Friends is a consistent feature of our home. When Netflix took down Friends and it went to HBO Max, we ended up buying the complete set of DVDs from my brother. Consistent with our love of Friends, we definitely have some opinions about the series. And some of them definitely fit in the “unpopular opinions” category.
Ross and Rachel weren’t good together
They were cute at the beginning of their love story; it was intriguing and engaging watching them pine for each other… but then they both got insecure in turn. Insecurities happen in new relationships, but then things got out of hand. I honestly don’t even care about them in the last episode because I’m not convinced they could survive as a couple after the series finale. They weren’t the core couple of the show; Chandler and Monica were.
Emily wasn’t a bad person
Look at it from her perspective. Your fiancé says his ex-girlfriend’s name at the altar and then he gets on a plane headed to your honeymoon destination. Awkward. I think it was a totally reasonable request for him to not hang out with her. I would have a hard time with my wife hanging out with an ex-boyfriend too. That being said, I judge Emily for going through with the wedding when she knew she was going to freeze him out. Also, I think it was unreasonable to expect Ross to move across the city and never see Rachel (she was his sister’s roommate; they were bound to bump into each other). So her expectations were skewed, because she was upset. Honestly she needed a chance to calm down and definitely some couples therapy.
Janice was the best!
If I knew her in real life, Janice would drive me nuts as a friend (my wife has said I’d feel the same way about Phoebe, whom I love). But as a character on the show, she’s amazing. She’s genuine, loving, and forgiving. She made the mistake of cheating on Chandler, but she even tried to make up for that. That’s admirable! When it came down to it, she genuinely cared for and loved Chandler, which he didn't have much in his life before her.
It didn’t matter if they were on a break
The ongoing discussion twenty years later is whether Ross and Rachel were on a break. It doesn’t matter! If Ross were right and they were on a break, he slept with someone two hours later. How insensitive and awful is that. Also, Rachel and Ross needed a proper conversation about the whole thing, instead of Rachel’s eighteen page letter. Maybe even a long term therapist if they wanted to stay together. That kind of hurt (whether you label it as infidelity or not) doesn't go away from just one conversation.
Ross was the worst
He is absolutely insensitive, rude, and obnoxious. Ross was so good during season one, silently pining after Rachel. But then after that he went utterly die hit. Example: while he was dating Julie, he was obnoxiously cutesy with her in Rachel’s face. Even though he didn’t know Rachel liked him, why would you be flaunting your relationship in her face?
Rachel and Joey were good together
I’ll admit their chemistry as friends was better than their chemistry as a couple. However, Joey treated Rachel so much better than Ross did. She was the first girl he’d ever really been in love with and he treated her as such. That's amazing! Their story was out of nowhere and I’m totally fine that they didn’t end up together. However, they were good to each other and that’s one of the most important parts of any relationship.
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