Rachel and Joey’s Relationship Timeline in Friends
The relationships in Friends are the foundation for why fans can’t get enough of the show, especially with one as unique as Rachel and Joey’s.The relationships in Friends are part of what keeps audiences hooked the whole way through. The six main characters experienced love and heartache with a number of people, but the show got even more interesting when the mutual romantic feelings were felt by two people in the friendship group. Joey and Rachel became a focus for a portion of the series, though it wasn’t as big of a storyline as Monica and Chandler getting together or Ross and Rachel.
The two had always been great friends, so it was shocking to viewers when the two embarked on a relationship together. There were suggestions of their possible compatibility throughout the show, but it wasn’t until the end of season nine that fans got to see them as a couple.
Seasons 1-7 Laid the Foundations of Joey and Rachel’s Friendship
Throughout the show, Rachel and Joey had one of the best friendships on Friends. Like the rest of the group, they hung out a lot, looked out for one another, and were always on hand to give each other advice. Most of them had flirtatious moments in different places that didn’t amount to anything, and between Seasons 1 and 7, Joey and Rachel shared some of these scenes. Joey had various relationships in the first seven seasons, while Ross and Rachel were up and down with their love story and sad breakup. In season 5’s “The One With All the Resolutions,” Joey and Rachel kissed at midnight on New Year’s Eve. However, it was only part of a plan that would allow Monica and Chandler to kiss without anyone suspecting their relationship. In the same season, Joey thought about dating Rachel because Chandler and Monica were friends before they got together, but Rachel explained that he didn’t need to hit on his existing friends.
In Season 6, “The One Where Ross Dates a Student,” Rachel moved in with Joey after Phoebe’s apartment had caught fire. The move was initially only temporary, but after discovering how much fun she had lived with Joey (and the fact that Phoebe’s apartment was restored with only one bedroom), she lived there permanently for some time. The pair got on famously, and by constantly being close to one another, it was the ideal setup to see how they developed, either as platonic friends or a romantic relationship, though nothing was hinted at at that point.
Joey Developed Feelings for Rachel in Season 8
Matthew Perry was the last main actor to be cast on the show.
Season 8 was a period that really transitioned their friendship and showed another side to Joey’s persona. Audiences had always known that Joey would do anything for his friends, but it really came to light when Rachel was pregnant with Ross’ child. In “The One with the Stain,” Rachel started to look for somewhere else to live so that Joey could continue his life without her getting in the way. When Ross told him, he was adamant that Rachel would continue living there and showed her how great it could be. In “The One With Ross’ Step Forward,” Rachel tells Joey that she wants to sleep with someone once, and the pair briefly consider each other before coming to the conclusion that they wouldn’t do it.Joey stepped up once again in “The One Where Joey Dates Rachel” when he took her on a date to make her feel better about not being able to go on dates for a while. It was meant as a platonic date, but Joey suddenly realized how much fun he had and that he was starting to develop feelings for Rachel. He tried his best to deny his feelings, but the fact remained that he liked her a lot. Rachel eventually moves in with Ross with Joey’s encouragement, as it would be best for them and the baby, even though Joey wanted her to stay. Joey then tells Ross about his feelings for Rachel, and in “The One Where Joey Tells Rachel,” confesses to Rachel that he was in love with her but is met with rejection. Their friendship became a little awkward, but they finally got back to normal until “The One Where Rachel Has a Baby.” Joey accidentally looked like he was proposing to Rachel, which he wasn’t, but Rachel immediately said yes.
Barbados Was the Place That Everything Changed in Season 9Season 9 started with a bout of awkwardness when Ross found out that Rachel said yes to Joey proposing (which he didn’t,) and Rachel found out that she’d made a mistake. Ross was deeply upset because of the history he had with Rachel, but Joey and Rachel tried to assure him that it didn’t actually mean anything. A bit further into the season, Rachel and Ross had a fight, and she ended up moving back in with Joey. Now living in Joey’s apartment, she had a dream where they kissed, which caused her to have feelings for him. Rachel tells Monica that she wants to fool around with Joey, but Monica tells her it is a bad idea. Rachel tried to hint to Joey about liking him, which went completely over Joey’s head.
In “The One With The Soap Opera Party,” Ross invites his colleague Charlie to the celebration, hoping to ask her out. However, he lost his confidence, and saw Charlie kissing Joey instead, which Rachel also saw. Ross was picked to deliver a keynote speech at a paleontology convention in Barbados and invited the rest of the group to go along, including Charlie. Though they were in a relationship when they went out to Barbados, Charlie and Joey broke up, having realized that they had very little in common. As their trip went on, as much as they had a nice time together, it became evident that they weren’t really suited to each other. Now they were both single, this gave Ross the chance to get together with Charlie, and for Rachel to be with Joey. Rachel told Joey how she felt, and Joey felt the same, but he resisted being with her because he didn’t think it could work. He left Rachel’s room and happened to see Charlie kissing Ross. He didn’t interrupt them but turned back to Rachel’s room. When she answered the door, he kissed her.
Season 10 Was the Start and End of Their Relationship
Season 10 was the most significant in Joey and Rachel’s relationship timeline. Phoebe, Monica and Chandler were able to hear Joey and Rachel in their room, as well as Ross and Charlie in theirs. However, despite the others knowing, Rachel and Joey believed it to be the right decision not to take their relationship any further before they found out if Ross was okay with it. Unfortunately, that plan didn’t work out, as Ross walked in on Joey and Rachel kissing before they had the opportunity to tell him what was happening. He tried to pretend he was fine with the situation when he blatantly wasn’t. In an attempt to show just how “fine” he was, Ross arranged a double date between them and him and Charlie. In “The One Where Ross Is Fine” (which brought out one of his best quotes), the two couples have dinner at Ross’ apartment. He persisted in trying to convince everyone that he was happy with Rachel and Joey being together. His outlandish behavior signified how uncomfortable he was with it, so Joey stayed at his apartment that night to check in on how he was in the morning. When the next day came, Ross and Joey discussed what was going on, and Joey displayed how much he cared for Rachel. Ross told Joey he would make himself be okay with them being together.
This enabled Rachel and Joey to carry on dating freely, until they came up against obstacles between themselves. When trying to take their relationship to the next level, they could never manage to get past kissing. Every time Joey would put his hand on Rachel’s leg, she’d slap it away. It was a reaction she couldn’t help, which led them to have a deeper conversation about why that was happening. The pair concluded that it was because it was Joey touching her; the pair were such good friends, and it was difficult for them to pursue something more, no matter how they both felt. In the end, they returned to being friends, which is what they were familiar with and worked best as.
