12 TV Friendships That Were Actually Toxic
How could we ever forget the joy of coming home after school, turning on the TV, and watching our favorite female besties get up to no good? We had the ride-or-dies, the partners-in-crime, the duos who swore to stick by each other during the chaos of adolescence and adulthood. And honestly? We ate it up every time. These friendships gave us legendary moments, memorable one-liners, and enough sleepover inspo to last a lifetime.
But let’s be real — now that we’re older, we can recognize a lot of these so-called “soulmate” bonds were actually walking red flags. Behind the hugs and heart-to-hearts, there were enough layers of toxicity to make a therapist weep for days. So, let’s take a trip down memory lane and dissect some of the most iconic female friendships on TV that, underneath it all, were actually anything but healthy.
Exhibit A: Serena slept with Nate…while he was dating Blair. And years later, she repeated history by sleeping with Dan in the exact same spot — yep, also while he was dating Blair.
Exhibit B: Blair falsely outed Serena as a drug addict in front of Ivy League representatives, and also brought up Serena’s deepest trauma in front of the Yale dean to ruin her chances at getting into the school.
Exhibit A: Riley loved Pluto (yes, the planet), so when scientists downgraded it from its status, Maya and the gang literally formed a committee to protect Riley from finding out the news. Maya eventually ended up telling Riley, acting like she would never recover from the heartbreak.
Exhibit B: Riley once sat Maya down to convince her that she’d been “turning into Riley” because she had actually been behaving rather than rebelling for a while.
Exhibit A: Alison would fat-shame Hanna at literally every waking chance she got.
Exhibit B: When Alison dramatically returned from the dead, Hanna spiraled into an identity crisis. She changed her hair, style, and even her personality, questioning if she had become “too much like Alison” in her absence.
4.
Effy and Pandora (Skins UK)
Exhibit A: Effy once asked Pandora why they were friends, to which Pandora answered, “You’re my pal because you’re the coolest ever, and I’m yours cause I’ll totally do anything you say.”
Exhibit B: Effy ruined Pandora’s birthday party by secretly helping spike a batch of brownies with drugs, leading Pandora’s mom to get high and a distraught Pandora to seek refuge in the bathroom.
5.
Elena and Bonnie (The Vampire Diaries)
Exhibit A: Bonnie sacrificed her life to save Elena’s brother and died in the process. For months, Elena was oblivious to her best friend’s death — only starting to suspect something was wrong when she needed Bonnie for a spell.
Exhibit B: Elena and Bonnie quite literally tried to kill each other.
6.
Tracy and Evie (Thirteen)
Exhibit A: Craving validation from the most popular girl at school, Tracy essentially changed her entire personality to match Evie’s. She ditched her old clothes, friends, and even her relationship with her mom just to be accepted by her.
Exhibit B: When Tracy’s mom refused to adopt Evie, Evie pretty much dumped Tracy and threw her under the bus, lying to cover her own tracks and destroying their “friendship” for good.
7.
Betty and Veronica (Riverdale)
Exhibit A: Veronica kissed Betty’s boyfriend, Jughead, right in front of Betty.
Exhibit B: Betty repeatedly kissed Archie while he was dating Veronica.
8.
Monica and Rachel (Friends)
Exhibit A: Their friendship reignited because Rachel forcefully moved in with Monica…right after not inviting her to her wedding.
Exhibit B: Rachel stole Monica’s thunder by overshadowing her engagement.
9.
Carrie and Miranda (Sex and the City)
Exhibit A: Carrie would snap whenever Miranda called her out on something.
Exhibit B: Miranda bluntly told Big he and Carrie were “crazy” to get married…the night before their wedding.
10.
Alex and Harper (Wizards of Waverly Place)
Exhibit A: Alex constantly used Harper.
Exhibit B: Harper nearly exposed Alex’s secret for the sake of a boy.
11.
Max and Ginny (Ginny and Georgia)
Exhibit A: Max iced Ginny out after finding out Ginny had slept with her brother.
Exhibit B: Ginny flipped the script and iced Max out all throughout season 3.
12.
Rory and Lane (Gilmore Girls)
Exhibit A: Rory constantly forgot about Lane.
Exhibit B: Lane often used Rory.
There’s no denying it — these friendships were messy and downright toxic at times. But how could we ever forget that these girls raised us? Through the drama, the betrayals, the growing pains, and the tearful reconciliations, these duos showed us the complicated, beautiful chaos of navigating girlhood with your ride-or-die.
So, in the end, these TV besties gave us comfort, madness, and a little mirror of our own adolescence and adulthood. Were they red flags? Absolutely. But we wouldn’t trade these icons for anything.
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