Friends had many divisive storylines that didn’t quite work out the way the writers would’ve hoped, though one is more controversial than most. Whether it’s ongoing arcs, like Ross dating his student, Elizabeth, episodic gags that don’t land, like Joey not being able to speak French, or guest actors being hastily written off to avoid having to pay them more for a recurring role (Gary shooting the bird takes the win here), there’s plenty to dislike. That’s inevitable when there are 10 seasons and 236 episodes, after all.
Typically, at the very top of the list of Friends‘ most disliked or at least divisive storylines is Joey and Rachel’s romance, a major late-in-the-day swerve away from the ultimate sitcom will they/won’t they couple, Ross and Rachel. Although it was more prominent in Season 9, this truly started with Season 8, Episode 12, “The One Where Joey Dates Rachel.” It begins innocently enough, as Joey takes her on a fake date because she’s frustrated by her pregnancy, with the pair showing each other their best moves. However, it concludes with him realizing he has developed genuine romantic feelings for her, which are reciprocated a season later.
Why Joey & Rachel’s Romance Was So Divisive Among Friends Fans
Image via NBC
Joey’s feelings for Rachel were a surprising, sudden twist, and given Friends‘ audience largely expected and wanted her to end up with Ross, it was seen as an unwelcome and unnecessary deviation away from the obvious endgame. That said, Joey’s unreciprocated attraction to her wasn’t the real problem, as it’s actually quite sweet for his character, but more so when it started to actually push them together.
This is where it started to feel more forced – she accepts his accidental proposal, then develops her own feelings for him after a dream. Season 9 is where the show, while still enjoyable, is clearly beginning to run out of steam (thank God for Paul Rudd at this point). It’s contrived, comes off like a ratings grab, disrupts the dynamics of the main group because of the Ross element, and seems needless since we’ve already had so many main characters paired off together. Joey was already becoming far too dumbed down at this point as well, but it started doing the same to Rachel to make them better fit together, which was another point of contention.
Still, it’s worth noting that Joey and Rachel has gained more support in recent years, as the series has been re-appraised. It’s no secret that many elements of Friends haven’t aged well, and Ross is the Friends character who has, perhaps, aged most poorly of the main group in terms of his behaviour, which can be seen as toxic. With Joey seen as the dim-but-sweet love option for Rachel, and the pairing coming from them being genuine friends, it has garnered more support than it had at the time.
What Happened To Ross’ Son, Ben, In Friends?
Image via NBC
“The One Where Joey Dates Rachel” isn’t just notable for being the beginning of that romance: it’s also the very last time we see Ross’ son, Ben, on screen. He’s involved in the Ms. Pac-Man plot with Monica, Chandler, and Phoebe, where they have to erase the dirty high score names, and then he walks in right as Phoebe says one of those bad words out loud. After that, while he was referenced a few times, the character was never featured again.
There’s no definitive explanation for Ben’s absence, but most likely a confluence of different factors. Actor Cole Sprouse’s young career was starting to take off more, so production issues likely played a part. Perhaps even more so, though, was the focus on Rachel’s pregnancy and then the birth of Emma, giving Ross another child to create storylines around, which shifted the attention away (rightly or wrongly) from involving Ben in the series.
There are also theories that Ross lost custody of Ben. His behaviour in later seasons does, in moments, border on being unhinged, and so the theory goes that Carol was successful in gaining sole custody of him and removing Ross’ access. There’s not really enough to support that, of course, but it would add a dark twist to Friends‘ ending. Regardless, Ben’s disappearance is still odd, especially for the fact we didn’t get a single scene of him with his half-sister.
Friends is available to stream on HBO Max.
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