The much loved sitcom Friends is a series about a time in your life when your friends are your closest confidantes. You’re in that period where you’re trying to figure out what to do with your life (or at least how to get through the day) and you’re relying heavily and commiserating with your friends who are basically going through the same thing.
These six friends in particular (Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc, Matthew Perry and David Schwimmer) are art imitating life. We feel what they feel. They had good moments, but they also had moments that broke our hearts–1o of which we’re covering here.
The One Where Ross Said Goodbye To Marcel
Pet-owners are especially sensitive to this particular moment. When Marcel begins to exhibit more animalistic qualities that defy domestic living, Ross is forced to part with him. The episode comically portrays their search for a zoo to send Marcel to as though it were a parent ready to send their child to college, but by the episode’s end our hearts break for Ross.
Marcel helped Ross get through a difficult time in his life, plus he’d become more than just a pet, he was family. Pet-owners know the feeling. Imagine having to part with your beloved animal, and your heart breaks for Ross all over again.
The One With The Deadbeat Dad
Over the course of several episodes, Phoebe learns that her father is not the man in the picture frame. With help from her grandmother, she tracks him down. It takes her several tries to gather up the courage to go the front door and ask for her father. When she does, she learns that he no longer resides where she thought he did.
Our hearts broke for Phoebe; after waiting so long to meet him and get her answers, she was crushed. Although, what makes the moment bittersweet is that she does get a brother out of it in Frank Jr.
The One With The Fighting Roommates
In Season 2, Joey and Chandler have a fight that escalates to the point of (gasp!) Joey moving out. The rest of the friends separately console the two best friends, who go through an awkward time in which they miss each other but have a hard time admitting it.
Our hearts break because for one thing, Joey and Chandler are the perfect best friends and roommates. Seeing them experience a break-up of sorts is like Sonny and Cher splitting up all over again. For another, it’s so obvious that they still want to be roommates and best friends, but the situation is complicated. Lastly, for those of us that have been through similar situations, we can relate on a spiritual level. It’s definitely bad for positive energy when you’re at odds with your best friend.
The One With The Maternal Instincts
Phoebe gives birth to triplets for her brother and his wife in Season 5. She’s always known she had to part with them eventually but over the course of her pregnancy she’s understandably developed affection for the babies and finds herself having a hard time letting go.
She initially wants to keep just one, but seeing how happy her brother and his wife are at their newborn babies, she lets them go. For anyone wanting to be a parent, this was surely a gut-wrenching moment, but at the same time, Phoebe did the right thing. No one said the right thing was easy.
The One With The Girl Fight
On the night before Rachel is to move out from the apartment so Monica and Chandler can have the place to themselves, chaos ensues. Rachel, Monica and Phoebe initially had other plans when, surprise, Rachel’s not packed and requires assistance.
In the beginning, Rachel and Monica get blubbery over every little item they come across as it reminds them of memories they’ve shared as roommates over the years. In an effort to cheer them up, Phoebe gets them to list things they won’t miss about the other. This leads to a fight that Phoebe’s forced to break up, and then we’re back to sad and blubbery. Poor Monica has to live with a boy. It’s hard to say goodbye to friends, even if you’ll still see them all the time. It’s just not the same as living together.
The One Where Monica And Richard Call It Quits
Before Chandler, there was Richard (Tom Selleck). Tall, dazzling and possessing the perfect mustache, Richard was dreamy, kind and mature. He put all other boyfriends to shame. He and Monica, despite their vast age difference, did extremely well together. True love was an element here, and when they broke up, we were just as broken up about it as Monica was.
She did it for the right reasons, as they weren’t heading in the same direction, but at least it was amicable. Turns out, Monica’s father is the one to put her nerves at ease when she learns that Richard’s suffering just as much as she is, which appears to cure her insomniac state.
The One With The Job Rejection
In a Season 1 episode, Rachel is fed up with life at Central Perk and sends out a plethora of resumés to change her situation. This search lands her an interview as Assistant Buyer at Saks Fifth Avenue. In Phoebe’s words, it’s basically the mothership calling Rachel home. It’s everything Rachel wants in her budding career. Excited by the fact that she has the interview, and that it goes well, she’s sure she’s nailed the job. When she doesn’t, our hearts break for her.
Ross does let her win at poker to cheer her up, but it’s still hard to move on from rejection, especially from something you really wanted. The way the job market is these days, more often than not we face this exact same situation and it kills us each time. Yet, we grow stronger because of it. Just because we didn’t get it, doesn’t mean we’re not destined for great things. After all, Rachel did manage to land her dream job–we can too.
The One With All The Goodbyes
Rachel’s goodbye party prior to her departure to Paris gave us all the feels. Rachel is moving to another country. Chandler and Monica are just about to have their children and start their new life in the suburbs. Phoebe and Mike (Paul Rudd) are married. So many things are changing for the friends as they each embark on new chapters in their lives.
It’s always a good thing to open new chapters, but extremely hard to close the last, especially when these friends have been together as long as they have (Joey seems to have the hardest time with all the change). Everyone has been through something like this at one time or another, so it brings back the memories…and all the mixed emotions that come with it.
The One Where Monica And Chandler Can’t Have Children
Monica and Chandler had a romance resembling that of a fairytale. They fall for one another in a foreign country, the excitement continues as they continue dating in secret, and they have a beautiful wedding. The two have a special bond, as they were friends for years before they were a couple. It’s a special kind of love that’s rare and we were so happy for them.
To hear that the two couldn’t have children was devastating for them, and for us too. Luckily, the two manage to adopt and get their children another way. The two more than deserved a happy ending for all they’d been through to get their family.
The One Where Ross And Rachel Break Up
After discovering Ross has cheated on her during their “break”, Rachel is completely and utterly devastated. The two have an intense discussion about what to do next. Not only has Ross cheated, but he went to extreme lengths to cover it up. Rachel’s trust in him is too shattered to repair any shred of faith she may have had left in their relationship.
It was one of the worst break-up scenes we ever witnessed, and the rest of the friends overheard the whole thing as they were confined in Monica’s room. Jennifer Aniston and David Schwimmer portrayed that scene so well, it made us feel like we were really there and we were crying as much as they were (if not more).
