This Phoebe Joke In Friends Only Adds To Her Confusing Backstory (But Still Makes Sense)
Throughout 10 seasons, Phoebe Buffay (Lisa Kudrow) made a lot of jokes and references to her dark backstory in Friends, and one joke made it even more confusing, but it still makes sense within her context. Despite ending 20 years ago, Friends continues to be quite popular and its fanbase keeps expanding, in large part thanks to streaming platforms. This has also allowed fans to revisit the series many more times, through which they have found elements that haven’t aged well, plot holes, mistakes, and things that, simply, don’t make sense.
Friends left a legacy of catchphrases and jokes that added to the personalities and stories of the main characters, and one who has a very peculiar personality and backstory is Phoebe. Although all the main characters in Friends have different family issues – from divorces to parental neglect and more –, Phoebe’s story is by far the darkest but also the most confusing. Throughout Friends, Phoebe reveals bits of her backstory, usually through jokes, and there’s one that makes her story more confusing, yet still makes sense for one reason.
Phoebe’s Passport Joke Doesn’t Make Sense After Friends Season 9
It Was Funny, But Nonsensical
Many things about Phoebe are a mystery, such as whether her roommate Denise was real or not, what happened to her biological mother as she wasn’t present at her wedding, and whether she truly was homeless despite her grandmother being alive and getting along with her. Other parts of Phoebe’s backstory were more lighthearted and were used as comedic relief, such as a joke about her passport in Friends season 7 that ended up being nonsensical in season 9.
In the episode “The One With All The Cheesecakes”, Phoebe’s ex-boyfriend, David (Hank Azaria), returns from Minsk for one night and visits Phoebe. Of course, when it’s time to say goodbye, Phoebe is heartbroken, but Joey comforts her by telling her that she could visit David in Minsk someday. Phoebe tells Joey “Like they’re gonna let me have a passport”, and they brush it off. Up to then, the joke made sense as Phoebe had stayed in the US since season 1, but the joke no longer made sense when they all went to Barbados.
In the two-part episode "The One With Barbados", the whole group travels there as Ross is giving a paleontology lecture there, and Phoebe has no problem traveling there. Funny enough, Phoebe reunites with David before the trip to Barbados and they travel there together, where she’s forced to decide between a future with David or Mike (Paul Rudd).
Phoebe Not Being Allowed To Have A Passport Fits A Specific Part Of Her Dark Past
As It Turns Out, Phoebe Does Have Reasons To Not Be Granted A Passport
The passport joke might be nonsensical after the group’s trip to Barbados, but it still makes sense within Phoebe’s chaotic, confusing, and dark backstory. It’s well-known that, after her adoptive mother’s death and her stepfather going to jail, Phoebe lived on the street for a couple of years. During that time, she learned French (which created another inconsistency in Friends) and had to resort to mugging people, one of whom was a young Ross.
Throughout Friends, it’s also often mentioned that Phoebe has a criminal past, and even one of her boyfriends, who was a cop, mentioned having a look at her criminal record. With this in mind, it makes sense that Phoebe wouldn’t be allowed to have a passport and leave the country, but again, it clashes with how easily she left for Barbados. Many things about Phoebe will continue to be a mystery, but that only adds to the charm and uniqueness of the character.
Friends
- Release Date
- 1994 - 2004
- Network
- NBC
- Showrunner
- Marta Kauffman
- Directors
- Kevin S. Bright, Gary Halvorson, Michael Lembeck, James Burrows, Gail Mancuso, Peter Bonerz, David Schwimmer, Robby Benson, Shelley Jensen, Terry Hughes, Dana De Vally Piazza, Alan Myerson, Pamela Fryman, Steve Zuckerman, Thomas Schlamme, Roger Christiansen, Sheldon Epps, Arlene Sanford, David Steinberg, Joe Regalbuto, Mary Kay Place, Paul Lazarus, Sam Simon, Todd Holland
- Writers
- Jeff Astrof, Mike Sikowitz, Brian Boyle, Patty Lin, Bill Lawrence, R. Lee Fleming Jr.
Cast
Rachel Green
Monica Geller
Your comment has not been saved