Anguished Declaration Of Love / Live-Action TV

Anguished Declarations of Love in Live-Action TV series.

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• In As Time Goes By, rugby enthusiast Harry sputters out his confession of love for Sandy just before he is going to emigrate to Canada. Something he's been too tongue-tied to do up to that point. She accepts and the rest of the episode involves her rushing to pack so she can go with him that afternoon.
• Astrid: Played for laughs between Raphe and Nicolas in the season 3 finale. After initially friend-zoning him, Raphe realizes during the season that she does have feelings for him after all (partly prompted by her son finally cluing her in to Nicolas's feelings), but he's started dating their coworker Arthur's sister. She finally confesses that she's fallen for him... and he blows up at her for doing this now when he was on the verge of getting over her, she replies in kind, then they furiously kiss each other before he storms off while cussing her out.
• Avocado Toast: Molly flies to England so she can tell The One that she loves her, doing so with tearful passion. Then it turns out she's moved on, and is with a man, causing Molly to run away heartbroken.
• In Babylon 5, Lennier declares his love for Delenn while they are aboard a crippled White Star that is apparently about to be attacked and destroyed. The attack is aborted at the last moment, and they are rescued.
• It took 100 episodes for Bones (the show, not the character) to get around to breaking the UST, but not in the way we hoped.
• Better Call Saul has one of the most heart-wrenching examples on television. After spending six seasons never actually saying the three words on-screen, Jimmy can do nothing but blurt out a meek, despondent 'I love you' when he realises Kim is leaving ABQ and breaking things off after Howard's death. Unfortunately, Kim hates herself too much at this point in the story to want to listen.
• Bridgerton:
  • In the final episode of season 1, when the ball in their estate is stopped by the pouring rain, Daphne tries her best to save her deteriorated marriage by confessing to her husband Simon that she loves him for who he is, including his scars and flaws. After spending the entire episode 7 and half of 8 resenting his wife (following the marital rape incident) and insisting to live separately, Simon eventually comes back to her and they earn a happy marriage.
  • In the final episode of season 2, despite their love has been obviously mutual yet neither ever confirmed it and upon realizing he might lose Kate forever (after she told him that she's returning to India), Anthony eventually has the courage to confess his true feelings for her. Luckily for him, she apparently reciprocates and this time she accepts his second proposal as well.
• Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Spike is on the point of blurting this out in the Season 5 episode "Crush" when a shocked and disgusted Buffy stops him, well aware of what he's about to say despite being clueless as to his odd behaviour up to then — Dawn had tipped Buffy off earlier that Spike was smitten, but Buffy refused to believe it. Buffy violently denies that Spike feels true love — or that she has romantic feelings in return until "Chosen" when she tells Spike as he's making a Heroic Sacrifice that she loves him too (this is the first time she's told any boyfriend she loved them since her disastrous affair with Angel). In a subversion of the trope Spike replies, "No you don't, but thanks for saying it."
• Call the Midwife has Dr Turner, who manages a completely nonverbal one when he helps Sister Bernadette clean up her hand after she's scraped it. He closes his eyes and kisses her palm with a look of such desperation it's painfully clear just how much he loves her. Every moment they'd had before could have been explained away, but with that gesture, everything changed and there was no turning back. Unfortunately, though she most certainly returns his feelings, she's a nun, which... complicates things, to say the least.
• In the Season 3 finale of Castle, Castle finally says "I love you" to Beckett just before she loses consciousness after being shot by a hitman. It is as yet unknown whether or not she will remember it.
  • In the first episode of Season 4, Beckett tells Castle that she can't remember the shooting. However, at the very end we learn that she lied. She remembers everything.
  • In the finale of Season 4, there are two. Castle first tells Beckett that he loves her (adding that he knows she knows about it) and confesses that he kept secrets from her to protect her. After resigning from the police force, Beckett goes to Castle's loft to tell him that she nearly died, and the only thing she could think about is him. And that she loves him, too.
