Out of all the Friends, Rachel Green (Jennifer Aniston) had the biggest character growth. She also had to work hard to integrate herself into the gang since she had a different social background. Yet, with the help of Monica (Courteney Cox) and Ross (David Schwimmer), she was able to form strong relationships with the other members.
However, there were times when the gang also let down Rachel as they valued their friendship more with other members of the group. From hiding Ross’ infidelity to Chandler (Matthew Perry) helping write a flaws list, here are the 10 worst things the gang did to Rachel.
Her terrible birthday party
Although they had the best of intentions, Rachel’s surprise birthday party had to be the worst when both her parents turned up. In the episode “The One With The Two Parties”, Monica reveals that she had only invited Rachel’s mother to the bash after Mrs. Green and her husband made a spectacle at Rachel’s sister’s graduation.
However, they are all surprised when Dr. Green turns up at the apartment. What is supposed to be a nice, entertaining event turns out to be dreadful for Rachel as she is forced to listen to her father and mother rant all night. It would have been better for all if Monica kept the party between the gang.
Embarrassed her at work
There was a reason why Rachel hated having her friends visit her work. They continuously embarrassed her. The first instance was when Ross brought a picnic and set a fire. Another was when Chandler was caught undressed in her boss’s office.
Yet the most embarrassing moment had to be from Phoebe (Lisa Kudrow) and Joey (Matt Le Blanc) when they attend a charity event (“The One with the Proposal: Part 1”). Phoebe takes advantage of the open bar and gets drunk, claiming she is helping the kids by doing so. Joey also tries to bail when he misunderstands what a silent auction is and bids on a boat he can’t afford. She spends all night then trying to stop them from humiliating her further.
The permanent marker
In season 5, the gang decides to take a trip to Las Vegas to surprise Joey. Whilst Monica, Chandler, and Phoebe all catch an early flight, Rachel and Ross decide to follow them up on the weekend. The former couple soon finds themselves engaged in a prank war to see which person could be embarrassed the most.
However, Ross takes it a step too far when he draws on Rachel with a permanent marker. He allows her to walk around Vegas with a fake mustache and beard. With people mocking her, Rachel chooses to hide out in her hotel room and get drunk. This is one of the main reasons for their Vegas wedding.
Ruined her date
In the episode “The One With Joey’s Fridge”, Rachel asks Phoebe, Monica, and Chandler to set her up so she can take a date to a charity ball. Yet, her friends take their duties too seriously as they all claim to have the perfect guy for Rachel. They soon blindside her at Central Perk, boasting about her prospective dates.
However, their behavior does not please Rachel. She first became annoyed with her friends when they drive away the one guy she was interested in. She then becomes angry with her friends for blindsiding her and storms out of the café, choosing to go to the event alone.
Invasion of privacy
The gang had a habit of invading Rachel’s personal space, particularly the guys. Chandler has walked in on her while she was naked (“The One With The Boobies”). He then proceeded to stare at her chest throughout the episode. Ross has also watched her dance around her apartment naked, believing she was trying to seduce him.
Even Joey invades her privacy when he roots through her bedroom and finds her erotic book. On all these occasions, Rachel has been uncomfortable and embarrassed with the guys’ teasing. Even when she asked them to stop, they ignored her. Everybody knows that a good friend would stop before it upset her further.
Asking Frank and Alice for a baby
One of the worst situations Rachel faced was in season 5 when Phoebe asked her for a favor. Phoebe was happy to become the surrogate for her brother and his wife. However, a surprise was in store when they discovered she was pregnant with triplets.
Throughout season 4, Phoebe began to bond with the babies. When she went into labor, she put Rachel in a bit of a predicament by making her ask Frank (Giovanni Ribisi) and Alice (Debra Jo Rupp) if she could keep one of the babies. It was inappropriate and unfair of her to put Rachel on the spot like this as she knew the odds were unlikely.
Kept her marriage a secret
Considering that Phoebe is meant to be one of Rachel’s best friends, she shouldn’t have hidden the knowledge that Rachel was still married to Ross. In the episode “The One Where Ross Hugs Rachel”, Phoebe finds out that Ross hadn’t annulled the marriage because he didn’t want to be known as the guy with three divorces.
However, it’s apparent that Ross is still in love with Rachel and tries to manipulate her into moving in with him. Phoebe is the only one who knows of his true intentions and still doesn’t tell Rachel. She only finds out when Ross’ lawyer calls the apartment. Phoebe’s lucky that Rachel didn’t ignore her after this.
Kept Ross’ infidelity a secret
Looks like Chandler and Joey were more loyal to Ross as they helped him to conceal his one-night stand. In the episode “The One With The Morning After”, fans learned that Ross had slept Chloe (Angela Featherstone). He soon listens to a voicemail from Rachel saying she is coming over to talk, where she asks if they can get back together.
However, when Ross asks Chandler and Joey if he should confess about his infidelity, they tell him not to. Instead, they advise him to trace ’the trail’, which leads to Ross running around New York trying to prevent people from telling Rachel. Unbeknownst to Ross, Rachel finds out after they missed Gunther (James Michael Taylor) in the trail. It had to be one of the worst and humiliating ways to find out.
The list of her flaws
Just when Ross and Rachel were on the verge of getting together, he ruined it by making a list of flaws. In the episode “The One With The List”, Ross is torn between his feelings for Julie (Lauren Tom) and Rachel. To solve his problem, Chandler and Joey suggest he make a list of flaws.
Ross ends up choosing Rachel. However, this reunion ends abruptly when Rachel finds the list. She is hurt when she discovers Ross believes her to be spoiled, ditzy and a narcissist. She also doesn’t appreciate him judging her for being a waitress. It then leads to Ross and Rachel’s relationship becoming strained.
“We were on a break” gag
There has been much debate about whether Ross cheated on Rachel; however, he was definitely in the wrong to keep joking about his indiscretion. The running gag first started when Ross and Rachel were on the verge reuniting (“The One With The Jellyfish”) and continued to pop up many times after.
Although Ross and Rachel agreed to move on for the sake of the group, Ross makes light of the situation. It’s mentioned when Rachel consoles Chandler after Kathy (Paget Brewster) cheats: when the gang tease Chandler over his panic proposal and even when they reunite in the show’s last episode. If he was a good friend, why bring up bad memories knowing it would upset her?
