Friends is undeniably one of the most beloved sitcoms of all time. It captured audiences from the get-go with its quirky characters, memorable one-liners, and rewatchable episodes you just can’t get enough of. Over the course of 10 seasons, audiences watched as Ross (David Schwimmer), Rachel (Jennifer Aniston), Joey (Matt LeBlanc), Chandler (Matthew Perry), Phoebe (Lisa Kudrow), and Monica (Courteney Cox), grew in love, life, and friendship. We cheered for them, we laughed with them, we felt for them.
But despite the show’s prominent place in pop culture, it isn’t without its flaws (nor is any show). Considering Friends ran for ten years, there are bound to be some blips and mishaps. Whether it be storylines that didn’t land, episodes and characters that are controversial now, or, in this case, plot holes that just don’t make sense. Sure, some can be considered “nitpicky,” but even the most casual Friends viewer can pick up on some of the show’s biggest inconsistencies and rightfully call out that some things just don’t add up.
10
Bruce Willis Provides an ‘Armageddon’-Sized Plot Hole in Season 7
In the Season 7 episode, “The One Where They’re Up All Night,” Ross convinces the gang to head to the roof to see a comet. Afterwards, they all experience a series of events that keep them up all night. For Chandler and Monica, it’s Chandler being unable to sleep and keeping Monica awake by asking her a slew of random questions. One of which is: “Quick question. Which one was Deep Impact, and which one was Armageddon?”
This ends up becoming a plot hole because just one season prior, Bruce Willis, who starred in Armageddon, had a three-episode stint on Friends. He plays Paul Stevens, the father of Ross’s college student girlfriend, Elizabeth. Paul later goes on to date Rachel, making things extra awkward for Ross. But it’s a plot hole for fans, because the gang have clearly seen Armageddon, and they’ve discussed Die Hard before, yet no one is talking about the fact that Paul looks an awful lot like Bruce Willis?
9
How Many Sisters Does Joey Have?
In Season 1, we learn that Joey comes from a big family, and he says his mother gave birth to seven children. In Season 3, the gang throws a big party for his birthday and invites his family, including all of his siblings. The issue is, we learn here that Joey has seven sisters, which makes his statement in Season 1 wrong.
That being said, as lovable as Friends‘ Joey is, he’s not the best at math, so perhaps he missed counting himself in the equation and was just mentioning his sisters when he said that? Eight kids is a lot to keep track of so we can cut him a little slack. Still, this is more likely an error on the show’s part, albeit a relatively minor one as far as Friends plot holes go.
8
The Apartment Numbers Change
The apartments, specifically Monica and Rachel’s, are among the most iconic locations in the series. Aside from Central Perk, the gang can often be found gathering in Monica’s living room or at her kitchen table. But if you pay close attention, you’ll notice a small detail that keeps changing through the seasons.
In Season 1, the girls live in apartment 5, and the boys live across the hall in 4. It stayed like this for a bit until the writers realized it wouldn’t make any sense with the view. Considering they were always spying on their neighbor, Ugly Naked Guy, and looking off of a super high balcony, apartments 4 and 5 just didn’t cut it, so the numbers were changed to 19 and 20.
7
Chandler and Monica Say “I Love You” Twice
Chandler and Monica’s love story is a highlight in Friends, as it came as such a surprise, yet fit so naturally. Seeing all of their milestones was exciting for fans, specifically the “I love you” from commitment-phobe Chandler. But something that has always been a point of discussion is that Chandler says “I love you” twice, and Monica seems to just ignore the first time.
The first time Chandler says “I love you” is in “The One With All the Thanksgivings” when she is dancing with a turkey on her head. He’s laughing as he says it, but it stops her dead in her tracks, so she definitely hears him, but it isn’t brought up again. The second time is in “The One Where Everyone Finds Out,” when Chandler professes his love for Monica in front of everyone, effectively outing their relationship to their friends, and letting her know he’s all in. Granted, his second love confession is better, but it’s strange that the first one was never acknowledged again.
6
Rachel and Ross’ Ink Disappears
In the Season 5 finale, the gang heads to Vegas, and on the way there, Ross pranks Rachel by drawing on her face with a permanent marker. So, in an effort to make them even, she draws on his face. They get intoxicated, and well, they’re in Vegas, and when in Vegas, what else to do but get married? It’s a huge cliffhanger because it was initially meant to be Monica and Chandler who were going to get married while in Vegas, before they saw Ross and Rachel drunkenly stumble out of the chapel.
The reason this is a plot hole, though, is because in the Season 6 premiere, which is supposed to take place directly after this episode, when Ross and Rachel meet everyone for breakfast the next morning, the marker is magically gone from their face. The entire plot of the previous episode was that they couldn’t get the marker off, so for it to be gone now, just a few hours later, was a big oversight, and one that no fan missed.
5
Where Did Ben Go?
