When I’m not studying, running around doing errands or working on something...you can’t bet your bottom dollar I’m rewatching hit 90s TV show "Friends." However, as much as Rachel Green is one of my favorite characters on the show and could (almost) do no wrong in my eyes -- she and Ross Geller really were on a break.
Now, hear me out. I’ve thought about this a lot and while I do believe that Ross spending the night with another woman the same night he and Rachel fought was a bit hasty, it doesn’t mean he cheated. Also, they weren’t on a break at all -- they actually did break up.
Exhibit A: Season 3 Episode 16 “The One The Morning After”
Monica is putting ingredients in a blender when Rachel comes into the kitchen and is asked about her anniversary dinner. In response though, Rachel says, “well, we decided to break up instead,” which is when Monica presses the blend button by mistake and gets her fruit smoothie on the ceiling.
Exhibit B: When Ross listens to his answering machine
Rachel left a message on Ross’ machine the night before to tell him that, and I quote, “this whole break up thing is just stupid, I’m so sorry I put you through it. And you know, I don’t want to get back together over a machine…”
We all know Ross believed they were broken up, and he even thought that she was with Mark. But the fact that Rachel also believed they were broken up is one fact that many people tend to gloss over. Rachel explicitly states multiple times that she and Ross broke up, but when she finds out he was with another woman, her vernacular changes. I don’t blame Rachel for taking his being with another woman so strongly since they had been in a long committed relationship and she believed he wouldn’t love anyone besides her.
Ross was definitely in the wrong for using the first night of their “break” to be with someone else. But, if they both believed that at the moment they were single, then he didn’t cheat on her and she shouldn’t have made him feel as though he did for years after the fact.
I have to say though, kudos to the brilliant writers for taking the opportunity to use moments like these to create catchphrases and famed key moments of the show based off of an early misunderstanding. I mean what world would we be in really, without Ross Geller constantly screaming “WE WERE ON A BREAK?”
