10 TV lesbian and sapphic storylines overshadowed on their own shows
Netflix; Fox
Freema Agyeman as Amanita Caplan and Jamie Clayton as Nomi Marks on Sense8; Aisha Hinds as Hen Wilson and Tracie Nicole Thoms as Karen Wilson on 9-1-1.
TV audiences love a good ship!
Gay and queer relationships are often one of the fandom's favorite parts of a TV show. Whether the couple is canon or not, fans have a lot of fun with fan fiction, fan art, and other ways to express their love.
Unfortunately, lesbian and sapphic couples often get pushed to the side by the fandom in favor of male/male ships — sometimes even male/male ships that aren't even canon. There are other times when sapphic ships don't receive enough attention because a show is too packed with other exciting things happening.
Here are some of our fan-favorite (but often underappreciated) lesbian and sapphic ships from television.
Fox
Brittany and Santana on Glee.
While Santana and Brittany got plenty of love on Glee, there's no doubt that they were overshadowed on the show by another popular gay couple - Kurt and Blaine.
One of the most blatant examples comes in the episode where Santana and Brittany are getting married. The two young women have planned and organized their dream wedding, and then, at the last minute, they decide to invite Kurt and Blaine to get married alongside them, making their special day about another couple.
Streaming on Hulu
Fox
Hen and Karen Wilson on 9-1-1.
If you were to ask most people what the most popular same-sex relationship on 9-1-1 is, you'd most likely hear the answer, Buck and Eddie. While Buck did eventually come out as bisexual on the show, he and Eddie are still just friends.
The show does, however, have a long-running lesbian couple in Henrietta "Hen" Wilson (Aisha Hinds) and her wife, Karen (Tracie Thoms). Hen and Karen have been together since season 1, and now, they are married and have two children.
Streaming on Hulu
Fabio Lovino/HBO
Mia and Valentina on The White Lotus season 2.
Valentina (Sabrina Impacciatore) was the secret MVP of The White Lotus season 2. While people were being distracted by a family of American womanizers, murderous gays, and a pseudo-uncle-cousin sexual relationship, this lesbian hotel manager had the best storyline of the whole season.
At first, Valentina has an unrequited crush on her subordinate, Isabella. When that doesn't work out, she's heartbroken. That's when sex worker Mia (Beatrice Grannò) approaches her, and Valentina reveals she had never been with a woman before. Mia takes Valentina up to one of the hotel's empty rooms, and her life is forever changed.
Streaming on HBO Max
Netflix
Amanita and Nomi at Pride on Sense8.
We understand why Lito and Miguel are such a popular ship on this sci-fi show from The Wachowskis, but we also want to share our love for Nomi and Amanita! Not only are they an adorable, sexy, and loving lesbian couple, but they are also one of the few good examples of a lesbian relationship involving a trans woman on TV.
Streaming on Netflix
Bonnie Osborne/ABC
Annalise Keating and Tegan Price in a courtroom on How to Get Away with Murder.
How to Get Away with Murder had plenty of sexy relationships and hookups, and one fan-favorite is the relationship between Connor Walsh (Jack Falahee) and Oliver Hampton (Conrad Ricamora).
One of our favorite couples from the show is Annalise Keating (Viola Davis) and Tegan Pride (Amirah Vann), who joined the show in season 4 and became a regular in season 5. Unfortunately, their relationship didn't get as much screen time as we would have liked!
Streaming on Hulu
Netflix
Lily Iglehart and Ola Nyman on Sex Education.
There's a lot of sex and relationships going on in Sex Education. One of the favorites is the relationship between Eric (Ncuti Gatwa) and Adam (Connor Swindells), an openly gay student and his former bully. We also want to give a shout out to another favorite, though often overlooked, relationship: Ola and Lily!
Lily is a strange student who is obsessed with aliens and becomes Ola's chaperone when Ola joins their school in season 2 of the show. Later, Ola has a dream where she kisses Lily, making her realize she is pansexual. Soon, the two start dating, though their relationship isn't without its ups and downs.
Streaming on Netflix
Paramount+
Dr Tara Lewis and Rebecca Wilson on Criminal Minds Evolution.
