A detailed ranking of the eight core romantic pairings in Prime Video's Every Year After, based on screentime, character development, chemistry, and storyline quality. The article critiques each couple's dynamics, highlighting strengths and weaknesses, from the poorly matched Chantal and Drew to the more promising connections. It also notes which couples lack sufficient development or fail to convince as romantic interests.
Warning: This article includes MAJOR SPOILERS for Every Year After ! Although Every Year After is meant to be a love story between Sam and Percy, the show offers up many couples and romantic pairings that rank differently when compared to each other.
Based on Every Summer After by Carley Fortune, Prime Video’s new romance show explores the idea of first loves and second chances, set against the beautiful backdrop of Barry's Bay. Of course, the couple meant to be the glue of the show is Sam and Percy, who fell in love as teens but haven’t seen each other in a decade.
However, they are not the only couple in the show, let alone the most interesting. Across eight episodes, Every Year After's cast pairs up into eight significant couples. Couples like Whit and Delilah don’t count because they're never shown together onscreen, and there are no reasons to root for the couple. We don’t have a clue why they liked each other enough to marry.
Similarly, Lake only has about 2 lines of dialogue, so it’s impossible to judge her as a couple. The eight core romantic pairings vary in screentime, character development, and chemistry. What’s more, some couples just have better storylines. As such, this is how they rank against each other from worst to best. 8 Chantal & Drew The only pairing in Every Year After that makes me actively want to flip off the TV and say profanities is Chantal and Drew.
Chantal is lovely, albeit flawed, and her fiancé is an inconsiderate manbaby. The first episode teases this by having Drew forget the food and seem upset when Chantal tells him to go back. This hints that she is forced to mother him. He also tells Percy that Chantal will go with her to Barry’s Bay, expecting her to take on a caretaker role without even considering her workload or exhaustion.
It’s incomprehensible that Drew needs her to tell him where things are in the house and order him food. Then, he becomes a complete jerk when he shows up sick in Barry’s Bay, expecting Chantal to take care of him. The only redeeming moment is when he doesn’t get mad at Chantal for almost cheating.
Still, Chantal deserves better than someone who expects her to do all the mental and physical labor of their relationship. 7 Percy & Mason When Percy and Mason are first introduced, they seem like they could be sweet together. However, it’s also clear that Percy isn’t all-in on the relationship.
She goes to the New Year's Eve party with Mason, not because she wants to spend the holiday with her boyfriend, but because she wants Sam to see her with another guy. Percy and Mason are still very early in their relationship, but you’d think they’d at least know a little bit about each other. Percy hasn’t really told Mason about her love of horror movies, her fiction writing, or her hobbies.
It really puts a damper on things when Sam exposes Mason’s lack of knowledge while being a complete jerk to Percy. It’s not surprising that things fizzled out soon after. Unfortunately, the couple has a round two that is entirely Percy using Mason. He seems genuinely interested in her, while she is not giving him the slightest ounce of her attention.
He didn’t deserve to be treated like that. 6 Jordie & Delilah In the flashbacks, Jordie is clearly really into Delilah, and she isn’t giving him the time of day. The only exception to this is when they make out at the New Year's Eve party. By and large, Jordie’s crush comes across as one-sided, though.
The good news is that they settle into a great friendship dynamic, and Jordie isn’t the stereotypical “nice guy” who gets mad and ditches Delilah the moment he realizes he’s not getting into her pants. They both really seem to care about each other in a platonic way. This makes it all the more jarring that the present-day scenes try to imply that feelings still linger slightly on Jordie’s side and Delilah might have a secret crush on him.
Ultimately, it’s just not convincing. They both have much better love interests, and they truly shine in their moments of friendship. For this reason, they are better than bad couples but worse than the pairings that actually have any potential. 5 Sam & Taylor On paper, Taylor is a good match for Sam, who went to med school with her. Their life paths align.
They both understand the added pressures of working in the medical field and put their job first. Plus, they seem comfortable around each other. That said, their positives end there. Taylor is so annoyingly perfect that I rolled my eyes.
She’s saccharinely sweet in her dialogue. At no point does she show negative emotions like anger or jealousy. She’s inexplicably planning the funeral, sorting through Sue’s belongings, and writing the obituary. It seemed like they kept adding on wonderful things about her every time she was mentioned.
Unfortunately, the writers never balanced it out. The character is so one-dimensional that I completely forgot she existed after Sam broke up with her. They gave her no flaws, which makes her a pretty bad match for her extremely flawed boyfriend, Sam. On top of that, the chemistry just wasn’t there between the actors. 4 Percy & Sam The longer Percy and Sam are onscreen, the less likable they are as a couple.
