From Maine to Japan

Fresca asked me which canon pairings I really like. Let's see...the ones that come in just off the top of my head:

1. Jarrod/Miss Parker, The Pretender. I loved "The Pretender." It had a clear formula--super-genius Jarrod, hunted by Miss Parker from the sinister Center, travels the country avenging wrongs--and it followed it beautifully, with strong acting from all the cast. The semi-romance between Parker (who is never given a first name) and Jarrod always delighted me. Jarrod is a sweet-natured naif with a wicked streak, Parker a tough-as-nails cynic out to capture Jarrod at all costs. They rarely meet in the show, but he calls, leaves clues, sends email--their relationship is antagonistic and yet respectful and eventually sweet, as we learn that the two of them were childhood friends (Jarrod was kidnapped by the Center as a child, Parker is the daughter of the head of the Center).

2. Odo/Kira, Deep Space Nine. Maybe even more than the friendship between Garak and Bashir being disrupted, I was unhappy this romance was aborted. The two had been friends for so long, and Odo's wistful longing for Kira so subtle and well-played, that the process of them getting together was hesitant and lovely and filled with affection. They were good for each other.

3. Batman/Catwoman, Comics and Batman Returns. Really the only woman I can see with Batman, and in "Batman Returns" Pfeiffer and Keaton really hit this relationship out of the park for me--the vulnerability so carefully hidden, the complications of their many identities, the complete inability to connect combined with the passionate desire to. When Catwoman rejects Batman at the end of "Batman Returns" ("I'd love to go home with you and live with you in your castle...but I just couldn't live with myself") I wanted to cry and cheer at the same time.

4. Beauty and the Beast. The fairy tale, not the TV show, and not simply the Disney version, although I always liked that version as well. This fairy tale was always my favorite--as a child, addicted to fairy tales, I would happily skip any version of Cinderella or Sleeping Beauty for a version of Beauty and the Beast. The difference, I think, was that they spend time together and get to know each other rather than falling in love after one dance or one kiss. When Beast offers Beauty his library and she's all starry-eyed about it, that was a revelation to me--romance based on a respect for the intellect and shared interests. As you can see, I'm not much for "love at first sight" sorts of romances.

5. Noah/Cassandra Bennett, Heroes. When we first see Cassandra Bennett, she seems entirely vapid, a total fluff-head. But slowly we come to learn that her husband, who's involved in a clandestine government organization, has been mind-wiping her over and over through the years, each time she finds out about his activities. Her strength of character emerges as she re-discovers the truth and she turns out to be one of my favorite female characters on the show (which isn't saying much...I like Heroes but I find it distressingly weak with the female characters). The sense of relief that Noah displays as he begins to enter a truly honest relationship with his wife for the first time in decades is palpable and heartbreaking.

Runners-up: Han/Leia (Star Wars), Elizabeth/Darcy (Pride and Prejudice). I seem to have a fondness for either slow-blossoming friendships or relationships that follow the traditional romantic formula of the leads misunderstanding each other at first sight and slowly learning to love...