Friends has been absent from TV screens for over 13 years now, but that doesn’t mean fans have stopped caring about the impossibly popular US sitcom. A recent fan theory tied it in with the rise of Starbucks (‘cos of all that coffee, yeah), and one suggested that the show was just a figment of imagination from Phoebe’s brain. Ok then.
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But for the last few days, Twitter has been awash with Friends chat again – despite the actual end of the world creeping ever closer.
“Grandad, what was the world like on the brink of the big silly nuclear war?”
“Well, we were all still discussing Friends, we were on Ross”
— and David Morgan 🌹 (@thisisdavid) August 9, 2017
It started a couple days back when Juliet Mushens sparked a pretty intense debate about the worst TV plotlines in recent memory. Hers? The Rachel/Joey love story that blossomed in Season 8 and rumbled through to the final Season 10.
Name the TV show plot line that you're still angry about. Mine? Rachel/Joey.
— Juliet Mushens (@mushenska) August 7, 2017
Now, Twitter user and writer @kaneandgriffin has responded with a lengthy thread with the theory: maybe Rachel and Joey were actually the couple who were meant to be, and Ross was kind of a dick. Well, less of a theory and more of a series of incredibly astute observations. In a 100-long thread, they break down the entire plotline – but we’ve highlighted a few crucial sections below. Buckle in, it’s a long but satisfying ride.
https://twitter.com/kaneandgriffin/status/894997786730520576
https://twitter.com/kaneandgriffin/status/895002785271267328
Here they begin by making the obvious point; that Joey and Rachel were better friends than Ross and Rachel ever were. Ross, meanwhile, always lusted after Rachel.
https://twitter.com/kaneandgriffin/status/895003028872232960
https://twitter.com/kaneandgriffin/status/895003538899599360
https://twitter.com/kaneandgriffin/status/895003831251030016
https://twitter.com/kaneandgriffin/status/895006041703763968
https://twitter.com/kaneandgriffin/status/895006350094225408
https://twitter.com/kaneandgriffin/status/895008534529622017
https://twitter.com/kaneandgriffin/status/895009021958029312
https://twitter.com/kaneandgriffin/status/895009418718330880
https://twitter.com/kaneandgriffin/status/895009654995992576
First point, made well. But this is just kicking off…
https://twitter.com/kaneandgriffin/status/895009811766497280
https://twitter.com/kaneandgriffin/status/895012749230592000
https://twitter.com/kaneandgriffin/status/895012805958434816
https://twitter.com/kaneandgriffin/status/895012864368324608
https://twitter.com/kaneandgriffin/status/895014820394573824
Again, point two superbly made. Then they go on to discuss the negative impact Rachel and Ross had on each other and compares that to Joey, who happily lived with Rachel and her new-born daughter, Emma.
https://twitter.com/kaneandgriffin/status/895020547565731840
https://twitter.com/kaneandgriffin/status/895028697073303552
https://twitter.com/kaneandgriffin/status/895029058865577984
https://twitter.com/kaneandgriffin/status/895029249064566785
https://twitter.com/kaneandgriffin/status/895029305050136578
https://twitter.com/kaneandgriffin/status/895030025862262784
https://twitter.com/kaneandgriffin/status/895032846720442368
https://twitter.com/kaneandgriffin/status/895032931701346304
https://twitter.com/kaneandgriffin/status/895033140258918400
https://twitter.com/kaneandgriffin/status/895034240563163136
https://twitter.com/kaneandgriffin/status/895034874033192960
Y’know, what? Joey and Rachel not being together at the end of Friends might just be one of the show’s greatest injustices.
If that’s whetted your appetite for some more Ross-bashing – read the entire 100-tweet thread here. But for now, we can only hope for an even more controversial thread.
https://twitter.com/kaneandgriffin/status/895183608679477250