Dash & Lily: The 10 Most Romantic Gestures In The Christmas Rom-Com, Ranked

For those looking for a wholesome Christmas romcom, Netflix's Dash & Lily is the perfect choice. Austin Abrams and Midori Francis star as the two leading characters who begin a relationship via back-and-forth written correspondence. Lily leaves a notebook of dares in a New York City bookshop, which Dash finds.

The dares are essentially a series of romantic gestures, some more elaborate than others. But Dash and Lily aren't the only characters looking for love during the holidays. Lily's brother, Langston, gets into a relationship that he self-sabotages. Dash's ex, Sofia, is looking to reunite with him, and Lily's middle school bully seems to have grown up to regret his actions.

10. Lily Leaves The Notebook

The plot kicks into action when Dash finds a red notebook with the words "Do you dare?" on the front cover. Inside, he finds page after page of clues and dares, written by Lily and her brother, Langston.

Dash finds himself instantly intrigued by Lily's voice and the idea of following the dares. He and Lily also feel an instant collection when they realize they have similar interests in the arts. Lily has a great deal of faith to leave the notebook there, and one might say it's something like destiny that Dash, who is so well matched to her, finds it.

9. Dash Embraces The Christmas Spirit

In order to learn Lily's name, Dash must complete the dare she sets him. He must go to Macy's, which is packed right before Christmas, and ask Santa. At this point, Lily knows that Dash hates Christmas, but he's willing to embrace the festive spirit for Lily.

The resulting scene is a hilarious little adventure in which Dash sits on Santa's lap (well, Uncle Sal's lap), steals his hat, then gets into an aggressive verbal fight with an elf who also happens to be an actor (and by actor, that means murdered corpse in SVU). This is a big step for Dash, and he gets Lily's name at the end of it.

8. Lily Builds A Muppet Of Dash

Lily doesn't know Dash's name because he's afraid she'll figure out who he is if she ever finds out. So, when he sends her to "The Break Room," she makes a muppet that she says she imagines looks like Notebook Boy.

When the time comes for everyone to destroy their creations, Lily can't bring herself to ruin her muppet. She takes him home and keeps him in her bedroom, talking to him sometimes when she needs someone to confide in. It's sweet and a little poignant.

7. Dash Makes Mochi For Lily

Lily sends Dash to make mochi with a group of Japanese women. He's hopeless at it because he has too many other things on his mind - like Sofia, who keeps texting him.

Dash reads Lily's words in the notebook. She encourages him to clear his mind so that he can complete the task properly. He tunes everything out and makes the perfect mochi. He saves one for Lily, even neatly packages it, and continues to "listen to his mochi" throughout the series.

6. Langston Buys A Notebook For Benny

At the end of the series, Langston is inspired to buy Benny a notebook like the one Dash and Lily have. Langston and Benny break up when Langston learns that his boyfriend is going to Puerto Rico.

Apparently, he can't handle long-distance relationships. It's not until much later that viewers learn Benny is only going away for two weeks. Luckily, Langston mends their relationship with a simple solution: they can mail the notebook between NYC and Puerto Rico.

5. Dash Buys Tickets To Collation

In the days leading up to Christmas, Lily mentions a movie called "Collation" in the notebook. It's not real, but in the series, it's described as an office romance in which Gina Rodriguez voices the piece of paper that falls in love with a stapler.

Lily writes to Dash that she'd like to see the movie, maybe even with him. On Christmas morning, Dash runs to the cinema to buy tickets, not even sure if Lily will like him in person but having faith that everything will work out. However, things go wrong when they meet at McSorley's. So, that evening, Dash sees the movie alone.

4. Lily Abandons The Cab

In the final episode, Lily thinks that all hope is lost. She's in the cab with her parents on the way to the airport to catch a plane to Fiji. They get stuck in traffic, which is when Langston sends her a photo of Dash's latest notebook entry.

Lily then makes up her mind, makes her exit from the cab, and runs through the stalled traffic all the way to The Strand. She knows she's letting down her entire family and is aware that they probably missed their flight because of her, but she believes it's worth it to be with Dash.

3. Dash Brings Lily New York

In the final episode, Dash organizes a surprise for Lily with some help from his loyal friends. He decorates The Strand, which is a big step for him, and sets out a huge spread of New York food.

Included in the spread is Two Boots pizza, mochi, cheese pie, cannoli, salted pretzels, and more of the food the two have eaten throughout the series. It's a sweet moment that moves Lily and reminds them both of all they've been through together.

2. Lily Tells Dash To Believe

Usually, Lily goes to Dyker Heights to look at the Christmas lights with her family. This year, they're either away or busy, so Lily does the next best thing: she shares it with Dash.

She knows he won't appreciate it at first, but she encourages him to look deeper. He starts to see the beauty in the Christmas cheer, and Lily helps him out by telling him to be at the end of the street at five o'clock. He waits until the word "Believe" lights up in red above him. Lily's narration reads from the notebook entry as Dash takes the message to heart.

1. Dash Returns The Lost Boot

Dash proves that he truly cares about Lily when he goes to great lengths to trace the boot back to her. He finds it outside the underground club, enlists Boomer's help, and tracks it to the original owner, before finding Mrs. Basil E.

She's impressed with Dash and is sure to tell Lily how much effort he put into finding her. This is easily the biggest romantic gesture of the show simply because of how much time, effort, and frustration it means for Dash.

[Originally shared with ScreenRant.]