A brush of hands. A stolen glance across a room. A swallowed confession.
It’s not a clean, happy ending that makes a good romance anymore. We like to be teased and emotionally tortured to the brink of insanity. Only then does a resolution feel truly earned.
While feature-length rom-coms might have scratched the romance itch in the past, the recent dominance of streaming platforms and the prioritization of bingeability have given rise to a new era of slowburn story arcs that have us surviving on crumbs over the course of several episodes (or even multiple seasons).
There’s something so addictive about being forced to wait in that period of almost.
In a world of instant gratification, we crave the tense build-up of a connection more than the relationship itself. Those moments of heightened emotions, anticipation, and self-restraint are what keep us coming back for more.
With that in mind, I’m here to feed your yearning soul with nothing but the best in the game. I present to you 10 shows that will have you constantly hovering over that replay button. (You’re welcome in advance).
Heated Rivalry (2025)
Obsessed is the only appropriate word for how you’ll feel after experiencing this show. If you haven’t already watched and rewatched Canada’s low-budget, surprise hit series, let me be the one to recruit you to its borderline cult-like fandom (assuming I haven’t already scared you off).
Closely based on Rachel Reid’s Game Changers book series, Heated Rivalry follows star ice hockey players — Shane Hollander and Ilya Rozanov — who have been rivals since they were teenagers. Described as a “nine-year situationship from hell” on some corners of the internet, the show spans the course of an almost decade-long relationship that starts as secret, impulsive hookups and eventually evolves into something deeper and more complicated.
The show’s booming popularity led to the seemingly overnight success of previously unknown actors Hudson Williams and Connor Storrie. Within less than a year, they went from serving tables to being the stars of a global phenomenon. It’s been more than a month since the finale aired, and fans are still adding fuel to the show’s fire, leading to its quick and highly demanded renewal for a second season.
So, in the meantime, what is there to fill that gaping hole of emptiness while we wait for season 2? Well, Reheated Rivalry, of course. And edits…lots of edits.
Where to Watch: HBO Max
One Day (2024)
This will be one of the most emotionally draining pieces of media you’ll ever watch. And yet it will be worth every minute.
Emma and Dexter meet for the first time on the night of their college graduation. After a failed hookup, they form a natural friendship. The show follows the two over the decades, revisiting them on the same day each year as their lives intertwine, drift apart, and come together again in painfully mistimed ways.
There’s something about being given only fragments — a single day at a time — that makes the longing hit harder. We’re left to fill in the gaps of what we missed in between. One Day gives illustrates the bigger picture of what it means to wait for someone to fit in your life the right way.
Where to Watch: Netflix
Daisy Jones & The Six (2023)
If two hot-headed musicians with undeniable chemistry aren’t enough to convince you to watch this series, I promise you the aesthetics and soundtrack alone will make it a favorite.
Daisy Jones & The Six takes us back to the peak of 1970s rock in Los Angeles when ambitious lead vocalist Billy Dunne and singer-songwriter Daisy Jones meet for the first time. Although they are initially hesitant to collaborate, their combined talent s what leads them to become worldwide music icons.
As one might expect, the same chemistry that makes their music so electric fuels a romantic tension that’s just as intense. They may have found their soulmates in each other — if Billy weren’t already married to the love of his life.
No matter how hard they try to suppress it, their longing reveals itself in other ways: on-stage chemistry that’s a little too convincing and lyrics that say what they can’t.
Where to Watch: Prime Video
Young Royals (2021-2024)
I hold this one close to my heart. Young Royals is a masterclass in wholesome, teenage young love.
The Swedish teen drama proved to be an unexpected hit, following a young Prince Wilhelm as he adjusts to life at his prestigious new boarding school. There he meets and is immediately drawn to Simon, and they quickly form a connection that begins to feel dangerously risky for someone of his position.
Stuck between duty to his family and staying true to his feelings, Wilhelm is forced to choose between the crown and his heart. This show feels like a fanfiction come to life in the best way.
Where to Watch: Netflix
Normal People (2020)
I guarantee you there’s nothing normal about the emotional toll this show will take on you.
Normal People follows socially isolated, opinionated Marianne and popular, quietly sensitive Connell as they drift in and out of each other’s lives from high school into adulthood. We see what begins as a secret teenage fling evolve with them, shifting as they grow into themselves and try to figure out who they are — both together and apart.
