Team up or time out?
The sibling bond is such a double-edged blade. Sharing formative experiences and an entwined backstory can cultivate the greatest rival or staunchest supporter.
They know your most embarrassing moments. They know your greatest weaknesses. The fact that they don’t exploit that intel at every possible moment makes them that much more powerful.
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They are also the one who understands what you need when you’re at your lowest. They got your back when the wolves descend and there’s a good chance they will defend you if only so they can get the killing blow in themselves.
Whether they have each other’s back or need to constantly watch theirs around each other, TV’s sibling relationships can make for intensely heart-warming moments or the most heart-wrenching betrayals.
We’re examining 37 relationships and rating them as team-ups or time-outs. Share your thoughts in the comments!
Team-Up – Sam & Dean Winchester – Supernatural
These brothers will (and have) gone to Hell and back for each other.
Team-Up – Lucifer & Amenadiel – Lucifer
Although they are eternally getting in each other’s way, when push comes to shove, these heavenly brothers pull in the same direction.
Team-Up – Vincent & Frankie Martino – The Deuce
Vincent knows the bar industry. Frankie knows how to take orders. With the mob backing them and the porn industry about to boom, these two hang so close together they could be the same person.
Team-Up – Stefan & Damon Salvatore
Never an easy relationship, these two did their best work when they had each other’s backs.
Team-Up – Mary Harris & Nicole Mitchell – Mary Kills People
Big Sis Mary is an ER doctor who helps people commit suicide in her spare time. Lil Sis Nicole does hair and makeup and likes to shoot tin cans in her backyard. They join forces to create a death retreat where terminally ill patients can feel beautiful before they die.
Time-Out – John & Andy Diggle – Arrow
A brother’s betrayal is a deep wound. Andy’s secret life as a ghost for H.I.V.E. meant he’d never planned on reconciling with his big brother. John’s greatest regret will always be that he had to be the one to end Andy’s threat to his family and friends.
Team-Up – Kara & Alex Danvers – Supergirl
It can’t be easy growing up the big sister of an extraterrestrial with superpowers but Alex manages to not only excel in her own field but also be the protective big sister (even when her organization is one of the threats to Kara’s existence).
Team-Up – Anissa & Jennifer Pierce – Black Lightning
Destined to be super-powered heroes like their father, the Daughters of Lightning are also strong, intelligent, articulate women in their own right. That doesn’t stop them from having strong, intelligent, and articulate sisterly battles but they’ll always be each other’s most powerful back-up both physically and emotionally.
Team-Up – Elliot & Darlene Alderson – Mr. Robot
The family that hacks together… slowly deconstructs society together? Despite the fact Elliot’s mental health challenges often mean he can’t even remember Darlene is his sister, they share a vision. Although their methods are at odds at the moment, one can’t help but think, having survived their childhood together, they’ll always need each other on some level.
Team-Up – Frasier & Niles Crane – Frasier
These ivory tower brothers take especial pleasure in besting each other in feats of intellectual and upper-crust pastimes but really depend on each other in times of stress and distress. Really, in the whole wide world, no one understands a Crane brother like a Crane brother.
Team-Up – Nova & Charley Bordelon – Queen Sugar
After years of physical and emotional distance, these two superwoman sisters are facing significant changes and challenges as they reunite in Louisiana after their father’s death. Despite the private politics and public scandals and even some relationship overlap, the Bordelons hold tight to family ties.
Time-Out – Cora & Phoebe Lacey – The Sinner
The power imbalance between these two is a horrific thing to witness. Although Phoebe is chronically ill and physically frail, Cora has been conditioned to deny her sister nothing which eventually leads to Phoebe’s death and destroys Cora’s grip on her memories.
Team-Up (that needed a lot of Time-Outs) – Elijah & Klaus Mikaelson – The Originals
Effectively immortal, Elijah has spent several lifetimes trying to keep up with Klaus’ moods which are sometimes brotherly, often murderous. The pendulum swings wildly for the Mikaelson brothers but they do eventually reconcile.
Team-Up – Beth Boland & Annie Marks – Good Girls
You know you’ve got a good sister when she’s willing to commit a robbery with you. Amicably splitting half a million dollars? Piece of cake. Fighting off your would-be rapist with a bottle of bourbon then hog-tieing him and stowing him in the treehouse? Well, that’s the kind of sister who’s got your back, front, and all the sides.
Team-Up – Jessica Jones & Trish Walker – Jessica Jones
Trish’s biological mother made them sisters when she adopted Jessica after the accident that killed her family and gave her super-strength. They became best friends by choice and, together, managed to defeat the mind-controlling powers of Kilgrave.
Team-Up – Wynonna & Waverly Earp – Wynonna Earp
Nothing brings sisters together like a family curse that raises the dead and these two are a great team. Wynonna’s the Heir and handles the shooting of the Revenants while Waverly does the research into all things Curse-related. Although they only reconnected when Waverly finds Wynonna in bed with her boyfriend, it’s no biggie since Waverly soon realizes she’s way more into Officer Nicole anyway.
Team-Up – Alicia & Nick Clark – Fear the Walking Dead
This brother and sister are polar opposites in so many ways but when the world is being over-run by zombies, you survive by sticking with the people who know you best.
Time-Out – Cersei & Jamie Lannister – Game of Thrones
TIME. OUT. Seriously, these two need SUCH a cooling-off period. Like, maybe a lifetime’s length. The most toxic and twisted sibling relationship on this list. Three children (and one on the way) and SO MANY people dead because of them or the fruit of their loins. SO MUCH ICK.
