Cult Spy: JJ Abrams' Condemned Couples

There's nothing like a bit of tender romance to warm your cockles in the midst of a hard-edged sci-fi and action strewn story. JJ Abrams certainly has a fondness for pairing up the characters for a bit of hanky panky in his shows Alias, Lost and now Fringe. But as Cult Spy discovers, it's likely to end in more than just tears. Mass bloodshed more like, especially when it comes to the world of Sydney Bristow.

The main focus of the opening episode of JJ Abrams' Fringe, aside from the flesh-eating toxin gobbling up plane passengers, is the crumbling relationship between Special Agent Olivia Dunham and her duplicitous partner John Scott. It all started off sweet and sincere, as the pair soon confess their love for each other after shacking up in a motel. Consider that the kiss of death in the world of JJ.

Before long, Olivia's world is torn apart as she witnesses John being caught up in an explosion that also releases the skin-devouring plague upon him. Olivia desperately pulls a few strings to save her loved one, only to find out that he was the murderous part-instigator of the plane attacks in the first place. After a high-speed car chase, Scott crashes and shuffles his mortal coil as he lies, blood-splattered, in Olivia's arms.

At least Olivia had the chance to say farewell to her amour, unlike Sydney Bristow in the opening episode of Alias. Freshly engaged to her beloved Danny, the undercover CIA Agent (or so she believes) opts to confess the true nature of her work to her man. Bad move!

After Sydney’s phonecall to Danny is tapped by operatives at SD-6, the agency’s director Arvin Sloane gives the order to send an operative into the poor guy’s apartment, where he brutally slays him. Sydney returns to her flat to discover Danny in the bathroom, butchered and bathed in blood.

Months later, Sydney is still distraught but manages to find out the truth about SD-6's terrorist nature and regularly hooks up with government good guy Michael Vaughn to trade information and bring down the cell. Soon, they're swapping saliva as well and embarking on a series of highly dangerous missions. When Sydney goes missing for a year, Vaughn marries the devious Laruen Reed but ends up shooting her dead in another fine JJ heartbreaking moment. This paves the way for a rekindled romance between Sydney and Vaughn.

Guess what happens next? A big truck smashes into the side of his car. Miraculously, he survives only to be cruelly gunned down a few episodes later. Sydney emotionally bids farewell to him when he dies in hospital, carrying the couple's unborn child inside her.

Thanks to a dubious plot contrivance, Sydney and Vaughn did manage to share a happy ending, but that was not the case with her best friends Will Tippen and Francie Calfo. It took them a long time to hook up, but once eternal bliss seems to be on the cards she is horribly murdered and her body cloned by a terrorist operative. Even worse, the Francie doppelganger proceeds to shatter the nice guy Agent Marcus Dixon's happy marriage by killing his wife.

'Till death us do part' was hardly adhered to by Sydney's parents Jack Bristow and Irina Derevko. After her evil machinations were revealed, the pair split after Irina faked her own death in a car accident. Upon her return, Jack shoots her dead again (although it turns out to be a double!). It makes the Mills-McCartney divorce proceedings look rather sedate in comparison.

Chief Alias bad guy Arvin Sloane also 'apparently' kills his wife Emily under orders from his superiors, although he spares her by concocting a ruse that involves chopping off one of her fingers. Charming! They flee together and look set for harmony until Dixon turns up and accidentally shoots Emily dead. Consider that a divorce.

So, as Fringe continues its first season keep an eye out for any flirtatious glances between characters or anything remotely non-platonic. It could well mean a swift goodbye for one of them…

> Click here for our look at the doomed romance on JJ Abrams' Lost