• In Community episode "Epidemiology", Troy does this to Abed right before Abed becomes infected, although whether to take it seriously is another matter.
• Control Z: Pablo passionately tells Isabela he really does love her in the last episode. She rejects him though, given his past actions.
• Coupling: In "The Girl With One Heart", A series of misunderstandings leads Patrick's current girlfriend (who's bi) to flirt with Sally, who's in love with Patrick… only Sally doesn't know she's being flirted with. When everything comes out, Sally ends up shouting in frustration that she's not in love with the girlfriend, she's in love with Patrick.
  • This happens rather frequently to the characters in Coupling. See also Steve, in the middle of a truly impressive rant about how natural it is for men to want to watch porn, accidentally letting it slip out that he wants to spend the rest of his life with Susan.
• Criminal Minds: In Season 13, an UnSub forces JJ to tell Reid her deepest secret. She tearfully admits she was in love with him since the beginning and was too chicken to do something about it. So apparently her solution was to marry another man and have two children with him. Yeah.
• At the end of Season 4 of Doc Martin, Martin finally breaks down and admits how much Louisa really means to him. Because he's such an emotionally repressed, stuffed shirt normally this becomes impressive for him as he struggles to put aside his Stiff Upper Lip tendencies and speak from his heart.
  • Parodied earlier, with Pauline, who notes that Doc Martin is so terrible at demonstrating emotions that a simple expression of affection comes across like this trope.
    Pauline: Thank God! I thought you were going to say that you were in love with me or something. After all that bumbling…
• Doctor Who has a number of examples in the modern era of the series.
  • This is how Rose finally confesses to the Doctor in "Doomsday". And the Doctor is cut off right before he gets to reciprocate with one himself; this moment establishes The "I Love You" Stigma in the series, wherein the Doctor is either not allowed to say or is unable to say the actual phrase "I love you" to anyone — though that didn't stop the writers from finding other ways for the Doctor to get the point across.
  • River to the Eleventh Doctor in "The Wedding of River Song." Although "By so many, and so much, and by no-= one more than me." seemed to have a slightly better success rate than usual.
  • According to Word of God, the Twelfth Doctor's declaration of loyalty to Clara in "Dark Water" following her betrayal of him was supposed to be one of these. The Doctor himself isn't particularly anguished, but Clara is.
  • "The Girl Who Died" contains another indirect example. The Doctor, having caused the death of a young girl in order to save a town, expresses to Clara the anguish he expects should he ever lose her:
    The Doctor: Look at you, with your eyes, and your never giving up, and your anger, and your kindness. One day, the memory of that will hurt so much that I won't be able to breathe, and I'll do what I always do. I'll get in my box and I'll run and I'll run, in case all the pain ever catches up. And every place I go, it will be there.
  • And he seems to be about to make another one in "Face The Raven" as Clara prepares to go and meet her death before she stops him with a hug, saying that everything he's about to say she already knows and that they've had enough bad timing. (For Clara's part, she sacrifices her own opportunity in order to prevent the verging-on-The Unfettered Doctor from becoming a Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds after her death. It only partially succeeds as he comes close to becoming Woobie, Destroyer of Time instead.)
  • River delivers another one, this time in front of the Twelfth Doctor, in "The Husbands of River Song." When the villains demand she tell them where the Doctor is, she says she doesn't know, because while she loves him, someone as grand as him could never love her, just like the stars themselves don't love her. "You don't expect a sunset to admire you back!" Just as she's ranting about how the last place you'd expect to find him is right next to her when she's in danger, she realizes with mortification that the strange man she's been adventuring with for the past few hours is the newest incarnation of the Doctor.
    The Doctor: [smiles a bit sadly] Hello, sweetie.
    River: [takes a moment to compose herself] You are...so doing those roots.
    The Doctor: [teasingly] What, the roots of the sunset?
