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”
— 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.
1/ In Defense of Rachel and Joey: A Thread
— kaneandgriffin (@kaneandgriffin) August 8, 2017
6/ ARGUMENT #1: Ross Never Saw Rachel As a Friend, But Joey Did.
— kaneandgriffin (@kaneandgriffin) August 8, 2017
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.
7/ From the moment the Friends first meet Rachel, Ross immediately sees her as a romantic prospect. He's never gotten over his crush on her
— kaneandgriffin (@kaneandgriffin) August 8, 2017
11/ But Joey's relationship with Rachel is platonic almost right away. They have a genuine friendship.
— kaneandgriffin (@kaneandgriffin) August 8, 2017
14/ Joey has a lot of problems but his supportive, protective relationship with the women friends is one of his best qualities.
— kaneandgriffin (@kaneandgriffin) August 8, 2017
17/ Okay, now contrast this with Ross, who from minute one has labeled Rachel as "his."
— kaneandgriffin (@kaneandgriffin) August 8, 2017
20/ He hides messages from men who call her when they're living together. He's endlessly threatened by the men she dates.
— kaneandgriffin (@kaneandgriffin) August 8, 2017
26/ This is why "nice guys" are often so much shadier than openly, unapologetically promiscuous guys like Joey.
— kaneandgriffin (@kaneandgriffin) August 8, 2017
30/ He has to LEARN to see Rachel as a romantic prospect because she's always been a friend first. Which was NEVER true for Ross.
— kaneandgriffin (@kaneandgriffin) August 8, 2017
34/ The forced cop-out ending where they get together & suddenly all the chemistry evaporates was NONSENSE. They could have made this work.
— kaneandgriffin (@kaneandgriffin) August 8, 2017
35/ If the writers had cared enough to try, there was potential there for a fantastic and genre-defying surprise twist to the show.
— kaneandgriffin (@kaneandgriffin) August 8, 2017
First point, made well. But this is just kicking off…
36/ ARGUMENT #2: Rachel Deserved Someone Who Understood Why Her Career Was Important to Her.
(MY DUDES I AM JUST! GETTING! STARTED!)
— kaneandgriffin (@kaneandgriffin) August 8, 2017
38/ Ross sabotaged her career at every turn. He was "tired of having a relationship with her answering machine."
— kaneandgriffin (@kaneandgriffin) August 8, 2017
39/ He was jealous of all her male colleagues. He FELL ASLEEP at a work event he demanded she take him to.
— kaneandgriffin (@kaneandgriffin) August 8, 2017
40/ Over and over Ross trivialized her passions, even though I would argue that Rachel's career was always her most interesting arc.
— kaneandgriffin (@kaneandgriffin) August 8, 2017
48/ Hey does anyone remember who gives Rachel her first big break to get out of Central Perk and into the fashion industry? JOEY DID
— kaneandgriffin (@kaneandgriffin) August 8, 2017
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.
63/ ARGUMENT #3: Joey and Rachel Make Each Other Better, Ross and Rachel Make Each Other Worse
— kaneandgriffin (@kaneandgriffin) August 8, 2017
74/ Joey learns to love having a baby around, stops being a bad-date punchline and tries to be worthy of a way higher-class lady.
— kaneandgriffin (@kaneandgriffin) August 8, 2017
77/ Rachel has been uptight all her life and Joey teaches her how to chill the fuck out. He brings out a sillier side of her.
— kaneandgriffin (@kaneandgriffin) August 8, 2017
78/ Meanwhile, let's discuss how few moments exist in the "Friends" canon where Ross and Rachel are EVER that chill and cute together.
— kaneandgriffin (@kaneandgriffin) August 8, 2017
79/ Everything is ALWAYS fraught. Fighting, jealousy, possessiveness, drama. Their relationship looks EXHAUSTING.
— kaneandgriffin (@kaneandgriffin) August 8, 2017
84/ Joey: respecting Rachel's feelings. Ross: needing to win every fucking time.
— kaneandgriffin (@kaneandgriffin) August 8, 2017
93/ The bottom line is, the Rachel Ross fell in love with was a teenage fantasy he never outgrew that may have been an illusion all along.
— kaneandgriffin (@kaneandgriffin) August 8, 2017
94/ Ross fell in love with A PICTURE OF HIMSELF AS THE KIND OF MAN WHO COULD DATE A RACHEL and on some level that was always what he wanted.
— kaneandgriffin (@kaneandgriffin) August 8, 2017
95/ Whereas Joey fell in love with a bright, funny, competent single mother he'd been friends with for 7 years and knew inside-out already.
— kaneandgriffin (@kaneandgriffin) August 8, 2017
98/ Ross and Rachel were endgame because they were considered INEVITABLE, and I don't dispute that that's where the show was always heading.
— kaneandgriffin (@kaneandgriffin) August 8, 2017
99/ But a S10 surprise twist where Rachel and Joey end up realizing THEY were each other's lobster all along WOULD HAVE CHANGED SITCOM TV
— kaneandgriffin (@kaneandgriffin) August 8, 2017
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.
My other Hot Take on "Friends" is that this FUCKING QUEEN was completely underrated #TeamJanice https://t.co/6mHP28q7W4
— kaneandgriffin (@kaneandgriffin) August 9, 2017