Rachel and Joey Should’ve Been Endgame And Nothing Will Change My Mind

The entirety of Friends revolved around, well, friends. That is if you just happen to date all your friends and have kids with them. Ross and Rachel’s relationship spanned the entire series, whether they were actually dating or not. The ups, the downs, and all-the-way-back-arounds went on for ten whole seasons. It was always expected. However, probably one of the most unexpected (and satisfying, IMHO) plot twists of the series was the infamous Rachel and Joey relationship.

So, I have a very unpopular opinion. An opinion SO unpopular that it could, in fact, destroy the internet, but I’m willing to take that risk. I am a strong and firm believer that Rachel Green should have ended up with Joey Tribbiani. I know, I know. But just let me tell you why.

First and foremost, we have to get to the basics of Rachel’s relationships with Ross and Joey. From before the series even began, Ross had never seen Rachel as anything but a love interest. We see in flashbacks from those quirky Geller home videos that teen Ross is clearly head over heels for teen Rachel. And after years of losing touch, he fell right back into this love bubble the minute she stepped into that coffee shop. You might try to tell me that Ross had his many flings and you would be correct, but who was the woman he always went back to? Ms. Rachel Green. Even when they were apart, Ross was never able to move on and this stopped him from seeing what should have been most important to him, Rachel’s happiness.

Joey, on the other hand, began his relationship with Rachel as friends. He knew Rachel for who she really was, not just a romanticized idea of her. Joey saw the good, the bad, and the ugly before it really even mattered to him. They were actual friends who gave each other dating advice. Joey even brought Rachel on set so she could flirt with the actors! Joey’s relationship with Rachel was always genuine because he cared about her and wanted her to be happy. This relationship works because of the strong foundation they’d already established. So, even when they took that huge leap in becoming romantically involved, it wasn’t as scary because there already was an unbreakable bond between them.

Think of any rom-com about friends who fall in love. The friends are like two peas in a pod. And even though they’re supposed to be just platonic, there’s something so unique about that bond that you know they’ll go the distance. And I promise you, Rachel and Joey are those two friends.

Next, let us please remember that Joey, an attractive twentysomething bachelor, invited Rachel and her unborn baby Emma in with open arms. In Friends Season 8 Episode 7 (“The One With The Stain”), Joey assures Rachel that he would do whatever it took, even if that meant sacrificing his sex life just so Rachel and her daughter could feel comfortable. Who else would go to whatever means possible to make a pregnant Rachel feel at home? Not Ross lemme tell you.

Honestly, Ross kinda sucks. Throughout the entire series, he acts as if he has earned Rachel and her affection after years of yearning after her. He’s pretty entitled and it’s not a good look. He also believes he’s smarter than Rachel and always needs to be right. Because of that, there has never been a balanced playing field between the two of them. All I’m saying is that Joey never yelled at Rachel because they were “on a break.”

My last and most important point to prove my case is that Joey and Rachel build each other up, while Ross and Rachel break each other down. Joey is known for his “how you doin'” catchphrase and his not-so-wise decisions, but we can’t help but notice that once he falls for Rachel, he grows up a lot. His bachelor lifestyle totally changes when he faces the fact that a living breathing child is on the way and going to be living in his home. He even begins dating Charlie, a paleontology professor whom Ross also has major feels for. Long gone are Joey’s meaningless flings, because here is a smart, classy woman who knows what she wants in life. Rachel showed him that even he is ready for more fulfilling relationships.

And of course, Ross is the reason Rachel gets off the plane in the series finale. She was literally steps away from making her wildest dreams become a reality. But because of Ross, she didn’t get to go to Paris and gave up her dream so she could stay with Ross and have a family. She got off because it was expected of her, not because they were right for each other. We don’t know what happened after the series finale, but if you remember all the sticky, messy situations from the ten seasons before, you can probably assume that the two wouldn’t be happy or even together today.

Sure, in the end, Rachel turned Joey down, but need not forget that when she found an engagement ring thought Joey was proposing to her, she said yes. They were almost each other’s lobsters. And for that, I am grateful.

What can I say? I have a lot of feelings about fictional characters. And that’s that on that.

Stream Friends on Netflix