The pace is glacial – and we love it.
11 of the Best Slow-Burn TV Romances for Your Watch (or Rewatch) List
The pace is glacial – and we love it.
Whether it’s via ‘friends to lovers’, ‘enemies to lovers’ or any of the genre’s beloved tropes, there is one thing the best TV couples’ arcs tend to have in common: a good slow burn.
Because in the realm of romance, timing is everything. By letting characters simmer in their chemistry or ache in their longing, the moment they finally get together becomes much more rewarding.
And if you need some deliciously delayed gratification of this variety, allow our list of slow-burn TV romance shows to heed the call. Read on for our round-up and prep your watch (or rewatch) list.
1. One Day — Emma and Dexter
Where can I watch it? Netflix
Aptly named One Day, the epic love story of Emma and Dexter is easily one of TV’s best slow-burn romances in recent years. What begins as a failed one-night stand after their university graduation turns into a 20-year-long tale (when we said slow, we meant slow), revisiting their lives on the same date each year. Over two decades, we watch their paths merge and diverge, as each navigates life, love and heartbreak, their unspoken feelings an invisible string that keeps them — and us — tied until the very end.
2. Lucifer — Lucifer and Chloe
Where can I watch it? Netflix
A love saga between the *literal* Devil and a staunch LA cop, anyone? This six-season supernatural romance gave us one of the best onscreen couples in Lucifer Morningstar (former ruler of Hell; nightclub impresario in the ‘City of Angels’) and Chloe Decker (LAPD detective, mother of one). He’s attracted to her right from their crime scene meet-cute, but Chloe is the only human on Earth immune to his ‘devilish’ charm and powers. All the better to insert himself as her sidekick and use his magical ability to make people confess their desires to help her solve murders, right? Come for the top-tier banter and supernatural vibes, stay for the sincere love that emerges.
3. Suits — Donna and Harvey
Where can I watch it? BBC iPlayer
No, it’s not a romance show, but it would be impossible to leave Suits off this list, given the “Darvey” — that’s “Donna and Harvey” for the uninitiated — of it all. The romantic tension and razor-sharp repartee between Harvey Specter, a senior partner at a prestigious New York law firm, and his longtime friend and legal secretary, Donna Paulsen, underscored all eight seasons of the show, even as they dated other people and had us chanting “Endgame! Endgame!” in our heads for years.
4. Normal People — Marianne and Connell
Where can I watch it? BBC iPlayer
The yearning, the wondering, the heat — suffice it to say, Normal People is searingly intimate and seriously steamy. Main characters Marianne and Connell are from different social backgrounds in the same small Irish town, their opposites-attract connection unfolding from high school to adulthood. Exploring themes of friendship, class and identity with enough “will-they-or-won’t-they” juice to power a rocket, this is truly a slow-burn romance for the ages.
5. New Girl — Nick and Jess
Where can I watch it? Disney+
From flatmates to friends to the ultimate ‘grumpy-sunshine’ couple: New Girl’s Nick and Jess’ chemistry was palpable from the pilot. But, thankfully, the sitcom took its sweet time letting it simmer throughout season one, before delivering a timely first kiss in season two. What made it (excruciatingly) better? The dopamine payoff didn’t end there, with the pair breaking up and entering different relationships throughout the show’s seven seasons, keeping us rooting for them until the very end.
6. Gilmore Girls — Lorelai and Luke
Where can I watch it? Netflix
Like Nick and Jess, Gilmore Girls’ Lorelai and Luke also had a bubbly-meets-curmudgeonly dynamic that endeared them to many. While the binge-able show was primarily about single mother-slash-innkeeper Lorelai and her teenage daughter Rory, her playful friendship with grumpy diner owner Luke kept us seated for all seven seasons. Fun fact: it took 86 episodes before they shared their first kiss, and frankly, we’re here for the glacial pace.
7. Abbott Elementary — Janine and Gregory
Where can I watch it? Disney+
Abbott Elementary may be a fun mockumentary comedy about a group of Philadelphia school teachers trying to help their students succeed, but it hasn’t skimped in the slow-burn romance department. Enter: teachers Janine and Gregory. With seeds for their ‘ship’ planted in the pilot and rationed thoughtfully throughout the seasons, their friendship grew through small bonding moments — like the cute knocking code they use to communicate through their classroom walls — and took a deliciously agonising three seasons for a very worth-the-wait payoff.
8. Mythic Quest — Rachel and Dana
Where can I watch it? Apple TV
Set within the chaotic world of video game development, Mythic Quest’s slow-burn romance between game testers Rachel and Dana is a masterclass in chemistry. Their connection builds quietly over season one – marked by lingering glances, and moments of tenderness (mostly on Rachel’s part) – that makes every interaction feel charged with potential. The tension is finally eased in season two when they share a kiss. If you like some humour with your romance, the scenes where both women secretly seek relationship advice from Carol from HR are comedic gold. If you love an on-screen entanglement that unfolds as artfully as it teases, this is a must-watch love affair for the ages.
9. The Vampire Diaries — Damon and Elena
Where can I watch it? Netflix
Some slow-burn romances are sweet friendships that blossom into more. Some are forbidden and fraught with angst and passion. Damon and Elena from The Vampire Diaries, a supernatural series about a teenage girl who, unbeknownst to her, falls for a 160-year-old vampire, definitely falls into the latter camp. A roller-coaster relationship throughout the show, “Delena”-shippers were kept on tenterhooks for eight seasons. And we’d do it again.
10. Jane the Virgin — Jane and Rafael
Where can I watch it? Apple TV
What happens when a driven young woman is accidentally artificially inseminated with the sperm of her attractive, married hotelier boss? (Yes, you read right). You get a twisty, turn-y, slow-burn love story — telenovela-style. Connection and chemistry aside, while Jane (the driven young woman) and Rafael (the handsome hotelier) have their paths permanently crossed by their child, the timing is never quite right for them, and there is solid competition — even some worth rooting for.
11. Friends — Ross and Rachel
Where can I watch it? Netflix
One of the most famous slow-burn TV relationships of all time, Ross and Rachel’s 10-year on-again-off-again romance was arguably the famous sitcom’s longest-run arc. Granted, while their “will-they-won’t-they” behaviour became a bit exhausting at times, there’s no denying that both grew as individuals over the seasons to make their final “oh, they will” moment feel worth the long-awaited warm and fuzzies.
