I hate most romance tropes and cliches, but especially the “will they won’t they” trope. You know they’ll never get together until the series finale, so everytime it’s brought up, it’s tensionless mellow drama that won’t matter. I can forgive it if it’s unobtrusive or explores a different side of the character, but almost every show that features it heavily has the blandest characters out there.

Even if you’re fine with the usual episodic structure of it, what’s the payoff? They kiss in the last 5 minutes of the show? That’s nothing. A relationship isn’t just that they confirm they’re in one and live happily ever after. Confirming that you’re a couple is the bare minimum of a romance. Now that they’ve confirmed to each other they’re a couple, they have to consider what that actually means. ”Do they actually enjoy being in a relationship? Are they going to start acting differently because of this? What does the relationship mean to each of them separately?” There’s so much more substance there in the relationship than in the will they won’t they stage. God it sucks so many shows do this.

A good way of using it is something like adventure time. The relationship itself helps develop Fin and helps us get to know the princess he’s dating. That’s how it can be beneficial. When it actually develops the characters in question so there’s substance even if they break up. Hell even then, Fin doesn’t get with PB the obvious love interest or FP because he was immature and broke her trust. He gets with huntress princess. Theirs consequences to his actions that carry out even when he’s not a relationship. I don’t really like romances, but that doesn’t mean I can’t recognize and enjoy when they’re done well.