/Pacey (don’t judge!). And, while we’re on the subject of Joshua Jackson, Olivia/Peter.
    Lois/Clark (the Smallville ones, although, back in the day, I shipped Lois and Clark as well)
    Starbuck/Lee -- because love is like this, never simple.
    Lemon/Lavon -- again, I say don’t judge!
    Mary/Matthew -- because restraint can be as hot as a kiss.

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  19. I completely forgot Guinevere/Lancelot in Merlin. And Sybil and Branson in Downton Abbey

    I have a Ship List on my Tumblr and it is basically too long to copy here, but essentially, if the ship is plausible and not forced, I will ship it.

    I even ship Jake/Adam on The Secret Circle and anyone with Gale Harold. I ship me with Gale Harold.

    And yes Josie, everyone with Sark.

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  20. Wesley & Lilah (Angel)
    Simon & Alisha (Misfits)
    Adama & Laura Roslin (Battlestar Galactica)
    David & Keith (Six Feet Under)
    Britta & Troy (Community)
    Sierra & Victor (Dollhouse) Probably my favorite couple on the list and I wouldn’t have remembered to include them if Billie’s list hadn’t reminded me.
    Xander & Cordelia (Buffy)
    Willow & Tara (Buffy)

    When watching the latest episode of True Blood I realized how much I liked Tara and Sam when they were together, which is weird because I hate Sam.

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  21. okay my hands down favorite is

    Tenth doctor and Rose Tyler (doctor who)

    and I LOVE me some Damon and Elana (Vamp. Diaries)

    Veronica and Logan (Veronica Mars)

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  22. I gotta jump in with my support for John & Zoe on Person Of Interest, just because it's without a doubt my favorite new show of this past season. Each of them gets that extra spark behind the eyes when they're on screen together, it's been a treat to watch. And it's nice to see a show realize that two people in their mid-40's can still be like that. :)

    I'd also have to toss in a vote for the main couple in my 2nd favorite new show of the season, Grimm. Nick & Juliette have wonderful chemistry together. Their relationship has just the right combination of sweetness and sizzle.

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  23. Logan and Veronica though I also liked Veronica's interaction with Wallace and Weevil.

    and BFF's forever Raylan and Boyd from Justified.

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  24. I will limit my picks to 3, though there could be dozens (genre shows seem to do relationships well).

    1. Zoe and Wash on Firefly. Zoe gave Wash depth, and Wash softened Zoe. They just worked. Remember the scene in which River experiences their passion by proxy?

    2. Bill and Laura on BSG. I don't often find myself rooting for a relationship on a show -- I'm willing to go where the writers decide to take me -- but I SO wanted that one to happen. Not just because of the actors but because of the characters.

    3. Willow and Tara on BtVS. It gave me hope that the world was changing for the better to see a same-sex couple portrayed so positively on a major television show. And Tara's song in "Once More, with Feeling"? Awesome.

    Honorable mentions go to Sawyer and Juliet, the best relationship on Lost, and to Bobby and Ellen on Supernatural. They broke my heart in a single episode.

    KAM

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  25. - Jax/Tara (SoA) - I love this couple so much. They are perfect.

    - Rayland/Fiona (Justified) - Honestly, Timothy Olyphant has the ability to create chemistry with almost every co-actor (male or female)

    - Nikita/Michael (LFN) - The tension between these two was insane. And their moments together were always so good.

    - Sawyer/Juliet (Lost) - He was so lovely with her. Best Lost couple.

    - Eric/Nora (True Blood) - Very little scenes till now but nontheless one hell of a couple (Eric and Pam in the flashbacks are equally great)

    - Gannicus/Melita (Spartacus) - Bittersweet but beautiful.

    - And Don Draper has great chemistry with every woman around him.

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  26. For me I find there's often one moment that just encapsulates a couple beautifully and can make that couple for me.

    Spike/Buffy but not during S6. His speech where he's ostensibly talking about Willow making a suicidal run at Glory, but is really talking about Buffy, just kills me. Giles and Jenny Calender killed me as too, with Giles' comments on how he'd never buried someone he loved before.

    Zoe/Wash. Could have been a huge cliche with an impossibly hot warrior woman freezing out her nerdy and slight husband but Joss makes it real: he shows us how Zoe and Wash compliment each other so well.

    Kurt/Blaine. You make me feel like I'm living a teenage dream - enough said.

    Starbuck and Lee. Unfinished Business is one of my favourite episodes of TV ever and story of Lee and Kara, alongside the stunning Violence and Variations music, is just epic. Roslin and Adama deserve a mention too.

