5 of the Craziest ‘Friends’ Fan Theories

Friends ended over 13 years ago, but that doesn’t mean its fans stopped thinking of crazy conspiracy theories for the show.

The group of six coffee-loving friends’ last and final episode aired on May 6, 2004. However, fans have been able to continuously binge-watch the series’ 10 seasons on Netflix.

Chandler (Matthew Perry), Joey (Matt LeBlanc), Monica (Courteney Cox), Phoebe (Lisa Kudrow), Rachel (Jennifer Aniston), and Ross (David Schwimmer) captured the hearts of many and that will never change.

Because of this, fans have created some interesting theories throughout the years. Some include the coffee powerhouse Starbucks, while others reveal who should have really ended up together.

Have you heard any of these theories before?

The Series Takes Place in Rachel’s Dream

This theory started after the release of the season four boxset cover.

Fans looked closely at the image that shows only Rachel awake. Many people would assume Aniston was just startled in the photo, which made her open her eyes for the snap.

However, one theory suggests that the entire series actually took place in Rachel’s mind. One twitter user explained the theory, writing, “Here is my theory: Rachel Green had a dream on the eve of her wedding day, she didn’t want to marry Barry so she had a major anxiety dream. She created a fantasy in her mind and five other Friends characters as a way to escape her spoilt, trapped future life. And also the trauma of her getting married the next day.” 

He continued, “This cover is her partially waking up from that dream at 5am on the morning of her wedding day. The whole entire series was her anxiety dream.”

Starbucks Created ‘Friends’

Have you heard about this Starbucks-Friends­­ theory?

Fans speculate that the whole concept of Friends was just a ploy by the coffee shop to sell more beverages.

Radio presenter Alex Baker believes the series was intended to move consumers away from the bar scene and into coffee shops in what he describes as a “meticulously-planned priming exercise to manipulate human behavior.” 

He provided more evidence to support his theory: Rachel’s last name is Green, which is Starbucks’ logo color, and Ross and Monica’s last name is Geller, which is similar to German word “Gellen,” meaning “to yell,” and in Starbucks the employees yell your name when your coffee is ready.

This one might be a far stretch, but Friends’ success did coincide with Starbucks’ international expansion. 

Despite the possibility of this theory, Friends character’s did drink a ton of coffee on the show.

Rachel and Joey Are Meant to Be

Who thinks Rachel and Joey were truly meant to be?

The two attempted a fling during season eight, and the pairing received mixed reactions. One fan took this theory as far as creating a thread supporting the relationship on Twitter.

“Argument # 1: Ross Never Saw Rachel As a Friend, But Joey Did,” the user wrote.

The fan believes Ross claimed Rachel as “his” too quickly and had major jealously issues. “He hides messages from men who call her when they’re living together. He’s endlessly threatened by the men she dates,” the user continued.

This is different than Rachel’s relationship with Joey. He has to “learn to see Rachel as a romantic prospect because she’s always been a friend first. Which was never true for Ross.” 

The Twitter user believes Joey deserves to be with Rachel and thinks the “forced cop-out ending where they get together & suddenly all the chemistry evaporates was nonsense.”

The fan ended the argument, writing, “They could have made this work.”

Ross Loses Custody of Ben

This one is a little sad for Ross fans.

Ross has done some questionable things over the course of the series, and one fan thinks his antics caused him to lose the custody of his son Ben. 

“Ross has a son, Ben, who plays a fairly important role in the first several seasons of Friends. But then he disappears,” he hypothesizes.

“Which makes me wonder if it’s possible that Ross’s disturbing antics have caused him to lose custody of Ben? Ben doesn’t show up in person after episode 12 of season 8. He’s only mentioned six times in the remaining 54 episodes after his last appearance.” 

He also points out that after Emma is born, Ben never appears to meet his half-sister nor is there ever a mention of them together off-screen.

Rachel Dates Ben Wyatt From ‘Parks and Rec’

Parks and Rec

In season seven, episode nine, Rachel tells Monica that she didn’t sleep with Tag on their first date because she doesn’t do that. However, Monica questions Rachel by naming men she did in fact sleep with on the first date, including a man named Ben Wyatt.

“After doing the math, at the time of season 7 of Friends (2000), Rachel is 29 years old,” says Reddit user, Phefflin. “At the same time, Ben would be 26, slightly younger but still within the range of a relationship… I think at some point after Ben left Partridge, Minnesota in shame after his failure as mayor, he went to NYC for a brief time, met Rachel, and either had a one night stand, or a relationship.”