21 Things That Literally Made No Sense About 'Friends'
It's been almost 25 years since Friends first premiered, and almost 15 since it ended. Fortunately, thanks to streaming services like Netflix, we can relive those 236 episodes again and again - at about 22 minutes each, they make for perfect binge-watching material!
A lot has been written about Friends and how the beloved sitcom, like many TV shows, hasn't entirely aged gracefully. For example, there are the jokes at the expense of Chandler's transgender father, which definitely wouldn't fly today; Ross's reaction to the male nanny, which would send Twitter up in arms; and most of the jokes about “Fat Monica”, which were just cruel upon rewatching. With all of that being said, Friends is like comfort food: it tastes good, it's easy going down, and sometimes you just shouldn't think too much about how it can be bad for you.
With ten seasons, there's a lot of ground to cover and, since there are multiple writers in the writers' room, and scripts can be changed so rapidly and frequently, there are definitely a few plot holes, continuity errors, and general "what the heck" moments throughout the show. Speaking plainly, some of the stuff on Friends just didn't make any sense, and so we've compiled 21 instances that left us scratching out heads.
21 That Time Ross Drew On Rachel's Face
In the two-part season five finale “The One In Vegas”, we see Ross and Rachel head off to join the others in Las Vegas after Joey's promised “big break” doesn't go as planned. While en route, the on-again, off-again couple prank each other repeatedly: Rachel pours her drink on Ross's lap, Ross loudly accuses Rachel of trying to hook up with him in the bathroom, and Rachel kisses a man's head and blames it on Ross. Of course, the capper is when, once Rachel has fallen asleep, Ross uses his pen to draw a mustache and goatee on her without her knowledge. Upon waking, they both learn that it's impossible to scrub off! To level the playing field, Rachel draws an equally silly face on Ross, the two of them get drunk, and carouse around Vegas together, ending in a quickie wedding.
So far, so good, right?
Well, then we get into some “hmmm” territory.
The following morning, when they're all sitting down the brunch, both Ross and Rachel are fresh-faced, without a trace of marker or even redness from aggressively rubbing it off.
The whole point of the episode was their inability to get the marker off their faces, so where did it go?
20 None Of Their Birthdays Made Sense
Throughout the series, we see every Friend celebrate their birthday, particularly in the episode “The One Where They All Turn Thirty” in season seven, so you'd think that, over 10 years, the creators would have been able to nail down the birthdays of each character. After all, there are only six of them, right?
As it turns out, apparently six birthdays was too many for the crew, producers, and writers to keep track of, because there's tons of discrepancy in their birthdays, depending on the season!
In season four's “The One With Joey's New Girlfriend”, Rachel tells Gunther that her birthday is in May but, in season seven, she mentions that she's an Aquarius, which would put her birthday somewhere between January 20 and February 18. In that same season four episode, Ross tells Gunther that his birthday is in early December - but in a season 1 episode that first aired October 20th, he'd informed everyone that his birthday was “seven months ago”, putting him at around March. Then, even weirder, in season nine, Ross chastised Joey for forgetting that his b-day was October 18th! So, which is it, Ross?
19 Ross Seemed To Have Two "First Times"
Ross was either a very confused character (we already know that he wasn't mentally stable all the time, thanks to his breakdown in season five), or the writers just didn't fact-check their character backgrounds. Fortunately, since die-hard viewers of the show have watched the episodes multiple times, more and more discrepancies in the characters' personal histories have been unearthed, including when Ross had his first time!
Initially, Ross tells us that his first time was with his first wife, Carol, while in college, which is what made it so hard for him to acknowledge that she was a lesbian. He even doubled down on this later by saying that Rachel was only the second woman he had ever slept with. However, by the season seven episode “The One With Rachel's Assistant”, Ross accuses Chandler of sleeping with their dorm's elderly cleaning lady - only for Chandler to remind him that it was actually him! Either the experience was so forgettable that he failed to count it as the time he cashed in his V-card or it happened after he was already involved with Carol, which makes Ross a bit of a jerk even before we got to know him better!
18 Why Emily Went Through With The Wedding In The First Place
We know that weddings are expensive, and, with being up at the alter in front of all your family and friends, it can be intimidating to call it off. But, with all of that being said, why in the heck does Emily choose to follow through with marrying Ross after he says the wrong name?!
It was already an awful start to married life together but the deal hadn't been sealed yet, and Emily could have easily walked away, her suspicions about Ross and Rachel confirmed.
