Friends is a 10-season comedy sitcom that aired from 1994 to 2004, about six friends experiencing life together in New York, from love to heartbreaks to fights. One such fight occurred between the characters Ross and Rachel on the night of their anniversary.
In an episode, Ross gets upset that Rachel is constantly working and is jealous of her coworker Mark, and Rachel is upset that Ross isn’t happy with her newfound workplace independence. In the heat of the moment, Rachel states that “maybe [they] should just take a break.” At first Ross misunderstands, but when Rachel clarifies that it would be a break from them, he immediately walks out heartbroken.
Later that evening, he goes out, gets drunk and sleeps with a girl from the local copy place. The next morning, Rachel comes by Ross’s apartment to talk about their relationship, and he tries to hide the copy girl from her, but she eventually finds out and is furious. Ross believes that it wasn’t cheating since they were on a break, but Rachel believes that it was just a fight and they were not on a true break since they still loved each other. Who is right? People may believe that they were not on a break. For starters, Ross never agreed to the break, nor did he stick around to hear the terms and conditions, which means it was not official.
A breakup does not have to be mutual; while it takes two people to have a relationship, it only takes one person to leave it. Ross never had to agree for it to be official. However, Rachel was aware of the definitive break as the next morning, she tells Monica that she and Ross “kinda broke up,” instead of celebrating their anniversary. Even though people may argue that a break does not equal a breakup, both Ross and Rachel admitted to their friends that they had broken up, highlighting that they were no longer in a relationship. Moreover, a break still signifies a pause from a relationship, even if it is not as extreme as a permanent end celebrating their anniversary.
Thus, Ross and Rachel were on a break. Even if it was said in the heat of the moment, it was still said, and Ross sleeping with the copy girl was not technically cheating. In fact, during the “Friends” reunion, the actors agreed that Ross and Rachel were indeed on a break. But does that actually justify him sleeping with another girl not even 24 hours after the break? The clear answer is no. Ross is trying to deny Rachel’s justified anger and upset over a small technicality. He himself is ashamed of his actions, as he tried hiding it from Rachel, so it is clear that what he did was wrong. After all, in the wise words of Phoebe Buffay, she’s his lobster, his lifelong partner, and he should have fought for her.
