Friends Storylines That Fans Hated

Friends is the ultimate 1990s sitcom. The half-hour series revolves around six twenty-somethings: Spoiled fashionista Rachel Green (Jennifer Aniston), neurotic chef Monica (Courteney Cox), wacky free spirit Phoebe (Lisa Kudrow), sarcastic funnyman Chandler (Matthew Perry), goofy actor Joey (Matt LeBlanc), and Monica's dorky brother, Ross (David Schwimmer). Together, they struggle to fulfill their dreams, spend hours at Central Perk, and pursue an endless number of romances — sometimes with each other. Monica and Chandler get together. Ross and Rachel get together, then break up, then get back together, then break up, then have a baby. Phoebe gets together with Mike Hannigan, played by Paul Rudd. Joey, ever the ladies' man, stays single and takes off for Joey, an ill-advised 2004 spinoff. 

With 10 seasons to its name, Friends defined the 1990s, launched its stars' careers, and changed the TV landscape forever. But in the age of the binge rewatch, Friends' virtues and flaws have been brought into newly sharp relief. Sure, fans can endlessly revisit their favorite moments at the click of a button ... but they'll also be confronted with the elements of the show that they couldn't stand then, and can't stand now. These are the Friends storylines fans absolutely hate.

When Ross and Rachel finally get together in Friends' second season, fans were ecstatic. But when Rachel meets a guy named Mark who offers to get her an interview at Bloomingdale's, a crazy switch flips in Ross. He becomes insanely jealous of Rachel's new job, questions Mark's motives, and generally gives Rachel grief for loving her career. Most frustratingly, he treats her like territory to be marked as his.

Ross sends a singing barbershop quartet to Rachel's office, floods her desk with flowers and stuffed animals, and even shows up at her place of work with a picnic dinner while she's in the middle of a work crisis. This leads to them "taking a break," during which Ross sleeps with Chloe the copy girl, an event that causes Ross and Rachel to officially break up. The whole scenario is annoying: The entirety of Friends' first season sets these two up, then barely gives them a season to actually be together. As a result, the whole rest of the series revolves around Ross and Rachel getting back together, which becomes tiring and repetitive.

Writers seem to have been grasping at straws by Friends' ninth season. Sending Chandler to Tulsa, Oklahoma for a number of episodes just feels like an excuse for creating misunderstandings, mistaken locations, and geographical tomfoolery.

The whole scenario begins when Chandler falls asleep in an important meeting and somehow volunteers to head up his data processing company's office in Tulsa. Monica, who has just been offered a new chef job, chooses to stay behind in New York. Chandler travels back and forth between the two cities, which leads to episodes in which Monica thinks Chandler gets turned on by sharks, Joey thinks Monica is having an affair, and Monica thinks Chandler is having an affair — on Christmas, no less. Every single Tulsa storyline is contrived, convoluted, and boring, the sort of rote sitcom shenanigans that elicit more groans than laughs. Eventually, Chandler quits the job that he's had for years and moves back to New York. It's a welcome relief, but one that shouldn't have been necessary in the first place.

Ross doesn't have the best track record when it comes to dating. Rachel really had to be his lobster in the end, because frankly, no one else would have him. There's Mona, who he keeps forgetting exists. There's Emily, whose name he replaces with Rachel's at the altar. Oh, and then there's his cousin. That's all that really needs to be said about that particular dalliance.

Ross's worst relationship, however, has got to be the one he has with Elizabeth. While teaching paleontology at NYU, Ross starts dating one of his undergraduate students, the plucky, blonde Elizabeth. She's a sweet enough girl — and should also be totally off-limits, as Ross is both significantly older and her professor. pursuing her is probably one of Ross' creepiest moments — and goodness knows, he has a number of those to his name. This is one line he simply should not have crossed.

When Ross and Rachel have baby Emma and move in together, despite still not being a couple, the whole scenario grows creaky. These two have dated, been married, been divorced, and are now living together with their baby. Sure, denial is strong, but this is a bit much. During this era of their relationship, Ross and Rachel interview a bunch of nannies to take care of Emma. The best candidate turns out to be a guy named Sandy, played by Freddie Prinze Jr., who plays the flute, puts on puppet shows, and displays a sensitivity that makes him an all-star nanny.

But of course, Ross is uncomfortable with the fact that Sandy is a dude. Ross blurts out a bunch of sexist garbage about Sandy being too sensitive, that being a nanny is a woman's job, and that his sensitivity makes Ross (who isn't exactly macho) uncomfortable. Ross's dislike of Sandy plays into stupid tropes about masculinity and how men are supposed to behave, all of which makes Ross look like a jerk. Alas, Sandy is never heard from again, and of course, they hire a hot woman that Joey eventually hits on. 

As Friends loves to remind its audience, Monica used to be fat. This fact is fodder for a thousand lazy jokes that aren't just boring, but outright cruel. Monica's body and its complex history is constantly used to mock and shame her: When it comes up, it always leads to a joke about her past self's life revolving around cookies, mayonnaise, or some other rich foodstuff. The Monica of the past is caricatured as sloppy, embarrassing, and hopeless — even her friends use the specter of fat Monica as a "gotcha." It is made clear, over and over again, that the respect of her friends and Chandler, her eventual husband, is conditional upon her weight. When they see photos or videos of her in the past, they mock her ruthlessly. When "The One That Could Have Been" examines what might have happened to her if she hadn't lost weight, she is portrayed as an eternal virgin whose neuroses revolve around — surprise! — candy. One season of this nastiness would have been enough, but Friends' crams ten seasons full of jokes about Monica's weight and just how fully it determines her worth. It's boring, it's cruel, and frankly, it makes us like all of Monica's friends less.

Joey developing feelings for Rachel is pretty forced on its own, but what feels even more shoehorned in is Rachel actually reciprocating those feelings a season later. It's as transparent a contrivance as Joey's interest, but actually even more weakly written: Joey's feelings grow with time, in episodes like "The One With Ross' Step Forward" and "The One Where Joey Dates Rachel," while Rachel's feelings come out of nowhere. Sure, she says yes when she thinks Joey is proposing to her, but she's literally just had a baby. Later, her feelings are rooted in jealousy at seeing Joey with Charlie (Aisha Tyler). That's about as much build up as we get for Rachel's passion for Joey: Post-natal snap judgment and sudden jealousy.

Joey and Rachel falling for one another and dragging their crushes around for three seasons has got to be one of the most hated storylines Friends ever put its fans through. Sure, Ross and Rachel needed obstacles on the path to wedded bliss, but this one isn't just a bit much — it's weakly written.