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While Friends spanned ten seasons of memorable moments of comedy and friendship, nothing is more iconic than Ross and Rachel getting together. Hello, they are each other’s lobsters for a reason!
In the beginning they were an adorable pair, and after Ross struggled to trust Rachel she decided they should take a temporary break from their relationship to sort everything out. Well, by now, we know what happened. (Side note: Anyone else still upset with the paleontologist?). Ross slept with another woman and when Rachel found out, he broke out this now-iconic line from the series, “We were on a break!”
Well, apparently that infamous break was never supposed to happen. According to a recent interview with series executive producer and director Kevin S. Bright, that break was not part of the original plan for Ross and Rachel. Like many of us, the writers also saw the pairing as each other’s lobsters.
“I would say initially when [Ross and Rachel] was planned it wasn’t planned that way, that came a little bit later,” Bright told Metro.co.uk. “It allowed us to have fun with the show and give people something to root for.”
While we as fans rooted for the couple since Ross first pined for Rachel in high school and their eventual first kiss, creators Marta Kauffman and David Crane saw something different.
“We were well aware the audience wanted to keep them together but everything that was keeping them apart—we realized when we got them together when the first kiss happened we go, ‘Wow, the air has kind of gone out of the balloon,’” Bright said.
With the romance fizzling out, Kauffman and Crane decided to shake things up with a break and then a break up.
“I thought what Marta and David did, which was such a brilliant and brave move with their relationship, as soon as everyone got their wish, the wish was taken away. It made it so much better when they did get together,” Bright said.
I give them that, because “I got off the plane” still gives me all the feels when I rewatch the series.
