Come back to the Central Perk, Rachel Green, Rachel Green

[wickedfan]

I'll give Emily the benefit of when she first met "the friends," she was in a very irritable state and it's not like Rachel made it easy for her. Essentially, Rachel was responsible for accompanying Emily (her boss's niece) to the opera that night but decided at the last minute to bail because her crush invited her to a party. Of course she didn't INFORM Emily of this, so when Emily showed up, completely drenched after a 9 hour flight and, what she claims, was a disaster at baggage claim and journey from the airpot to the apartment, she had every right to flip out at Rachel who nonchalantly said that she wasn't going to take Emily to the opera. As much I love Rachel (and I DO love her), Emily had every right to flip out at her.

That said, Emily held that grudge pretty much every minute of every day since. And she essentially made life impossible for Ross once they were engaged. I hate Emily as much as everyone, but I give her credit that her nasty first encounter wasn't her fault.

[Reginald Tresilian]

I get that, but on the other hand, it's not like Rachel had a choice. Her boss basically shoved Emily down her throat at the last minute.

And since Emily has never met either of them, I don't get why she should get shirty about which stranger goes to the opera (or whatever) with her.

She could have just said, "Oh, okay, that's fine. I'm grateful to either of you for taking the time." But I suppose that's not very good sitcom writing.

[strummergirl]

The thing is, even with that first encounter and sorta getting where she is coming from, she was a tough character to really find likable and for a character like Ross, who could be a wet blanket, it was a bit important for him to find a potential partner that really made the choice actually meaningful. That said, I guess the vow slip up had Emily been a more endearing character would make Ross look worse, because as bad as it was it is played for laughs. Actually them getting married was never entirely believable to begin with.

[wickedfan]

I'm pretty sure the Emily commitment was first and after Rachel said yes (albeit against her will), Joshua offered her an invitation to his club. I also don't think Rachel ever got out the words "Someone else is taking you." I believe Emily cut her off at "There's been a change of plans." (Something along those lines).

As you said, she COULD have heard Rachel out, found out that someone else is going with her and just said "Oh, well, thank you for still making sure I don't go alone yadda yadda yadda" but indeed, that would not be good sitcom writing. I maintain, however, that her initial reaction was understandable considering her given circumstances at that moment. Everything she did AFTER that, though, painted her as a paranoid she-demon.

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

wickedfan is right. She had agreed to take Emily to the opera just before Joshua invited her.

I think Emily was frustated after her trip and the rain that her "date" with Rachel was screwed up. I don't think it was about Rachel specifically. And - and since I'm a Friends-obsessive I of course think about these things - Rachel was at least someone her boss knew, and now she was being shoved off on someone else.

But I think Emily got a raw deal at the end, like Friends tended to do with its girlfriends when the show was ready to let them go. I get that the writers didn't want to make the main characters look too awful in the course of a break-up, but I think Emily and others (Kathy especially) got a raw deal in the way their characters were adjusted to make sure we'd be on the whatever Friend's side was involved.

[Reginald Tresilian]

"Paranoid she-demon"!!!

It must be tough to write love-interest characters that you can't let really become love interests.

They should have followed the "Bonanza" model and just killed them off by the end of the episode.

[wickedfan]

PRS-I love you for emphasizing "ua" ala Rachel.

[Jon]

It always bothered me that Rachel named her baby "Emma". Sounds way to close to "Emily".

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Funnily enough, Emily was one of the baby names Ross had picked out that he mentioned to Rachel just before they said I love you for the first time.

[beautywickedlover]

One of the show's producers revealed that Rachel and Ross almost did not end up together in the final episode.


'Friends' almost ended WITHOUT Ross and Rachel together -- EXCLUSIVE VIDEO

[Wynbish]

Hail no.

[givesmevoice]

Reading this thread, I believe a lot of you would be interested in the TV Tropes page for Flanderization, which all of the Friends (but Rachel) suffered from. Rachel has always been my least favorite character (sometimes due more to the writers than Jennifer Aniston's actual performance), but upon rewatching the show in reruns, I see that she actually had true positive character development.

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Flanderization/LiveActionTV



Also Tom Selleck's first episode was on tonight, and Phoebe's reaction of "It's James Bond!" when he opens the door to his apartment was so perfect.

[Jungle Red]

Monica's my favorite.

I watch reruns constantly and I usually play the DVDs at least once a year. Rachel's character arc, and Jennifer's acting, is always good but the character really didn't do anything that I necessarily liked. She's whiny, way out of Ross's league, and sometimes she can be a huge bitch.

I never understood why someone as gorgeous as Rachel was ended up with average Ross.

[Jay Lerner-Z]

I guess you're just fairly shallow and superficial, then.

[Reginald Tresilian]

Actually, I find them well matched physically, if that's what we're talking about.

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

It's always fun when to watch children discover that taste in the looks of other people is actually subjective!

What was always funny about Ross's character to me was that he was always talked about like he was some little weakling, even as an adult. I was never sure if that was the joke or if we just supposed to be pretend that that guy wasn't built huge! He was always the fittest and buffest of the guys!

[Jungle Red]

Rachel, once she realized that she wasn't Daddy's Little Girl anymore, went after things she wanted: Men, jobs, clothes, etc. Even when she was terrible at her job (Central Perk anyone?) she still did it with every fiber of her being.

Ross, on the other hand, was such a coward. He ran every chance he got. He didn't confront anyone or anything. He let people walk all over him.

He was smart but didn't have much of anything else. I never thought he was good enough for Rachel.

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

We know. You told us.

[beautywickedlover]

A little reunion will be happening on 'Go On'.


'Friends' Reunion: Courteney Cox Heads to Matthew Perry's 'Go On' (Exclusive)

[Jon]

Rachel had daddy issues. Ross, as it turned out, was a lot like her father.

[blueroses]

"He's Bobby Bobby?"

[beautywickedlover]

Mathhew Perry and Lisa Kudrow said they both miss doing the show and wish it was still on the air.


Matthew Perry and Lisa Kudrow wish they were still making 'Friends'

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Every time this thread gets bumped my heart skips a bit and I think they are announcing the single camera Friends revival show I dream of.

[CarlosAlberto]

I'm in a struggle...I sooo want to purchase the blu-ray version complete season boxed set but if I do I'd be eating chalk for the next year.

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

I'd like the blu ray, because they look great, but they don't have the extra footage that was added to the dvd releases, so I haven't been able to justify buying it.

[CarlosAlberto]

Oh wow, that sucks! The extra footage is what made them so special on DVD and justified me owning them when everyone around me was asking, "Why do you own a TV show that airs on 5 different channels at least 15 times a day?"