But no.
Instead, Emily opts to not only go through with the ceremony but then locks herself in the bathroom for the entire reception, despite Ross's repeated pleas. Then, once they are actually married, she again refuses to see him and tries to upend his entire life by cutting out Rachel completely. Now, we know that Emily was pretty awful, but we can kind of understand this response. But - she could have saved herself all that heartache and money and court time by simply not agreeing to marry Ross right then and there! The fact that this mismatched couple goes through with the nuptials and no one says anything about it is a major mystery on the part of the showrunners.
17 Why Rachel Said Yes To Joey's Non-Proposal
Apparently, mixed up marriages and their proposals are simply par for the course if you're among the six core Friend group. In the season nine episode “The One Where No One Proposes”, Rachel is hopped up on pregnancy meds, exhausted from having given birth after a lengthy labor, and, while her brain might be fuzzy and her emotions all over the place, it still doesn't make any sense to us that she thought Joey was proposing to her!
The scene plays out with Joey picking up a ring that's fallen from Ross's pocket, which was given to him by his mother.
While on the ground, Joey looks up at Rachel, with the ring in his hand and - despite the fact that he says absolutely nothing - she assumes she's being proposed to and accepts!
It's a bone of contention among many viewers, even those who have experienced pregnancy and post-partum brain, because how does no one say anything until the climactic end when it's revealed in a public and humiliating fashion that no one proposed or even intended to. We know that the later seasons weren't quite as awesome as the earlier episodes of the show, but this was a Friends faux-pas for sure!
16 Rachel Green: Professional Lady?
After working (poorly) as a waitress at the coffee house, Rachel was able to get a job at Ralph Lauren and eventually rise up through the ranks, to the point where she was established enough to hire her own assistant. Among her choices to interview are Hilda, who is qualified and professional, or Tag, who had zero experience except for “three years painting houses” and “two whole summers at T.G.I. Fridays” - but who is just so dreamy! Naturally, despite urging from Phoebe, she hires the latter.
Look, if the shoe was on the other foot, we know that this wouldn't be an okay thing for a male character to do, so why does Rachel get a free pass? Aside from some initial outrage from Phoebe over Rachel's decision, none of the other Friends think it's a problem or a risk to Rachel's career and reputation! Even for his first couple of days, he proves himself to be a sub-par assistant who skates by because he's sleeping with the boss. Unsurprisingly, in the aforementioned episode “The One Where They All Turn Thirty”, Rachel dumps Tag for not being mature enough - but does that mean she fires him too?
15 Everyone's Okay With Monica And Richard But Not Ok With Frank And Alice
When it comes to what's appropriate and what's not, the six Friends seem to be pretty flexible, choosing to be up in arms about some things while more or less ignoring others. Case in point: Monica and Richard.
Ross, as Monica's older brother, was understandably grossed out over the idea of his little sister dating someone who had known her since she was young, but his disgust seems to wash away pretty quickly.
Even having a chat with him while both Rachel and Monica are determining who gets the protection to get frisky that night seemed normal. The rest of them, on the other hand, don't seem that weirded out about the twenty-one=year age gap. While age may be nothin' but a number, the fact that he knew her from babyhood makes things a shade ickier.
On the other hand, when we meet Phoebe's brother, Frank Buffay, Jr. and his wife Alice, the whole group is revolted at the idea of them getting married and having children, in part because Alice was Frank's teacher. But, isn't the level of authority about the same as Richard to Monica? We don't think it's a stretch to call it a double standard!
14 Chandler Can't Cry?
Chandler Bing had a pretty rough childhood, despite being quite pampered as a kid. As a result, he often relies on sarcasm and jokes to displace his discomfort, and his emotional stuntedness is further explained when he reveals in season six that he can't cry, in the aptly-titled episode “The One Where Chandler Can't Cry.” The Friends try everything to make him sob, like reminding him of the fate of Bambi's mom or hypothesizing about a lonely talking puppy.
Except - plot hole alert! - Chandler actually can cry!
Considering he gets a lot of flack for being the most sensitive among the guys, as is exhibited when they talk about who can beat one another up during a Halloween party when Chandler is a pink Velveteen Rabbit, it's weird that they even gave Chandler this characteristic. So, when we learned that Chandler had, in fact, cried at least once, we jumped on this discrepancy! You see, in an earlier episode, the gang are talking about the time Phoebe made Chandler “cry like a baby”, making the whole plot of this later episode totally moot - or, as Joey would say, “moo”.
