10 Most Cringe-Worthy TV Sibling Relationships

Incest, corruption, sociopaths and Monica & Ross doing "The Routine". It's all here...

Just because you€™re siblings doesn't mean that you have what a psychiatrist would call a healthy relationship. When brothers and sisters are featured on television, a medium that thrives on drama, the weirder the issues, the better. Sure, we've all got some irritants or awkward situations with our siblings, but they're usually of a relatively innocent variety. For example, "Oh no, my brother walked in on me in the shower!" or "My sister found my porn folder!" Embarrassing, but nothing that's going to put anyone in therapy for years to come. But if an alien race came to study humanity and only used our television programs, they would probably assume that we're all shagging our sisters. To be fair, though, not all awkward sibling relationships on TV have a sexual component. Sometimes you just see brothers or sisters on television, and something about their behavior makes you do a full body shudder. It's not a science, but you definitely know it when you see it.

10. Dexter/Deb - Dexter

So, we realize that Deb and Dexter aren't actually biologically related. But Dexter was taken in by Deb's family when he was three and she was just a baby, so they for all intents and purposes they are brother and sister. And we're pretty sure there's a thing where if you're raised in close proximity to someone up to the age of six, regardless of blood, you generally don't develop romantic feelings for one another. But hey, apparently rules are made to be broken. Because although they spend the first few seasons as a reasonably well-adjusted set of siblings (especially considering Dexter's little hobbies), the whole thing kind of goes off the rails during the later seasons. Deb becomes convinced that she is in love with Dexter, having dreams about them kissing, and she finally admits it to him. Understandably, Dexter is not on board with this whole situation, and we don't really hear anything else about it. You know you've gone down a dark path when you're starting to creep out your sociopathic, serial killer brother.
Contributor
Contributor

Audrey Fox is an ex-film student, which means that she prefers to spend her days in the dark, watching movies and pondering the director's use of diegetic sound. She currently works as an entertainment writer, joyfully rambling about all things film and television related. Add her on Twitter at @audonamission and check out her film blog at 1001moviesandbeyond.com.