CarterMatt Awards 2016: Are Hook & Emma, Clarke & Lexa, or Barry & Iris TV’s best couple?

What makes a great TV romance? It’s a melting pot of so many different things, but we’d say that within the cauldron are chemistry, passion, heart, physical / emotional support, and a dynamic that makes you smile anytime that the two have a moment. There’s a reason that so many people get invested in these relationships — we’ve all got a little bit of a romantic somewhere within us, and we want to root for these couples.

So who had some of the best love stories of 2016? This is what the Best Couple category, new to the CarterMatt Awards for 2016, is all about! We’ve nominated five of our favorite pairs of the year and discussed what they mean to us — and hopefully what they mean to people watching at home. The only real criteria that we had was that this had to be a couple that was either actively in a relationship as of December 2016, or was in a relationship prior to one of the characters leaving the show in some capacity in the past year. Tomorrow, we’ll be back with ‘Ship of the Year, a different category recognizing relationships that people want to see become a reality. One’s not more valuable than the other, but this was a way to get all of our favorite pairings into the universe!

Best Couple – The Nominees

Barry and Iris, “The Flash” (The CW) – This was the year for all of the WestAllen fans out there to celebrate! After two seasons full of question marks, the two characters are finally together — with a sad dose of irony to boot. Right when the two are finally an item, the idea of them having a long-term destiny as a married couple goes away courtesy of a newspaper byline and the vision of the future with Savitar. Hopefully, Barry figures out how to save her, since this is a couple that we don’t want to lose.

Clarke and Lexa, “The 100” (The CW) – Now, we move into sadder territory since we’re talking about the couple who physically is no longer together due to Lexa’s death; yet, we will believe in our heart that they would still be in love if she was alive, and you saw during the season 3 finale that a part of Lexa will be with Clarke always. This was a relationship that was beautiful to watch unfold, but more than that, it’s also a relationship that inspired a movement and provided so many fans with a voice.

Hook and Emma, “Once Upon a Time” (ABC) – Just as this was a good year for WestAllen fans, it also was a tremendous one for everyone out there who ‘ships Captain Swan as one of their favorite TV couples. Not only did Emma help to bring her love back from the Underworld, they’re also now living together! We saw a preview that signaled that an engagement is coming up in the second half of the season; there are no guarantees, but wouldn’t it be nice if it happened?

Lindsay and Halstead, “Chicago PD” (NBC) – They’re one of the best couples in the entire crime TV world, and they already hold one title here at CarterMatt — winners of our Crime Dynamic Duos competition earlier this year. They not only love each other, but they support each other both at work and while off-duty. You want to root for them because of the almost-healing quality that they have on one another; they make each other better at their jobs, but also better people. Having that give and take is so important in a relationship and these two have it.

Rick and Michonne, “The Walking Dead” (AMC) – Another couple that really found themselves coming together in a beautiful way over the course of the past year, Richonne has some of the same effect on each other as Lindsay / Halstead in terms of being a source of healing and support. They’re also so much fun to watch together given that they spent such a significant amount of time single over the years, and this serves as a nice contrast. You want to see each one of them happy and with someone who respects and cares for them, and this relationship is a microcosm of that.