    River: Don't you dare!
    The Doctor: I'll have to consult with the stars themselves...
    River: Oh shut up!
• Downton Abbey:
  • Anna to Mr. Bates. Which is then promptly interrupted—O HAI THAR HAYCART!!!
  • In Season 2, Branson to Sybil just before she starts her training as a nurse.
    Branson: I can't keep it in any longer.
    Sybil: I wish you would.
  • Four seasons later, Branson gives what can only be described as an anguished declaration for love when his sister-in-law Mary breaks up with her latest Love Interest:
    Branson: You’re frightened of being hurt again. But let me tell you this, you will be hurt again, and so will I, because being hurt is part of being alive. But that is no reason to give up on the man who is right for you.
• In Dracula (2013), after being tricked by Lady Jayne into thinking Mina is in love with her, Lucy comes out to Mina and confesses her feelings.
  Lucy: I broke things off with Alistair, did I tell you? Mother begged to know the reason, she would have flogged it out of me if she could. But I couldn't tell her — wouldn't tell her. The reason I did it was you. I've always loved you, Mina. I didn't realize it till now, but I now know that I always have.
• ER: Doug races to Carol's engagement party to essentially play this twice:
  "I love you, Carol, and you love me!"
  • The anguish escalates when she denies both parts of his statement, screams at him to leave her alone and the whole thing culminates in her fiance punching him.
  • He delivers another one at the end of "The Storm, Part 2" in response to Carol's pleas to not leave her (he's just resigned from the hospital).
• Frasier has two (and several near-misses) of Niles declaring his unending love for Daphne. The first occurred during an impressive tango dance at his country club where he blurted out how much he adored her and she reciprocated. Unfortunately his joy ended when he realized she had assumed they were putting on a show for his condescending friends. The second occurred on the night before her wedding to another man. Niles suddenly assured her he would divorce his wife and run away with Daphne if there was even the slightest chance Daphne had feelings for him.
• Game of Thrones:
  • Jorah Mormont:
    • He only admits his (rather blatant) love for his queen Daenerys Targaryen in "The Mountain and the Viper". Unfortunately she's just found out that Jorah joined her service as The Mole for her enemies in Westeros, so it only infuriates her that such a man would dare speak of love.
    • He later does it again to her, and she is moved to tears by it:
      Jorah: I love you. I'll always love you. Goodbye, Khaleesi.
  • As an Unsullied, Grey Worm has been raised from a very early age to fight and kill, and do nothing else. Affection and love are alien to him. When he starts having these feelings for Missandei, he has no idea how to articulate them. The closest he can come is to call her his "weakness" in Season 7 Episode 2 before he leaves for battle against the Lannisters because the thought of losing her is the first thing to ever cause him fear. They consummate the relationship immediately after.
• Gilmore Girls: In season 4, Jess makes an impulsive and impassioned plea for Rory to run away with him when he goes to speak to her at her dorm room. He tells her it was Love at First Sight for him, and that she can count on him now. Unfortunately, Rory has been hurt by him too many times, and she rejects him. He begs her to only tell him "no" if she doesn't want to be with him, and she finally gets the courage to look him in the eye and tell him "no" to his face. The acting really sells the desperation and heartbreak, and it remains one of the saddest scenes in the series.
• Get Smart: Max and 99 finally admit they love each other while trapped in a corridor with two KAOS agents trying to break down the doors. 99 then thinks up a Door Judo idea to get them out of the situation. Afterwards, Max asks why she waited till after his Love Confession before suggesting this brilliant idea. 99 says coyly that she didn't have as much to live for, and the two walk off arm in arm.
• Santana tearfully confesses her love for her best friend Brittany on Glee. Doubly anguished since it also counts as the beginning of her Coming-Out Story.
