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Original poster

Various opinions on F.R.I.E.N.D.S

326 replies

DivorceAdvicePlease123 · 31/10/2021 17:24

I'm clearly a bit bored...

Richard Burke is my perfect man and he and Monica made a much better couple than she and Chandler.

I really couldn't stand Susan. Or Emily.

Ross Geller is the funniest friend and mellowed a lot as he aged.

The Rachel and Joey hook up was totally wrong on all levels. She just wouldn't have gone there.

Kathy cheating on Chandler was pretty unbelievable (in real life both actors protested this, obviously to no avail).

Phoebe was a bit of a bitch who often threw her friends under the bus.

I preferred David the science guy to Mike, he was very funny.

It would have been nice for Joey to have a happier ending, a dream woman or part in a hit show.

Rachel's wardrobe is absolutely incredible.

Monica's Mum is really awful to her.

I hate to say it but Joey is a bit of a loser. Though he was the only one who never got drunk throughout the entire show.

Janice was actually really nice.

I'm sure I have more :-)

OP posts:
SnoopyLights · 02/11/2021 12:51

@CoronaPeroni

I don't think Carol and Susan were mean to Ross. He went to ante natal classes, whinging when he didn't get his own way and then insisted Ben had his surname before Susan's. Probably other things. He was lucky they were as compliant as they were.
Susan was no relation to Ben though.

Again this was a bit of blurry storyline - how long had Susan and Carol been together, considering Carol was barely pregnant when she told Ross about the baby?

They had either been having an affair for months and months - with Carol still also having sex with Ross (which I can't see Susan being happy about), or this was a very new relationship and Susan was laying claim to giving the baby her name but not Ross's name when she and Carol had only been together for five minutes. I can't believe Carol was happy to go along with using Susan's name for such a new relationship but to leave Ross out completely.

It contrasted well with Rachel giving birth though, and immediately telling the nurse that the baby was "Baby Girl Geller-Green".

Lottapianos · 02/11/2021 14:02

"I think JA is a brilliant comedy actress.'

Totally agree. She's very under-rated, a great actress all round. Check out 'Cake' and 'The Good Girl' to see a different side to her

bendmeoverbackwards · 02/11/2021 15:11

@AndTheWinnerIsLucky I agree about Phoebe. I always thought she was a decent type. She tried to stop Rachel going to London to sabotage Ross' wedding saying if she cared about him, she would want him to be happy. She was so nervous meeting Mike's parents and went to a lot of effort to make a good impression.

One of my favourite episodes is when Monica fashions a foreskin for Joey - makes me laugh out loud every time Grin

Interested in this thread?

Then you might like threads about this subject:

TV
KillingMeDeftly · 02/11/2021 16:32

@SnoopyLights Doesn't Ross say in a later episode that he and Carol once had sex even after she left him for Susan?

Original poster
DivorceAdvicePlease123 · 02/11/2021 16:37

Ahhh yes! "Me and Carol had some good times... until she became a lesbian... and once afterward"

Also remember that guy in hospital with the broken leg who Phoebe fancied? She got Joey to pretend to be a doctor and ask him questions. Nothing further happened there. He probably ghosted her. Bastard.

OP posts:
Crochetandcoffeebreaks · 02/11/2021 17:22

I feel like the "we refer to you as the sperm donor" and Susan's character was trying to portray the idea that lesbian = hating men full stop.
I'm not Ross' biggest fan but even Susan made me feel bad for him. DS gave us some quality scenes but Ross and Rachel brought out the worst in each other.

Grammy78 · 02/11/2021 18:34

Love Friends!

My favourite is Ross and agree that DS and JA are the best actors.

Not too keen on Phoebe, who was quite spiteful at times.

I think that Monica and Ross both have ADHD, not sure if they were written that way deliberately but they both have a lot of traits.

AndTheWinnerIsLucky · 02/11/2021 18:39

I said something similar on another Friends thread. Ross and Monica both had controlling issues (not to diagnose but somewhat OCD-ish) and they obviously took after their mum there. Great writing imo because you could see where it came from and how it affected them.

Their mum must have taken after her mum because she once explained to Monica that her mum treated her very similarly to how she treats Monica.

Grammy78 · 02/11/2021 18:50

They both have difficulties with emotional regulation too.

AndTheWinnerIsLucky · 02/11/2021 19:00

Yes that's true.

@bendmeoverbackwards Haha. I actually forgot about that scene. I agree. Grin

RandomDent · 02/11/2021 20:13

Just watched the episode when Ross kisses Chandler’s mum. Sooo… Ross is sad about Rachel, gets drunk and goes with someone else. Sounds familiar? Wink

SoniaFouler · 02/11/2021 21:55

@RandomDent

Just watched the episode when Ross kisses Chandler’s mum. Sooo… Ross is sad about Rachel, gets drunk and goes with someone else. Sounds familiar? Wink
She (Mrs Bing) was clearly the one to instigate that
SickAndTiredAgain · 02/11/2021 21:56

@DivorceAdvicePlease123

Ahhh yes! "Me and Carol had some good times... until she became a lesbian... and once afterward"

Also remember that guy in hospital with the broken leg who Phoebe fancied? She got Joey to pretend to be a doctor and ask him questions. Nothing further happened there. He probably ghosted her. Bastard.

