There is a contingent of people on Twitter, Reddit and in various other dimly-lit corners of the internet who are hellbent on finding dark, hidden and probably completely unintentional layers to popular TV programs.
We're talking about Hal from Malcolm in the Middle actually being Walter White on a witness protection scheme, or Jack from Titanic being a time traveller.
But there's one show in particular that attracts more wild speculation from fans with too much spare time on their hands than perhaps any other. That's right, it's every millennial's favourite NY-based sitcom - Friends.
Advert
Now Reddit user lolalodge has yet another theory about the show. She thinks that Monica and Joey may have both been hooked on drugs for the entire 10-year period Friends was on TV.
Credit: NBC
In her post, titled 'Monica has a closet cocaine addiction and Joey is a pothead', she elaborates on her theory:
Advert
"Most people that work in the restaurant industry tend to gravitate towards some sort of substance since the job is very high stress.
Credit: NBC
"Monica also lives in a rent-controlled apartment that she illegally sublets from her dead grandmother - she even has a roommate to share the bills with.
Advert
"She doesn't own an obscene amount of clothes or anything, doesn't go out to bars regularly, so where exactly does her money go?"
The answer? Apparently, it's been staring us in the face all these years.
COCAINE.
Lolalodge explains: "Cocaine, which she stashes in the closet by the big windows, which is why when Chandler opens it in the last season, she flips out because she doesn't want him to find her cocaine stash."
Advert
Ok. Can't fault that logic. But what about Joey?
Obviously, he's a massive stoner.
Credit: NBC
Advert
"That's why he's always hungry, can eat a ton of food and is constantly napping and is kind of spaced out, and a lot of what other people say goes 'whoosh'. right over his head," says lolalodge.
So there you have it, and it does all kind of make sense.
However, while we're on the topic, Phoebe was quite clearly off her nut the whole time too, something lolalodge fails to cover in her post.
If that seems farfetched, wait until you hear some of the more outlandish Friends fan theories. Here are a few of the best ones:
1. Phoebe is actually a homeless meth addict
2. The sofa in Central Perk was reserved for the group by Gunther
Credit: Reddit
3. The whole show was a fantasy created by Rachel
4. The show was nothing more than an elaborate marketing strategy by Starbucks
So there you have it. Every single character had an ulterior motive or sinister trait of some sort, and nothing in the show should be trusted.
Whatever next? Marcel the monkey was an influential figure in a Freemasons-esque secret society? Central Perk was merely a money-laundering front for Gunther's nefarious underworld connections? Chandler's endless stream of sarcastic quips was little more than a cover for his deep-seated feelings of inadequacy?
Actually, scratch that last one. No one would believe that.
Featured Image Credit: NBCTopics: Conspiracy Theory, Friends
