Ross And Rachel's Best Friends Moments Ranked
From early on in Season 1 of "Friends," it seemed evident that Rachel Greene (Jennifer Aniston) and Ross Geller (David Schwimmer) were destined to be together. Ross had been in love with Rachel since ninth grade, and when she came crashing back into his life in the pilot episode, things started looking up. The duo finally got together in Season 2, but their relationship only lasted 25 episodes. In a series that had over 200 episodes, that's a really small chunk of time that Ross and Rachel were actually a thing.
There were plenty of will-they, won't-they moments after their Season 3 breakup, but the pair never actually got back together until the series finale at the end of Season 10. But before, during, and after their relationship, Ross and Rachel had many memorable moments on the show. Some were romantic and filled with passion, some were hilarious fights, and others were instances where it looked like they might come back together. And we've ranked the best Ross and Rachel moments from all 10 seasons of "Friends," including everything from major milestone to the small romantic gestures.
13. Ross and Rachel say 'I love you'
Once Ross and Rachel finally get together in Season 2, five episodes go by before they exchange their first "I love you's." In Episode 20 ("The One Where Old Yeller Dies"), Rachel is totally freaked out when Ross begins discussing his plans for their future. He goes into serious detail and talks about how many kids they might have, what their names could be, and where they might move to on Long Island. The two end up having a decent fight about all of it, where Rachel admits she isn't ready to start talking about those kinds of things yet. After noting that men made all her decisions in the past, Rachel says she wants to break away from that and make her own choices.
Ross stands firm in the argument, however, and tells Rachel that he knows they'll end up together. In the midst of their fighting, he also yells that he loves her, and she follows suit and yells it right back. It wasn't the most romantic way for a couple to exchange their first "I love you's," but it was definitely fitting for Ross and Rachel. It got a roaring laugh from the audience, and it catapulted the couple into a new level of their relationship.
12. The planetarium date
For their first official date, Ross and Rachel go to a movie, but things get awkward back at the apartment when they start kissing. Rachel can't stop laughing as Ross touches her, which brings their intimate evening to an abrupt end. And while their second date promises to be a romantic time, Ross gets hung up at the museum, and Rachel is stuck hanging around with him at work. But things take an unexpected turn when Ross takes her into the planetarium.
The two lie down and watch the stars across the ceiling as they indulge in juice boxes of cran-grape and cran-apple. Ross apologizes for his work ruining their evening, but Rachel lets him know that he's worth the wait. The heat turns up, and the pair have quite the frisky evening, so much so that they wake up in a museum display the next morning. While they're enjoying their time waking up together, they find out they're not alone as a class full of students is staring at them through the exhibit's display window.
11. Ross and Rachel's fake proposal
In Season 8, Episode 18 ("The One in Massapequa"), the entire gang heads out to Long Island to celebrate the 35th wedding anniversary of Ross and Monica's parents. Before they get there, Judy (Christina Pickles) and Jack Geller (Elliott Gould) tell all of their guests that Ross and Rachel have gotten married in an effort to justify their pregnancy.
Ross and Rachel eventually eat the idea up as some of the guests at the party give them checks as wedding gifts. One partygoer asks how Ross proposed to Rachel, and he goes into an elaborate story about how he took her to the planetarium where they had their second date and had the words "will you marry me" written in the stars. Despite the fact that this was all pretend, Rachel looks at Ross with admiration for his idea, and she's truly touched.
When they get back to the city, Ross and Rachel continue to discuss their fake nuptials. Rachel asks him if he made up the proposal story out of nowhere, and he admits it was something he always thought about doing. "That would have been very hard to say no to," she tells him.
10. The birth of Emma
In Season 8, we learn that Rachel is carrying Ross' baby. In the finale, she goes into labor, and two episodes are spent at the hospital. But before the expecting couple leave their apartment, they share a very passionate kiss and even contemplate getting down and dirty ... but they rush off to the hospital instead. Ross is an amazing support system for Rachel, who's upset as she sees women who arrive after her give birth before she does. But after many hours of labor, Rachel finally gives birth to Emma, and it's one of the purest moments in the entire series.
Ross and Rachel share a kiss just after she's born, and it really seems like it's going to be the moment where they might come back together as a couple. In fact, Judy is hanging around the hospital and gives Ross her mother's engagement ring, begging him to propose, but he insists he doesn't want to. Instead, Joey finds the ring and when he goes to show it to Rachel, she thinks it's a proposal and accepts.