  Santana: I wanted to thank you for performing that song with me in Glee-club. Because it made me do a lot of thinking. And what I realized… is why I am such a bitch all the time. I'm a bitch because I am angry. I'm angry because I have all these feelings. Feelings for you… that I am afraid of dealing with. Because I am afraid of dealing with the consequences. I… I can't even go to an Indigo Girls concert, I just can't.
  Brittany: I understand that.
  Santana: …do you understand what I am trying to say here?
  Brittany: …no, not really.
  Santana: I want to be with you. But… I am afraid of the talks, and the looks. I mean, you know what happened to Kurt at this school.
  Brittany: But honey, if anyone was to ever make fun of you, you would either kick their ass or slash them with your vicious, vicious words.
  Santana: [Starts to cry] I know… I'm just so afraid of what everyone would say behind my back. Still I have to accept… that I love you. I love you, and I don't want to be with Sam, or Finn or any of those other guys. I just want you. Please say you love me back! …please…
  • It gets sadder when Brittany turns her down for Artie. I could never be truly mad at Brittany, but…
    • Brittany was with Artie. The girl may not understand monogamy but she does get loyalty.
• Good Omens (2019):
  • At the end of season 2 we see extremely nervous Crowley plucking up the courage to confess his love to Aziraphale. During his speech he gets very emotional, stops several times to collect himself, his voice breaks, you can see tears in his eyes, etc.:
  Crowley: Right, okay, yes. So... (exhales, tries to collect himself) We've known each other for a long time. We've been on this planet for a long time. I mean, you and me. I could always rely on you. You could always rely on me. We're a team, a group. Group of the two of us. (pained) And we've spent our existence pretending that we aren't (his voice breaks, pauses)... I mean, the last few years, not really (pauses, distraught)...
  Crowley, continues: And I would like to spend- (voice breaks, stops, unable speak)... I mean, if Gabriel and Beelzebub can do it, go off together, then we can. (whispering) Just the two of us. We don't need Heaven, we don't need Hell, they are toxic. We need to get away from them... Just be... an "us". (hopefully) You and me, what do you say?..
• After spending half a season fighting over who should be the first to say those three words, eight letters, Gossip Girl's Blair Waldorf finally says them to Chuck Bass but it doesn't go so well:
  Blair: The worst thing you've ever done, the darkest thought you've ever had, I will stand by you through anything.
  Chuck: And why would you do that?
  Blair: Because I love you.
  Chuck: Well, that's too bad.
  • After Chuck later mocks her declaration of love, Blair gives up on him for the next half of the season… only to give him a second anguished declaration of love in the season finale. He doesn't say it back this time either (but does come around by the end of the episode).
• Catwoman gives a particularly heartwrenching one to Bruce Wayne on Gotham after he leaves her behind for a decade.
  Selina: Do you have any idea what you did? Just leaving? You were all I had! I know you did it to protect me; but I didn't want to be protected! I wanted you!
• In Guiding Light, Olivia finally confessed her feelings for Natalia in an anguished cry, in a graveyard, before Natalia's wedding. If that wasn't heartbreaking enough Natalia almost got her own confession out but Olivia stopped her because she was afraid of how their love could affect Natalia's chance for happiness.
• Zig-zagged: The Happy Days episode "They Call It Potsie Love" has Potsie, in a rehearsal, singing "Put Your Head On My Shoulder" to Joanie, and she becomes smitten by him. Joanie sets up a secret date at Al's, and when she shows up, Potsie tries to send her off, saying he has a secret date with an admirer. All Joanie had to do was look sadly at Potsie to reveal that she was the admirer.
• In "Benefits", a Season 4 episode of How I Met Your Mother, Robin and Ted start having casual sex again to take the friction out of rooming together. Barney, who has been in love with Robin since the end of the third season (and not dealing with it too well), is heartbroken by this and accidentally blurts out his secret three times, first to Ted and Marshall and twice to Robin… only the first two times, he covers awkwardly and is believed, and the third time, Robin is completely oblivious to the idea he could mean it like that. Robin explains why she and Ted stopped sleeping together:
  Robin: You know what a romantic he is. He can't separate the physical from the emotional. He's all like—
  Barney: (sincere) I love you!
