Best of 2023: Found Families features spoilers for various shows. Please be advised if there’s something you don’t want to know.
We’re always going to be champions for romance here at Marvelous Geeks, but we’re also going to continuously scream about the platonic relationships that make our favorite shows more special. Some are bound by blood, others choose one another through every challenge, and some don’t even realize how close they are.
For more end-of-the-year coverage, be sure to check out our Best of 2023: Romance Novels, the Best of 2023: Performances, the Best of 2023: Scene Stealers, the Best of 2023: Romantic Relationships, the Best of 2023 Romantic Scenes, and the Best of 2023: TV Episodes.
The Crows
Shadow and Bone
Six of Crows is a story about a found family, bolstering the idea that people who choose each other would indeed do anything to protect one another at all costs. And in Shadow and Bone Season 2, it becomes more evident than ever that the lost kids tirelessly looking for a place to belong (even when they don’t say it aloud) find something indescribable with each other to hold onto. They’re the people Taylor Swift wrote “You’re On Your Own, Kid” about—the people who’d do anything for one another and a chance to belong in a world where there’s unfailing loyalty no matter the odds stacked against them.
As we finally meet Wylan in Season 2 and have Nina officially join the original trio, Kaz makes it abundantly clear that he will look out for all of them. They all will. It’s them against the word, even when it feels like one person’s selfish vendetta is taking precedence. There’s so much growth we have left to experience for all characters, but in every way, being a crow is about protecting one another through the darkness and perils they’ll face.
TVA Time Team
Loki
In every way, Loki as a series is about found families. The heart of the titular character is an entire journey toward acceptance and the understanding that you can be loved as you are. That’s what Loki learns in Season 1, but Season 2 solidifies it tenfold when everyone goes their separate way, understanding that they’re changed by everything they went through. However, it’s not time that changes them or the convoluted uncertainties in their future, but it’s everything they experience together.
Loki, Mobius, Sylvie, B-15, OB, and the variants and other employees who all crossed their paths make up the kind of found family no one expected to find. It’s been a rough year with television, but it was clear characters in Loki would end up in our Best of 2023 found families list when Loki uttered the words, “I just want my friends back.” It became abundantly unmistakable at that very moment that this entire journey was worth it because they’d each found a place where they could belong and with people they could wholeheartedly trust. It’s how unexpected this is that makes it one of the most memorable relationships within the MCU, each unique bond different in its own way, full of the type of healing the best relationships should ensure.
Joel and Ellie
The Last of Us
2022 and 2023 have been so good to us when it comes to the grumpy man who is stuck protecting a smart-mouthed girl with his entire being, and The Last of Us is no different. Most of us aren’t gamers here, so the sole reason we were drawn to the show is because of Ellie and Joel’s dynamic. We knew it’d be something that would emotionally destroy us, yet we were woefully unprepared for how much. Joel not only knows what it’s like to be a father, but he knows what it’s like to lose a child.
Joel and Ellie are the pinnacle of a found family in horrific circumstances, brought together by chance but choosing to stick together because they’ve grown to care deeply for one another. Joel would protect Ellie with his life, but at the same time, without even knowing it, she heals the wounds left in his heart a little bit with her existence and quiet laughter. There’s no happy ending here, not in a conventional sense, but the two make a clear impact on one another, and it’d be surprising if they’re not on every Best of 2023 found families list.
Ada Brook and Agnes van Rhijn
The Gilded Age
Ada Brook and Agnes van Rhijn take sisterhood to a heartbreaking storm in Season 2 when disagreements threaten to come between them. Everything becomes far more disheartening when we understand the depth to which Agnes loves her sister and why she’s so adamant about staying by her side. There’s nothing Agnes isn’t willing to do to protect Ada, but at the same time, it takes time to understand how to go about it the right away. Thus, when tragedy strikes, Agnes makes it her mission to protect her sister’s heart and acknowledge how much Reverend Forte changed Ada’s life.
Christine Baranski and Cynthia Nixon are such stellar scene partners in their interactions that the vulnerability The Gilded Age allows them to address this season makes everything remarkably better. The performances are breathtaking, and the heartwarming love left on the table is nothing short of excellent. We don’t have great depictions of genuine sisterhoods on TV, so seeing something like Ada and Agnes’ relationship is not only refreshing but it’s also brilliantly moving.
AFC Richmond
Ted Lasso
In the end, Ted Lasso is a show about a found family—an entire team that makes up AFC Richmond, from the players to the coaches and the fans. There are some questionable elements in Season 3, but there’s nothing but love and incredible development for AFC Richmond, winning the whole damn thing and finding a lasting bond along the way. As saccharine as it might sound, winning the whole damn thing meant working with each other through the challenges, learning how to be a team, and accepting one another for who they are.
No matter how we might feel about the way Ted Lasso ends, it’s undeniable that the show is a safe place. It’s a locker room where people can be their most authentic, vulnerable selves even when uncertainties are circulating, newcomers threaten their happiness, and bottled-up rage is waiting to explode. What Ted accomplishes by making them a genuine team and thus healing himself in the process is something that there aren’t enough words for. It’s not only evident on-screen but off-screen, too, as something that changes lives for the better. Rebecca, Ted, Beard, Coach, Nate, Keeley—they’re all a part of it along with the players, exhibiting that, if nothing else, what started as a beautiful game turned into something bigger and better. (Ed Sheeran’s “Beautiful Game” really is a perfect song for them, isn’t it?)
