Friends has remained an iconic television program throughout the years. The show brought some of the best-loved characters to the forefront of the ’90s (and beyond,) with Chandler (Matthew Perry,) Monica (Courtney Cox,) Ross (David Schwimmer,) Rachel (Jennifer Aniston,) Joey (Matt LeBlanc) and Phoebe (Lisa Kudrow). Each of them was crucial to the success of the show.
A number of storylines were there to lift audiences up. For example, Mike and Phoebe’s wedding or Rachel getting off the plane were just two of the happiest narratives. On the other hand, there are storylines that show the worst side of various characters (not just the lead six.) With the trials and tribulations of love and family relationships, some plots were centered around unforgivable moments.
10.Ross Says Rachel’s Name at His Wedding
Starting strong with one of the most iconic scenes of all time, the scandalous moment Ross said the wrong name at his own wedding. Ross and Emily were getting hitched in England, and Rachel originally said she wouldn’t go. At the last minute, she got a flight to London, but instead of confessing her feelings to Ross when she saw him before the ceremony, she just congratulated him.Onto the wedding itself, and during their vows, Ross said “Take thee, Rachel.” Everyone was in utter shock (characters and viewers alike.) Emily was supposed to have the best day of her life, and Ross said another woman’s name. Rachel and Ross already had a history together, so Emily was left with a lot of doubts, and Ross had a whole load of explaining to do.
9.Chandler Kisses Kathy
Joey had dated a lot of women, but when it came to Kathy, things got a little more complicated. After meeting her, Chandler developed feelings, which were reciprocated by Kathy. As time went by, the two were visibly drawn to each other. When they were alone, and Kathy cut Chandler’s hair, they kissed.Joey had said that they weren’t exclusive, but they were still seeing each other romantically. When Chandler told Joey he had feelings for Kathy, Joey was glad that he’d told him first before acting on those feelings. Of course, Chandler had already kissed her, and Joey was upset to learn the truth. The whole ordeal was a strain on their friendship, although they eventually patched things over.
8.Ross Makes a List
Back to Ross again, and this time, he insulted Rachel. Ross had come back from a trip with a new girlfriend, Julie. Rachel expected him to get off the flight alone, where she eagerly awaited his arrival. Rachel had to try to come to terms with Ross not being single anymore, which proved to be difficult.Rachel came clean about how she felt, and the two ended up kissing. Afterward, Ross enlisted the help of Joey and Chandler, where he made a list of the pros and cons of both women, to help him decide who he should be with. Rachel got hold of the paper, where she was heartbroken to see that Ross had written things about her like “She’s just a waitress.” It was a cruel way to come to a conclusion about who he wanted to be with, and something that neither Rachel nor Julie deserved.
7. Paolo Isn’t as Nice as Everyone Thought
Paolo wasn’t in Friends for very long, but he came on the scene as someone that Rachel was dating. Ross is extremely jealous of him, as he wanted to be with Rachel. Even though, at first, Paolo seemed like a nice enough guy, things quickly changed when Phoebe was giving him a massage.Paolo took advantage of Phoebe, by groping her when he was lying on the massage table. He then moved his towel to expose himself to her. Phoebe told Rachel, who was devastated that he would do such a thing. They stuck together and stopped each other from feeling bad about the situation when it was only Paolo who needed to be sorry. Needless to say, he became a very unpopular character.
6.Janice Cheats on Chandler
Janice was a big part of Chandler’s character arc in Friends, though not always a happy memory. The two were on and off almost as much as Ross and Rachel, unable to pull away from each other before they moved on with other people. They were clearly never meant to be together, but that didn’t excuse what Janice did to Chandler.Whilst they were together, Joey caught Janice kissing her ex. Reluctantly, Joey broke the sad news to his friend, which Janice didn’t seem to have any plan of doing. Chandler was understandably saddened by the betrayal. When he confronted her, she went on to admit that she was still in love with her ex, as well as Chandler. Janice and Chandler proved to be stuck in a toxic cycle, and Janice made it worse.
5.Judy Prefers Ross to Monica
Judy and Jack are hilarious additions to the cast. As Ross and Monica’s parents, they help to build a picture of the two main characters’ younger lives. Unfortunately for Monica, it doesn’t sound like she had the happiest childhood, particularly because of her mother.Judy is regularly portrayed as favoring Ross over Monica. Ross can seemingly do no wrong when Monica is regularly painted as the lesser child. She’s never impressed with anything Monica does, yet continuously praises Ross in a way that highlights what she thinks about Monica. Monica was well aware of the unfair treatment, as was Ross. Although it’s always framed as comedy, it’s actually a sad part of Monica’s story, especially when Ross had a much happier childhood.
4.Mike Proposes to Phoebe
This one can sometimes get overlooked, but there are plenty of fans who feel uneasy about the narrative. When Phoebe was in Barbados with the rest of the gang and David, Mike turned up out of the blue. While in a restaurant, and when David was about to propose, Mike came in a did the exact same thing.Phoebe pretty much ended things with David to be with Mike on the spot (which is another harsh moment.) However, what Mike failed to do was end his relationship with his girlfriend back home, before he got back together with Phoebe. Precious was none-the-wiser when he got back from Barbados and walked in on Phoebe being in Mike’s apartment. The decent thing to do would’ve been for Mike to break up with Precious before he proposed to someone else.
3.Monica Harasses her Maid
Sometimes the subplots stand out in audiences’ minds, as did Monica’s unfortunate incident with her cleaning maid. Hesitant at first, Monica eventually agreed to let Chandler hire someone who could clean their apartment, so Monica wouldn’t have to spend so much time doing so. However, it didn’t work out.Monica was convinced that she had stolen her jeans, and wouldn’t let it drop. She decided to put her head between the maid’s legs, to see if she could spot the stain that was on her pair of jeans. It was a completely inappropriate thing for Monica to do. As it turned out the jeans weren’t even hers. It goes without saying, Monica should’ve just spoken to the maid if she really felt the need to, instead of taking such drastic measures.
2.Phoebe Introduces Monica’s Soulmate
Phoebe’s quirky personality resulted in a lot of funny quotes from her on Friends. Some of her antics were excused because of how eccentric she was. However, there’s one thing she did that was pretty unfair to Chandler. When dating Don, Phoebe believed she’d found Monica’s soulmate in him.At this point, Monica was with Chandler, but Phoebe had no qualms about introducing Don in front of Chandler. Like some of the other entries in this list, the plot was played for laughs, and successfully so. But it definitely wasn’t nice for Chandler to experience one of his best friends telling his partner that her soulmate was in a different man. What made it a bit weirder was that Phoebe was actually the one dating him.
1.Monica’s Memories Are Ruined
Back to Monica and her parents, but focusing on Jack. Ross went into Jack’s garage where they began to look through his boxes of childhood memories. Ross found a lot of his old stuff, including his rock polisher. When it came to Monica’s boxes, everything was ruined.Jack told Ross that he’d used the boxes to protect his car from water that had gotten inside the garage. Ross made it known that he was wrong for doing so, and they tried to pass off some of Ross’ toys as Monica’s. It didn’t work, and Monica was really hurt that her memories didn’t mean as much as Ross’. In the end, her dad made it up to her by giving her his Porsche.