  Robin: Exactly! He's not like you. You know? And besides, we're friends, and I don't wanna screw that up by getting involved. Dating friends never works out. So, uh, you want to get a taco?
  Barney: …a taco?
  Robin: You love them, remember?
  • Barney does it again, a few seasons later, in "Splitsville", when trying to break up Robin and her current boyfriend, Nick.
• iCarly: Carly does one of these as Freddie starts to believe that she only likes him because he saved her life. It doesn't work, and Freddie breaks up with her, despite Freddie having had a crush on Carly since the day he met her.
• Himitsu no Hanazono (2007): After Yuriko Hanazono (a pen name for the 4 Kataoka brothers under which they published manga) breaks up with the Awful Truth that their father was a plagiarist being revealed, the four siblings finally decide to follow their own dreams. Wataru Kataoka decides to confess his love to Natsuyo.
  Wataru: "Will you stay by my side... from now on forever?''
• Lucifer:
  • Before Lucifer goes back to hell, Chloe meets him at the balcony of his penthouse, begging him to stay because she loved him. He says that he loves her too but cannot stay because Hell needs a ruler.
  • Subverted with Maze and Eve's relationship. Maze declares her love in song, but Eve is oblivious.
• The Mentalist's Rigsby makes one of these. it takes a while to get through to Van Pelt. Also, Bosco and Lisbon.
  • And perhaps the most important — Jane to Lisbon in the Season 6 finale. He runs after her to a plane about to take off when he realizes he may lose her forever and confesses his love. This is after he fabricated a letter from a serial killer in an attempt to prolong Lisbon's stay in Austin. The FBI is forced to put everyone's transfers on hold until the case is solved, which includes Lisbon's transfer to Washington. That's why she is furious with Jane.
  Jane: There is something I need to say.
  Lisbon: No, I don’t want to see you, go away.
  Jane: You’re right, I have forgotten how to act like a normal human being, and I play games, and I lie. And I trick people to avoid the truth of how I feel. And the idea of letting anyone close to me is terrifying for obvious reasons. But the truth Teresa is I can’t imagine waking up knowing that I won’t see you (tearing up) The truth is: I love you. Woo, you can’t imagine how good that feels to say out loud. But it scares me and it is the truth; it is the truth what I feel.
  Lisbon: (tears running down her face) It’s too late. Jane, it’s too late.
  Jane: Maybe and I understand, it's ok, I needed to get to this, and you deserve to hear it. (Air Marshall proceeds to arrest Jane and escort him off the plane, but he keeps professing his love) I love you, Teresa, and it makes me happy to be able to say that to you. I love her. That woman in 12b; I love her. You take care of her!
• In the episode "Lancelot and Guinevere" from Merlin (2008), Merlin finally manages to get one out of Arthur:
  Merlin: Why can't you just admit your feelings for Gwen? It's so obvious. A blind man could see it. Is it really that hard to admit you like her? Just say it.
  Arthur: I can't! How can I admit that I think about her all the time. Or that… I care about her more than anyone. How can I admit that… I don't know what I'll do if any harm comes to her?
  Merlin: Why can't you?
  Arthur: Because nothing can ever happen between us! To admit my feelings knowing that… hurts too much.
  • And just to rub salt in the wound, when Arthur finally finds Gwen, it turns out that Lancelot got there first...
• A platonic example, Played for Laughs, in The Mighty Boosh episode, "Tundra", Howard unexpectedly tells Vince his feelings after they are left for dead:
  Howard: This is difficult for me, but I feel as though I should say this… I love you, Vince.
  (Vince laughs)
  Howard: What are you doing?
  Vince: Nothing.
