Yeah. Most of my sympathies were and are with Ross, given the ambiguous terms of the “break” and what he found out had happened within moments of him leaving Rachel. Should he have shown greater strength of character and not immediately yielded to the copy girl’s wiles, especially if, as we all knew, he’d loved Rachel so much and for so long? Well, sure: “Love is patient… love is kind.” But of course on TV it’s all about storytelling and comedy.
Hey, I’m not really that much younger (35) and I wasn’t even that fond of Friends. It just irks me.
ETA: I also believe these kinds of shows teach women to act this way. (I’m sure they teach men bad things, too, but I can only worry about one gender right now.) They teach young women who watch them that the way to get a man is to play him, and constantly keep him on the string, but YOU can do whatever you want, and when you get married it’s ok for you to commit adultery as long as your husband is bland and the other guy is REALLY exciting or maybe your one true love.
spits There’s a reason I despise most depictions of romance in movies and shows.
Another factor is that Ross didn’t respond to the break by seeking out another relationship; it just sort of came up. But Rachel, apparently, did seek out another relationship. When Ross wasn’t sure what Rachel meant, he sought clarification. And got it, too. It’s not his fault that Rachel then turned around and said that she meant something completely different from what she was saying and doing. I would blame it on Rachel’s poor communication, except that she communicated clearly enough; she just didn’t mean what she was communicating. Which is even worse.
Now, one might argue that it was unwise for Ross to hook up with the copy girl, since rebound relationships tend to go poorly. But unwise isn’t the same as unethical.
It doesn’t matter if its five minutes or a lifetime, everyone is different. He wasn’t with Rachel at that point, he didn’t betray her trust because there was no commitment to break.
I can understand that point of view, but the blame is at least partly on the person who asked for the ‘break’ without explaining.
Of course, what I most agree with is
AND
They deserve each other.
Nitpick: I think you meant to say he was shtupping her (rather than schlepping her).
As for the OP, maybe it’s because I’m a guy, but I agreed with Ross.
That bothered me as well. Ross was in a noisy bar and Mark was talking quietly on the other side of the room from Rachel. How the hell did Ross hear him? He should have barely been able to hear Rachel.
Sorry, no. You tell me that you’re done with me and at that point it stops being your concern.
-Joe
She asked for a break. For me, a break is a break.
Ross is annoying, but I side with him on this one.
Rachel’s mom was all “once a cheater, always a cheater…”
I think Ross sort of had the *right *to hook up with the copy girl but that doesn’t mean it was a great idea. And it certainly wasn’t in character with what we’d seen of Ross up to that point.
I liked this show a lot and watched it faithfully. I think all the actors really gained some great comdedic chops by the end but holy crap did I hate the whole “Ross and Rachel” thing. They were much funnier when they were apart.
My people! I’m so glad I’ve found you! This has caused me a certain amount of consideration over the years, too. I agree with you, WOOKIN - yeah, they technically were on a break, but Ross wasn’t blameless up to that point, and he did act out of anger, not because he thought he and Rachel were broken up forever (although he might have, when he heard Mark at Rachel’s apartment), but yeah, what the hell was Rachel thinking, inviting Mark over? So complicated for a sitcom event! It was interesting to see both Ross and Rachel maturing over the years though, and eventually ending up together with a possibility of them being good together because they weren’t stupid kids any more.
Even the characters on the show got desperately tired of Ross and Rachel bringing it up over the years.
“It’s perfectly clear that you were on a break” and then Rachel’s little gasp of indignation. That bit always cracks me up!
Put me in with Team Ross on this one. He called her, hoping to talk or work things out, heard Mark in the background, and *then *went off with Copy Shop Girl. IIRC, she kissed him first, when they were dancing. He was acting all mopey about it, and CSG grabbed his face and kissed him.
Rachel had every right to be pissed about Ross sleeping with CSG, but she was being a bitch. She was always too blase about Mark liking her; in fact I always thought she got off a little on making Ross squirm about it. The she tells Ross she wants a break, and the first thing she does is invite Mark over and open a bottle of wine. WTH? It’s shit like that that makes all women look bad.
I was never a big Friends fan, but this arc was the nail in the coffin for me. I don’t think I watched another full episode after this. IMO, Ross did nothing wrong.
This is true. But don’t expect me to take you back because you can’t be trusted for 5 minutes. So, Ross gets to do the copy girl, he doesn’t get Rachel back.
Can’t be trusted to what? have sex with other people while single? why would ever expect him not too?
It seems to me that there are two opinions on what constitutes a break, both on the show and on this thread.
The Rachel idea is that a break is like a time-out. The relationship is still in effect and the rules of fidelity still apply.
The Ross idea is that a break is like a full stop only with the possibility that it might restart in the future. But when the break is on the relationship is off and the rules of being in a relationship are not in effect.
Can’t be trusted in a relationship. Ross was sooo much in love with Rachel that he couldn’t wait 5 minutes to jump into bed with someone else. So he was “in the clear” with the copy girl and Rachel is supposed to welcome him back with open arms once the break is over because of that?
No, I don’t think so. Of course everyone else goes by their own rules but, for me and for Rachel, that was a dealbreaker.
But then why does she get a pass on having dinner with Mark? If she’s sooo much love with Ross, why does she have another guy over when he calls?
This, exactly. And it wasn’t like she was talking to Mark about her problems with Ross at work or over coffee somewhere. She invited him to her apartment, and opened up a bottle of wine.
But it wasn’t like Ross actively went after CSG. They were at the bar, she was there, throwing herself at him, and it just sort of happened. He didn’t walk out after the fight with Rachel and say, “I’m gonna get some Copy Shop Girl ass tonight.”