The odd couples of Beverly Hills, 90210 season 6, ranked

Dylan and Toni? Kelly and Colin? Brandon and Susan? Here’s how the weird pairings from Beverly Hills, 90210 season 6 stack up.

Everybody knows the most famous, and sometimes infamous, couples from Beverly Hills, 90210. David and Donna, Dylan and Brenda, Brandon and Kelly, Kelly and Dylan. These were the pairings that defined the pop culture phenomenon and got the ship wars sailing before ships were really even a thing. But in the sixth season of the classic teen drama, our favorite Beverly Hills college kids traded in their could-be endgame romances for some placeholder newbies.

On shows like Beverly Hills, 90210, it’s not out of the ordinary for a revolving door of supporting characters to romance the main characters and pull them away from the pairings that fans love so much. In season 6, the crew moved further away from the couplings fans rooted for than we’d ever seen. Donna dated Joe, Brandon dated Susan, David dated Val, Kelly dated Colin, and each couple culminated in complete drama. But which of the odd couples were lovable and which were forgettable? Here’s our ranking of season 6’s ships from worst to best.

6. Dylan and Toni

After Dylan gets his act together following his flings with drugs, Val, and money problems, he sets his sights on getting even with the man who killed his father. Season 6 takes a very Revenge turn when Dylan starts dating his father’s alleged killer’s daughter, Toni Marchette (Rebecca Gayheart), and they fall in the love in the midst of his mission.

Dylan and Toni’s relationship burned fast and moderately bright. There wasn’t much time for fans to catch up with Dylan’s feelings before they got married and Toni died (in the same episode!), resulting in Dylan’s temporary departure from the series. It’s later revealed he moved in with Brenda in London, which regrettably happens off-screen.

5. Donna and Joe

Can you say snoozefest? Donna and Joe (Cameron Bancroft), quarterback of the CU football team, began their relationship in earnest following the post-Ray aftermath and ended up being largely defined by Ray (Jamie Walters). Stepping in to defend Donna from Ray’s abuse, Joe throws multiple punches at Ray and lands in a heated (if not ridiculous) court battle.

Later in their relationship, Donna advocates for Joe’s heart defect, which snowballs into Joe accepting a job as a high school football coach in his hometown and hastily proposing to Donna. Let’s just say Joe was an underdeveloped bore and the couple’s hyper-dramatic breakup was the most interesting part of their relationship.

4. Kelly and Colin

Say what you will about this layover from the Kelly-Brandon-Dylan love triangle, but as destructive as it became for Kelly, it was thrillingly entertaining. Colin (Jason Wiles), an artist Kelly met during her summer in New York City, returns to Los Angeles with her and immediately riles up trouble with his old pal and Kelly’s oft-nemesis Val.

Eventually, Kelly and Colin fall into a nasty cocaine habit, a soap opera plot device that was out of character for Kelly but also a humbling experience given her family history’s with drug abuse. Kelly dumps Colin as an impetus for her rehab stay and recovery, pushing her closer to Brandon, the person she should actually be with. As far as filler relationships go, Kelly and Colin made for great TV.

3. David and Val

By the sixth season, Beverly Hills, 90210 seemingly started to run out of couple formations within the main cast, which welcomed a crop of new characters. But it also resulted in weirder pairings within the group. David and Val’s relationship sprouted from Val helping David through a rough patch with his mother’s health. It didn’t hurt that Tiffani Thiessen and Brian Austin Green previously dated in real life.

Although Val didn’t get along with most of the group in season 6 (an often narrative-stifling choice), she and David formed a bond and enjoyed a brief first go at a relationship. Obviously, Green and Thiessen had natural chemistry, and their characters made sense as a non-endgame pairing. David brought out Val’s vulnerable side, and Val helped push David out of his bubble. If David’s not with Donna, Val’s the only other suitable option.

2. Brandon and Susan

In season 6, Brandon seemed to have met his match in the Condor’s editor-in-chief Susan Keats, played by the always delightful Emma Caulfield. For once, Brandon was paired with a romantic interest outside of the group who wasn’t utterly devoid of actual substance. She had a point of view that she wasn’t afraid to share and an ambition she would never surrender. Caulfield’s magnetic performance amplified how fully developed and dynamic Susan was as a supporting character.

Brandon and Susan first meet when he writes a sexist response to a column she had written for the school paper. It’s the prototype of a relationship based on initial tension. Eventually, they join forces both at the paper and in love, until their plans for the future send them in different directions. Susan takes a job in Washington D.C. for the Clinton campaign after pushing Brandon to turn down an internship in Boston. Regardless of their bitter ending, Brandon and Susan were a compelling couple, and Susan should have been given a spin-off.

1. Steve and Clare

Who would have ever imagined Steven and Clare would work as a couple and rank as the best couple of the sixth season? Well, the latter part is up to your own discretion, but we can at the very least agree that they were the most stable and suitable coupling that year. While they had been running in the same circle since Clare arrived in Season 4, they didn’t have a personal connection. That is, until Steve needed a math tutor. Steve and Clare balanced each other out, and that goes way deeper than a math pun. They weren’t a mere stop along the way, punctuated with soapy twists and turns. They were the stop (almost) and the best couple of Season 6.

Beverly Hills, 90210 is available to stream on Hulu.