9. Ross and Rachel's first kiss
At the end of Season 1, it looks like Ross and Rachel are finally going to get together. Rachel finds out that Ross loves her while he's away in China, but when she goes to greet him at the airport, he's come back with a new girlfriend. Absolutely devastated, Rachel has to watch Ross with Julie (Lauren Tom) for many episodes, and it's a drunken phone call that ends up changing everything.
After getting bombed on a date with some random guy, Rachel leaves Ross a voicemail, saying that she's over him. Ross is shocked to learn there was a time when Rachel was "under" him, and the pair end up getting in a heated argument at Central Perk after closing time one night. Both yell at one another, saying how they were doing just fine before they found out about the other's feelings for them. Ross storms out of the coffee shop, and Rachel sits on the couch with her head in her hands.
Within seconds, Ross returns, and Rachel lets him in after struggling to unlock the double doors. When she opens them, Ross rushes inside, and the two share one of the best kisses in the entire series. It takes them a little while to get together after this kiss, but it was the jumping-off point for the duo's on-again, off-again relationship.
8. Ross says 'Rachel' at the altar
At the end of Season 4, Monica, Chandler, and Joey travel to London for Ross' wedding to Emily Waltham (Helen Baxendale). Phoebe stays behind because she's too far along in her pregnancy to fly, while Rachel stays because attending Ross' wedding would be too difficult. In the finale, she has a change of heart and goes to London to tell Ross that she's still in love with him. When she gets there, she sees Ross and Emily together and decides not to go through with her plan. She simply congratulates Ross and sits down at their ceremony.
Everything goes smoothly with Emily's vows ... and then it's Ross' turn. After the officiant tells Ross to repeat after him, saying, "I, Ross, take thee, Emily," he ends up saying, "I, Ross, take thee, Rachel," to the shock of everyone in attendance. It was a surprise none of the viewers saw coming and gave everyone hope that the couple still had a chance somewhere down the line. For some odd reason, Emily went through with the wedding, and she and Ross officially marry. Of course, their marriage doesn't work out, and they end up divorcing.
7. Rachel doesn't say goodbye to Ross
In late Season 10, Rachel gets a job offer in Paris to work for Louis Vuitton, which she accepts. During her last night in New York City, she says an emotional goodbye to all of her friends, one by one. But as Ross preps for his farewell, he's shocked to learn he isn't getting one. Rachel leaves and goes back to her apartment, where Ross storms in and asks why didn't he get a goodbye. He puts her in her place and tells her he's shocked that after everything they've been through, she's going to leave without saying anything to him.
Later, Rachel bursts into Ross' apartment and tells him he didn't get a goodbye because "it's too damn hard." She tells him that when she thinks about not seeing him every day, it makes her not want to go. "If you think that I didn't say goodbye to you because you don't mean as much to me as everybody else, you're wrong. It's because you mean more to me," she says. In the midst of all the frustration, Ross grabs Rachel and kisses her. After they break away from each other, she goes back to him for another kiss, and they wind up in bed together for what Rachel says is the perfect way to say goodbye.
6. Ross gives up a major opportunity for Rachel
In Season 3, Episode 21 ("The One with a Chick and a Duck"), Ross gets an opportunity to be on a Discovery Channel panel and discuss some newly discovered fossils. He's over the moon at the offer to be on TV and spends part of the episode trying to decide what to wear. Meanwhile, Rachel suffers from a rib injury after Monica slams into her riding roller skates.
When Ross sees that Rachel is hurting in her apartment, he agrees to help her get ready for a dinner party she needs to attend at her boss' house. He applies her makeup, helps her get dressed, and even takes her to the hospital when the pain becomes too much to bear. In doing all of this for his ex-girlfriend, he misses the Discovery Channel panel and doesn't get to be on television. Rachel only finds out about his missed opportunity after the fact, and she's completely taken aback at what's he's given up to help her. "I cannot believe you," she says. "That is the sweetest thing."
There's major tension between two of them as the seconds tick by and no one says anything. It's obvious that both want to say more to one another, as they possibly contemplate getting back together, but they both stay silent. Ross' gesture to Rachel that evening is one of his most chivalrous across 10 seasons.
5. Ross and Rachel's sex tape
We learn that there's a secret sex tape of Ross and Rachel in Season 8, Episode 4 ("The One With the Videotape") — a tape that Rachel has no idea exists. It turns out that they were recorded by accident, as Ross was filming himself practicing a pickup story Joey had taught him. Rachel came into the room while Ross was prepping this story, and the two began talking about Monica's bridezilla behavior. Ross forgot the camera was on, and one thing led to another, and he and Rachel slept together, which ultimately resulted in their pregnancy.
