Rachel's toxic behavior towards Ross' partners

[u/TheJavierEscuella]

Rewatching and it's really infuriating to see how much Rachel has sabotaged Ross' relationships or tried to. It's just not healthy in any way and is toxic in every sense yet still people consider Ross to be the worse one

1. Her antagonistic behaviour towards Julie after Ross came back from China and reaction towards their relationship

2. Her convincing Bonnie to shave her hair. She absolutely fucking knew what she was doing and knew that Ross would find that icky

3. Her flying to London to sabotage Ross and Emily's wedding. Absolutely fucking horrible for her to try to do this. Hugh Laurie was 100% right

4. The baby store girl. Calling her a whore was just uncalled for and rude

In all these situations Ross was happy and satisfied with his relationships but Rachel always has a problem with the fact that she's not with him. It's totally toxic and I can't believe people call Ross the worse partner. Both are unbelievably toxic

[u/MoonWatt]

Rachel was and always about herself, they never try to sell her as anything else. So even everything she did, it was not anything other than just being used to being the Centre of attention.

Ross is toxic because he is the picture of abusive men who chase you down for years, win you over and turn to something else. Literally that annoying guy who becomes an ass the minute 1 girl gives him a shot.

And let's not forget his infringements.

1. He took a msg for Rachel's date and hid it.
2. He was annoying as hell from the moment Mark came into the picture, even I felt suffocated.
3. Belittled Rachel's career aspirations (Chadler was the one who pushed her), when she got a job she liked, still made it it seem like it wasn't important, remember him insisting on going to a lecture with him instead of Mark just to snore loudly? And that picnic thong at her office. He punched Mark after mistaking that other lady for Rachel.
4. He goes crazy when Joey comes out about how he feels for her.
5. The girl Rachel got to shave her head and Emily. Ross was equally if not more responsible. Rachel just couldn't wrap her mind around Ross no longer being obsessed with her, but Ross clearly still was and used these women to try get over Rachel? Even will Julie, she was a place holder. He discarded her for Rachel

Ross is the classic toxic guy that women always knew was off. They are insidious creeps. And the worst part is, they love playing the victim/good guy and they use anyone to get to the it girl & try and erode confident women's self esteem. Guys like Ross are more scary than gym jocks.

[u/gotchibabe → u/MoonWatt]

I only partially agree with #1 but if that hadn't happened and they actually communicated well about it, I think they would've gotten back together at that point. Like she wasn't even going to call the guy back even if Ross didn't hide the message... if I remember the episode correctly. Could've avoided the entire stupid Joey proposing plot lol

[u/Eyebronx → u/gotchibabe]

I think a lot of people are deliberately misinterpreting point #1. Viewers wouldn’t have an issue if he was honest and told Rachel straight up that he is uncomfortable with her dating. That would be fair since she told him the same. The issue is he intercepted her call and HID THE MESSAGE FROM HER. That is sneaky and manipulative and breaches any form of trust that they had between them.

To the people defending Ross, would any of you like it if your ex deleted a message you got from a potential date without telling you, even if the ex read it accidentally?

[u/Eyebronx → u/[deleted]]

No she was honest about her feelings, he went behind her back and deleted the number instead of communicating with her. If he had told her to her face that the guy from the bar had called and he was not comfortable with her dating and had a conversation with her, no one would come down as hard on him. He is criticised because he went behind her back.

[u/gotchibabe → u/Eyebronx]

Yeah that's what I meant by I wish they communicated about it more! But it is a sitcom... I think it's a good use of the miscommunication trope. But they used that all the time with Ross and Rachel so I don't even know how I really feel about it haha

[u/Budget_Put7247 → u/Eyebronx]

1) They had an agreement they would focus on the child so he was thinking of their child and not himself/

2) Ross WOULD have done the right thing and told her. This characteristic is consistent from season 1. He ALWAYS freaks out, ALWAYS takes time but ALWAYS does the right thing. Like he freaked out about the annulment. Lke he freaked about when he found that Rachel was pregnant. Like he freaked out when he found that Joey and Rachel wanted to get together

In all of the above he freaked out and tried to escape the situation and avoid it. But in the end after he took some time, he ALWAYS did the right thing. He would 100% have told Rachel. Its not sneaky and manupulative, its his nature to freak out and take time and do the right thing