Summary
- Toxic TV friendships span genres, genders, and age groups, proving that unhealthy relationships can exist in any setting.
- Friendships like Brooke and Peyton from One Tree Hill may seem fine on the surface but are actually full of betrayal and heartache.
- From Sherlock and John in BBC's Sherlock to Walter and Jesse in Breaking Bad , these TV friendships are full of deceit, manipulation, and toxicity that keep viewers hooked.
Relationships between characters are the driving force of any good TV show, but some TV friendships prove too toxic to support. A healthy friendship should be one built on mutual admiration, trust, and support, where those involved feel lifted up instead of dragged down. Unfortunately, that can't be said for every friendship shown on TV - even when the show tries to portray it as a "strong" friendship.
From teen dramas like One Tree Hill and Gossip Girl to comedies like Friends and Brooklyn Nine-Nine and even more serious shows like Sherlock and Breaking Bad, toxic TV friendships span genres, genders, and age groups. Much like in real life, these friendships can be bad from the very beginning, or evolve into something unhealthy over time. These toxic TV friendships are sure to leave viewers wondering, "With friends like these, who needs enemies?"
10 Brooke & Peyton (One Tree Hill)
Throughout the first six seasons, Brooke and Peyton are billed as each other's closest friends, and the two share many good moments, but rewatching One Tree Hill can reveal a harsh reality: Brooke and Peyton aren't good friends and have much better bonds with other characters. The trouble starts when Brooke sleeps with Nathan immediately after his break up from Peyton, which prompts her to start an abhorrent slut-shaming campaign against Brooke, and only gets worse when the Brooke-Peyton-Lucas love triangle begins.
9 Rachel & Monica (Friends)
While arguably none of the main six could be classed as a top-quality friend, there are plenty of Friends moments that prove Rachel was the worst. Throughout the series, Monica seems to bear the brunt of Rachel's worst behavior, proving that although they were friends since their teenage years the relationship wasn't always the picture of a perfect friendship. There's even an episode titled "The One With Monica's Thunder" which revolves around Rachel stealing Monica's thunder by kissing Ross at her engagement celebration, which is far from an isolated incident, exemplifying the toxicity of their friendship.
8 John & Sherlock (Sherlock)
While the pair are an iconic television duo, John and Sherlock's friendship in BBC's Sherlock is particularly toxic. The friendship they built throughout the first two seasons, which mainly comprises of Sherlock using John to satisfy his own ego, culminates in the genius faking his own death and sending John into emotional turmoil. To top things off, when the detective does finally re-appear in John's life, Sherlock tricks John into laying all his emotions on the table without so much as a sorry in return. Holmes and Watson may be one of popular culture's most famous male friendships, but its portrayal in Sherlock is full of toxicity.
7 Blair & Serena (Gossip Girl)
Gossip Girl is full of terrible people doing terrible things to each other, but Blair and Serena perhaps take the crown when it comes to the show's most toxic friendship. The pair seemed hellbent on taking each other down, with constant backstabbing and scheming to get the upper hand. With so much shared history, both Blair and Serena would use each other's pasts against one another and they had no qualms about going behind each other's backs to date exes (or even cheat with current partners). While they share a few sweet moments in the series, they would have been better off calling their friendship quits.
6 Jake & Charles (Brooklyn Nine-Nine)
While Jake is the happy-go-lucky central character of Brooklyn Nine-Nine, his friendship with co-worker Charles shows a different side to the character. Watch for any length of time and it becomes apparent that Jake and Charles aren't real friends in Brooklyn Nine-Nine. Charles idolizes Jake, often bordering on obsession and possessiveness, while Jake is largely dismissive of Charles but plays on his affection when it's convenient. Co-working relationships can be complicated, but Jake and Charles' Brooklyn Nine-Nine relationship is far from healthy.
5 Alex & Jessica (13 Reasons Why)
Alex and Jessica both suffer a lot of trauma in 13 Reasons Why and this causes their friendship, and eventual romantic relationship, to devolve into something that's toxic and unhealthy for everyone involved. With their catchphrase "FML forever," the pair do intend to help each other with their respective and collective struggles, including their grief over Hannah. In the end, however, actions by both of them, including cheating and lying, only cause the other more pain.
4 Nancy & Barb (Stranger Things)
Nancy and Barb's friendship in season 1 is so toxic that it ultimately leads to Barb's untimely (and controversial) Stranger Things death. In season 1, Nancy is only concerned with popularity, which leads to her continually disregarding Barb's feelings and failing to stand up for her at the ill-fated house party. While Nancy has undergone a lot of strong character development in the time since Stranger Things season 1, Barb wasn't afforded a chance at the same due to Nancy's very own actions, and viewers were robbed of the opportunity to see if the pair's friendship could evolve into something less toxic.
3 Klaus & Stefan (The Vampire Diaries)
In The Vampire Diaries, Klaus has a knack for bringing out the worst in Stefan - quite literally. At the heart of Klaus and Stefan's relationship is Stefan's Ripper arc, with the pair first meeting in the 1920s when Stefan was still a Ripper, a vampire that has switched off their humanity and given into their most sadistic urges. At the end of season 2, Klaus manipulates Stefan into reverting into a Ripper once more purely because he found Stefan "more fun" that way, perfectly symbolizing what made Stefan and Klaus' relationship so toxic.
2 Walt & Jesse (Breaking Bad)
The relationship between Walter White and Jesse Pinkman is the driving force for much of Breaking Bad's plot, but the friendship between the unlikely duo is filled with toxicity that almost turns deadly with alarming frequency. Throughout Breaking Bad, Walt and Jesse's friendship is full of lies, manipulation, and game playing in an attempt to always stay one step ahead of the other. It's a dynamic that kept viewers hooked for five seasons, but there's no denying it's one of the most toxic friendships in TV history.
1 Alison, Aria, Emily, Hanna, & Spencer (Pretty Little Liars)
The intertwined relationships between the four young women in Pretty Little Liars is undoubtedly one of the most toxic friendship groups in TV history. Alison is perhaps the worst offender - manipulative, controlling, and more than a little mean - but all five of the women display toxic traits and damaging dynamics throughout the course of Pretty Little Liars. From codependency to isolation, the five characters run the gauntlet of what it means to be a toxic friend, remorselessly torturing each other for seven whole seasons.