Of all the couples onFriends, Ross and Rachel made one of the biggest impressions, given how their romance exploded in its original conclusion. Ross and Rachel had been doing fine up untilRachel got a job she loved, which she was helped to get by Mark, a man in the fashion industry. Rachel, thrilled, joins him for the job of her dreams, not even considering him as a romantic prospect. Ross, however, refuses to acknowledge this even when Monica explains to him that even if Mark is attracted to Rachel, that does not mean he gets to do anything with her. Still, no matter how much Rachel and Monica try to get Ross back off, Ross ignores Rachel’s pleas and inserts himself into her professional life after she tells him not to.
Ross could not handle Rachel’s focus turning to her work rather than on him and their relationship. He became controlling, possessive, and overbearing, not seeing Rachel’s joy at her new job and making a living for herself. All of these were factors that led the duo to take a break. However,Friendsdid not focus on any of this in the aftermath of their relationship’s demise, as the show was too busy focusing on Ross having slept with another woman the night their relationship went on a break and determining if they truly were broken up or not.
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Relying On “We Were On A Break”
“We were on a break"quickly became the tagline for Ross and Rachel’s break-up. The quote determined it all and was the joke that kept coming back around no matter how long it had been since their break-up in season three. The downfall of the relationship rested on Ross' possessive and jealous behavior. But, instead,Friendsmade their break-up all about Ross sleeping with the copy girl. That was certainly not a great decision on his part, and his argument stemmed from believing they were broken up completely.Friendsnever discussedhow Ross' behavior led to issues in their relationshipthat resulted in the duo going on a break in the first place. Instead, the series used “we were on a break” numerous times as an explanation for Ross and Rachel’s relationship struggles afterward and used it as a joke.
Ignoring Their Other Problems
Focusing on Ross sleeping with another woman,Friendscompletely disregards the events leading up to Rachel and Ross' break-up. By doing so, they do both of the characters and the storyline a disservice.Ross and Rachelnever confronted the problems that pre-existed and suggested their relationship was hanging by a thread before Ross slept with someone else. By making their break-up surround Ross' actions with another woman, it places infidelity and inability to trust as the reasons for their breakup. While those are both solid reasons for a break-up, Rachel and Ross had so many other issues that got ignored, which meant they were never dealt with, and neither character grew from them. Instead, it led to plenty of fans finding the series finale and final decision of their relationship to be highly controversial.
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Never Fixing Any Of It Before The Ending
In the end, Rachel is offered a dream job in Paris. A brand-new adventure that shows just how much she has grown since arriving in Central Perk in a wedding dress, anxiously searching for Monica. However, in the series finale, Rachel famously gets off the plane before it takes off, meeting Ross back at his apartment, allowing the duo to get back together in the show’s final minutes. But Rachel and Ross' reconciliation has many problems, many of which come from that they never addressed the real reason behind their initial breakup. They never addressed them, so they, most specifically Ross, never changed. Ross remained jealous, possessive,and severely problematic, never showing he gained redeemable traits that would have suggested he worked through the problems he brought to his relationship with Rachel years earlier.
Ross and Rachel have their ups and downs throughout the series. But, even as they get back together in the series finale, Ross makes a joke about them being on a break, a highly inappropriate comment given the situation. It also proves how little he has changed if he is willing to bring up one of the most painful moments in their history during what is meant to be one of the most important ones of what could be the start of their new future.Friendsnever worked to improve on Ross' worst qualities. If anything, they only grew over time, and thus it never gave suggestions that Ross was worth Rachel giving up a job in Paris. In the finale, due to Rachel giving up a new job, she is left unemployed without a clear path. It is uncertain if she would have been re-hired at her old job due to all the back and forth that occurred, especially when Rachel officially chose Paris. While Rachel’s previous career success may have meant she was able to find another job, her career prospects were not given more time in the final moments to answer what professionally would have happened for her next.