Mabel Mora, Oliver Putnam, and Charles Haden Savage
Only Murders in the Building
Part of the reason why Only Murders in the Building is such a success is the organic generational friendship between Mabel Mora, Oliver Putnam, and Charlie Haden Savage. We knew they’d end up in our Best of 2023 found families list when they began arguing, proving that they’d come out persevering after Season 3 tested their bond and thus rocked the foundation of the show’s appeal. The three start strong, but when Oliver’s play and his feelings for Loretta become more important than solving Ben Glenroy’s murder, the team begins to dismantle. Mabel is then forced to conduct her podcast with Theo and newcomer Tobert.
Thankfully, however, they go beyond their different opinions and set their priorities straight when Oliver’s second heart attack tests where they are, resulting in Mabel and Charles showing up for him out of fear and profound care. This bizarre, wildly fantastic friendship is one of the very things that guarantees each character gets to where they need to go. Mabel needs them as much as they need her, allowing them to prove themselves in a way that strengthens their friendship beautifully.
Abbott Teachers
Abbott Elementary
Thinking about where the Abbott Elementary teachers were when we met them in the first episode and where they are now at the end of Season 2 is a radiant showcase of thoughtful writing. They are, in every way, how co-workers should be—the good, the bad, and the questionable. There’s no ugly here. There’s just Ava being Ava. Janine, Gregory, Jacob, Melissa, Barbara, Ava, and Mr. Johnson (yes, he’s included, too) make up the type of found family that maybe shouldn’t work out as gloriously, and yet, here they are.
Their personalities couldn’t be more different—their choices and their desires, stark contrasts at times. But still, it doesn’t stop them from creating the type of environment people want to stay and grow in. Despite their disagreements and debatable choices, two seasons in, they continue to prove to viewers that they’ll always have each other’s backs in a way that isn’t just for show. Whether it’s noticing when someone’s down before they say a thing or nosily bringing two feuding sisters together, theirs is an actual workplace family.
Captain Christopher Pike and Una Chin-Riley
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds
In full transparency, we ship Captain Pike and Una Chin-Riley as a romantic pair. (Let hot people in their fifties bang, okay!?) But our personal feelings aside, their partnership is one of the finer parts of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, proving that they’re better for their bond, and so is the team they’re leading. The two are tested immediately when Una’s true identity comes to the surface, but none of that shakes Pike’s loyalty because even when his girlfriend is in on the action arresting Una, he’s still fighting tooth and nail for his number one. He’s putting her first, believing in her, and giving everything he has to free her.
They know each other better than anyone else, but more importantly, they (Una especially) aren’t afraid of saying what needs to be said. They look out for each other when they’re too busy looking out for the rest of the crew, not realizing just how hard they consistently fight for each other. There’s a deep love they share for one another that they don’t often give to other people, and it’s so interesting to deconstruct how it makes them better as individuals. They’re braver for it. There’s a serenity when the two of them are together, even when everything around them is falling apart.
How I Met Your Family
How I Met Your Father
The worst part of the How I Met Your Father cancelation is that we’re losing one of the best friendships on TV. Sophie, Jesse, Val, Charlie, Sid, and Ellen are the kind of found family that come together accidentally and stay because no one else would put up with their antics. And for our benefit, that’s a glorious thing because every interaction the group has makes the series a ton of fun. Part of the reason it was so hard to want any form of a love triangle was because of how well done the friendships are, individually and as a group.
Season 2 gives us far more with each character, allowing their friendship to take on new heights and bonkers situations. But as it ends, it highlights what the show is all about, with the group comforting Sid through his breakup. It’s about proving that no matter what happens, they’re each going to be there for one another consistently. There’s also something to be said about how they all brought Jesse back from Meredith again, making the whole season a celebration of friendships in more ways than one.
Poppy Li and Ian Grimm
Mythic Quest
On any other show, Poppy Li and Ian Grimm would’ve been romantically involved at this point in the game, and while we’d never oppose that, there’s something incredibly riveting about how Mythic Quest strengthened their partnership in the last two episodes of Season 3. The show needed to break them, tear them both into two in order to allow them to understand why they work so well together. Their brokenness and faults make them stronger, better, and more nuanced as individuals and partners.
In separating the two of them from the rest of the key players and allowing their bests and worsts to come to the forefront, the series establishes that the characters are and likely will always be each other’s safe space. There’s something about how they continue showing up for each other in ways no one else could. And there’s also something about how the finale, “Buffalo Chicken Pizza,” shows with actions just how far they’re willing to go to prove to each other that they’re serious about the partnership.
Honorable Mention: The Pogues (Outer Banks), Carmy Berzatto and Richie Jerimovich (The Bear), Queen Charlotte and Lady Danbury (Queen Charlotte), Daisy Jones and Karen Sirko (Daisy Jones and the Six), Nikolai Lantsov and Alina Starkov (Shadow and Bone)