The original post: /r/television by /u/transformers03 on 2024-09-28 09:08:06.

Storylines and plot beats are constantly in flux when creating an ongoing television series. Sometimes what the writers set up earlier in a series narrative doesn’t end up going in the direction they intended.

Examples I’m looking for are when a show is setting up a romance early on during its run, only for it to be abandoned for a different romance with one of the characters because one of the actors had better chemistry with a different castmate.

Think of Oliver and Felicity in Arrow, even though I think that’s a very bad example. Arrow clearly sets up the romance between Oliver and Laurel in the early seasons, which is a reflection of the characters in the comics. But it became apparent that the chemistry between Oliver and Felicity was so much better that the show pivoted hard to that romance.

To reiterate, I think the Arrow example was a terrible direction for the series to make in the long run, especially since the Oliver/Felicity relationship took up so much screen time with bad drama.

But I am curious if others can find other examples in other shows where similar situations have happened.