Stanley and Mimi

"You drive me so crazy. And you know that I can't stay here forever but...the truth is...I can't live without you either." - Mimi Clark

Stanley Richmond and Mimi Clark are from the TV show Jericho. I started watching the show after it was completely finished airing, and it was really only because I had nothing else to watch. I saw the beginnings of another boring love triangle that I was not willing to be sucked into, and was expecting to just watch the show without shipping anyone... and then entered Stanley and Mimi. What started as a cliche country boy/city girl dynamic really blossomed into a beautiful love story that really subverted the original trope. In the beginning, it seemed that they would fall into their designated stereotype and have a contrived love story, but as the show and their story progressed, both characters were humanized in a very refreshing way. Stanley had a depth underneath the nice farm boy exterior, and Mimi had an inner strength and insecurities outside of the put together city girl she presented to the world. Yes, their romance was a cliche, but the way it was handled was far from it. We saw why Stanley and Mimi fell in love with each other rather than being told that they were a good fit. Sure, they never would have gotten together had outside circumstances like the end of the world not occurred, but that doesn't mean that their love and care for each other was any less valid.

I have shipped a lot of couples, but Stanley and Mimi are one of the rare few that left me feeling completely satisfied once their canon was complete. Perhaps it was just that the show didn't last long enough to mess up their relationship, or they just had writers bold enough to put a mature and loving relationship on the screen without any added unnecessary drama, but they were proof that a love story does not have to get stale and boring when the couple finally comes together. They had minor issues with each other and while they had problems to face, they were from outside influences and they faced them together. The adorable family that they made together with Stanley's sister Bonnie was a welcome reprieve from the dark world of conspiracies and intrigue that many of the other characters got pulled into. That is, it was until Mimi found a discrepancy in the Jennings and Rall accounts and ended up paying dearly for it when she and Bonnie were attacked and Bonnie was killed protecting her brother's fiance. While Stanley was driven to a very dark place after his sister's death and Mimi had an immense amount of guilt weighing on her shoulders, their love was never in question. Mimi stayed by Stanley's side and the two vowed to work through the pain together.

Jericho may not be a very well known show, but it is definitely worth watching if just to experience the gem of a relationship at its heart. It's just crazy to think that if another auditor had been sent to Stanley's farm instead of Mimi, or if the bombs hadn't gone off on that particular day, that Stanley and Mimi would have never gotten together. As it stood at the end of the series, Stanley and Mimi were each other's only family and the most important people in each others lives. It would have been a joy to see their future unfold on screen, but there is no doubt that they would stay together forever and face anything that came their way standing side by side.

Quotes

1x11: Vox Populi

Mimi: "Do you know how many second dates I've had in the last five years?"

Stanley: "I'm guessing not many."

Mimi: "And do you know why?"

Stanley: "Yeah, because you're obnoxious, demanding, and totally self absorbed."

Mimi: "Yeah. And you are sweet, simple... and bullheaded. You can't handle someone like me, this will never work."

Stanley: "Eh, that's what they said about Brangelina."

Mimi: "Are you seriously quoting Us magazine right now?"

Stanley: "What'd you think they'd call us? Stimily? Mimily... Stimi."

Mimi: [laughs] "You are such an idiot."

[She starts to walk away, but Stanley pulls her back and kisses her.]

1x16: Winter's End

Mimi: "Look, I just want to tell you something...and don't freak out, okay?"

Stanley: "I won't."

Mimi: "In this crazy world, we don't know what's gonna happen tomorrow, and I don't wanna leave anything unsaid, so I'm just gonna say it. Okay? So...here I go-"

Stanley: "I've loved you since the first day I saw you at Bailey's."

Mimi: "You said it...you said it first. No one's ever said it first to me before."

Stanley: "Well, I don't know what's gonna happen tomorrow, and...plus I can hold it over you for the rest of our lives." [they kiss]

Mimi: "I love you Stanley Richmond."

Stanley: "But I said it first."

2x01: Reconstruction

Mimi: "I'm sorry I asked you to marry me."

Stanley: "No, look...I was gonna ask you!"

Mimi: "You were?"

Stanley: "I was, yes, I had it all planned out. I was gonna propose the way my father proposed to my mother."

Mimi: "How'd he do it?"

Stanley: "He asked her."

Mimi: "I'm sorry. I'm just a very goal oriented person, you know? I see that something needs to be done and I do it. You know it's just sometimes, I think that if I don't make things happen, then they won't because no one will want them as much as I do-" [She sees Stanley holding a diamond ring] "What's that?"

Stanley: "It's my mother's wedding ring, now please be quiet. I've never loved anybody the way I love you, and I can't remember my life before you, and now I really don't think I could live without you. Listen, I'll do whatever it takes to make you happy I swear to god...so, will you marry me?" [She is crying and nodding] "See now, now you can talk."

Mimi: "Yes, yes!"

2x07: Patriots and Tyrants

Mimi: "I thought I lost you."

Stanley: "No way, you could never lose me."

Mimi: "When those soldiers were coming for you, all I could think was...he doesn't know what he means to me. He's going away forever and I haven't told him."

Stanley: "Well I'm here now."

Mimi: "You are everything to me. I want to...I want to walk down this hill and make a home with you. I want to make a life with you...through anything and everything, from this day forward for the rest of my life."

Stanley: "Wow...wow, that sounded a lot like a..."

Mimi: "It was."

Stanley: "Well what do I say?"

Mimi: "Just say I do."

Stanley: "I do...I do." [they kiss]

Photos

Season 1