When Criminal Minds was revived in 2022, it was renamed Criminal Minds: Evolution. The show has over 350 episodes in its 18 seasons, so there are plenty of relationships to love. One of our favorites is the relationship between pansexual forensic psychologist Dr. Tara Lewis (Aisha Tyler) and prosecutor Rebecca Wilson (Nicole Pacent). The two characters appear on Criminal Minds: Evolution, and are one of our current favorite parts of the show.
Streaming on Paramount+
FX
The Countess and Ramona Royale on American Horror Story: Hotel.
Of course, each season of American Horror Story is full of wild terrors and steamy sex. Still, we want to give some special attention to Ramona and The Countess Elizabeth, played by two legends: Angela Bassett and Lady Gaga.
In the 1970s, Ramona was a blaxploitation film star before meeting Elizabeth. When they met, they started a decade-long relationship, and the Countess turned Ramona into one of her vampires. Unfortunately, so much was going on in this season that their love story got overshadowed.
Streaming on Hulu
Ryan Green/Paramount+
Cruz and Josie on Lioness.
You might think Lioness is all about action and thrills, but one of the best parts of the show is queer character Gunnery Sergeant Cruz Manuelos (Laysla De Oliveira), who works with the Lioness program. In season 2, she's recruited to shadow Josephina "Josie" Carrillo, a US Army Apache pilot with a family connection to a Mexican cartel. What starts as a job soon turns into love for the two.
Streaming on
Reiner Bajo/Disney
Tina and Wolfie on Nine Perfect Strangers.
This twisty and dark drama about a wellness retreat led by Masha Dmitrichenko (Nicole Kidman) has a great queer couple in season 2 that you might not know about! Wolfie (Maisie Richardson-Sellers) and Tina (King Princess) are a pair of girlfriends who visit the wellness retreat in the second season. Nine Perfect Strangers has a large cast of talented actors, but this is one relationship viewers should key in on.
Streaming on Hulu
This article originally appeared on Out: 10 TV lesbian and sapphic storylines overshadowed on their own shows
13 Black Sapphic Couples From TV History That We Love
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The good news here is you still get all the Netflix original shows and movies through this plan, as well as Netflix live events. You do miss out on some of Netflix's library of licensed shows and movies, but with seven streaming services full of content to watch, you'll hardly miss it. Netflix is the most popular streaming service for a reason. There are always new movies and shows to watch, including some of the most popular shows ever made like "Squid Game" and "Stranger Things." Even with ads, it's a must-have streaming service. Okay, so now we have the best streaming service (Max) and the most popular streaming service (Netflix). We also have the streaming service with all the Marvel and Star Wars you could ask for (Disney Plus) and the streaming service that's filled with Emmy-nominated shows (Hulu). So now, let's add a trio of streaming services with live sports — including NFL games — and deep content library, but not as many hit originals as Netflix and Max. First up? 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Now, the one caveat here is that Prime Video is included for free in Amazon Prime. So if you already have Prime, you don't need to pay for Prime Video. If that's the case, take the $9 you just freed up in your monthly budget and add AMC Plus for $7 a month, which comes with the incredible horror streaming service Shudder. Or, spend just a little extra and get Apple TV Plus, which at $10 a month will put you just a dollar over budget. For "Slow Horses" season 5, that's arguably a dollar well spent. But for this exercise, I'm going to assume you don't have Amazon Prime, just like I'm assuming you don't get Peacock for free via your Xfinity internet subscription or one of the above streaming services for free from your cell phone provider. I know these deals exist, and you should definitely take advantage of them if you can, but I want to just put together the best roster of streaming services you can buy for $50. If you already have Prime Video through Amazon Prime, then you know why it's a service worth having. Shows like "Fallout" and "The Boys" are some of the best shows of the past decade and Prime Video also brings a deep library of movies, both from MGM Studios and other licensed a 30-day free trial today If you sign up for all seven of these, you'll hit $50 exactly. You'll also get all the following content (and more): That's an incredible amount of content available to you to watch. You'll never make it through all of it in a given month, and you won't miss out on many of the best shows and movies to come out in a given month either. Arguably, you don't even need a live TV streaming service (or cable) if you subscribe to all seven of these. Despite that streaming services are just getting more and more expensive, I was pretty impressed by how much $50 will still get you. Malcolm has been with Tom's Guide since 2022, and has been covering the latest in streaming shows and movies since 2023. He's not one to shy away from a hot take, including that "John Wick" is one of the four greatest films ever made. Here's what he's been watching lately:
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