omnomnom

Hi, msstock87! TOW Joey Dates Rachel is such a great ep. It's in my top 10 favorite Friends eps, and most of those are the true ensemble ones.

Excellent recap as always, starryeyesxx! From a J/R perspective, I still think it's interesting to note the differences between Joey in the early seasons vs. the later. He got more dumbed down, but in S8 the writers really played to his and MLB's strengths. In this ep he's still immature Joey (although I do like that pizza scene, LOL.) When I compare him enjoying the wax and saying "Do you think I need a new walk?" to S8 Joey being so responsible and helping Rachel get to the hospital, I'm like because his character development was so on point in that arc.

msstock87

Hi there!

I loved Joey's character development, especially with Rachel.

starryeyesxx

That episode always bothered me a little bit honestly, in that Joey & Chandler found out that Ross had slept with someone else & they both convinced him to cover it up....I just think that Rachel deserves better from both of them, she's supposed to be their friend. If any other of Rachel's boyfriends had done that, they wouldn have been really angry on her behalf & definitely would have told her. Remember how badly all the friends thought of Paolo when he hit on Phoebe? & that relationship wasn't even anywhere near as serious!

& I know that they were in a different position, because Ross is their friend too & they were looking out for him. I just hate that they just automatically put him first in some kind of 'guys got to stick together' mentality.

omnomnom

It was so good in S8. I appreciate the groundwork eps that led up to it, like TOW The Boobies and TOW The Cop, which featured great R/J moments!

I totally get why TOW The Morning After bothers you starryeyesxx. It's bugged me for different reasons, but I didn't think much about Joey and Chandler's behavior in it. IA that they don't look like good friends, because you're right, they should have cared about Rachel just as much as Ross, and Joey especially should've been encouraging him to tell the truth. I don't want to get into OT stuff but you raised a really good point. I am glad that Joey was honest with Rachel later on

starryeyesxx

I guess it just had to play out that way for the way the writers wanted to tell the story...I think they wanted Rachel to find out & not from Ross, but I think they also didn't want Ross to be such a bad guy that he instantly tried to cover it up from her - so they had to make Joey & Chandler convince him to do it that way I don't like it, I really don't like it - & like I said with all the Paolo stuff, they all really cared about Rachel then! It doesn't make sense that they wouldn't be a little angry/upset at Ross for cheating on her....but I guess the writers just weren't ready to add all that extra drama to the storyline. There was already tension between Ross & Rachel throughout the rest of the season, I guess they didn't want to throw anyone else into that mix too.

starryeyesxx

dp, sorry.

omnomnom

Oh yeah, I get what you're saying now and I agree. I know Joey and Ross were closer than Joey was with Rachel at the time but you're right, Joey was still friends with Rachel and everyone got mad at Paolo for her and Phoebe's sakes. I think you're right about why the writers had Joey and Chandler give Ross bad advice, which is why I love it later when both of them gave Ross good advice about Rachel's letter.

I have the same problem with TOW Morning After as I do with TOW Ross's Tan: the writers set up interesting groundwork then backtracked, bypassing nuances and previous build up. They're lucky the actors were so good, but even then I still dislike the execution.

On a brighter note, I am glad to see more people who ship J/R, now that Friends is on Netflix and people are rewatching or watching for the first time! I've been seeing more posts and love for them lately, and that makes me happy

starryeyesxx

That's awesome! Hopefully some people will be stopping by here soon then

Next recap then? I think the rest of s3 has got better J/R moments

eternalfate

starryeyesxx

omnomnom

Thank you for another great recap! I forgot about that "models with high heels" moment, poor Rachel and Joey (and the rest of the group ) And I forgot about Joey agreeing with Ross! What?? Well, later Joey got sick of hearing "We were on a break," so there's that.

I'm hoping more people will stop by too! It's nice, coming back after a while and seeing more J/R fans here, and I missed all the Cobras talk and recaps. BTW, I just rewatched a couple of your vids, starryeyesxx, and I was like all over again. My favorite is your Smile vid.

eternalfate

starryeyesxx

I love how he actually looked genuinely sorry that they all had to turn her down, it must have been really awkward!

& I don't think he genuinely agreed with Ross, he probably just said it while Ross was ranting about it all, like he would agree with Rachel while she ranted about it all.

omnomnom

Me too!

Oh yeah, that's a good point. It seems like something Joey would do, since he was a good friend to all of them.

That reminds me, I rewatched TOW Monica Sings and J/R's scene at the end - "Can Emma and I live here a while?" "Of course!" - still got to me

starryeyesxx

It would still get me too! I love how she just goes to him straight away & he doesn't hesistate at all. & then when they hug, he runs his hand over her hair