In Season 1, Ross is getting the first of what will eventually be multiple divorces from his wife Carol (Jane Sibbett), because she has come out and is in love with a woman named Susan (Jessica Hecht). But soon after they decide to split, Carol discovers she’s pregnant, and by the end of the season, Ross, Carol, and Susan welcome a baby boy named Ben (Cole Sprouse). Ben is a prominent part of the following seasons and is a big part of a lot of Ross’ storylines going forward.
But when Ross and Rachel welcome their daughter, Emma, at the end of Season 8, Ben sort of just disappears from the show. There’s never been any reason given as to why Ben isn’t seen or mentioned again, but it’s something many fans have noticed and complained about, and rightfully so. He’s literally Ross’s son, so for the show to never even mention his name again, even in passing, was a strange choice. He doesn’t even meet his new baby sister. It’s a major oversight and one of Friends‘ most confusing plotlines.
4
How Old Is Ross?
A common plot hole in television is a character’s age. It can be easy to lose track of time in a series when it’s not being explicitly stated every episode, so it’s understandable, but Ross’s age has always been a topic of conversation among Friends fans. In Season 1, he is roughly 26, as Rachel and Monica are said to be 24, and he is only a couple of years older than them. In Season 3, we get confirmation that he is now 29, which would add up and coincide with the Season 1 timeline.
However, he states that he is 29 again in Season 4 and Season 5. So, how old is Ross really? By Season 7, he has fully dropped the act of saying he is 29, as in the episode “The One Where They All Turn Thirty” we see a flashback to his thirtieth birthday. However, we don’t know when that was. So perhaps that was sometime during Season 4 or 5, and he was just in denial of turning 30? After all, his thirtieth birthday gift to himself turned out to be a dud, maybe he wanted a redo.
3
Does Anyone Remember Their Birthday?
Speaking of ages, birthdays in Friends are another headache. In Season 4, Rachel tells James Michael Tyler’s Gunther that her birthday is May 5th. But in Season 7, when she is pulled over, the cop looking at her license says “You’re an Aquarius, huh?” which would put her birthday sometime in late January or early February.
Ross’s birthday also changes a lot, much like his age. In the Season 1 episode “The One with George Stephanopoulos,” Joey and Chandler give him a ticket to a hockey game on October 20th, claiming it’s a birthday present, to which Ross quips, “Funny, my birthday was seven months ago.” Then, in Season 4, he tells Gunther his birthday is in December. And in Season 9, he tells Joey his birthday is October 18th. Surely, keeping track of birthdays shouldn’t be this difficult.
2
Chandler Acts As If He Never Met Monica
In Season 2, “The One With the Prom Video,” the gang sits down to watch the video of Monica and Rachel getting ready for prom. This is the episode that Rachel and Ross finally get together, when Rachel realizes Ross was going to take her to prom, under the assumption her date had ditched her. But it also opened up a confusing plot hole. In the video, we see teenage Monica, who was overweight. The jokes are outdated and cruel, and plentiful in this episode, and Chandler is responsible for a lot of them. But what’s surprising is just how shocked he seems at seeing her.
Just a few seasons later, we learn that he attended Thanksgiving at the Geller household, so he met Monica when she was a teenager, and he even cracked jokes at her expense then, too. Even without that episode, we can assume he would have met Monica prior, considering he and Ross were close friends in college. It’s strange that he acts as if this is some shocking revelation to him.
1
Rachel and Chandler Forget That They’ve Met
The pilot episode of Friends begins with Rachel coming into Central Perk after fleeing her wedding, still clad in her extravagant wedding dress. There she bumps into her high school best friend, Monica, who introduces her to all of her friends. She already knows Ross, but it’s her first time meeting Joey, Phoebe, and Chandler. Only, it isn’t.
In Season 5, “The One With All the Thanksgivings”, we see a flashback to a Geller family Thanksgiving that both Rachel and Chandler attended. They interact during the episode, and Rachel even helps Monica get payback when Chandler makes a rude comment about her weight. Then, in Season 10, we see another flashback where Monica and Rachel crashed a college party that Ross and Chandler were at. Since Monica and Rachel were best friends, and Ross and Chandler were best friends and roommates in college, it only makes sense their paths would cross, so it’s confusing why the show acted as though they were strangers in the pilot.
Friends
- Release Date
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1994 – 2004
- Showrunner
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Marta Kauffman
- Directors
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Kevin S. Bright, Gary Halvorson, Michael Lembeck, James Burrows, Gail Mancuso, Peter Bonerz, David Schwimmer, Robby Benson, Shelley Jensen, Terry Hughes, Dana De Vally Piazza, Alan Myerson, Pamela Fryman, Steve Zuckerman, Thomas Schlamme, Roger Christiansen, Sheldon Epps, Arlene Sanford, David Steinberg, Joe Regalbuto, Mary Kay Place, Paul Lazarus, Sam Simon, Todd Holland
- Writers
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Jeff Astrof, Mike Sikowitz, Brian Boyle, Patty Lin, Bill Lawrence, R. Lee Fleming Jr.
