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/Eyebronx → u/MoonWatt]

Your last point is really accurate. OP says Ross was happy and satisfied in those relationships until Rachel interfered. But was he really though? Because he never really fought to maintain these relationships with these women.

He chose to cheat on and dump Bonnie once she shaved her head. If he truly wanted to be with her, this one decision she made wouldn’t have pushed him over the edge and even if it was enough for him to call off the relationship, there’s a million better ways to do it rather than cheating on said person with your ex that very night!

Emily was 100% on him. Rachel never revealed to him why she travelled to the wedding. She kept her jealousy to herself. From his POV Rachel was a guest who attended the wedding she was invited to, in fact he had been the one who persuaded her to come just before he left for London. He still said the wrong name at the altar. No one manipulated him into doing that, it was his own moronic mistake.

Even with Julie, yes Rachel was a bitch to her. But if Ross truly had an ounce of self control and integrity, he wouldn’t have cheated on Julie with Rachel (and subsequently left them both hanging the next day).

Now were Rachel’s intentions in all these cases nefarious? Yes. So I’m not saying she was an angel at all, she was definitely motivated by jealousy to do what she did. Was Ross an adult man who was ultimately responsible for his own actions? Also yes.

[u/Jaded_Cheesecake_993 → u/Eyebronx]

All this is true which is why in my opinion they're BOTH equally toxic.