    Not a show billiedoux covers (though I maintain it's a fantasy show) but CJ Cregg and Danny Concannon. When Danny tells CJ "I want us to talk. I want to talk because I like the sound of your voice" I just melt. Plus Alison Janney is one of my all-time favourite actresses.

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  27. Oooh, fun!

    OK, these are my top choices for pairings that were not originally intended to be love interests but the actors just had amazing chemistry:

    Spike/Buffy, Buffy
    Janeway/Chakotay, Voyager (I know you haven't covered Voyager, but it's in the Star Trek family!)
    Jeff/Annie, Community

    And top picks for couples destined for each other but who have amazing chemistry anyway:

    Eric/Sookie, True Blood (though they crossover categories a bit since Bill was the first love interest)
    Lafayette/Jesus, True Blood
    Olivia/Peter, Fringe

    Top 'I don't know where to put 'em':
    Mulder/Scully, The X Files
    Nine/Rose, Doctor Who (I know, controversial, but their scenes in 'parting of the Ways' are amazing)

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  28. John and Aeryn, Farscape
    Spike and Buffy, Buffy
    Castle and Beckett, Castle
    Ianto Jones and Jack Harkness, Torchwood
    Willow and Tara, Buffy
    Damon and Elena, Vampire Diaries
    Damon and Katherine, Vampire Diaries
    Clark and Lois, any version.
    Methos and everybody, Highlander(it's one of those can have chemistry with anyone things.)
    Nikita and Michael, LFN
    Sawyer and Kate, Lost
    Seven of Nine and Chakotay, Voyager

    Anna

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  29. I'm going to try really hard not to keep adding new couples as I think of them but two came to mind and I couldn't resist adding them:

    Gaius & Six
    Giles & Jenny

    I didn't realise how good Joss Whedon is at writing relationships until I saw this list

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  30. I completely forgot about Bo and Lauren on Lost Girl as well as Hardison and Parker on Leverage.

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  31. And of course Mark Sheppard/TV. The ultimate ship.

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  32. Oh, Mark! So true about Mark Sheppard. Could someone please cast that man in his own series? Or maybe Supernatural could cast him in a spin-off and give him a love interest. Crowley in love -- I'd pay to see that.

    KAM

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  33. I have to agree with Jess here and say that my top two couples are Coach Taylor and Tammy Taylor in terms of a realistic yet sexy marriage and then John Crichton and Aeryn Sun as the sexiest and most romantic.

    My other favorites are listed in no particular order:

    Buffy and Angel (Buffy)
    Buffy and Spike (Buffy)
    Spike and Drucilla (Buffy)
    Willow and Oz (Buffy)
    Willow and Tara (Buffy)
    Giles and Jenny (Buffy)
    Xander and Amy's (Buffy)
    Logan and Veronica (Veronica Mars)
    David and Keith (Six Feet Under)
    John Sheridan and DeLenn (Babylon 5)
    Sierra and Victor (Dollhouse)
    Mal and Inara (Firefly)
    Zoe and Wash (Firefly)
    Felicity and Ben (Felicity)
    Sawyer and Juliet (Lost)
    Sayid and Shannon (Lost) (Please, no heckling on this one ;) )
    Carrie and Big (Sex in the City, TV series, not movies)

    From my long list you can probably tell that I am a hopeless romantic and that I am not very loyal any time a good romantic story is put before me as long as the couple has chemistry. I can be like a ping pong in my devotion to various pairings at times! This wasn't true with Veronica Mars, though. I was always for Veronica and Logan all the way.

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  34. Oh, how could I forget John and Aeryn! They had amazing chemistry.

    And Willow and Tara, they were so cute together.

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  35. Here's mine....

    Mulder and Scully
    Michael and Nikita
    Reese and Zoe
    Michael and Sydney
    Jack and Irina
    H. G. and Myka
    Damon and Elena
    Peter and Olivia

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  36. Wow, this is fun...

    Oh ! I've seen STrek Voyager a couple of times up there !

    So, therefore and for this reason, Capt. Picard and Beverly Crusher on ST TNG....

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  37. Well, since this is a list of SEXIEST couples, and not necessarily best relationships, I have to say it is a tie between Buffy/Spike on Buffy and Sawyer/Kate on Lost.

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  38. I thought about the "sexiest" part later and also thought that Sawyer and Kate were sexier than Sawyer and Juliet.

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  39. Suzanne- I wouldn't laugh at Sayid and Shannon. Sayid would have been my island boyfriend! Sawyer and Juliet were sweet, but my vote for favorite couple on Lost goes to Desmond and Penny.

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