Friends: 10 Plot Holes That Aren’t Actually Plot Holes
No long-running series can be absolutely perfect when it comes to continuation accuracy, and the popular 90s sitcom Friends is certainly no exception. Throughout the years, fans of the series have pointed out plenty of issues amongst the group that truly seem baffling.
While some like Chandler and Rachel’s repeated first-time introduction seem glaringly obvious, other smaller details like the door numbers for their apartments changing might not be as noticeable to occasional viewers. The real question is are any of these supposed inaccuracies actually addressed? There often-referenced Friends plot holes that seem baffling, but actually make complete sense in terms of continuity.
Monica’s Apartment
Naturally, the casual viewer of Friends would certainly roll their eyes at the idea of a mid to late twenty-something being able to afford a nice and spacious apartment like the one Monica Gellar lives in throughout the series. Still, this seemingly unrealistic circumstance is actually addressed a couple of times in the episodes “The One With The Flashback” and “The One With The Ballroom Dancing.”
Technically, Monica’s grandmother is the actual legal resident of the apparently rent-controlled apartment and Monica is living there illegally. The building superintendent Mr. Treeger is even aware of this and after getting in an argument with Joey about Rachel threatens to report them for living there illegally.
The Chick & The Duck
The adorable twosome known as the chick and the duck were pets owned by Chandler and Joey, but after season 6, the feathery buddies physically disappeared from the screen, (though they did get brief references by other characters a few times afterward.)
While fans of the pets no doubt wondered about their whereabouts later on in the series, it isn’t revealed till the two-part series finale “The Last One” that the animals passed away a while back, though Joey believes they went to a special farm that he can’t visit.
Chandler & Rachel
The repeated first-time meetings between Chandler Bing and Rachel Green might seem like the ultimate unsolved mystery to Friends fans, but apparently, it isn’t the giant plot hole it appears to be. In the commentary for the show, creator Kevin Bright says that this isn’t a mistake, but rather a reflection of Chandler and Rachel’s changing physical appearance.
As noted in an article that addresses this plot hole, the repeated first-time meetings also display the extreme growth experienced by the characters throughout the series. Rachel goes from a superficial rich girl to a compassionate independent individual and Chandler similarly goes from valuing physical appearance, made obvious by his clear disdain for Monica, until she loses weight, to become less shallow as the series went on.
The Couch
What are the odds that someone could always get their favorite spot at the local coffee shop? Fans have pointed out this plot hole as seemingly unrealistic considering that Central Perk was clearly popular and it’s highly unlikely that a comfortable couch and coffee table set up would remain open almost every single time the friends went to the shop.
Still, this plot hole surprisingly isn’t a mystery, there are actually several episodes in which viewers can see a reserved sign sitting on the coffee table in front of the couch. There’s even a Friends theory that Gunther reserves the couch for the group specifically because of his crush on Rachel. While that’s never been confirmed, (though it does seem believable considering his willingness to please Rachel) it is clear that somehow that couch was getting held specifically for the gang.
Phoebe’s Apartment
Similar to her friend Monica, Phoebe Buffay lives in the same apartment throughout the entire series run. So how did Phoebe afford her cozy-looking New York apartment? It’s known that Phoebe is a masseuse and that her work wasn’t always consistent, so how exactly could she afford her apartment?
It’s likely due to the fact that she lived with her grandmother Frances who left Phoebe the apartment after she passed away in “The One With Joey’s Bag.” It’s also revealed in “The One with the Holiday Armadillo” that the apartment was originally a one-bedroom that Phoebe’s grandmother converted into a two-bedroom by putting up a wall. It makes sense that with some family help Phoebe was able to enjoy her spacious home.
The Best She Ever Had
Throughout the series, there’s a running gag that roommates Chandler and Joey are complete opposites sexually. Joey is supposed to be the sexy one that’s good in bed and gets all the women, while Chandler is meant to be the funny guy who’s completely awkward and clueless about what women want. When he and Monica secretly start dating, Rachel brings up a comment Monica told her about her secret boyfriend being the best sex she ever had.
It seems inconsistent with the image of Chandler that the show presented previously, but actually makes complete sense going back to season 4’s “The One With Phoebe’s Uterus” where Chandler learns the erogenous zones from Monica after he starts going out with Joey’s former girlfriend Kathy. While teaching Chandler, Monica gets caught up in her own personal preference, making Chandler’s sexual knowledge geared specifically towards what Monica likes. As Chandler later tells Monica “If I’m the best it’s only because you made me the best.” While the statement might not have specifically been meant as a reference to her teachings, it still seems to ring pretty true in this case.
Ross’s Sensitivity
In season 9’s episode “The One with the Male Nanny” Ross’s behavior towards Sandy is pretty awful and ultimately he pushes to fire him as Emma’s nanny simply because he finds Sandy to be too sensitive and not manly enough. While this seems a bit strange considering Ross himself was often made fun of for being sensitive and not overly macho himself, there does seem to be an explanation for his behavior.
Near the end of the episode, Ross and Sandy have a heart-to-heart about Ross’s issues and viewers learn that Ross’s father Jack had an issue with Ross being too sensitive and would berate him for not playing like a “real boy” as a child. While it certainly doesn’t make Ross’s treatment of Sandy alright, it does explain Ross’s own issues with masculinity being projected onto Sandy.
Frank Jr.
While it’s considered to be an inconsistency by some Friends fans, the early appearance of Frank Jr. (then credited as Condom Boy) isn’t really the plot hole people think it is. Viewers first see actor Giovanni Ribisi in season 2’s “The One with the Baby on the Bus” where he briefly appears to retrieve the condom he accidentally dropped in Phoebe’s guitar case.
His exchange with Phoebe is short and it stands to reason that the two easily could have forgotten the short interaction when they meet again later in “The One with the Bullies.” There is also evidence to back up the theory that Frank Jr. and Condom Boy are the same character. Though Condom Boy is only seen briefly, his behavior and his mannerism are consistent with Frank Jr. Still, it should be noted that this has never been confirmed officially.
Denise
In season 6’s “The One with Ross’ Denial” Phoebe reveals that she has a roommate named Denise who no one has apparently ever heard of despite Phoebe’s insistence that she talks about Denise all the time. Many fans have even questioned if she was real. While it could come off as sloppy writing that this supposed roommate is never mentioned, there are actually a few theories that explain the seemingly imaginary Denise.
One is that Phoebe simply made her up so she could live alone, but decided to have Denise “moved out” when she realized it was more important to help out Rachel. Another is that the group simply tuned out Phoebe whenever she mentioned Denise, though it’s also possible that with Phoebe’s known flakiness, she simply never mentioned her in the first place. Either way, it seems pretty fitting with Phoebe’s character.
Joey
While most of the characters in the Friends group got neatly wrapped up happy endings with a special someone, that didn’t seem to be the case for Joey Tribbiani. Throughout the series, the goofy actor never seemed to struggle with finding a romantic partner, and in the later seasons, he also seemed to become serious about wanting something more than casual dating. So why was his ending left so up in the air?
A reasonable explanation is the short-lived spin-off series Joey which followed the popular character after the series finale of Friends. Knowing that Joey would continue on with his own show, it made sense to leave his character’s arc on Friends open to give the character more room to grow on his own series.
