Pals has been a giant a part of my life since its unique run on NBC that began 30 years in the past, and thru countless rewatches of the collection with my HBO Max subscription, I’ve thought quite a bit about every character and the conditions they get themselves into. Admittedly, I really like all of them — Ross, Rachel, Chandler, Monica, Phoebe and Joey — regardless of their sometimes-obvious faults, however I occurred upon a thread criticizing Jennifer Aniston’s character, and I’ve to confess some good factors have been made.
Each Pals fan has their favourite and least-favorite characters. There are individuals who suppose Matt LeBlanc’s Joey is just too obsessive about meals or that Lisa Kudrow’s Phoebe is unrealistically off-beat. Many agree that David Schwimmer’s Ross is solely the worst. For one fan on Reddit, nevertheless, Rachel Inexperienced is the largest offender, as they started a thread titled “Rachel from Pals is a fairly terrible one that simply acquired away with issues as a result of she was fairly,” and wrote:
Critically, she is simply the worst. They make this entire deal about her rising a lot as an individual however she by no means stops being terrible. That factor with Ross? She needed the break and he or she actually had one other man come over to her residence 5 minutes after. As in, the identical man Ross was upset about is simply there, and he or she will get to bitch, ‘Oh he slept with one other lady,’ and he or she by no means as soon as admits it?
I’m sorry, I used to be unaware that Will Colbert (co-founder of the “I Hate Rachel Inexperienced” Membership) was on Reddit.
It’s a good level, although. Whereas Rachel does present extra emotional maturity than her sisters Jill and Amy (portrayed excellently by Reese Witherspoon and Christina Applegate), there’s no questioning the character’s privilege and spoiled tendencies.
Even Jennifer Aniston has admitted Ross and Rachel have been on a break in the course of the Pals: The Reunion particular, and it was fairly unhealthy type to let Mark come to her place after he was the central determine of her and Ross’ argument. The fan continued:
The entire breaking Ross up from Julie, a GOOD one that was extra appropriate with him? Similar factor. And Bonnie? Okay so perhaps it was only a rebound, however what proper did Rachel need to maintain interfering? She is simply an awfully entitled creature who acquired away with the whole lot for her seems.
I’ve at all times thought that Rachel convincing Bonnie (Christine Taylor) to shave her head was one of many character’s extra diabolical strikes (although I additionally blame Ross for being so repulsed by his girlfriend simply eager to stay her greatest bald life). And sure, breaking apart Ross and Julie was terrible, as a result of they have been glad (they acquired a cat!), and Lauren Tom’s character was nothing however an angel.
Rachel was recognized to get in the best way of just about each one in every of Ross’ different relationships, whether or not she was calling the child retailer saleswoman a “attractive bitch” for flirting with Ross or straight up flying throughout the globe to attempt to cease him from marrying Emily.
Phoebe even known as her out for the child retailer slut-shaming, exclaiming, “Oh my God! A lady flirting with a single man? We MUST alert the church elders,” and others on Reddit sided with Home star Hugh Laurie when he guest-starred as a passenger on Rachel’s flight to London. AgeofVictoriaPodcast wrote:
Yeah and it was nice when she sat subsequent to Home on the aircraft and he tore her a brand new one over her evil plans to intervene with Ross’s wedding ceremony.
Even for probably the most loyal Rachel followers, it’s exhausting to suppose again on how she behaved in a number of conditions of among the finest sitcoms of all time and never admit that she typically acted like an terrible particular person. However that’s not going to cease me from loving her or the present typically.
All 10 seasons of Pals will be streamed on HBO Max, whilst you can catch Jennifer Aniston on The Morning Present, whose fourth season simply premiered on the 2025 TV schedule and is streaming with an Apple TV+ subscription.