F.R.I.E.N.D.S , a television series that you could watch a number of times and still not be bored. It is the perfect show to cure you of any depression and brings about instant happiness. It has been 21 years since Friends started, and over 11 years since it ended with Rachel getting off the plane, The group saying goodbye to the apartment 20(One which we knew as well as our own) and the gang heading to Central Perk for a last cup of coffee.
However, thanks to how much it has remained on our screens, in our hearts, and a part of pop-culture, it’s like it’s never really been away. The internet is ablaze with fan theories and a few of them simply blow your mind away. The theories are such that they make perfect sense and you cannot help but believe them. Following are 9 such fan theories that will amaze you.
Gunther Reserved The Couch
This theory is not hard to believe. The group always sat at the same table with the same couch, chair and green chair. People said that this was because Rachel had previously worked here and Pheobe was a performer, singing and performing at the café quite often. However, a new fan theory recently came forward which had us all agree with it completely. If one sees the wooden table that the group always sits at, one will notice how it has a tiny board on it which reads, “RESERVED.”
According to this theory, Gunther reserved the table for the gang so he could keep a close eye on Rachel. He can make sure that Rachel is happy at his coffee shop and has reserved the table out of his love for her which he is too shy to admit to her. But, he keeps hoping that she will reciprocate the feelings and notice him which, sadly, does not happen. Rachel on the other hand just assumes the table to be the gang’s since they are regulars.
Ross Lost Custody of Ben
Ross’s son Ben was a constant in the earlier seasons but he sort of disappeared in the last few. He was hardly even mentioned and though it could have been a shift in the storyline, maybe, the disappearance has a deeper meaning.
Reddit user, smokingcage, suggested that Carol became fed up of Ross being a lousy father and went to court and took away his visitation rights.
If one looks at the small clues hidden in the episodes, the theory makes perfect sense. Ross tried to make a fake Ben to not help with Packing Rachel’s stuff, he ignored Ben at Monica and Chandler’s wedding, Ben was not invited to Ross’s wedding to Emily. Not only this, but Ross’s parents forgot their grandson by calling Emma their first grandchild.
If one looks at it this iwas true. Ross even tried to make Ben play with a G.I.Joe when he saw Ben’s toy Barbie. We even see his anger issues and possessive side(over Rachel) in the further episodes. Ben was last seen in Season 8 Episode 12, where Ross walked in with Ben to see Pheobe shouting abuses at a Pac-Man machine. Joey and Chandler have even lost Ben once and Monica banged Ben’s head against the wooden board. Maybe, Carol felt that Ross’s family and friends were not good influences to Ben so she took away Ross’s rights to have custody of Ben.
Phoebe Was A Genius
Phoebe may be shown as a character who is not smart but she may actually have just been misunderstood. She is one of the smartest and we keep seeing such examples as the seasons proceed.
One such example is in her debate with Ross over the theory of evolution. This is what Ross has built his entire career on, yet after going a few rounds with Phoebe he actually admits that’s there’s a teeny-tiny possibility it didn’t happen. She does this not because she so stringently believes evolution is a myth, but simply to mess with him.
At one point she admits that she sees herself as the “puppet master of the group” and it may be that she’s far smarter than she let’s on, pulling all the strings in the background, and messing with her friends purely for her own amusement. She even learnt how to speak fluent French and Italian without ever attending high school.
Ross Has Asperger’s
Academically speaking Ross is the most intelligent of the Friends group, yet he also has many ridiculous incidents happen to him like “pivot”, him getting spray tanned in the front TWICE, and on occasion comes across as being extremely socially awkward. Is this just his character, is there another reason?
One theory is that Ross actually has Asperger’s Syndrome, with a number of people who have autism pointing out that he shares a lot of the traits associated with it. He has a love and very focused interest of science, likes puzzles, was generally quite awkward, and didn’t like ice cream because it was too cold (a sensory issue).
Jack Gellar Isn’t Monica’s Father
It is no secret that Ross was the favoured child. He was always supported and loved while his sister Monica was not pampered as much. According to a fan, the reason for the favouritism is that Monica was not fathered by Jack Gellar.
There’s no real evidence from the show to support it, but one theory claims that Judy actually had an affair with someone (who probably wasn’t Jewish), resulting in Monica. If that’s true, it would explain both why Judy resented her and why there wasn’t as much emphasis on respecting her Jewish heritage.
Let us face it, it is not normal for a mother to criticize and hate on her child to such an extent.
Monica Developed OCD After Losing Weight
Monica is known to be the cleanliness freak and suffer from OCD. But her OCD could in fact have been developed after she lost all the weight. We all know Monica was overweight. Based on a theory, she had OCD before she gained all the weight and developed it once again after she lost weight. The theory suggests that she took to overeating due to her parent’s favouritism towards Ross.
In The One That Could Have Been, when she’s back to being Fat Monica, she’s shown to be much more carefree. The OCD is always there, it’s just that it changed between cleaning and eating, and is now back to cleanliness again.
Phoebe Was A Meth Addict
Phoebe was one of the most loved character and though she was was initially introduced as a character who would not have as much importance, she went on to be one of the most adored ones in the group.
However, this dark theory makes us feel depressed about the show and Phoebe. Twitter user,strnks, would have ended the show differently. He tweeted-
“I’d have ended Friends by revealing it was all the meth-addled fantasy of a homeless Phoebe as she stared through the window of Central Perk.
Each kooky aside, each time she made everything about her, each example of how she’s an outsider….it all makes sense. All 10 seasons were merely her fevered imagination, projecting herself into the lives of the others. All she ever wanted was…Friends.
The final scene would be Phoebe walking away from Central Perk, with the Ross, Rachel, Joey, Chandler and Monica characters making a reference to “the crazy lady who always stares at us.” They all have different names and personalities.
Phoebe walks past a furniture store and catches her reflection in a mirror. The name of the store? “Ursula.”
Finally she returns to the park where she sleeps in front of the fountain. A broken lamp stands next to her bench. It starts to rain. From behind, we see her put up six dirty, but brightly coloured umbrellas.
Fade to black.”
This surely gave us the chills.
The Entire Gang Are In A Mental Asylum
This theory – which brings together elements of some of the others, suggests that every single one of the Friends is in a mental asylum, and have fabricated perfect lives as a delusion to hide from the harsh realities of their conditions.
For each of them, their “trigger incident” or underlying cause is explained narratively: Chandler was irreversibly scarred by his parents’ dysfunctional relationship; Monica was bullied for being over-weight and Ross has crippling abandonment issues.
Meanwhile Joey crumbled under the pressure of being the only boy in a family of girls, and over-compensates with his promiscuity and attention seeking; Rachel is a self-destructive sociopath with Daddy issues, and Phoebe failed to overcome the suicide of her mother, concocting increasingly odd fantasies.
They’re lost from reality. How else would you explain the fact that each of them gets the perfect happy ending that suits their condition? Joey becomes famous, Phoebe gets her real family in Mike, Monica marries a man she’s “cured” of his fat-phobia (and the ultimate fixer-upper to satiate her OCD), Ross gets the girl he’s endlessly chased, Rachel defies her father by marrying Ross (who he hated) and learns how to live her own life and Chandler gets a perfect, stable relationship.