More Than 10 Years On Here Are Some Questions We’re Still Asking About Friends

What the hell was on the fourth wall?

TheLastOneBow

by Jess Commons |
Published on

There’s still a few loose ends we'd like tied up – if that's OK with you. So if anyone can help us out with the questions we're still asking below then send in your answers on a stamped-addressed postcard. Or, you know, just Tweet us. It is 2015.

How did Rachel jump from sorting out hangers to the assistant buyer job at Bloomingdales?

If working in the media has taught us one thing it’s that getting into fashion is hard. We know people that have interned for years before they managed to get a part-time job cleaning the toilets in a magazine office for less than minimum wage. So how on earth Rachel went from serving coffee with no fashion experience one day to assistant buyer at New York’s biggest department store the next (admittedly with a day of sorting hangers at Joey’s dad’s mate’s company in between) remains one of life’s greatest mysteries.

Why was Monica never at work?

This one always bugged us. Monica worked in a restaurant which traditionally – and correct us if we’re wrong here – operate at night. But every evening come rain or shine there she was kicking back in Central Perk with the rest of the gang like: ‘Meh, I’ve clocked off for the day, what’s the plan for the evening?’ We’re imagining a seriously overworked sous chef at Javu too scared of Monica to complain to the manager that she called in sick again.

What happened to Joey after Joey?

For those of you that didn’t watch Joey Tribbiani’s short-lived sitcom about his life after he moved to LA and we found out that one of his ever-changing sisters was Adriana from The Sopranos, don’t make the effort now. It’s the Sex and the City 2 of Friends, ie. a black pock mark on an otherwised unscathed and beautiful legacy. But what happened to New York's most loveable over-eater when Joey got cancelled? We’re hoping he went back to Westchester to live in that special Joey room above Monica and Chandler’s garage in a sort of tragic You, Me And Dupree existence for the rest of his days which, let's face it, if he kept on with the Joey Special, wasn't going to be all that much longer.

Why aren't we as grown up as them now that we're the same age?

The gang were meant to be 26 when the first series aired in 1994. That gave us a good 20 years to get to the same place as them; owning apartments, getting married, having kids, working their way up the career ladder… Even Rachel’s toyboy Tag seemed to have it together and he was only 24. Sure we’ve got a job but kids? Having enough money to live by ourselves? Lol. We’re blaming the recession.

Who were all the guys who came to their parties?

In the same way that the Famous Five were defined by the number of members of the gang, the Friends guys came as an unbreakable six-some. Except presumably when Chandler and Monica ruined everything by moving to Westchester. In fact, there’s even that one scene where someone knocks on the door and everyone gets all confused about who it can possibly be since they don't know anyone else. Come Halloween, though there's a whole bunch of waifs and strays who turn up at their parties that none of the main six talk to. Is it some sort of elaborate rent-a-crowd- scheme? Does Monica invite people in off the street? Either way, it can't have been very safe. We're guessing a few valuables went missing here and there.

What was on the fourth wall?

Never, (except for brief blurry shots from the balcony) did you get to see what happened if you came in to Monica and Rachel's apartment and looked to the right. Who knows what treasures that wall harboured? A photo collage documenting that year Ross lived there trying to make it as a dancer? The storage place for the gang's never ending supply of bottled water that was *always *in the fridge? Maybe it was the original actress that played Carol displayed behind a wall of glass as a permanent warning of what happens when you quit TV's biggest ever sitcom. WHO KNOWS.

Follow Jess on Twitter @jess_commons

This article originally appeared on The Debrief.

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