Friends: The Best Moments In Rachel & Phoebe’s Friendship

In many ways, Rachel and Phoebe are the best friends of the Friends crew – and two that have no connections other than pure, wholesome friendship. Despite the fact that they come from wildly different backgrounds, they manage to forge a real friendship that stands the test of time, and makes for some serious friendship goals.

Over the ten seasons of the show, Rachel and Phoebe went from friends to roommates, and even after they moved out again, they remained the best of friends – and having a friendship this connected is #friendshipgoals for everyone. From their one-off adventures to some of their bigger arcs, these are some of the best times the two shared on Friends.

10 When They Went Running

When Phoebe and Rachel first moved in together, they decided to start running together – a pretty normal roommate activity! Except that Rachel soon started avoiding Phoebe and making excuses not to go… and not because she didn’t want to work out! Turns out that Phoebe has an unusual way of running – flailing her arms around the way she used to run as a child – whereas Rachel is more of a quiet and restrained jogger. At first, it seemed like this might be their first roommate fight, but soon Rachel was able to embrace her childlike joy and learn to love running with her friend in a moment as funny as it was sweet.

9 When Phoebe Told Her About Paolo

Way back in the early days of Friends, Rachel was dating her Italian Stallion, Paolo. Despite barely speaking the same language, they dated for a surprisingly long time… until Paolo hit on Phoebe and grabbed her ass. Phoebe worried about telling Rachel, and even brought her milk and cookies to soften the blow, but Rachel’s reaction was a perfect moment for the friendship – she and Phoebe ended up wildly apologizing to each other, before realizing that neither of them had done anything wrong, and Paolo was to blame. And that kind of unity is exactly what should have happened.

8 When They Plotted Against Monica And Chandler

Rachel and Phoebe found out about Monica and Chandler when they spotted them making out (and more) from the apartment across the way – and this was a moment that gave them a real chance to bond… and to take advantage!

The women played with them, giving them piles of laundry to do when Monica pretended to do laundry (but was actually seeing Chandler), and in the end, they even had Phoebe pretend to hit on Chandler to smoke the secret couple out.

7 When They Bonded Over Pregnancy

Over the course of the show, Phoebe and Rachel were both pregnant (although Monica adopted, and Phoebe was a surrogate, not having her own child). This gave them a unique way to bond, and Phoebe helped Rachel out with everything from maternity clothes to a cardboard cutout of a sexy man for her raging hormonal phase… exactly the kind of supportive and non-judgemental friend that any pregnant woman would want to have.

6 When Rachel Introduced Her To Pottery Barn

Rachel didn’t technically introduce her to Pottery Barn as a company – but she did introduce her to how great the products can actually be! When the two lived together, Rachel bought furniture at Pottery Barn, and pretended they were fleamarket finds so that Phoebe wouldn’t be upset at cookie-cutter corporate furniture with no story to it. In the end, though, they were able to be honest with each other, and possibly the best moment was Rachel being able to play along with Phoebe so that Phoebe can get the lamp she wants… without admitting how much she wants it.

5 When They Got Tattoos

You may not expect many tattoos on a group of friends like these ones, but in the early seasons, Phoebe and Rachel decided to get some art together… even though they didn’t both follow through. Rachel ended up with a tiny heart on her hip, and Phoebe ended up with… well, with a dot!

The experience of going together, though, was one that really bonded them, and the surprise that Rachel was the one to follow through while Phoebe chickened out was amazing to watch.

4 When They Moved In Together (And Out Again)

It’s the sign of a true friendship when two people decide to become roommates – and seeing Rachel and Phoebe move in together when Monica and Chandler did was just perfect. From the start, it created all kinds of opportunity for great storylines, and they always had fun together, from start to finish. Even after the apartment fire, the two were falling over each other to apologize and be kind, just the way that friends should be.

3 When They Took A Night Class

Admittedly, this was briefly a bad moment for their friendship, but like so many others, it worked out in the end. Phoebe and Rachel took a night class together (on literature), which was a sweet moment at the start – Rachel wanting to support Phoebe in her new interest like a good friend. However, when it became clear that Rachel didn’t really care about the class, Phoebe was able to have a good, open conversation about it, and Rachel was able to support her in a different (less distracting) way.

2 When She Chose Rachel To Be Her ‘Girlfriend’

The hypothetical question that caused so much trouble in between Rachel, Monica, and Phoebe – who would each of them choose to date, out of the other two. Phoebe immediately chose Rachel, which caused conflict (until Phoebe revealed her choice was because of how much of a ‘pushover’ Rachel was). Whatever her reasons were, it was still the choice of a true friend.

1 When They Took On Ross and Unagi

Finally, we’ve got another moment that Phoebe and Rachel teamed up – to deal with Ross, when he became insufferable about a self-defense class that the women took. Boasting about his ‘experience’ in karate, he tried to tell them that they lacked ‘unagi’ (which is, of course, the word for ‘eel’). Not only did they tease him about it, but they actually managed to sneak into his apartment and take him down – proving that when these two friends team up, they are unstoppable.

About The Author

Rose Graceling-Moore
(1516 Articles Published)

Rose Graceling-Moore has been writing about film, TV and comics since 2013, when she began writing for a local print magazine in Vancouver, BC. Since then, Rose has written for Horror Honeys, Moviepilot and Quirkbooks as well as Screenrant, increasingly focusing on comic books and live-action comic adaptations, as well as diversity and representation on screen. Rose also co-hosted the DC Movies Podcast, and has guested on other nerd and entertainment podcasts over the past five years.

Rose’s love of comics began all the way back in the early ‘90s, when she discovered the X-Men while living in Africa (where there wasn’t a whole lot to do but read!), and since then has had an on-again, off-again love affair with not just Marvel, but DC and indie comics as well. You can follow her on Twitter: RoseMooreWrites for tweets about comics, movies, and more.

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