When Saved By The Bell originally aired, Zack and Kelly were the pair the audience wanted to see get together. Today, Zack definitely doesn’t seem like the best at relationships, but he certainly has his moments in the show. It’s clear that he and Kelly really care about one another since they do have a foundation of friendship to their crushes and their relationship.
Zack and Kelly might have hurt one another, and they might have broken up and gotten back together several times, but they did do something not a lot of teen drama couples do: stick it out. Not only did they end up together in the sequel series set during their college years, but they lasted beyond that, raising a child in the revival series, as well. Zack and Kelly certainly had their moments throughout the run of the series that proved how great they were as a couple.
8 When Zack Chooses The Evil Queen
Zack frequently gets accused of taking things a little too far in Saved By The Bell, but this time, his dramatics are a good thing. The students of Bayside High put on their own version of Snow White’s story. Zack is cast as the prince, Kelly is cast as the evil queen, and Jessie is cast as the titular princess. Jessie and Zack start to question their entire friendship when they have to pretend to be in love, and it causes problems in their respective relationships.
Zack and Jessie decide they need to make it clear to Kelly and Slater that they aren’t interested in one another, but they do it in a creative way: by rewriting their lines in the show for their characters to choose other people. Zack raps about his heart belonging to the evil queen, which endears him to Kelly all over again.
7 When Kelly Chooses Zack
From the moment Slater starts school at Bayside, he and Zack become rivals first and friends second. It’s hard to say if Zack and Slater are ever even real friends, though, since they spend so much time competing instead of simply hanging out, including competing for Kelly’s attention.
Kelly doesn’t really want a serious relationship in the first two seasons of the show, and even admits to Lisa and Jessie that she finds the attention paid to her fun. Ultimately, however, she chooses Zack. After two years of being friends and knowing that Zack has been interested in her, she opts to go to prom with him, and she’s genuinely excited about getting to spend the evening with him.
6 When Zack Doesn’t Go To Prom
Kelly’s dreams for a perfect prom are cut a little short when she finds out that her family doesn’t have the extra money for her to buy things like a prom dress after her dad loses his job. She decides to pitch in, giving her father the money reserved for her prom dress to help the family.
Rather than let Kelly spend her prom night alone, Zack leaves the rest of their friends at the dance and hangs out outside the school with Kelly, setting them up a picnic. They even get to have a few dances on their own. It’s a sweet gesture since the dance was so important to her.
5 When Kelly Is Honest About Her Feelings
Fans might have been excited for Zack and Kelly to get together, but the writers of the show threw a lot of wrenches into their relationship. One of those wrenches is Kelly’s boss at The Max, Jeff. Jeff is older and her manager, but that doesn’t stop Kelly from being interested in him after he hits on her.
Instead of lying to Zack or seeing Jeff behind his back, Kelly does the mature thing and tells him the truth. It hurts both of them, but it also shows that Kelly values their friendship even more than she values their romance, and doesn’t want to lose Zack completely.
4 When Zack Keeps An Eye On Billy
Long before Kelly and Zack ever date, they’re good friends. When Kelly needs someone to watch her little brother while she gets her cheerleading photos taken for the yearbook, she asks all of her friends for help. While they’re all apprehensive, they all agree – until Kelly leaves. Though it might be one of Saved By The Bell’s least realistic storylines, it’s Zack who ends up watching her baby brother Billy for the first few class periods.
Zack is also the only one of her friends who takes the responsibility seriously and bonds with Billy. At the end of the day, Jessie, Lisa, and Screech lose the baby, while Kelly is in the hospital with a broken arm. Zack’s commitment to taking care of Billy is commented on by everyone, and Billy even says “Zack” as his first word, much to Kelly’s surprise. She’s even impressed by his ability to take care of a baby.
3 When Zack Steps Aside
Zack doesn’t often take it well when someone else is interested in Kelly. Once, he even pays an actress to pretend to be engaged to a substitute teacher that Kelly has a crush on. So he doesn’t take the news that she’s interested in Jeff particularly well.
While Zack initially has every intention of trying to get between them and win Kelly back, that’s not what happens. Instead, he congratulates Jeff on someone really great being interested in him and gives the two his blessing. It’s a moment of growth for Zack, and a moment that only makes him and Kelly ultimately grow closer, as he’s someone she can trust to understand her feelings.
2 When Zack Tries To Protect Kelly From A Professor
Kelly has a pretty bad track record when it comes to relationships outside of Zack Morris. She becomes interested in her boss, a substitute teacher, a lawyer, and during the Saved By The Bell: The College Years episodes, one of her professors. Some of them, including the latter, reciprocate her feelings. All of her love interests are significantly older than her and provide a huge power imbalance in their relationships.
By the time the friends are in college, Zack actually understands that a freshman dating a divorced professor is maybe not the best choice at the time. His judgment is clouded by his own feelings for Kelly when he outs the couple in front of their entire class, but his heart is in the right place, as he’s truly worried about Kelly getting hurt.
1 When They Get Through Every Obstacle To Get Married
When Zack proposes to Kelly while they’re still in college, they have a lot of obstacles in their way. Chief amongst them are their parents thinking they’re too young to get married. The two decide to take all of their friends on an epic road trip to Las Vegas to marry anyway.
Everything that can go wrong does go wrong, but they still manage to make it. When they finally do, their families decide to support them and give them a dream wedding. Their commitment to one another shows everyone just how much they want to spend their lives together. Decades later, they’re still together in the revival series, raising their own teenager.
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