15 unconventional TV couples that probably shouldn’t have worked

Ian Gallagher and Mickey Milkovich — Shameless

As sweet as these two could be to each other, Ian and Mickey had a very unusual and strange dynamic. Aside from growing up in an extremely dangerous and abusive household, Mickey was exposed to his father’s highly toxic masculinity. This made it very hard for Mickey to come out, confess his love for Ian at first, and to live his life free of the threat of violence.

A lot of their early encounters mix up violence with sexual attraction, and they often wind up fist-fighting as foreplay. Ian, too, had very little experience with healthy relationships, and he had few tools to help him cope with the struggles of such an intense relationship.

On paper, these two should have never, ever worked as well as they did. And it’s true that things did get volatile between them at times. But at their core, they loved each other very, very much, and they understood each other’s brokenness like no one else could.

Although they are broken up now, their relationship is the formative dynamic in both of their lives, and (for good or bad) informs every relationship after. Ian is probably the more healthy of two, despite his battles with mental illness, and has gone on to have some (mostly) normal relationships. Unfortunately, Mickey hasn’t grown into better choices, but they will both be each other’s person.