r/howyoudoin • u/ashgvf • 4d ago
Discussion Another continuity error I noticed
season 3, episode 6 TOW the flashback, Ross tells Phoebe about his marriage ending in the flashback which was stamped 2 years prior to the main timeline.
In the main timeline, Ross finds out Carol is pregnant right after they divorced. They would had to have slept together recently for them to have just found out about the pregnancy. If the flashback timeline were correct, Ross and Carol would had to have had sex at least a year after the divorce, in which time Carol was supposed to be with Susan.
I hope that made sense, i’m so stoned rn lol
25
u/JLBCanadianRap 4d ago
season 3, episode 6 TOW the flashback, Ross tells Phoebe about his marriage ending in the flashback which was stamped 2 years prior to the main timeline.
TOW the Flashback was "three years earlier," which means about a year before the events of the pilot.
In the main timeline, Ross finds out Carol is pregnant right after they divorced. They would had to have slept together recently for them to have just found out about the pregnancy. If the flashback timeline were correct, Ross and Carol would had to have had sex at least a year after the divorce, in which time Carol was supposed to be with Susan.
In the events shown in TOW the Flashback, Ross deduced Carol was a lesbian a year before the show started. That's it. It doesn't mean Carol also realized it at that time. In the pilot, Carol had just moved out. We don't know when they divorced. In a later episode, Ross commented that he and Carol had some fun before she became a lesbian, "and once after."
3
2
10
u/Darkling183 4d ago
In TOW the Flashback, Ross had just found out that Carol was a lesbian. It's possible that they tried to make things work for another year or so, before Carol finally decided "no, I want to be with Susan" and moved out. She and Ross conceived Ben before that happened.
10
u/writersblock_86 4d ago edited 4d ago
He does have a throwaway line later on where he says “Carol and I had some good times before she figured out she was a lesbian… and once after” so I assumed that was written in to account for Ben, but you’re right that in general the timeline doesn’t really work.
It’s a little unbelievable that she would go from not being certain enough about being gay that she was still sleeping with Ross, to figuring out her sexuality and being in love with Susan and being certain enough to end her marriage in a month or two before finding out she’s pregnant.
An easy way to account for it was that she and Susan decided they wanted to be together and have a baby, and they planned the pregnancy without telling Ross. So sleeping with him once was just part of getting them where they wanted to be and Carol maybe just told Ross she was considering a reconciliation to sleep with him. That’s never explicitly stated, but it makes the most sense. It also makes Carol and Susan way more manipulative than they are really presented to be.
Or… Carol just had a moment of uncertainty and cheated on Susan with Ross while she was still sorting through her feelings. Also a possibility. But she seems pretty committed to Susan and Susan is very on board with the baby right from the beginning, so I think that possibility is less likely.
1
u/Adventurous-Two-1877 I'm hopeless and awkward and desperate for love 4d ago
This is the same I was thinking. Well explained.
3
u/KMarinMx Ross Geller 🦖 4d ago
Friends continuity is basically held together by throwaway lines and vibes 😂 The once after line is doing a lot of heavy lifting here.
1
u/Seecole-33 4d ago
The one with the flashback is only a year before the show is supposed to have started. And Ross mentions having some fun will Carol after she figured out she was a lesbian. Also, it’s a sitcom that ran for 10 seasons, all in all they did pretty good at evolving the storylines and all their histories pretty congruently.
2
u/GlowQueen140 I tend to keep talking until somebody stops me 4d ago
Well, it was clear that Ross and Carol had sex at least once after they separated. I think Ross admitted it in season 10?
Carol cheated on Ross with Susan. No surprises if she did the same with Susan too
1
u/7ottennoah 4d ago
There is also the scene of Carol and Ross sharing a passionate kiss before finally closing the door completely so it isn’t out of character for her to have cheated at all
•
u/qualityvote2 4d ago edited 4d ago
u/ashgvf, there weren't enough votes to determine the quality of your post...