13 Phoebe's Ability To Speak French Is Inconsistent
We don't know much about Phoebe's actual life before joining the gang, but suffice it to say that it was pretty exotic and unexpected, compared to the suburban comfort enjoyed by the other five. In fact, we know so little about Phoebe that we're not sure where or when she learned to speak French fluently, but it must have been somewhere off-screen between seasons eight and ten!
In the season eight episode, “The One With Rachel's Date”, Phoebe falls for a clumsy sous-chef who works with Monica. The chef informs Phoebe that “sous” means “under” in the Romantic language but then, just a couple seasons later, Phoebe is trying to teach Joey how to speak French for a role! Since the clumsy chef who was a walking disaster only lasted for one episode, it's pretty unlikely that she would have learned to master an entire language during their time together, so who does this one add up? It doesn't make sense that Phoebe would go from not comprehending a single French word to being fluent enough to teach someone as slow as Joey, so was she taking secret language lessons that we never saw?
12 How They Actually Were Able To Keep Exotic Pets
For six Friends, it always seemed a little weird to us that none of them had regular pets, especially since they seem to be able to spend so much time away from work (more on that below). That being said, there were a couple instances of exotic pets that just didn't make any sense.
First off, we have the chick and the duck, who were picked up by Joey, the former after he watched a news story about baby chicks being abandoned after being purchased as Easter gifts, and the latter after Chandler tried to return the chick.
As most landlords know, these two birds would qualify as exotic pets and not exactly suitable to a Manhattan apartment building.
In fact, in all fairness to the show, their superintendent, Mr. Treager, tells Joey that they can't have animals in the building, and so Joey tries to cover it up by explaining that “Chick” and “Duck” are his and Chandler's nicknames.
Then there's Marcel.
Considering that Ross was regularly walking around with a monkey on his shoulder - an animal that has no business being in the city - how did no one complain if the building's regulations were so strict? The animal was almost caught by Animal Control, too, until they're able to get him back by threatening the worker's job. And then Ross gives him away in the end!
11 Hanging Out In Central Perk All Day Long
We know that it's easier for showrunners to keep their cast hanging out in one place as a sort of meeting or communal area, especially if they work different jobs. Do we care about them interacting with one another rather than other people, right? However, how is it that six ostensibly employed people managed to spend hours every day sitting around and chatting at a coffee shop? Plus, after Rachel quit working there, they would have had to pay for their drinks, and New York prices aren't cheap! (Also, as a sidebar, if we were Rachel, we certainly wouldn't want to be hanging around our old workplace!)
In all fairness, one episode did mention that fact that all six characters were busy hanging out at Central Perk rather than at work, which could be the reason why their bosses didn't like any of them, but such a revelation doesn't change their behavior.
Critics and critical audiences have also wondered how they always managed to score such a prime seat, but eagle-eyed viewers debunked this idea by pointing out the “Reserved” sign that was present on the table at all times. However, we can't imagine that any coffeehouse would allow six people to sit around for hours sipping on the same drinks at the expense of paying customers!
10 Twentysomethings Who Rarely Party
As someone in her twenties, I feel like I can say pretty confidently that the relationship between partying and drinks is pretty unrealistic for all six Friends. In their flashback episode, titled “The One With The Flashback”, we see the gang at a bar that will later be turned into the coffeehouse (which has us thinking convenience rather than coffee is what kept them hanging out there for all those years afterward).
However, after that season six episode, there's pretty much zero mention of a bar or of ever seeing them at one! We do see Ross party at a club with Joey, Chandler, and Chloe the copy girl, but that's it!
Considering that the show started when some of the characters were supposed to be 24 - and in the heart of NYC - we find it a little nonsensical that they wouldn't be going out from time to time.
As they get older, it totally makes sense that they would prefer to pop bottles at home and they're certainly not strangers to knocking a few too many back from time to time. The lack of bar meetups or partying in general, as a group of twentysomethings in the city that never sleeps still leaves us scratching our heads.
9 Joey Getting Increasingly More Dumb
Joey Tribbiani was never the brightest Friend of the six, but his intelligence started to really go downhill as the series progressed. Take his confusion over what an Adam's apple is, for example. In season two, Joey tells the gang about a girl he went out with who was a great kisser but had a huge Adam's apple. However, by season seven, Joey has forgotten what an Adam's apple is and calls it his “Joey's apple”, prompting Chandler to inform him, “For the last time, it's not named after each individual man.” So, did Joey's IQ just drop a few points between those seasons or what?