The characters are messy, imperfect and painfully real, which is exactly what makes the story so compelling. It’s not meant to serve viewers a tidy, formulaic happy ending. It’s about everything in between — the silences, the miscommunications, the love that lingers even when the timing doesn’t.
Where to Watch: Hulu, Disney Plus
The Summer I Turned Pretty (2022-2025)
Two brothers, one beach house, and a love triangle that lasts far longer than it probably should.
As the title suggests, this show is, at its core, a typical ugly duckling story. Belly Conklin (yes, that is her actual name. No, you do not get used to it) has grown up spending every summer at the beach house belonging to her mom’s best friend and two teenage sons. We meet Belly the summer everything changes: Conrad — the boy she’s been pining for her whole life — and Jeremiah Fisher are finally noticing her in the way she’s always wanted.
When Conrad starts giving her angsty-sad-boy mixed signals, she grows closer to Jeremiah and consequently finds herself stuck choosing between the two. For three seasons. How the brothers don’t see this as a bigger issue eludes me, but it makes for great television.
Where to Watch: Prime Video
Bridgerton (2020-)
No list of yearning-certified television would be complete without Ms Shonda Rhimes — and what’s more fitting to include than Netflix’s Regency-era sensation.
Set in the lavish high society of London’s social season, Bridgerton follows a different sibling each season as they attempt to find love under the watchful eye of society. In a world where everything’s scandalous, much of the yearning comes from moments we now overlook — a brush of an ungloved hand, a glance of a bare thigh, an unchaperoned dance that feels dangerously intimate.
There are seven siblings in total, with three and a half seasons (plus a prequel series) already out. Season 4 Part 2 arrives in a couple weeks on February 26th — so if you start now, you may still have time to catch up!
And yes, there is a correct season ranking: Season 2, Queen Charlotte, Season 1/Season 4 (TBD after part 2), Season 3. Argue with the wall.
Where to Watch: Netflix
Fellow Travelers (2023)
Heartthrob Jonathan Bailey secures his place as a grade-A professional yearner in this heart-wrenching yet raunchy (my favorite combo) gay historical romance.
This Emmy-nominated miniseries begins following the lives and forbidden romance of political employees Hawkins “Hawk” Fuller and Tim Laughlin in the height of the Lavender Scare of the 1950s. Throughout the next few decades, we see the progression of their relationship as they continue to find their way back to each other, even when history, circumstance, and their own fears give them every reason not to.
It’s a slowburn of the most devastating kind: not because they hesitate, but because the world forces them to.
Where to Watch: Paramount+, Hulu
Fleabag – Season 2 (2019)
Although I urge you to watch both seasons and experience the show as a whole, if you’re here strictly for the yearning (understandably), season 2 will more than suffice.
This comedy-drama has a very distinct style that feels unlike anything else on television. It follows a woman, known only as Fleabag, as she navigates life, loss, and love in London. Her coping mechanism? Dry-witted humor and frequent fourth-wall breaks to keep herself and the audience safely distanced from her pain.
Season 2, however, is where the ache really settles in. Enter the Hot Priest (you’ll never look at a confession booth the same way) — a man whose charm and quick wit threaten to break down Fleabag’s carefully constructed defences.
Where to Watch: Prime Video
Scandal (2012-2017)
If you’re craving an even slower burn, we must turn to the ancient texts — circa 2012 Shondaland.
Professional problem solver Olivia Pope has the skill-set to handle any crisis — except the one unfolding in her love life. Just like any prime-time drama series pre-streaming, Scandal’s plot spirals in many different directions — conspiracies, betrayals, jaw-dropping plot twists — but it’s the drawn-out will-they-won’t-they between Olivia and Fitz that keeps viewers hooked.
Over seven long seasons, Olivia’s proximity to the White House isn’t just professional but also painfully personal. Her relationship with the leader of the free world is built on stolen moments, impossible timing, and a love that can never exist in the public light.
The yearning runs so deep you’ll find yourself defending an extramarital affair right along with the rest of us.
Where to Watch: Netflix
A Pre-Watch PSA:
Now, before you dive in and let yourself get emotionally attached, consider this a warning: keep tissues nearby, maybe text a friend to watch with, or have some TikTok edits on standby for when you finish. Not all of these endings are for the weak.
But maybe that’s the point. We don’t watch these stories for the happily-ever-afters. What we connect with are the moments that feel real, signs of genuine connection and desperate intimacy that would make the risk of heartbreak worth it.
So whether you’re watching with a partner this Valentine’s or a loved one in general, enjoy and don’t be afraid of the ache!