He found out that joey was a fake dr and got cross that phoebe sent someone in to get personal info about him.
LyricalBlowToTheJaw · 03/11/2021 08:01

Susan during the pregnancy actually reminded me of some of the new partners we get on here sometimes, when they post that they've been with DP 3 months and want to support him seeing his kids more but the ex is mental. The situation isn't identical, but same energy. Complete lack of boundaries and failure to understand their appropriate place in the situation. Obviously later on she's legitimately co-parenting and the relationship is much more established.

SnoopyLights · 03/11/2021 09:08

[quote KillingMeDeftly]@SnoopyLights Doesn't Ross say in a later episode that he and Carol once had sex even after she left him for Susan?[/quote]
I don't remember that, but it would fit in with it all.

But we still have no idea really how long Carol and Susan had been together at the point Carol realised she was pregnant or if that one time after she became a lesbian was during the break up or after it. I can't see Susan being happy to be cheated on, so I would guess it happened as they were breaking up and Susan was still 'the other woman' rather than Carol's 'official' girlfriend or partner.

And I still feel that Susan, as a very new partner, should not be claiming a place on the birth certificate instead of the baby's father.

Later on, she was very much Ben's stepmother, but at this point she was his mother's brand new girlfriend, while Ross and Carol had been together for years and married when Carol became pregnant, even if they were mid-break up when it happened.

AndTheWinnerIsLucky · 03/11/2021 09:22

Funny how those who got their partners through cheating, never expect or like to be cheated on.

You're right, with Susan, it seems like all hell would break loose if Carol cheated on her. Yet she also seems like the one who encouraged Carol to leave her husband for her. Not that Carol couldn't make thet decision on her own (and probably did).

Her staking her last name on Ben was utter CF territory and mind-blowing. Controlling and narcissistic, she seems.

AndTheWinnerIsLucky · 03/11/2021 09:29

The hatred and nastiness she displayed towards Ross was unbelievable. If it wasn't for Ross continuing despite it so he didn't lose access to his son (because Carol didn't have the backbone to tell Susan to back off, and allowed her to antagonise him - the man she cheated on with her), they wouldn't have gotten to a good place.

Ross was constantly on the defensive with Susan and later won her over, when it should've been the other way round.

ChequerBoard · 03/11/2021 09:33

I got the impression that Carol and Susan had been together for quite a while and that they had agreed that Carol would seduce Ross just that once to purposefully use him as 'their' sperm donor.

Hence Susan's (misplaced) feelings of ownership over the baby and the barbed speed donor comment to let Ross know she was in on it.

AndTheWinnerIsLucky · 03/11/2021 09:42

I still maintain that people who defend Susan (mind-boggling) seem to only see "Ross is a man'. They'll nab him for kissing Chandler's mum while drunk - a kiss Chandler's mum initiated by the way, but haven't mentioned Carol knowingly having an affair and cheating on someone she's married to and Susan knowingly sleeping with a married woman. If that isn't double standards...

Can you imagine if this was a heterosexual relationship and Carol was the man. Ross, being the woman, had to fight for her place in her children's lives while fielding nastiness from the OW, yet trying to win her over? That thread on MN would go up in flames.

AndTheWinnerIsLucky · 03/11/2021 09:46

@ChequerBoard Just saw your post. That's a good point. It would explain some of Susan's behaviour for sure.

Still despicable and seems on par with what I think is Susan's controlling, narcissistic behaviour.

AndTheWinnerIsLucky · 03/11/2021 09:48

Carol isn't any better either.

Kanaloa · 03/11/2021 11:12

@ChequerBoard

I got the impression that Carol and Susan had been together for quite a while and that they had agreed that Carol would seduce Ross just that once to purposefully use him as 'their' sperm donor.

Hence Susan's (misplaced) feelings of ownership over the baby and the barbed speed donor comment to let Ross know she was in on it.

But Carol and Ross were married, they’d been together for years since university. I would understand if it was a short term thing but I don’t think it was.
Kanaloa · 03/11/2021 11:13

As in I don’t think Susan and Carol deliberately used Ross as an unwitting sperm donor. Ross and Carol were married for years and Susan was the other woman.

ChequerBoard · 03/11/2021 11:25

@Kanaloa

As in I don’t think Susan and Carol deliberately used Ross as an unwitting sperm donor. Ross and Carol were married for years and Susan was the other woman.

I'm well aware Carol & Ross were married, what difference does that make?

Carol left Ross and set up home with Susan. At some point after that she went to Ross's apartment and slept with him. Hence using him as their (Carol and Susan's) sperm donor.

NotExactlyOptimistic · 03/11/2021 11:36

I think the reference to "and once afterwards" was him probably trying to convince her to give the marriage a shot and have a date night or something after she tells him about Susan and her just going along with it and shagging him one last time with no real enthusiasm. Then they split up and That Bitch moves in. I reckon there was probably an overlap of a few months. I don't think there was any implication of him being used for sperm by the two of them months before, her calling him a donor is just another vile way for her to antagonise him.