For most of the episode, the duo debate who came onto who that night, and they agree to watch the video with everyone to find out the truth. And Rachel ends up being the one who came onto Ross. In fact, she used Joey's pickup story on him, the very one Ross was practicing when she interrupted his filming. It's an absolutely hilarious moment when everyone realizes Rachel is the culprit, but she still believes herself to be innocent. At the end of episode, Rachel and Ross sit down alone and watch the entire video together, which ends up totally grossing them out.
4. The 18-page letter
Not all of the great Ross and Rachel moments are surrounded by love. Some of their greatest scenes together are ones where they're fighting, and perhaps their best argument comes in Season 4, Episode 1 ("The One with the Jellyfish"). After Ross chooses Rachel over his current girlfriend, Bonnie (Christine Taylor), she writes him a letter that she wants him to read before they officially get back together.
This legendary letter is 18-pages long, front and back. Ross falls asleep while reading it, and when Rachel questions him about it the next morning, he lies and says he finished it. She ends up asking Ross, "Does it?" referring to something in the letter. Not having any idea what she's talking about, he takes a wild guess and says, "It does," and she hugs him with happiness. Later on, he finishes the letter and finds out "does it?" refers to him taking responsibility for everything in their break-up.
When the topic comes up again after they sleep together, Ross loses his cool and shouts, "We were on a break!" And they swiftly end their re-coupling. The duo engages in an epic fight that's both hilarious and cringey. When Rachel tells Ross she can't believe she even thought about getting back together with him, he has one of his best moments in the entire series where he pretends to get upset but then yells, "Fine by me!"
3. Ross and Rachel's Las Vegas wedding
When the gang travels to Las Vegas in the Season 5 finale, most of the plot revolves around Monica and Chandler toying with the idea of getting married. Phoebe is busy on the slots, and Joey is trying to rope his identical hand twin into a business venture. All the while, Ross and Rachel get drunk in their hotel room after Rachel doesn't want to step outside because she has ink all over her face. They get absolutely bombed together and eventually leave their room and roam around the casino, making complete fools of themselves.
Toward the end of the episode, Monica and Chandler decide to get married and head to a chapel. They need to wait before they can walk down the aisle, as a ceremony is already in progress ... and everyone is shocked to find out that it's Ross and Rachel tying the knot. The newly married duo bust out of the chapel laughing hysterically as Chandler and Monica look on horrified. They call one another Mrs. Ross and Mr. Rachel as they throw rice in the air and then take off in different directions as they leave their ceremony.
2. The prom video
After Ross and Rachel had their first kiss in Season 2, they didn't fall into a relationship right away. Ross was still with Julie at the time, and he was left wondering which woman he should choose, so he made a pros and cons list. Rachel ended up finding the list and was devastated to see the things Ross listed as her cons, which included "just a waitress," "spoiled," and "too into her looks." Sure, Ross begged Rachel to be with him, but she was too hurt, and it took the pair five more episodes before they got together thanks to the prom video.
In the 14th episode of Season 2, the entire group sits down to watch the video together, which shows Rachel and Monica getting ready for the prom. It's easily one of the greatest moments in "Friends" history, as we get to see throwback versions of the two women and Ross. In the video, it looks like Rachel's date isn't going to show up, and she's too upset to go to prom without one. So Ross decides to take her and gets all dressed up, but he's devastated when her date shows up at the last minute. Upon seeing this play out on the video, everything changes for Rachel, and she gets up from the couch, walks over to Ross, and kisses him. It's here they finally become a couple, and Phoebe reveals that "she's his lobster."
1. 'I got off the plane'
For seven long seasons, fans were wondering if Ross and Rachel would ever truly be back on after they broke up in Season 3. There were plenty of "almost" scenarios, but the two never became boyfriend and girlfriend again until the series finale. After their aforementioned blowout earlier in the finale episode, Rachel ends up getting on the plane to Paris to Ross' surprise. With a little coaxing from Phoebe, Ross goes after Rachel and tries to stop her from heading overseas. He ends up catching her just before she gets on the airplane, but his plan doesn't work, and she ends up boarding anyway.
In one of the last scenes of the entire series, Ross heads back to his apartment absolutely defeated, and that's when he sees he has a voicemail. It's from Rachel, who called him from the plane and apologized. She has a moment of clarity during the call and realizes she loves him and can't leave. She begins to argue with the stewardess, who tells her she can't get off the plane, and the voicemail cuts off before Ross can find out what happened. As Ross shouts out loud, "Did she get off the plane?" the camera pans to his door ... where Rachel has just appeared. "I got off the plane," she says, and the audience absolutely freaks out. The pair embrace and agree they are together for good, and "Friends" ends shortly after, and all is right with the world.