Friends fans divided over error flagged by viewer upon re-watch

Sitcom had many inconsistencies over its 10 years on the air

A “plot hole” in Friends has been flagged by a viewer, and it’s dividing fans of the sitcom.

The series, which was created by David Crane and Marta Kauffman, was broadcast for 10 seasons from 1994 to 2004, and made stars of actors including Jennifer Aniston, David Schwimmer and Courteney Cox.

With a grand total of 236 episodes, it makes sense that viewers re-watching the show would spot inconsistencies related to the characters and their backstories.

One person highlighted an error on Reddit in a post headlined: “I found a plot error in Friends because I am a nerd who pays too much attention to TV shows.”

User Technical_Floor129 said that the error occurred in season seven, which seemed to go against a line spoken by Rachel (Aniston) in the fifth season.

They said: “In S5E7, when Rachel is flirting with a new neighbour, he invites her to his Moving In party but she plays hard to get and says she ‘thinks she is going to be busy’. She says she is going to a ‘regatta gala’. He asks her if she sails and she said ‘no’.

“Then just two seasons later, S7E3, she teaches Joey how to sail because she had lessons when she was a teenager. So there it is. Thanks for reading. You can go back to your lives now.”

After the post gained traction on Reddit, some people stepped in to highlight that this was not a continuity error as it just means that Rachel does not “actively sail”.

“Just because she can sail, doesn’t mean she does at the time he asks,” one fan stepped in, stating: “I can ride a bike, but if someone asked me if I cycle, I’d say no.”

Others said that, due to Friends being a sitcom, “the need for the joke” might sometimes alter details previously established about the characters.

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Jennifer Aniston as Rachel in ‘Friends’ (NBC)

One person used the post as an opporutnity to flag their own niggles about the inconsistencies in Friends, one related to Joey’s knowledge of adam’s apples, and another involving Stephen King book The Shining.

Lucius_Funk posted: “Joey hides his copy of the novel The Shining in the freezer because he’s at a scary part. When he describes the plot to Rachel, it’s the plot of the movie.”

Meanwhile, Beseiger13 wrote: “I don’t remember the episodes but Monica introduced Phoebe to her sous chef and she didn’t know what that meant, yet she teaches Joey French in a later episode,” with Reddit user Tommy Rokcbottom adding: “Phoebe constantly talks about being a vegetarian. But she eats meat off and on throughout the series.”

In season nine, Aniston’s character appears to be replaced in a scene by a non-cast member.

Aniston can currently seen in the third season of Apple TV+ series The Morning Show – read The Independent’s two-star review here.