We Didn't Ship These Couples the Second Time Around

We've all had those couples we loved the first time we watched a show.

Rooting for a relationship while it's still developing makes it easy to get caught up in the excitement, but sometimes when you go back for a rewatch, you see things a bit more clearly than you did before.

We put together a list of couples we didn't ship the second time around!

Aria and Ezra - Pretty Little Liars

As a teenager, it was all too easy to get swept up in Aria and Ezra's romance. They were two people who didn't appear too far apart in age due to the casting decision, and they had the kind of love you couldn't help but root for.

Why were Aria's parents so determined to keep them apart?

It turns out that they were so determined to put an end to their daughter's romance because it was statutory rape. Rewatching the show as an adult, rather than a teen who's lovestruck by a hot teacher, puts things into perspective.

Not to mention that the whole reason Ezra started dating his student was so he could spy on her and write a book. Sorry, but we know better now. This entire storyline needs to be erased from history.

Lucas and Brooke - One Tree Hill

Their scenes held a lot of meaning when we first experienced them, but rewatching with the knowledge that it was always going to be Peyton makes it hard to support this ship.

It was obvious that Lucas loved Peyton above all, and Brooke deserved better than someone who was pining for someone else.

Looking back on it, we just can't stand to see Brooke settle for being second best.

Emma and Ethan - The Lying Game

It was hard not to root for Emma and Ethan the first go-round. Emma spent her entire life being neglected, and the feeling of being loved was something she had never experienced.

Ethan was the first person to ever care about Emma for who she truly was, and the two grew extremely close while trying to pass her off as her twin sister.

Why wouldn't we want Emma to have someone good in her life finally? Because of their story, it was hard not to pull for them during the show's short run.

But looking back on it, Ethan switched sisters far too often, and Emma could do a lot better than someone who cheated on both her and her twin. Although the series finale left us with a lot of questions due to its cancelation, we've realizes that Emma/Thayer was the superior ship.

Caroline and Tyler - The Vampire Diaries

Almost everyone shipped Forwood when The Vampire Diaries was airing its early seasons. How could you not?

It felt impossible to let go of them after seeing how much they loved each other, but there were much better suitors for Caroline in store.

Considering that Tyler became rather irrelevant in Caroline's love life, it makes their whole story less impactful. It's hard to root for Caroline and Tyler as much as we did originally, knowing how insignificant they become.

Bay and Emmett - Switched at Birth

The amount of work Emmett put into winning Bay back had our hearts brimming with joy. Until we realized Emmett could have done a lot less work if he had never cheated on Bay, in the first place.

Even after a rewatch it's hard not to care about them to some extent. The actors have fantastic on-screen chemistry and Switched at Birth spends a lot of time developing their love story.

But the more we sat on it, the more we realized that Bay deserved to be with someone who would never hurt her the way Emmett did.

Brandon and Callie - The Fosters

It's much easier to ship two people who are temporarily living together than it is to ship two people who become brother and sister.

Since we were onboard with Brallie long before we realized that Callie was going to be adopted into the Foster Family, giving up on them didn't feel like an option.

Yet, when you go back to the beginning, it's hard to be a Callie/Brandon fan when you know where their relationship goes. It becomes uncomfortable to root for two people who are eventually going to be siblings.

Emily and Damon - Make It or Break It

Make It or Break It forced viewers to ship Emily and Damon. There was no way around it. The problem happens when you go back and realize that Emily always kept Damon on her hook.

Even if they weren't together, she felt entitled to him. It was heartbreaking when they went up in flames, but maybe it was for the best.

However, the last we saw of Emily, she was pregnant with Damon's baby, and we never got a resolution to that storyline after she left town without him. It's hard to fully move on when you don't have closure.

Ross and Rachel - Friends

When you first watch Friends, you spend so much time rooting for Ross and Rachel to finally get together that you don't pay much attention to how they act when they are together.

And the truth is, they're not that great. Okay, they're not great at all. The entire relationship has a lot of underlying animosities that's easily overlooked if you're not paying attention.

Ross never seemed to care about Rachel's career, and he spent more time belittling her than anything else. Now that we've seen what healthy and supportive relationships look like, we've realized that Rachel could do a lot better.

Buffy and Angel - Buffy the Vampire Slayer

There's a massive age difference between Buffy and Angel that no one seemed to acknowledge the first time around. And no, we're not just talking about Angel being a centuries-old vampire.

As it turns out, Angel was frozen in time at the age of 26 and started dating Buffy when she was only 16.

Even if Angel wasn't immortal, he would still be a decade older than Buffy while she was still a teenager. For that reason alone, we'd like to return our Bangel shipper badges.

Cassie and Adam - The Secret Circle

They were exciting, at first. The "forbidden love" aspect kept viewers on their toes. They do say that you always want what you can't have.

Because we were so enthralled by whether Cassie and Adam would find a way to be together, we didn't focus on why we want them together, in the first place.

Adam is a bland character, and while Jake was supposed to serve only as an obstacle for them, it became apparent that his love for Cassie was the most entertaining aspect of the series.

Allison and Isaac - Teen Wolf

There was never anything to dislike about Isaac and Allison becoming a potential couple. They had a cute dynamic and played off of each other in a fun and flirty way.

But, in hindsight, it all feels pointless now.

Allison admitted to still being in love with Scott when she died in his arms, and it's a shame that she didn't spend what time she had left with the person who really held her heart.

Chuck and Blair - Gossip Girl

Love makes you blind. Especially as a young teenager watching Gossip Girl live and going along with the crowd. Who wouldn't be obsessed with Chuck Bass? AKA, a bad boy with a heart of gold.

The problem is that when you go back and give the show another look, it becomes obvious that Chuck isn't a "bad boy." He's a rapist who should probably be in jail, right now.

Passing off a relationship with domestic violence and a pattern of emotional abuse as an "epic love" sends a horrible message to impressionable viewers.

It was easy to get caught up in the will they/won't they when we didn't know if they would. But now that we have the full picture, it's impossible to unsee how badly it turns out.