  Howard: Are you laughing?
  Vince: No.
  Howard: You better not be laughing. I'm telling you I love you, how dare you laugh at me?
  Vince: You're making me laugh.
  Howard: That is so humiliating.
  Vince: You just caught me off guard, it was out of the blue.
  Howard (distraught) I'm telling you I love you, and you're laughing!
  Vince: Well, I love you.
  Howard: No you don't. You're just saying it because I said it to you. It doesn't work that way, it doesn't mean anything.
  Vince: No. I love you.
• The titular Mr. & Mrs. Smith (2024) give one of these to each other, thinking they’re about to die on a super high risk mission. Later, the trope is discussed because Jane wants to know if John actually meant it or if he was just saying it in the moment.
  John: Whatever happens, I love you.
  Jane, crying: I love you, too.
• In the special The Muppets Go to the Movies, during the Japanese Monster Movie sketch "Invasion of the Unpleasant Things from Outer Space", Colonel O'Malley (Dudley Moore) gives one of these to Jean Trenton (Lily Tomlin) when it looks like the giant rats invading the Earth are unstoppable, while the subtitles scroll by so fast Miss Trenton has trouble keeping up with them. It's also sappy enough that the rats give up on their schemes of conquering the Earth and go home.
  Giant Rat: Three billion light years for this?
  Subtitles:' Squeak squeak — squeak.
• Subverted on My So-Called Life, where Brian is portrayed as more of a stalker of Angela than a friend, and when he finally Spits it Out, it disgusts her more than anything.
  • She isn't disgusted. She chooses Jordan in the end, but she was more tender with him at that moment than she was with anyone else in the whole series.
• In The Nanny: "Well you're a… you walk like a… marry me!"
• On The Office, after two seasons of not being brave enough to tell Pam how he feels, Jim finally comes clean with a supremely anguished declaration in "Casino Night". She doesn't take it well, setting up another full season of dancing around the subject, with a last-minute kiss only complicating things further. Eventually it all gets figured out.
  • Also occurs in the British version of The Office during the Season 2 finale. Tim switches off his mic and rushes into a private room to presumably tell Dawn he's in love with her. While the conversation is inaudible, Dawn does hug him while making an apologetic look, followed by Tim solemnly walking out of the room and back to his desk. Upon realizing the cameras had caught the whole incident, he switches his mic back on and flatly tells them she said no.
• Once Upon a Time in Wonderland: The Red Queen reveals that she still loves the Knave and that her motive for helping Jafar change the laws of magic was so that she could change her past decision to give him up for her crown.
• Several in Princess Returning Pearl:
  • Yong Qi has a hilarious yet still pretty anguished one to Xiao Yan Zi after she tries to matchmake him with another girl. It takes her a while to believe him.
  • Xia Yu He declares her love to Qian Long before he leaves for Beijing, at the same time being smart enough to realize that his love would never be as strong and faithful as hers, and confesses that she fears waiting the rest of her life for him.
  • Er Kang also confesses his love for Zi Wei by telling her that his marriage prospects are not his own choices or even the choices of his parents and that his marriage will be decided by emperor, and there is next to no chance that the emperor will allow him to marry Zi Wei when he doesn’t even know Zi Wei exists.
• Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story: The final episode quite impressively manages to have one between two people who are already married. (And expecting!) Throughout their tumultuous Arranged Marriage, George has been a bit a tsundere to Charlotte—affectionate and happy one day, avoiding her the next. He insists they live in separate estates, rarely sleeps in the same room with her, and disappears for weeks on end and won't tell her why. When she finally works out that he's extremely mentally ill, prone to fits of mania and delusional episodes, she confronts him, and says that if he truly doesn't want to share a life with her, if he really wants her to keep away, she will. But only if he can look her in the eye and say he doesn't love her. George can't do that, and tries to explain that he's keeping his distance to protect her, explaining that when he's in a manic state, he often doesn't even know where or who he is. Charlotte says that she'll stay at his side and tell him when he needs her to, if he loves her back, causing him to break down crying and admit he does.
