Each character on Friends had one synonymous trait. Rachel was the spoilt rich girl who struggled to free herself from her parents, Ross was the nerd who was obsessed with Rachel, Chandler had a ton of jokes to mask his scarred childhood, Monica struggled to be perfect because Ross was the favorite child, Phoebe was the awkward one who was raised by the streets, while Joey was…Joey. More often than not, Joey ( Matt LeBlanc), was doing a lot of dumb things. He was, for a long time, the slowest of them all. If he wasn’t catching a joke late, Joey couldn’t quite figure out how things worked. As crazy as he was, Joey had a few moments where he was the level-headed one in the group. Here are some of them:
1. The One Where He Found Out About Chandler And Monica
Joey was not always one to figure things out the first time around. Normally, for him to decode anything, as in the case of Ross’s red sweater, he would get the message after everyone in the room had already caught on. That’s not what happened with the curler, however. Monica ( Courteney Cox) and Chandler had been fooling around behind their friends’ backs for a while. The two went on a getaway, and when they returned, the hotel called Joey’s apartment about an eyelash curler that was left in the room. In true Joey nature, he thought Chandler ( Matthew Perry) had hooked up with a girl who left their curler in the room. Either that or he had gone on a gay cruise. Later, Joey would be in the room when Monica mentioned a missing curler. Almost immediately, Joey put two and two together, forcing Monica and Chandler to confess. The pair made him promise not to tell, which was difficult because it was unlike Joey to keep such information to himself.
2. The One Where He Solved The Bosses Mystery
Unlike other friends, Joey lived a different life. When he was not going for auditions, he was starring on television shows, some of which the friends did not quite appreciate. He’d work with directors for a while and only needed to worry about call time. The only person Joey dealt with on a regular was his booking agent, Estelle ( June Gable), who later passed away. He had no immediate boss like the other friends did. As was normal, all six friends were seated at the coffee house one time, bonding over how their bosses were not really the nicest to work with. “ I don’ think mine [Boss] likes me either,” Monica and Chandler echoed, to which Ross replied, “ Maybe it’s a universal thing.” It took the genius of Joey to remind the friends that the reason they had trouble with their bosses in the first place was that they were all chilled in Central Perk instead of being at work. “ Or maybe, you guys are all hanging around here at 11.30 on a Wednesday,” Joey said, prompting everyone to leave for work.
3. The One Where He Fixed The Radiator
Given that Joey’s father owned a pipe fitting business, one would assume that Joey was a handyman. That couldn’t be far from the truth. When Joey’s refrigerator broke down, his attempts at extorting his friends did not bear any fruit. Instead, he opted to eat all the food before it went bad. Being a handyman didn’t quite cut it either, since he almost got himself electrocuted. Joey’s trial at handiwork wasn’t the best when it came to Monica’s bathroom tiles either. It was therefore a surprise when Joey came to the rescue after Monica’s tropical Christmas party was done. No one could fix the radiator, and the room was incredibly hot. So hot that the guests got instructions to put their coats, sweaters, pants, and shirts in the bedroom. Mr. Treeger ( Michael G. Hagerty) would have been the one to come to Monica’s aid, but he insisted that a new knob could only be available on Tuesday. Joey finally arrived alongside Phoebe ( Lisa Kudrow) and Chandler, long after the guests were gone. “ You mind if I turn the heat down?” he asked, to which Monica mocked him. “ Hey, we could have used that kind of thinking earlier,” she said. The joke was on her, however, since Joey ‘turned it off from underneath.’
4. The One Where He Planned New Year’s Kisses In Split Second
Amongst the friends, Joey kept Monica and Chandler’s secret the longest. Along the way, he had to take the bullet for them a number of times. Like the time Rachel caught him with a naked picture of Monica, and he had to lie that he and Monica had slept together. Chandler, on the other hand, also had his fair share of tough times with Monica. He once had to kiss all the girls goodbye since he had accidentally kissed Monica, and passed it off as his new way of greeting. When New Year’s Eve came around, Chandler badly wanted to give Monica a kiss, but he didn’t know how to do it without raising suspicion. Joey decided to save the day by asking the friends to kiss each other. “ Who are you kissing at midnight, Rachel or Phoebe?” Joey asked Ross. He pointed out that Ross (David Schwimmer) couldn’t kiss his own sister, so Chandler was the best man for the job. Ross ended up pairing with Phoebe who was clearly very confident. Finally, Joey paired with Rachel (Jennifer Aniston), because she and Ross had that history thing going. With all the friends paired up, Chandler and Monica got their desired New Year’s kiss without having to explain themselves.
5. The One Where He Told Rachel They Couldn’t Be
It’s no secret that Joey had a thing for the ladies. In fact, when he was asked if he’d rather forego food or sex, Joey insisted that it was better to have ‘girls on bread.’ When it came to his friendship with Rachel, Joey was the first one to catch feelings. Unlike all the other girls he had been with before, what he felt for Rachel was special. The next time he ever felt that way about someone was when he met Charlie ( Aisha Tyler). But, as Joey himself would have said, he and Charlie were not a perfect match. She was more suited to be with Ross, with whom she had a lot more in common. The height of Joey and Charlie’s difference came in Barbados, where the pair decided to break up. Rachel confessed her feelings to Joey, who insisted that he wouldn’t betray Ross. Unlucky for him, Ross was kind of thinking the same, but he couldn’t help himself. It was only when Joey walked in on Ross planting a kiss on Charlie’s lips that he decided to kiss Rachel.Friends
Follow Us