Joey's downhill intellect trajectory has frustrated a lot of viewers, with Joey being the butt of jokes for his stupidity.
While he absolutely wasn't a genius by any stretch, he was still kind and thoughtful. As the seasons go on, though, Joey becomes rude, selfish, and just not that bright!
The earlier seasons saw Joey having actual conversations with his friends and winning over women, even putting two and two together about the eyelash curler left in the hotel room and deducing that Chandler and Monica were seeing each other! By season 10, though, Joey is a fraction of that guy, with multiple jokes made at his expense.
8 Chandler Forgetting About “Big Monica”
We've already given Ross grief for failing to remember - or the writers to remember - when his actual birthday is, but maybe Chandler needs to have his brain scanned, too, since he's forgotten more than a few things through the show's 10-year run!
Take “Fat Monica”, for example. In season two's episode “The One With The Prom Video”, which brings Ross and Rachel together for the first time, we also get to meet “Fat Monica”, after only hearing about her. Upon seeing her on camera - and everyone laughing - Monica defends herself, saying, “The camera adds ten pounds!” Chandler then quips, “How many cameras are on you?”
However, why is Chandler at all surprised by Monica's heavier figure, when that's how she looked when he first met her?
In fact, it was overhearing Chandler's nasty remark about her weight that spurred Monica to get skinny out of revenge! While Chandler could have just been making a crack to get a couple laughs, it sounded like he genuinely forgot what Monica looked like before she lost weight, despite the fact that it's regularly brought up! But that's not the last we have to say about “Fat Monica”.
7 “Big Monica” In General
In general, “Fat Monica” and everything about her and the treatment she receives is pretty bad, and it's one of the jokes from a show that began almost 25 years ago that just doesn't land upon watching it through a modern lens. In addition to the emotions that the idea of “Fat Monica” as a punchline can raise, there's also some fact-based evidence that renders some of her past kind of nonsensical.
Throughout the show, we hear that when Monica was overweight, she was totally unhappy. Her band uniform was made into a special project for the Home Economics class, who thought that it was for the mascot, she broke the porch swing, and she just wasn't the kind of girl who traveled in the same cliques as popular, pretty Rachel. However, in all the flashbacks we see of Monica as “Fat Monica”, she actually seems really happy! She's not worried about what she looks like and seems to be having a good time - it's only the laugh track that says that she should be something funny to look at. Even in the alternate reality episode, “The One That Could Have Been”, Monica is still happy and food-friendly. It was only when Chandler called her fat that she decided to lose weight, not because she was unhappy.
6 Joey Buying A Boat
Throughout much of the series, Joey is struggling to make ends meet. He constantly relies on Chandler to pay for his acting lessons, headshots, rent, food, and more, and even when he gets a high-paying gig with Days of Our Lives, his money management skills are so poor that he gets almost everything repossessed!
So, tell us, how did he manage to finance a boat?
In the season six episode, “the One With The Proposal”, Joey and Phoebe join Rachel at her work's charity auction and, while there, Joey “guesses” $20,000 for a yacht - and then ”wins” it! Knowing that he can't afford $20 for a pleasure craft, Rachel tries to convince him to sell it to the next highest bidder, a man named Mr. Beaumont, but in her effort to entice him, Joey ends up wanting to keep the boat all for himself!
But how does he afford it? The show never tells us how Joey manages to pay for the boat as well as all of its upkeep. However, they do mention in passing in season 10 that Joey sold the boat two years ago, meaning that he must have realized the strain on his wallet pretty quickly!
5 Two “I Love You”s
Telling someone that you love them can be a momentous occasion. It's a time of vulnerability, of really laying it all out on the line. We bet some people might wish that they could take those three little words back, or at least alter where, when, and how they said it.
Well, if they're Chandler Bing, they totally can!
One of the biggest plot holes in 'Friends' history is that fact that Chandler declares his love for Monica “for the first time” twice.
First, Chandler drops the L-word in the episode “The One With All The Thanksgivings” in season five. Monica, in an attempt to make Chandler happy, comes in with a turkey on her head and proceeds to dance around. Chandler says, “You're so great, I love you,” which causes Monica to stop short in shock at him finally admitting it. Apparently, though, the writers (and characters) forgot that even happened, since the OTHER declaration of love for the first time happens later in “The One Where They All Find Out”, and in that instance, everyone overhears Chandler's admission of his feelings, and Monica seems just as shocked as she was the first time around. So which is it?
