While Friends was airing, all people could ask was, “Will Ross and Rachel end up together?” At some times, it seemed that this wasn’t going to be the case. Ross gets married multiple times — a running gag throughout the series — and never seems to be quite capable of settling down.
Rachel, too, has a hard time committing to one person, and dates a series of characters throughout the run of the show. Each of the guys brings something… Well, definitely unique to the table. Just like in real life, not every guy a woman in New York dates is going to be a winner. That being said, though, some of these weird men are definitely better than the others.
Russ
First things first: Russ. Russ is literally just David Schwimmer in slight facial prosthetic makeup and with a big, bad wig. He also is a thousand percent blander than the real Ross, which is unfortunate. The only thing Ross actually has going for him is his ion and his energy, all given to him by David Schwimmer. Perhaps the mere existence of Russ is more indicative of Schwimmer’s acting skills than anything else?
Barry Farber
Of course, Barry has to be incredibly low on this list. The entire catalyst for Friends is Rachel running away from her wedding where she’s supposed to get married to Barry. The problem is, Barry represents all the things Rachel is running away from. She’s not just fleeing commitment, but the world she’s been living in that she no longer wants any part of. Barry encomes everything Rachel wants to leave behind, so he’s absolutely one of the lowest ranked love interests for her.
Danny
Now, the problem here is a lot of people like Danny. He’s not necessarily bad, just… weird. He’s definitely cute, and they build him up as an interesting character who gets even more dynamic once he shaves and starts actively engaging with Rachel. However, once Rachel goes downstairs in their building to visit Danny, she has the unfortunate experience of meeting his sister, Krista.
Danny and Krista are a little too close for comfort, being that they’re siblings and all. It’s just too much of a gross-out factor for Rachel to stay, and for Danny to be any higher on this list.
Paolo
The friends on Friends are definitely not fans of Paolo. Especially not Ross, who spends most of his time mocking the way Paolo speaks, which is… about right for Ross, actually. Ross’ jealousy takes a center stage during Rachel and Paolo’s relationship in season one. Paolo even makes a reappearance in season two, when Rachel its she slept with him again — this time because she was jealous of Ross being with somebody else (Julie, this time). The tangled webs we weave.
Gavin Mitchell
Gavin is just a smarmy guy, but he’s better than anybody else listed so far simply because he has some depth to him and actually seems to care a lot about Rachel. Well— a lot might be stretching it, since the biggest problem with Gavin is that he doesn’t care enough to actually fight to be with Rachel. Gavin is a funnier plot device than he is anything else, to be honest. His pigtail-pulling style of flirting with Rachel is cute, and he taps out when he sees Rachel and Ross are still doing their back-and-forth — which makes him a lot smarter than other love interests, too.
Joshua Burgin
Who can forget Joshua, Rachel’s client at Bloomingdale’s while she was working there as a personal shopper? When Rachel first starts flirting with Joshua, he invites her out to his new nightclub; by blowing off the plans Rachel had already made for that evening, she accidentally introduces Ross and Emily, the aforementioned (ex-)wife he ends up marrying (and divorcing) during the run of the show.
Though Joshua sets off a total mess that impacts the entire show, he’s not a bad guy and it’s really not his fault. He’s a simple man with nice hair who just wants to flirt, and there’s nothing wrong with that.
Tag Jones
Oh, Tag. People go back and forth on Tag Jones all the time, and that’s fair: his place in the Friends canon is a bit strange. Overall, though, Tag is a really good guy. He might be a bit on the young side, which ends up being the reason he and Rachel break up, but he’s also fun and energetic and respectful, which is more than can be said for most of the guys Rachel dates. He actually likes Rachel, wants to help her out, and cares about her well-being, and Rachel deserves all of that from the guys she dates.
Paul Stevens
When Ross starts dating Elizabeth Stevens, most viewers (rightfully) crinkled their noses at the concept of a professor dating one of his students. Though Ross and Elizabeth’s plot is messy and odd, Friends does get one of Rachel’s best love interests out of the deal: Elizabeth’s dad, Paul Stevens. Played by Bruce Willis, Paul is both hilarious and eccentric.
The sequence where Ross, Rachel, Paul, and Elizabeth are all in their vacation cottage, trying to stop one another from finding out the others are there, is a classic moment in Friends history. Paul ends up cemented as one of Rachel’s best love interests.
Joey Tribbiani
The case of Joey and Rachel is a classic case of what could have been. Tragically, the relationship between Joey and Rachel is completely mishandled, bungling what could have been a really interesting storyline — and possibly an even better endgame for both characters. Rachel and Joey grow to love each other throughout the run of the show, especially when Joey is co-parenting Emma with her. However, their relationship is poorly-written and out of character; as a result, it falls apart. Though Joey is not fondly ed as one of Rachel’s best love interests, he is arguably the one who loves and respects her the most.
Ross Geller
Ross is a controversial figure, not just for Friends fans, but for anyone slightly involved in the pop culture zeitgeist. People just love to debate whether or not Ross was good or not, if he was a good boyfriend, if he was a good character. Regardless of all of this, David Schwimmer truly gives the role of Ross his absolute all, and it’s hard to fully hate Ross because of that. Rachel and Ross did end up being endgame, and they end the series happy together.