The Left Phalange
Friends Fans Just Realized Rachel Has The Worst Luck With Airports
Their dynamic is nearly as toxic as... pretty much all of her relationships.
Rachel Green never had good taste in men. Sure, Jennifer Aniston’s beloved Friends character was pretty much always on and off with Ross Geller, which still causes debate to this day. But it’s not like her other options were much better, from her ex-fiancé Barry to her assistant Tag. And let’s not even talk about that dalliance with Joey.
However, none of these men are actually Rachel’s worst romance. Her most toxic relationship is... with the airport.
No, seriously, Rachel is a total disaster at airports, and it’s not a running gag that was intentionally written into the show. Reddit fans recently discovered the hilarious coincidence, noticing that Rachel’s probably the worst person to travel with, and by no fault of her own. She’s just cursed when it comes to airports, as shown several times throughout the sitcom’s 10-season run.
Rachel’s turbulent dynamic with airports (pun intended) dates all the way back to the first season, where she goes to the airport on New Year’s Eve to pick up her Italian boyfriend Paolo, who ends up missing his flight. Then, she gets attacked by a woman who thought she was stealing her cab, falls on the curb, and cuts her lip. But at least she lives to tell the tale at Monica’s party.
Unsurprisingly, Rachel’s relationship with airports intertwined a lot with her equally toxic romance with Ross. In the Season 2 premiere, she goes to the airport with flowers in hand after finally discovering Ross’ long-standing crush on her — only for him to bring his new girlfriend Julie.
When she tries to escape without Ross noticing, she trips over seats at the gate, which grabs his attention and forces her to meet Julie with a bloody forehead. Rachel attempts something similar four years later, trying to hop on a last-minute flight to London and stop Ross’ wedding to Emily, only to forget her passport and deal with a particularly uppity staff member at the check-in desk.
Rachel has also had terrible luck even before reaching the airport, as seen on Season 1, when she plans to meet her family in Vail on Thanksgiving. After Chandler makes everyone go outside for a bizarre parade sighting, they get locked out of her and Monica’s apartment, meaning she can’t grab her plane ticket or suitcases and has to miss the trip.
You could argue that the series finale finally redeems the reputation of all airports for Rachel, as she and Ross finally end up together for good — but it still takes absolute chaos to get there. This time, she successfully boards her flight, but after deciding to stop Rachel from moving to Paris, Ross ends up at the wrong airport. Then, when Phoebe calls to convince her to get off the plane, the iconic “phalange” debacle happens, and she actually does leave the plane.
When you think about it, Rachel’s airport curse is one of the most consistent things about Friends, up there with Janice’s voice, Gunther’s undying love for Rachel, and Phoebe singing at Central Perk. Now that she’s happily with Ross, maybe it’s time for her to heal this relationship.