4 The Size Of The Apartments
Apartments in New York City are notoriously expensive, if you're looking for something that isn't the size of a closet, has a window, and might even offer a modest kitchen. According to People magazine, a place like Monica's, in that location and with those amenities, would go for about $5100 a month. While that might sound doable to some, with the combined salary of Monica and Rachel, they'd be going into serious debt just to survive!
Look, we know that Monica mentions time and again that the place is rent-controlled - the holy grail of NYC apartments - and technically owned by her deceased grandmother, how do we explain Chandler and Joey's pad?
It's true, the guys' place isn't nearly as nice as the girls' - which would explain why they were so eager to switch apartments - but it's still pretty roomy, with a generous living room, two bedrooms, and a bathroom. In Greenwich Village, it's still a steep price, especially since Chandler was footing the bill. We know that TV real estate is rarely realistic, but enough ink has been spilled about the discrepancy between the characters' earnings and their living situations that we had to mention it.
3 Rachel And Chandler “Meeting” Four Separate Times
In terms of plot holes or continuity errors, this is a big one. Throughout the 10 seasons of Friends, we see Rachel and Chandler being introduced to each other not once, not twice, not thrice, but four separate times! Let's look a little deeper into this, shall we?
In the pilot episode, we see a wedding dress-wearing Rachel rush into Central Perk, soaking wet. She finds Monica, and Monica introduces her to everyone - including Chandler, as though the two have never met. Since this is the first episode, we the audience assume that this is their first meeting, too.
But wait. In season three's “The One With The Flashback”, we see Chandler and Rachel meeting again, this time at the bar before it was turned into the coffeehouse, and Chandler tries to hit on her, but Rachel shows no sign of remembering who he is. But then, in season five's “The One With All The Thanksgivings”, Rachel and Chandler are introduced when Ross brings his Thanksgiving-hating roommate home with him for the holiday. Finally, in season 10, we see in another flashback that Rachel and Chandler were introduced AGAIN at a college party! Sure, Rachel was once very vapid and self-absorbed, but is she really so self-centered as to not recognize someone after meeting them four times?
2 The Disappearance Of Ben
After we learn of Ross's divorce on account of his wife's orientation, we also learn that she's pregnant with his child. Much of that pregnancy and Ross's son, Ben, is covered in the earlier seasons. We see Ben as a baby prefer a Barbie doll to a G.I. Joe, get left on a bus by Chandler and Joey, and get his head smacked on a pole by Monica. Even as a young kid, we see more of Ben, who learns to pull pranks with Rachel and learns about Hanukkah from Ross. As far as sitcom kids go, he gets a fair amount of attention.
For a while, at least.
You see, in the later seasons, when Ross is off making terrible dating decisions including his relationship with Rachel… he seems to forget all about Ben.
In fact, after the middle of season eight, he never even shows up! It seems that once Rachel becomes pregnant with Ross's child, the writers discovered that they didn't know how to make Ross work as a parent to two kids, so they simply omitted the older one entirely! We have no idea what happens to Ben, if he sees his dad regularly, or if he ever meets his half-sister!
1 Ross Chooses Rachel
If you're a die-hard fan of Ross and Rachel as a couple, you might want to forgo this final entry. Now, we're not here to debate the merits of their problematic and downright toxic relationship - we're here for just those final few episodes.
When Rachel learns that she's getting promoted to a job in Paris, she's thrilled. Ross, on the other hand, is terrified about losing the woman he's remembered he loves, and tries to pull as many strings as possible to get her, her old job back, with better pay. However, throughout his pleas, he doesn't once mention the child they share as a factor. Emma? Maybe you remember her? Ross seems more upset about losing Rachel than having infrequent contact with his baby daughter, who will be an ocean away. Plus, since Ben seems to have disappeared from his life, as noted in the previous entry, it's not like Ross, a tenured professor, couldn't move to Paris to be with his little family himself, right?
We know that the Internet has loads of issues with Ross and, when it comes to his role as a father in the later seasons, we kind of can't blame them!
References: buzzfeed.com, cosmopolitan.com, collegehumor.com, huffingtonpost.ca, friends.wikia.com, people.com, imdb.com
