Entertainment

Huge Twitter Thread Proves The Perfect 'Friends' Couple Was Rachel & Joey, Not Rachel & Ross

NBC

Every time someone lists the greatest TV couples of all time, Ross and Rachel from Friends somehow find their way on the list. I mean, sure we did follow their rollercoaster romance for 10 seasons and you get pretty invested in something when you're in it for that long, but let's be real: Ross and Rachel were never a good couple. And now thanks to a massive Friends Twitter thread, the whole world can see the truth: Rachel should have ended up with Joey and not Ross.

Writer Claire Willett got understandably fed up with all the Friends fans who idealize Ross and Rachel's unhealthy relationship, so she took it upon herself to lay down some truth on Twitter in a lengthy rant pointing out all the reasons Rachel's brief relationship with Joey was actually so much better than her drawn-out on-again, off-again romance with Ross.

As a reminder, Joey and Rachel enter a romance in Season 8 after Rachel moves in with him. Despite Rachel giving birth to her daughter with Ross during this time, she and Joey continue dating until the start of Season 10, when they decide to just stay friends. On the other hand, Ross began dating Rachel at the end of the first season, and the two later get married and have a baby together between constant breakups throughout the length of the series.

Okay, now let's get into Willett's argument, which has several points. First of all, she points out how Joey was actually friends with Rachel before dating her, whereas Ross has never seen her purely as anything other than a romantic interest, developing a crush on her when he first meets her in high school. Because of this difference, Joey actually has a fun and supportive relationship with Rachel, whereas Ross sets out to sabotage any other relationship she pursues when she's not with him.

Next, Willett points out how toxic Ross actually was for Rachel professionally, compared to how supportive Joey was. Joey actually helped Rachel get her first job in the fashion industry, whereas Ross never really took any interest in Rachel's career. In the series finale, Rachel is offered her dream job in Paris, and all her friends urge her to take it, but Ross chases after her and wins her back, leaving Rachel jobless in the end.

And finally, Willett also argues Joey and Rachel had a relationship that helped them both grow, whereas Ross and Rachel endlessly brought each other down. Rachel's time dating and living with Joey was the most carefree and happy we've ever seen her. On the other hand, pretty much whenever she's with Ross, the two wind up fighting nonstop.

To wrap it all up, Willett sums it up as follows: Ross really just loved the idea of Rachel, the hot girl he had a crush on as a teenager and never thought he could actually date, but Joey fell in love with his friend for years whom he's loved and supported even before developing romantic feelings for her.

Obviously, I couldn't include the entire 100-tweet thread here, but you can read it in its entirety for yourself on Willett's Twitter account.