^ I love these kinds of discussions which really dig in and go beyond individual preferences! I think you are both right in a sense. I have always kind of liked Elijah and Hayley although I don't ship them in particular. However, I think the writers DO want us to "root" for them, because we see that this is what these characters have wanted for a long time. I don't think the writers are saying the relationship is necessarily the best or the healthiest. I think it is more about what it says about the individual characters rather than the unit. Elijah ALWAYS puts those he loves on a pedestal--especially the women he loves, but also his family and himself. He glosses over their faults in the name of ideals like "family". It's what we love about him! At the same time it is not healthy because he keeps what is ugly behind "the red door".

However, once characters get together on these shows the writing itself tends to gloss over everything in the name of "The Grand Romance". This may please shippers (for a while) but alienate the general audience and ultimately does disservice to the story and characters. Characters, particularly the female characters, start behaving more like ideals rather than real people. Hayley is beginning to seem this way to me in this episode and the current one, for instance.