The young versions of Percy and Sam have an innocent chemistry that’s easy to root for. However, the couple loses their appeal when they get together. The constant breakups, inability to communicate, and betrayals make a better argument for why they shouldn’t be together. Plus, Sam isn’t the great guy he pretends to be.
In flashbacks, he treated her like a toy he could pick up and put down whenever he wanted. Presently, he acts hostile towards Percy from the start, despite not knowing about Percy’s betrayal. He’s still leading her on, playing with her emotions, and treating her poorly.
Then, everything becomes untenable when Percy confesses and Sam reacts, as mentioned in ScreenRant's Every Year After review by Liz Hersey. He is rightfully angry, but he takes it to a place that is neither cute nor charming. He becomes aggressive and refuses to take any responsibility for his past or present actions. Percy definitely has her own flaws, but she’s at least self-aware.
Add to that the lack of chemistry between the adult versions of the characters, and they fall solidly in the middle of the pack between a two-dimensional couple and a messy but enjoyable couple. 3 Delilah & Charlie As a pairing, Delilah and Charlie benefit from each being compelling on their own and from their great chemistry. They are undeniably an absolute mess, but an entertaining and lovable mess with a palpable connection.
Delilah yearned for Charlie as a teenager, so it makes sense that she would start something with him in adulthood if given the chance. Unlike other instances of actual cheating, their relationship is in a gray area, since Whit and Delilah are separated. Prime Video has not renewed Every Year After for season 2 yet, but the ending sets up the sequel One Golden Summer, which centers on a Charlie romance.
Delilah is a free spirit and wants to figure out who she is outside her marriage. Charlie is a bit of a womanizer, but he never tries to hide that, which makes him immensely more enjoyable than every person in the show who cheats. Charlie and Delilah have a no-strings-attached sexual thing going on, and things get steamy. Ultimately, they never felt like a long-term pairing.
I can understand why Delilah turned him down because neither of them was ever really fully in it. However, they were enjoyable while they lasted. 2 Charlie & Percy Given the changes made to Every Summer After, it’s clear they were trying to make the story less of a love triangle. Unfortunately, if that was the intention, they chose the wrong actors. As previously mentioned, Young Percy and Sam have chemistry, but the adult versions don’t.
On the other hand, Young Charlie and Percy had chemistry. The summer they spend together feels much lighter and more natural than Sam and Percy’s time together. Plus, the adult versions of Percy and Charlie have excellent chemistry. Even when they’re angry, the two feel more connected than Percy and Sam.
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What’s more, the pairing includes two very flawed people who don’t pretend to be something they’re not. Percy knows that she uses sex with different men as a distraction from her pain and that she is filled with shame about her teen mistake. Charlie realizes that he puts all his time and energy into his work to a fault. He doesn’t hide the fact that he’s a flirt who doesn’t have serious relationships with women.
It’s easier to cheer on two broken people who acknowledge their flaws. That said, Charlie has a very different love story on the horizon if the show returns for Every Year After season 2. 1 Jordie & Chantal Unlike previous couples, Jordie and Chantal have the chemistry, the personality match, and the great writing. At face value, Chantal is very rigid and motivated, while Jordie is very laid back.
However, their core traits and values match up. They are both smart, funny, caring, and attentive. Their differences balance each other out well. On top of that, she is always giving her time and energy to others, but Jordie ensures she doesn’t have to do that for him.
Unlike Drew, he anticipates her needs and helps without being asked. As they spend more time together, they feel just as much like friends as they do romantic interests, which is a great foundation. He remembers her favorite things. When she has work successes, she excitedly shares them with Jordie.
Jordie helps her learn to let go every once in a while, but he also supports her ambition and drive. She doesn’t have to sacrifice that part of who she is for him. Ultimately, if each major pairing gets a season of Every Summer After, I’m most excited to see what they do with Jordie and Chantal.
Every Year After 10 stars 9 stars 8 stars 7 stars 6 stars 5 stars 4 stars 3 stars 2 stars 1 star Like Follow Followed Drama Romance Release Date June 10, 2026 Network Prime Video Showrunner Amy Harris, Leila Gerstein 3 Images Close Cast See All Directors Gillian Robespierre, Tara Nicole Weyr, Jeffrey W. Byrd Writers Julie Rottenberg, Elisa Zuritsky Powered by Expand Collapse
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