• Red Band Society: The series starts with Emma and Leo having already broken up. In a later conversation, Emma considers that she and Leo are Better as Friends, and due to a misunderstanding, Leo agrees. After Jordi — the hypotenuse of the show's Love Triangle — unwittingly exacerbates the tension between them, this conversation occurs:
  Leo: You're the one who insisted that we should just be friends!
  Emma: Well, I changed my mind, all right? I don't want to be friends!
  Leo: Great! Neither do I! (kisses Emma)
  Character Narrator Charlie: That, my friends, is a declaration of love.
• Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa gets a pretty good one in Rome. After getting Octavia home from a wild party, he's discovered and put on the spot by Atia. Why, by the sons of Dis, would he do this (and, more importantly, swear not to tell anyone as a matter of course)? His answer, after a moment's pained hesitation and an attempt at diversion:
  Agrippa: Because...Because I love her.
  Octavia: You only say that because you do not know me.
  Agrippa: No. I do know you. You are kind, and full-hearted, and beautiful. And I would tear down the sky if you asked me to.
  Atia: *smiles behind his back, impressed to the extent that she becomes a Shipper on Deck for the pair of them*
• Skins: Emily and Naomi have just spent their first night together. Emily is quite a bit more okay with being gay than Naomi, which is why Naomi tries to sneak away the morning after. It doesn't work.
  Emily: Naomi? No! You fucking… no! Stop right now. Don't you dare leave me in your bed again!
  Naomi: I—I got to go...
  Emily: I know you, Naomi! I know that you are lonely! I think that you need someone to want you! Well, I do want you! So… please be brave… and want me back!
  • Done again in reverse at the end of Series 4.
• In Smallville, Clark and Lana frequently in the earlier seasons.
  • Whitney gives one of these to Lana at the end of Season 1, before shipping out to Marine Corps training.
  • "Fever", Chloe does this when Clark falls very ill due to a kryptonite-induced fever. She even writes it down so that she can read them to him. He mutters Lana's name.
  • Early in Season 4, Jason tells an unconscious Lana "If only you knew how much you mean to me…" Unfortunately, this is overheard by Lex Luthor.
  • "Pariah": Clark tearfully confesses that he loved Alicia while trying to rip the head off the man who just murdered her. It doubles as a Love Epiphany. Clark, despite dating Alicia, had never been able to admit to himself or to her that he loved her, and now will never have the chance.
  • Lex does this to Lana at one point but manages to completely miscalculate the moment and tell her just after trying to rob her and manipulate her fragile mental state.
  • In "Traveller", Chloe confesses her (now platonic) love to Clark, to Jor-El of all people when she begs him to help her rescue Clark.
  • Lionel Luthor, after being an Archnemesis Dad for most of his son Lex Luthor's life, realizes he made a terrible mistake and in an anguished voice tells Lex that he loves him after all. Unfortunately, by this point, Lex is so brimming with hate and has transitioned enough towards the dark side, that he pretty much just rejects his father's love.
  • During the epic final season, Clark and Lois Lane unlock a dormant message from the Fortress of Solitude's databanks: the final message left for Clark by Jor-El and Lara, recorded during Krypton's last moments. Clark's biological parents sorrowfully wish him goodbye and lay out their hopes and dreams for their beloved son.
  • Lois is forced to make one to Clark while under the effects of a Kryptonite-laced Lie Detector. Smallville loves these.
• Jack does this in SG-1 talking about Sam. "I care about her... a lot more than I'm supposed to."
• In Star Trek:
  • In Star Trek: The Next Generation , it’s implied that Beverly Crusher was going for one of these twice.
    • In “The High Ground”, when she and Picard are kidnapped by terrorists and the lead terrorist has threatened to kill him, she says she has “some things” to tell him. Then the lights go out indicating they’ve been found.
