6 people: Chandler, Joey, Ross, Monica, Joey, and Rachel. The orange couch, the purple apartment, the incredibly funny plots. This is how we remember Friends. The show gave us a perspective about friendship, what it really meant and how far you could go to protect the people you loved. Yet, there were odd moments that left us wondering whether or not the six of them were as close as they seemed.
Today, we present the evidence of 5 times the gang was really close and 5 they clearly were not.
Close: Lent Each Other Money
The fact that Rachel, Monica, Chandler, Joey were unemployed at different times in their careers, placed them in tricky situations financially. Joey, for instance, was broke throughout most of the series. Chandler was in desperate need of cash after he quit his job to pursue advertising. Monica got fired because the restaurant thought she’d accepted a bribe. Rachel was financially weak during her stint at the coffee shop.
None of them hesitated to lend each other money. Ross wrote a cheque to his little sister Monica when she was unable to make rent, Chandler kept supporting Joey for years. Joey lent money to Monica in “The One With The Boob Job.” And in “The One With The Poker,” Monica gladly gave Rachel her purse when she asked for it.
Not Close: Lied To Each Other
The gang of six didn’t always speak the truth. There were countless instances of manipulation and blatant lying throughout the series. Phoebe, for example, hadn’t told Monica she’d moved out or why she’d moved out of their shared apartment. Phoebe even tried to cut Monica from her life, but thankfully Monica scrapped her way back into it.
Rachel manipulated Ross into not making the move with Julie, and she eventually broke the two of them up. Ross worked out the differences between Chandler and Monica so Rachel could move into his apartment. When he realized what an awful idea that was, he tried to break Monica and Chandler up.
When Ross was on a sabbatical and kicked out of his apartment, he moved in with Chandler and Joey, much to their disappointment. Even though they felt bad for trying to get rid of him, there was a time when they really wanted to.
Close: Never ashamed to discuss where they came from
The amazing thing about the gang is they never lied to each other when it came to their families. When Rachel’s parents went through a divorce, all of the friends sat around her to comfort her. Chandler offered his Thanksgivings story. Phoebe spoke of her mother’s suicide, often. Joey shared Gloria Tribbiani’s plan to keep pretending her husband wasn’t cheating on her.
Monica wasn’t ashamed to admit she was treated like the lesser sibling. Chandler on many occasions spoke about using humor as a defense mechanism because of his parents’ divorce. They were honest about the big stuff.
Not Close: Dating jealousy
No matter how close the six of them were, they were fiercely competitive when it came to sharing romantic interests. Joey and Ross called each other names including ‘Monkey Lover’ and ‘VD Boy’ for Kristen Leigh. They didn’t think twice before yelling out each other’s secrets.
Monica and Rachel made quite an impression on the two doctors Mitchell and Rosen by telling them Rachel had dumped a guy at the altar and that Monica loved to boss people. At the end of this double-date, Monica told Rachel’s father Billy Dreskin and his daughter had sex on his bed in high school.
Phoebe and Monica were at loggerheads with each other when it came to the guy in the coma. Rachel lied to Jean-Claude Van Damme about Monica dying to have a threesome with him and Drew Barrymore.
Close: Accompanied Each Other To Family And Work Events
The gang always had each other’s backs, for family events or work commitments. When Ross and Monica’s Nana passed away, all of them joined the siblings at the funeral. Rachel took Joey and Phoebe to a charity event at work to look better. They even attended Ross’s incredibly boring black-tie dinosaur events. And Joey’s hideous plays, for that matter. Rachel felt violated seeing Joey in “Freud!” It was such an awful spectacle, yet, they chose to encourage him.
Not Close: Blurted Out Secrets In Open
One surprising thing about this group of supposedly close-knit adults is that they constantly blurted out each other’s secrets. Chandler boasted once, “I tell people secrets. It makes them like me.”
After the truth about Phoebe’s marriage to Duncan was out, the gang went into a frenzy blurting out each other’s secrets. Chandler told Phoebe the underwear out on the pole belonged to Monica. Monica told everyone about Chandler’s third nipple. Remember the Thanksgiving when Ross and Monica told their parents the worst of what each of them had been up to?
Ross, Monica, and Chandler shouted each other’s secrets out in the open many times. Ross didn’t think twice before telling Monica that Chandler had kissed a guy or Chandler entered a Vanilla Ice look-alike contest. Turns out, Ross came in fourth and cried.
Close: Their Opinions Mattered
The gang always took each other’s criticism on board. Chandler talked to Joey when he had second thoughts about going into the acting business. Monica stood by her husband when he quit his job. Ross encouraged Joey to write his plays.
The group of six were also sensitive to each other’s pet peeves, special needs, and experiences from the past. Rachel and Ross went the extra mile to hide the truth about the Pottery Barn Apothecary table from Phoebe. Joey told Phoebe the trees cut down on Christmas were fulfilling their Christmas destiny. Every effort was made by Phoebe, Rachel, and Joey to hide Monica and Chandler’s relationship from Ross.
Not Close: Named And Shamed Each Other
Rachel’s best friend Monica acted like a prude at times by slut-shaming her. In “The One Where The Stripper Cries,” Monica expressly calls Rachel a slut. Rachel called Phoebe a ‘stupid hippie’ because she was angry about missing Emma’s first laugh. Rachel was busy giving Phoebe a makeover. The group constantly roasted Monica for her controlling behavior and obsessive ways. Ross wasn’t spared for his love of academia, either.
Close: Had A Hard Time Accepting Monica And Chandler’s Decision To Leave NYC
The thought of the empty apartment figuratively killed each of the friends. When Monica and Chandler announced their decision to leave New York for Westchester, the gang tried their best to talk them out of it. Phoebe called them beavers for their nonstop talk about nature. Joey said all of them should get a vote on such a decision. Rachel said there was nothing wrong with raising a kid in the city. She was doing it, Ross was doing it, and Sarah Jessica Parker was doing it.
Mondler took Joey to their new house. He told them their house had fungus, their living room was pretty dark, and there was a bat in the corner.
Not Close: Chose To Keep Their Private Lives Private
The gang members chose to keep their lives private, sometimes to protect themselves, other times to not let any harm come in the way. Phoebe didn’t disclose the secret of her first marriage to Duncan, the gay ice dancer. She thought Monica would get all judgemental. When Monica went on a date with Pete for the first time, she was afraid her friends would embarrass her. As a result, she didn’t invite him in for a drink.
When Rachel learned she was pregnant, she chose to keep the name of the father a secret, at least until the time the father knew. Monica and Chandler hid their relationship from people because it was new and they didn’t want anyone hurt by it. In “The One Where Chandler Gets Caught,” Chandler didn’t want to tell everyone right away he and Monica had finally got the house. They held back an awful lot for best friends.
