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'Warehouse 13': From 'The X-Files' to 'Fringe,' our 6 favorite sci-fi TV duos along with Pete & Myka
Sometimes romantic, sometimes all business — these are the sci-fi power couples we just can’t get enough of.
Artifact master Artie (Saul Rubinek) might’ve been the bread that always held the whole sloppy Warehouse 13 sandwich together, but it’s the pair of agents he sent out into the field who really went together like peanut butter and jelly. Tracking down relics that erupt with life-threatening supernatural powers has a way of bringing out the real in people, and through the show’s five seasons, Warehouse agents Pete Lattimer (Eddie McClintock) and Myka Bering (Joanne Kelly) found their pulses racing alongside each other in some of the stickiest situations that magic has to offer.
Pete typically played the duo’s goofball; the upbeat, errant puppy who could stick his nose into dangerous places before he ever knew what had stung him. It was the perfect complement to Myka’s more buttoned-down, cautious demeanor — though as often as not, she’d end up infected by the same good-natured vibes that Pete had a way of sending out regardless of the stakes. Thanks to their bonkers jobs, the latent romance that tugged at viewers’ expectations ebbed and flowed throughout the series, but mostly stayed buried with more urgent dangers at hand. It wasn’t 'till the final episode that they finally cast aside caution (not to mention professional decorum) and confessed their pent-up feelings…just in time, of course, for Warehouse 13 to end.
Romance or not, Pete and Myka brought a ton of team chemistry to the show, which of course got us thinking about all the other great partner pairings that’ve made for addictive viewing in sci-fi serials around the TV dial. Here’s our list of contenders for some of science fiction’s coolest character combos ever to grace the small screen — along with one that hasn’t debuted yet but definitely has our full attention. Meanwhile, catch Pete, Myka, and the rest of the dysfunctional Warehouse 13 gang as part of SYFY Rewind, the nostalgia-tinged marathon blast from the past airing back-to-back episodes each Friday at SYFY. Missed your favorite episode? No worries there: The entire series is streaming ‘round the clock at Peacock.
1: Mulder & Scully — The X-Files
This is probably the first one you thought of, right? When you’re researching the paranormal, you’ve gotta have a little open-minded yang to go with a scientific skeptic’s yen. Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) brought a believer’s willingness to embrace all possibilities in search of the unknown on The X-Files, one of TV’s most iconic sci-fi sleuthing series. Which, of course, is why he needed the tempering influence of Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) and her more rational, coldly calculating approach. Even if the show proved the truth was, in fact, definitely out there by the time Mulder was abducted away by the aliens he always believed in (in the epic Season 7 episode “Requiem”), there was no conspiracy behind the genuine rapport between two of the FBI’s all-time best-paired TV detectives.
2: Olivia Dunham & Peter Bishop — Fringe
What is it about sharing quality case time unearthing unexplained phenomena that leads to romance? Unlike Mulder and Scully’s slow-burn, series-long relationship, Olivia Dunham (Anna Torv) and Peter Bishop (Joshua Jackson) ‘shipped a bit more openly on Fringe — with, of course, the looming shadow of Peter’s freaky father Dr. Walter Bishop (John Noble) always somewhere close by. Fringe’s duo dynamic stands apart from that of most other sci-fi dream teams, in part because there’s so much deep family history running through the show’s storylines — but also because Olivia and Peter have alternate-reality doppelgängers that, in different ways, absolutely confound their attempts to stitch together a typical relationship. Lucky for us, that insanely labyrinthine plot device made tracking their every step one of the most addictive TV couple-watches of the past 15 years.
3: John Crichton & Aeryn Sun — Farscape
Finally — a sci-fi show that puts its weird couples therapy right out in the open as a central part of the larger plot. A big part of what made John Crichton (Ben Browder) and Aeryn Sun (Claudia Black) click on Farscape was the obvious screen chemistry between the actors who played them. But the story itself gave them plenty of material to work with: Take a stranded astronaut (John), fling him all the way across the universe, and then hand him the complete opposite of a meet-cute with an emotionless space-soldier badass (Aeryn). That first-episode setup invited Farscape viewers to dial in as John’s bona fide, Earth-born human gradually began to tease feelings out of Aeryn that — quite literally, thanks to her alien-based training — simply weren’t supposed to be there. Against all logic, it totally works: Through thick and thin together, this unlikely pair cemented a strong claim to the title of sci-fi television’s most ride-or-die couple ever.
4: Ichabod Crane & Abbie Mills — Sleepy Hollow
Thanks to his official status as still married (albeit two centuries ago, and to a woman who turned out to be an undying witch), Ichabod Crane’s (Tom Mison) evil-fighting chemistry with Sheriff’s Lt. Abbie Mills (Nicole Beharie) in present-day America stays safely on the swashbuckling, demon-slaying side of amicable partnership in Sleepy Hollow, Fox’s modern reimagining of the classic Washington Irving tale. But there’s no denying what a dynamic duo Ichabod and Abbie made, uniting for some of the wildest, unholiest end-of-days spirit chasing this side of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Unlike Buffy, the series never got mired down too much in the melodrama: These guys made averting Biblical catastrophe feel downright fun. It’s just as well, since Ichabod and Abbie couldn’t exactly part ways on a whim. After all, they were permanently linked through their mutual burden of being the world’s only two Witnesses for the Book of Revelation. How’s that for shared responsibility?
5: Lois Lane & Clark Kent — Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman
Dean Cain (Clark Kent aka Superman) and Teri Hatcher (Lois Lane) were the TV superhero couple of the 1990s, thanks in no small part to Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman's clear-cut choice of bringing the human element to the forefront of an Earth-to-Krypton interplanetary TV romance. Fans of Christopher Reeve’s iconic, yet aloof and guarded Superman of the 1970s big screen got all the romantic wish fulfillment they’d ever pined for and then some, with our DC-powered couple falling for each other — and acting like giddy teenagers about it — almost from the start. The fact Hatcher and Cain have remained close in the years since the series left ABC in 1997 — not to mention the outpouring of present-day fan love they still get whenever either appears at a fan con — shows just how crucial their acting chemistry was in transforming the Man of Steel and his fearless human complement into a pair of heroically approachable adventurers.
6: Dr. Ben Song & Addison — Quantum Leap
Sam Beckett (Scott Bakula) and Al Calavicci (Dean Stockwell) stayed as close as they could as Sam spun all on his lonesome through time and space in NBC’s classic original Quantum Leap. But even with Al’s penchant for drinks and hot dates, when Sam was in a pinch, Al’s holograph almost always came through to help. But there’s an all-new Quantum Leap heading to NBC next month, and the network’s setup tease (via Deadline) has us thinking a fresh sci-fi power pairing just might be nigh.
After making an “unauthorized” leap back in time, Sam’s present-day successor Dr. Ben Song (Raymond Lee) will be joined by Addison (Caitlin Bassett), the new series’ holographic helper taking up Al’s former role. It sounds like Song and Addison are stuck with each other, too: NBC says she’ll be “[a]t Ben’s side throughout his leaps,” dishing out “level-headed precision” as a decorated Army veteran whose virtual likeness, of course, will only be visible to Ben on his body-hopping voyages. Maybe we’re just being optimistic about how these two will tackle time together, but we’re definitely tuning in: The new Quantum Leap is set to premiere at 10 p.m. ET on Monday, Sept. 19 at NBC.
