The relationship between Ralph Angel Bordelon and Darla Sutton on OWN’s award-winning series Queen Sugar didn’t start out as #BlackLoveGoals. When their rocky history was introduced in the show’s first season, for many viewers, the characters ending up together—let alone getting married—wasn’t even a remote possibility. Darla, we learned, had a history of drug addiction that had put Blue, the couple’s son, in grave danger. On the heels of that trauma, she was not welcomed by most in the Bordelon household. However, Ralph Angel, an ex-convict, who was in the throes of self-discovery, wasn’t exactly father of the year.

And though the main drama of Queen Sugar—the series created by Ava DuVernay at the behest of Oprah Winfrey, who was enthralled by Natalie Baszile’s novel—revolves around the ongoing efforts of the Bordelon clan (Ralph Angel, his sisters Nova and Charley, along with her son Micah, their aunt Vi and Vi’s husband “Hollywood”) to protect their farm just outside New Orleans after their father Ernest’s death, Ralph Angel’s sultry relationship with Darla has gained momentum over time. The couples’ allure, according to lead actress Bianca Lawson, who plays Darla, lies in the real-life messiness of their love. “It’s not so perfect,” she explains. “It’s not this romanticized TV relationship.”