    • In “Remember Me”, everyone has been disappearing from the Enterprise until she and Picard are the only ones left. She says that she has been meaning to say something for a while and that she may not get another chance, but Picard disappears before she can finish what she was going to say. Thankfully she was just trapped in a static warp bubble and the real Picard was right there with a hug when she got out.
  • In the episode "Heart of Stone" in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Kira extracts one of these from Odo. Or rather… a Changeling disguised as Kira does so, allowing the real Kira to remain oblivious of his feelings for another two and a half seasons.
    • Also, Rom to Leeta, just as she's about to leave Deep Space Nine for Jupiter Station. Although in his case, he'd been trying to make a declaration for weeks and just kept not being able to go through with it.
  • Star Trek: Voyager: Only their imminent death through oxygen deprivation gives B'Elanna Torres the courage to tell Tom Paris she loves him (next moment they're beamed to safety). Likewise, the EMH blurts out his feelings for Seven of Nine (in front of half the senior officers) when he thinks his program is going to shut down forever. Unfortunately he's repaired a few seconds later, much to his embarrassment. Unfortunately for both him and the fans Seven ends up with Chakotay.
    • Also, when the 37s are discovered, Fred Noonan (Amelia Earhart's navigator) gets shot in the chest and taken to sickbay. Thinking he will die, he confesses his love to Earhart. However, he is then healed by the Doctor and embarrassed, tries to take back his confession.
• In the final season of Supernatural, the normally-stoic angel Castiel breaks down into tears while telling Dean how much he's changed for the better as a result of knowing him and that he wants something he knows he'll never have but can still find happiness in finally telling Dean that he loves him. And then he dies.
• In Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, after being reset to original programming Cameron makes one of these to John while trying to convince him not to remove her chip. This is a bit complicated, as while she's a Robot Girl saying it to manipulate him, the simulated emotion appears very real, and he's aware that she's more advanced than other Terminators, but not to what degree. And the second part of her claim "and you love me" probably hit a bit close.
• In Torchwood: Children of Earth miniseries, Ianto, knowing he has minutes to live, breaks down in tears and tells Jack he loves him. Right before he begs Jack not to forget about him.
  • When Owen is revived using the Resurrection Glove after being shot in the episode "Reset", Toshiko confesses her love to him, thinking it is their last goodbye. When a fluke with the Glove makes him permanently undead, she tries to explain and he says he knows she didn't mean it, ("You're losing something, and suddenly you desperately desire it.") even though she does. In "Exit Wounds", after both Tosh and Owen are both Killed Off for Real, Gwen, Jack and Ianto find a time-locked video from Tosh that again declares love to Owen. Obviously, when she recorded it, she didn't know Owen would be dead, too.
• Under the Dome: In "Exigent Circumstances", Barbie puts an unconscious Julia into an ambulance so that Angie can drive her to a safe location to prevent her murder. Barbie kisses Julia and whispers "I love you" before going to turn himself in (as he is also wanted) reasoning that the town won't look for her if they have him in custody.
• In The Vampire Diaries, this happens many times between Stefan and Elena.
  • A few times between Damon and Elena.
• Victoria: Queen Victoria comes within a hair of saying "I love you" to Lord Melbourne when she visits him at his home and indirectly proposes marriage — the proposal being confirmed by Word of God, author Daisy Goodwin, both in interviews and in her Novelisation of the miniseries.
• Wizards of Waverly Place: Inverted Trope, in the movie. It was more like an Anguished Declaration of Admiration/Desperation. Justin and Alex may have Incest Subtext coming out of every orifice, but saying they love each other is the one thing they refuse to do. This is lampshaded in "Delinquent Justin".
• In the finale of Zoey 101, Quinn and Logan end up shouting out their love in front of the entire prom after being annoyed by the cover dates they picked for each other.

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