Team-Up – Maddie & Daphne Conrad – Nashville
Growing up in the heart of the country music business is probably never going to be a “normal” life no matter what. These sisters also have to contend with the blinding glare of their mother’s career. Somehow, they manage to find their own voices but do their best work, on and off stage, when performing as a duet.
Team-Up – Jamie Fraser & Jenny Murray – Outlander
They are a fine Scottish pair of siblings, stubborn as mules and loving as the day is long. Although, since Jenny’s been basically mothering Jamie since she was ten years old, she sometimes oversteps her role as his sister.
Team-Up – Dan & Jenny Humphrey
In the cutthroat world of an Upper East Side private school, it pays to have someone looking out for you and if he happens to be your big brother and the biggest clique whistleblower EVER, so much the better.
Team-Up – Jesus & Mariana Foster – The Fosters
Adopted at a young age, the twins share some negative feelings for their biological mother who was an addict when they were born and eventually abandoned them altogether. Although they tease each other mercilessly, their bond remains heartfelt and they only wish the best for each other.
Team-Up – Dean & Stewart Sanderson – The Grinder
Talk about stretching the bonds of family to the limit! Long-suffering Stewart not only “welcomes” actor-brother Dean into his home, he allows him to continue playing the lawyer he was on TV at his actual law firm. How could this NOT turn out well?
Time-Out – Data & Lore – Star Trek: The Next Generation
Although not technically “born” brothers, Data and Lore share the quintessential sibling relationship. Lore, the first successful (if extremely unstable) Soong-type android, deeply resents the perceived favoritism their inventor/father showed the improved version, Data. Data tries to see the best in his brother but eventually (and repeatedly) has to put him down.
Team-Up – Johnny & D’avin Jaqobis – Killjoys
After losing touch with each other for eight years, it’s heartwarming how these two brothers were able to develop a solid working relationship as interstellar bounty hunters. Sure, the personal stuff took a bit more time but… baby steps.
Team-Up – Jamal & Hakeem Lyon – Empire
Although they’ve always been close, their natural sibling rivalry has been exacerbated by their father’s nasty influence and the pressure cooker of the music industry. However, when Empire is under siege, the Lyons round the wagons and the brothers stand together.
Team-Up – Zoe & Alice Woods – Channel Zero: Butcher’s Block
These two sisters, looking for a fresh start, are bound together by their family history of mental illness. They discover their new town has some strange disappearances and even stranger neighbors.
Team-Up – Buffy & Dawn Summers – Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Sure, technically, Dawn wasn’t actually Buffy’s sister but once she was there, Buffy totally treated her as such. And it’s not like her life was a cinch. It’s hard being the new kid (and she was about as “new” as they come) so she can be forgiven for screwing up a few times before she hit her stride as a Scooby Gang member.
Team-Up – Raj & Priya Koothrappali – The Big Bang Theory
Despite being grown adults with well-respected careers, Raj and Priya’s relationship is founded on presenting a united (and deceptive) front to their parents overseas. Totally healthy and not at all dysfunctional, right?
Time-Out – Jerome & Jeremiah Valeska – Gotham
Crazy is no joke in this family. While Jeremiah spent most of his life running from his loose cannon of a twin brother, his labyrinthine laboratory/hideout proved no challenge at all to Jerome. True to his chaotic nature, Jerome bowed out in sensational fashion but not before setting his twin to take up the mantle.
Team-Up – Antonio & Gabriela Dawson – Chicago Fire and Chicago PD
The O.G. Chicago One sibling pairing, Gabriela and Antonio have had each other’s back in every sort of situation, whether professional and personal. It’s a genuine and loving relationship that evolves but never changes.
Time-Out – Spencer & Alex Drake – Pretty Little Liars
The Evil Twin is always a crowd-pleasing trope. When you’ve got a whole lot of crazy stirred in with the shenanigans, things get dramatic in a hurry. The revelation of Spencer’s hitherto unknown, identical (and totally nuts) twin sister, Alex, in the final season blew everyone’s mind.
Team-Up (?) – Valerie Meyers & Alex Cole – Casual
Straight up, this is a weird relationship. Yes, these are siblings who share a screwed-up childhood and support each other, knowing how screwed up they are. But, also, this is a sister who sabotages her brother’s relationships to keep him close. And a brother who sort of lets her. Family is strange but this a whole other level.
Team-Up (eventually) – Sherlock & Mycroft Holmes – Elementary
Being the smartest detective in the world is a lonely life but it has to be annoying knowing your big brother is just as smart. The Holmes brothers are constantly combatting each other on the fields of academic trivia, family and relationships, and deductive reasoning. In a bittersweet irony, it was Mycroft’s brain that did him in in the end.
Team-Up – Sarah Manning & Helena – Orphan Black
Although all the clones in Orphan Black could be termed sisters (or “sestras”) Sarah and Helena actually shared a womb, being twin clones. Separated a birth, with VERY different upbringings, they meet initially as adversaries. When the true villains are revealed, the Clone Club brings the Helena into the fold (CAREFULLY) and she proves both endearing and terrifying by turns.
Team-Up – Cheryl & Jason Blossom – Riverdale
Twins. Again. Nothing weird and incestuous here but they were very close. Jason was protective and kind to his socially impossible sister. His murder not only drives the plot of the first season of Riverdale, in a lot of ways, it jumpstarts Cheryl’s humanity.
Time-Out – Octavia & Bellamy Blake – The 100
Once a unified front, these two have grown apart lately. If “growing apart” could be defined as trying to put your sister into a coma or throwing your brother into the fighting pits.
