Emily Fields is one of the best characters on Pretty Little Liars and the only one out of the main cast who was openly a lesbian. Her character arc followed her coming out storyline, and she had several various relationships with women throughout all seven seasons of the show.
PLL fans still debate who the best couples in the series were, and there are a lot of people who like to argue about which of Emily’s girlfriends she should have ended up with at the end. The following list ranks all of Emily’s girlfriends from worst to best.
Sara Harvey
Emily and Sara Harvey were arguably one of the worst couples on the history of Pretty Little Liars. Sara was extremely sketchy from the very beginning, and she was part of the A-team. Not only that, but the girls eventually discovered that Sara was both Red Coat and the Black Widow, not to mention the fact that Sara worked closely with Charlotte.
She and Emily’s fling was, thankfully, short-lived. It began and ended in a matter of episodes. They went from being friends to being enemies within one season six story arc. Emily could not have trusted Sara after everything she did, even if she did have genuine feelings for Emily, it would never have worked. There was way too much dark history between Sara and the liars.
Talia Sandoval
Talia Sandoval was introduced to the series in season five as a cook at The Brew. At first, she and Emily didn’t get along, but eventually, they began to bond, and Talia even revealed she had feelings for Emily. It seemed like the two would be a cute new pairing until Emily discovered the truth of Talia’s personal life. It turns out, Talia had been married the entire time but claimed she and her husband had drifted apart and no longer loved each other.
When Emily meets Talia’s husband, Eric Mendoza, he claims he’s okay with his wife “experimenting.” Rightfully offended by the way he saw their relationship and Talia’s many lies, Emily decided to break things off with her, and she departed the series shortly after.
Sabrina
Sabrina was a minor character in the grand scheme of things. The character, played by Lulu Brud, didn’t even have a last name. Still, she and Emily dated for a short period during the first half of season seven. She was the manager at The Brew.
At first, Emily only got to know Sabrina because she was supposed to distract her so that Aria could steal a key. Unfortunately, Sabrina was one of the few sane people in the series who didn’t want to be with someone continually lying and keeping secrets. There was nothing wrong with her, but she couldn’t keep up with the craziness of Emily’s life.
Paige McCullers
Paige McCullers and Emily Fields were one of the most popular couples in the series. Fans affectionately dubbed the pairing “Paily,” and they often went head-to-head with “Emison” fans. Unfortunately, one of the biggest problems with this relationship is that Paige once tried to drown Emily. Their relationship began as a competitive rivalry that reached a breaking point when Paige lashed out violently.
Emily already had one abusive encounter with her ex-boyfriend, Ben. The last thing she needed was to get involved with someone who would mistreat her. Paige did evolve and grow as a person, but she became possessive of Emily. When they were together, they had ongoing trust issues, often revolving around Alison Dilaurentis. Overall, the two just weren’t a good match. It doesn’t help that they broke up and got back together again a total of five times throughout the series.
Samara Cook
Claire Holt guest-starred for five episodes as Samara Cook, the president of Rosewood High School’s Gay-Straight Alliance club. Emily was initially drawn to Samara because she was out in public, unlike Paige. The two began dating, and everything was great for a time until Samara told Emily she didn’t want to be exclusive.
Then, unfortunately, their relationship fell prey to one of A’s many games. A forced Emily to get one of Samara’s friend’s phone numbers, and she couldn’t tell Samara the truth about why she asked. Instead, it looked like Emily was flirting with her friend. It ended their relationship, and Claire Holt exited the show not long after.
Alison Dilaurentis
Alison Dilaurentis and Emily Fields, a.k.a. Emison was one of the flagship relationships in the series. Aria had Ezra, Spencer had Toby, Hanna had Caleb, and Emily had Alison. But unfortunately for Emily, finally settling into a relationship with Alison was extremely complicated. For years, Alison treated Emily poorly, emotionally manipulated her, and played with her feelings.
It wasn’t until Alison underwent some serious character development and came to terms with her bisexuality that she and Emily were able to get into an emotionally stable relationship. They even got married and had kids, although the kids were born out of terrible circumstances. Fans did get to see them happy together for a while, but sadly, the spin-off series The Perfectionists broke them up again. However, since Freeform canceled The Perfectionists, most people ignore that and pretend that Emison lived happily ever after.
Maya St. Germain
Maya St. Germain was Emily’s first real girlfriend. She and Maya begin to flirt the moment they met, even though Emily was still struggling to come to terms with her sexuality. Unfortunately, Maya was sent away to a rehab camp by her parents after Emily’s mom told them about her marijuana usage. When Maya came back, she and Emily began a real relationship, although Emily struggled with some biphobia.
Eventually, they got on the same page, and they were very sweet together. It was an unfortunate decision on the showrunner’s part to utilize the “Bury Your Gays” trope and kill Maya off so early in the series, mainly since she was killed by a stalker ex-boyfriend and tortured in the process. Many fans are still bitter about the choice to kill her off, especially in such a violent manner.
