When it comes to TV power couples, not only did Friends grace us with the iconic duo of Ross and Rachel, but Monica and Chandler had some super cute moments as well. While Jennifer Aniston and David Schwimmer’s characters took until the series finale in 2004 to finally come together for good, they seemed written in the stars from the beginning. Now fans think the showrunners might have dropped a clue confirming this early on, and also possibly hinted at the fates of Courteney Cox and Matthew Perry’s characters as well.
Thanks to Friends reruns being available to stream on demand with a Max subscription, viewers have continued to pick apart details of the sitcom decades after its final episode aired. We’re still fascinated by the story behind Ugly Naked Guy and how Joey’s classic “Could I be wearing any more clothes?” moment went down, and after rewatching the Season 3 episode “The One With the Football,” fans think there might have also been some intentional foreshadowing as to the series’ romances.
Screenshots from that episode — in which Monica and Ross rekindle a rivalry over their childhood football games — have been making their rounds on social media, with fans noticing some interesting similarities in the clothing choices of the characters. As shown above, Rachel is sporting a backward Nike cap, as Ross wears a sweatshirt with the same logo. Similarly, Monica and Chandler — who started dating in Season 4 and remained together for the duration of the series — are both sporting New York Giants attire. See the photo below:
This is a pretty fun theory, but it’s hard to say if this might have been an intentional move by the Friends crew. Ross and Rachel were already dating — i.e. not yet “on a break” — at this point in the series, and with their relationship being teased literally from the first episode of Season 1, this is hardly Easter egg material.
Monica and Chandler, meanwhile, didn’t get together until the very end of Season 4, but Matthew Perry’s character floated the idea of dating Monica several times before they actually got together, including in Season 1’s “The One With the Birth,” which resulted in one of the series’ funniest Chandler Bing quotes.
Executive producer Scott Silveri confirmed in an interview with Vulture that the idea of pairing Monica and Chandler up had been bounced around since Season 2 when they noticed the on-screen chemistry between Courteney Cox and Matthew Perry; however, co-creator Marta Kauffman told Collider they weren’t sure the relationship would last longer than a one-night stand. It wasn’t until viewers reacted so positively to their coupling that Monica and Chandler became endgame, apparently, making any foreshadowing in Season 3 impossible.
Even if unintentional, it’s still a pretty cool detail, and hopefully fans will continue to discover new and fun things about Friends. In addition to the former NBC sitcom, there are a bunch of great shows to watch on Max, including original series like Hacks, The Flight Attendant and many more.
