Written as volatile and yet loving, the up-and-down romance tells of a young star-crossed couple who met one captivating night at the end of a fog-covered dock and from there are faced with much interference, significantly but unintentionally caused by each other, in their struggle for true happiness.

The pairing's love-hate relationship soon gained a large and loyal following, despite the characters going through periods where they were not individually thought of fondly by viewers.

[1] The couple's reign came to an end on October 23, 2008 when the writers decided to have Babe struggle for and lose her life after a series of tornadoes hit Pine Valley.

In 1992, ABC executives decided that the show needed a fresh perspective and promoted Agnes Nixon's protégé, Megan McTavish, to the position of head writer.

[6] SOAPnet.com described their romance as the daytime version of Tommy Lee and Pamela Anderson, minus the sex tape and tattoos, but with the addition of felonies.

[6] In late 2007, after four years on the series, Havins decided to leave the role of Babe to pursue other acting opportunities; the decision was confirmed on September 4, 2007 by magazine Soap Opera Digest.

In the December 23, 2003 episode, Babe refers to meeting JR on a foggy dock as the answer to their prayers and confesses that she loved him upon seeing him.

Meanwhile, JR's family back home predicts that he will fall into a place "so deep and dark" after Dixie reveals herself to have purposely stayed "dead" that "even Babe won't be able to reach him".

She said that people are drawn to these characters "specifically because they are not your run-of–the mill male protagonists who win the day" and that they are rather "flawed to such a degree that we, as the reader or the viewer are often afraid, that they may never find the peace and joy we desire for them".

), and concluded that this was another reason JR married Babe: How can a young man, who has been raised with mixed messages about love, truth, and self worth, find a suitable life mate?

There is so very much about Arabella 'Babe' Carey that was reminiscent to JR of his 'lost' mother; her size, her build, her coloring, her accent, her love of life, people, and experiences.

Not wanting Babe to unjustly die later in life and cause their son the same pain that he went through by losing mother Dixie, or the pain caused by lies, JR reasons that if their son were to lose Babe at an earlier age as opposed to later in life, it will hurt less due to significantly faded memories.

JR having accidentally harmed best friend Kendall Hart Slater, who subsequently became comatose as a result of the murder attempt, was also ill-received as viewers felt the character should receive jail time.

[18] To assist this, ABC ran promotional commercials to the original version of the song "Listen to Your Heart" of Babe voicing heartbreak at knowing JR tried to kill her interspersed with the couple enduring it all.

Consistently feeling this way, Babe is seen being drawn to relative new character and "white knight" Josh Madden, whom she eventually cheats on JR with, emotionally and later sexually.

To add further conflict, Babe is written as thoroughly determined to win JR back; she undermines his wishes not to live with her.

"[24] In early 2007, viewers watched as JR's mother, who had recently been discovered alive, is murdered by the serial killer in pursuit of Babe.

He angrily goes in search of Josh, but after being cornered by Bianca and Erica Kane (Susan Lucci), he jumps through a window and slams into the patio below, nearly killing himself.

It was Zach's idea to fake Babe's death, and Jeff and Joe who saved her life by implanting a pacemaker within her heart to regulate it.

JR mourns, and the serial killer is soon discovered to be Alexander Cambias Sr. (Ronald Guttman), Zach's biological father.

When it is discovered that Richie Novak (Billy Miller), recent but former love interest of Babe, needs a bone marrow transplant, she goes on a mission to save his life.

[33] In 2007, author Jeremy G. Butler analyzed aspects of the romance in his book Critical methods and applications,[34] and the pairing was named a supercouple by People magazine in 2011.

[36][37] Character Dixie Cooney Martin's death by the "Satin Slayer" serial killer upset viewers and became one of the genre's most controversial storylines.

[2][36][37][38] In 2006, a few months after their second wedding, JR tries to murder Babe (see above); among viewers, this furthered an older debate about female characters remaining romantically linked to men who have tried to physically harm them in the past.

Journalist and blogger Ben Bryant noted, "ABC in particular, has seen the unpredictable rise of 'anti-leading' men, including two wildly popular characters with rapist pasts: Anthony Geary's 'Luke Spencer' on General Hospital, and Roger Howarth (later Trevor St. John)'s 'Todd Manning' on One Life to Live.

[18] Coleridge cited the marriage as dysfunctional and seemed perplexed as to why Babe would stay with a man who tried to kill her, and as he put it, "verbally abuses her all the time".

Havins disagreed about the cheating, but touched on the importance of needing a change for the love story: "Babe's affair was wrong.

The scene where he confessed his crime to a comatose Kendall — his best friend and the unintentioned victim of the trap he'd set for Babe — was a marvel.

It's a tough logic to sell, but Young's impactful exposure of JR's internal ruin enabled us to understand (though not condone) his actions.

[41] NIDA noted that Young was nominated for the 11th Annual PRISM Awards under the title of TV Daytime Drama Series Multi-Episode Storyline as All My Children: JR's Alcoholism.