The Fate of 10 Cheating TV Couples
Showtime's mind-bending new drama The Affair follows both sides of a relationship that unfolds between writer Noah Solloway (Dominic West) and waitress Alison Lockhart (Ruth Wilson), both of whom are married. While the fate of Noah and Alison's extramarital fling remains shrouded in mystery (and opposing points of view), they're hardly the first adulterous TV couple to keep fans guessing and wanting more. As The Affair continues to lure us in with its sexy twists and turns, we look back at 10 other iconic cheating TV couples who paved the way for relationships that are so wrong, they're right. (Well, sometimes.) Spoilers ahead, for those of you not ready to commit to the fate of just one show.
The Show: Scandal
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[Photo: ABC][/caption] The Culprits: President Fitzgerald Grant (Tony Goldwyn) and Olivia Pope (Kerry Washington)
The Affair: He's married…and the President of the United States of America.
Their Steamiest Moment: They've had some pretty hot hookups, but it's hard to top getting busy in the Oval Office.
Their Fate: TBD, gladiators.
Washington weighs in on the future of Scandal, below.
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The Show: The Good Wife
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[Photo: CBS][/caption] The Culprits: Alicia Florrick (Julianna Margulies) and Will Gardner (Josh Charles)
The Affair: She was married (but saddled with a cheating husband of her own) and he was her boss.
Their Steamiest Moment: The famous elevator scene. You know the one. Hubba hubba.
Their Fate: Sigh. Too soon. We're still reeling.
The Show: Sex and the City
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[Photo: HBO][/caption] The Culprits: Carrie Bradshaw (Sarah Jessica Parker) and Mr. Big (Chris Noth)
The Affair: He was married to his rebound girl Natasha, while she was seriously involved with the perfect Aidan.
Their Steamiest Moment: Their steamy kiss in a hotel elevator that kickstarted their whole cheatin' mess. What is it with elevators?
Their Fate: After the deterioration of Big's marriage, and three more of Carrie's serious relationships, these two finally made it official. All it took was two trips to the altar and a bad movie sequel.
The Show: Homeland
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[Photo: Showtime][/caption] The Culprits: Carrie Mathison (Claire Danes) and Nicholas Brody (Damian Lewis)
The Affair: Oh, just your classic suspected terrorist meets CIA agent love affair.
Their Steamiest Moment: The backseat of a car…their cabin getaway….their recorded hotel room tryst. You name it.
Their Fate: Carrie gave birth to their child, but Brody wouldn't live to see it.
The Show: Mad Men
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[Photo: AMC][/caption] The Culprits: Don Draper (Jon Hamm) and Megan (Jessica Paré)
The Affair: Serial philanderer Don bedded Megan when he was still seeing Dr. Faye Miller. But their actual affair was short-lived considering they were engaged in record time.
Their Steamiest Moment: Zou Bisou Bisouuuuuuu.
Their Fate: Outlook does not look good.
The Show: Friday Night Lights
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[Photo: NBC][/caption] The Culprits: Tim Riggins (Taylor Kitsch) and Lyla Garrity (Minka Kelly)
The Affair: Bad boy Riggins gets it on with his best friend Jason's not-so-good-girl girlfriend Lyla.
Their Steamiest Moment: Just their constant cat-and-mouse banter. As cool as Lyla tried to play it during their on-again, off-again affair, his charms were hard to deny.
Their Fate: Lyla pretty much disappeared from Dillon forever, while it was implied that Riggins wound up with his first high school love, Tyra.
The Show: Breaking Bad
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[Photo: AMC][/caption] The Culprits: Skyler White (Anna Gunn) and Ted Beneke (Christopher Cousins)
The Affair: The wife of a meth mastermind and her book-cooking boss.
Their Steamiest Moment: We're not sure if this counts as steamiest, but Skyler dropping the bomb "I fucked Ted" to her meth kingpin husband Walter White definitely turned the heat up.
Their Fate: Ted got a, uh, bump on the noggin, while Skyler watched her marriage — and pretty much her entire life, for that matter — collapse in on her.
The Show: The Sopranos
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[Photo: HBO][/caption] The Culprits: Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini) and Gloria Trillo (Annabella Sciorra)
The Affair: A mob boss with a penchant for cheating on his wife and a Mercedes saleswoman he met at his therapist's office.
Their Steamiest Moment: Oof, none. This thing was bad news from the start.
Their Fate: Extremely grim: Gloria commits suicide.
The Show: The Office
The Culprits: Angela Martin (Angela Kinsey) and Dwight Schrute (Rainn Wilson)
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[Photo: NBC][/caption] The Affair: These exes rekindled their flame when the Angela was engaged to the dopey, oblivious Andy.
Their Steamiest Moment: Getting caught by Phyllis during a late night rendezvous in the office.
Their Fate: After even more years of on-again, off-again feelings and other relationships in between, the series finale revolved around Dwight and Angela's expectedly bizarre, but actually pretty sweet nuptials.
The Show: Beverly Hills, 90210
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[Photo: FOX][/caption] The Culprits: Dylan McKay (Luke Perry) and Kelly Taylor (Jennie Garth)
The Affair: Friends with long-harboring feelings for each other both betray Brenda.
Their Steamiest Moment: Their first kiss, duh.
Their Fate: Dylan was eventually revealed to be Kelly's baby daddy, much to the dismay of Dylan/Brenda and Kelly/Brandon purists.