The friends-turned-enemies trope is common in action movies and
(especially) in romantic comedies, but when it happens in a TV show,
it’s much more satisfying. You usually get to witness the changing
relationship over the course of one or several seasons, and the end
result (the friendship) seems much deeper and much more meaningful.
Here are 10 enemies that have become friends in TV shows.
BoJack and Mr. Peanutbutter
Calling BoJack and Mr. Peanutbutter enemies might seem like a bit of
a stretch, but there is a definitive rivalry between them. They both
stared in suspiciously similar TV shows about families, and their
personalities couldn’t be any further apart. BoJack is a
self-hating pessimist and Mr. Peanutbutter is a chipper, optimistic
dog that is absolutely in love with himself. And yet, over the course
of the show’s 5 seasons they have managed to develop something akin
to a friendship. In a way, it shows that opposites attract.
Jane & Petra
Jane the Virgin is arguably the most underrated TV show on air
right now. The premise seems silly, but the end result is hilarious
and engaging. And it can’t be denied that one of the show’s most
appealing elements is the relationship between Jane and Petra, who
started off as enemies because of a medical mishap, but ended up
being close friends and partners.
Crowley & Dean
I am very much a sucker for the montages of Crowley and Dean
bantering and arguing with each other. And it’s always a pleasure
to see how they turn from enemies to friends in those montages. They
go from disrespecting each other and being very antagonistic to
becoming (almost) best friends!
Buffy & Spike
Is it cheating if the reason enemies become friends is because one of
them has a chip inserted into them that prevents them from being
violent? Because that’s the case with Spike and Buffy. Over the
course of the TV show’s runtime, we saw Spike turn from someone who
wanted to kill Buffy, to someone who is obsessed and in love with
Buffy. In the later seasons their relationship even developed a more…
risqué side to it. All that being said, there’s no chance this
story would fly in a romantic comedy.
Joan & Peggy
Like BoJack and Mr. Peanutbutter, Joan and Peggy weren’t so much
“enemies” as they were just very different from each other. Each
character chose a different way to make it in the sexist environment
of a male-dominated advertising agency, and each of them ended up
happy with their chosen path. However, any time their paths would
cross, it was an extremely interesting experience of watching them
come to terms with the fact that each of them behaves so differently.
In a parallel universe I would love to see a spin-off show where Joan
and Peggy actually do open up their own creative agency.
Rory & Paris
This is, by far, my favorite “enemies to friends” story on the
list. Rory Gilmore and Paris Geller were rivals. They were, at
certain points of the show, die hard enemies. They hated each other.
But they also loved each other in equal measure. The competition
between them encouraged them both to become better versions of
themselves. Rory learned to take her life seriously from Paris.
Paris, on the other hand, learned to be more forgiving of people and
more open to new experiences. They’re an amazing duo!
Jim & Dwight
I’ll be honest, I’m much more interested in the parts of The
Office where Jim is disrespectful of Dwight and constantly
pulling pranks on him. However, I’d be lying if I said that I
didn’t cry during the final montage of the final season, when the
changing relationship between Jim and Dwight was shown.
Amy & Ben
You know, if a dial tone accountant came in and started saying that I
need to kill the funding for a parks and recreation budget of my
beloved town – I’d hate him too! But
seeing Amy and Ben go from professional enemies to a political
power-couple was extremely satisfying!
Eve & Villanelle
Talk about a tumultuous relationship! An obsessive detective going after a psychopathic hit woman! What could possibly go right?! And yet, over the course of the show’s two seasons (and soon a third!) we see them go from enemies, to becoming curious about each other, to becoming partners, to becoming as close to “friends” as you can become with a serial killer.
Aang & Zuko
I’ve saved the best for last. It took Aang and Zuko a whole three seasons to become friends! At the start of the show Zuko felt that the only way for him to “redeem himself” would be to destroy the last Airbender. And yet, by season three they became friends and started to work together, as Aang became more friendly towards Zuko and Zuko realized that he doesn’t have to redeem himself.
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