Read at your own risk: After reading these conspiracy theories I couldn't watch friends the same way.
1. Phoebe was a meth-addict and the entire show is a figment of her drug induced imagination
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
This is one of the most popular fan theory that has been doing rounds on the Internet since years, probably because it makes sense and analyses the show from a completely different perspective. A Twitter user @strnks put forth an alternate ending to the show through a tweet that went viral. Here is the theory:
"I'd have ended Friends by revealing it was all the meth-addled fantasy of a homeless Phoebe as she stared through the window of Central Perk. Each kooky aside, each time she made everything about her, each example of how she's an outsider....it all makes sense. All 10 seasons were merely her fevered imagination, projecting herself into the lives of the others. All she ever wanted was...Friends. The final scene would be Phoebe walking away from Central Perk, with the Ross, Rachel, Joey, Chandler and Monica characters making a reference to "the crazy lady who always stares at us." They all have different names and personalities. Phoebe walks past a furniture store and catches her reflection in a mirror. The name of the store? "Ursula." Finally she returns to the park where she sleeps in front of the fountain. A broken lamp stands next to her bench. It starts to rain. From behind, we see her put up six dirty, but brightly coloured umbrellas. Fade to black."
2. Ross lost the custody of his son Ben
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Remember Ross's son Ben? Monica banged his head, Chandler and Joey left him on a bus and Ross loved him. Despite Ross's love for Ben, he was last seen in Season 8 Episode 12 and did not appear for the remaining two and a half seasons.
This angered and mystified fans and all they managed to get were a few casual references in the remaining two seasons about Ben's existence but no solid appearance. So, what if Emily had had enough and Ross lost the custody of his son?
Lovett wrote in his Blog: Sure, he mentions Ben in these last two and a half seasons, but does he have any role in Ben's life? When he references Ben, is he referencing something that once was, a child he no longer sees or knows? Think about everything we know about Ross. He's very jealous. He's possessive. He's arguably emotionally abusive... and, as the seasons unfold, narrowing down to the ending where he and Rachel end up ostensibly happy every after, he seems to be coming completely unhinged.
3. All the characters are patients in a mental asylum and the entire show is a case of shared psychosis
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Okay! So you may want to sit down for this one. Another extremely dark and depressing fan theory, says that all the characters are patients in a mental asylum and all the situations in the show are a result of shared psychosis where all the six characters indulge in delusions, which they share with each other in order to hide the harsh realities of their life.
This usually happens in psychiatry when a patient is triggered due to a stressful event, is completely damaged and invents a make-believe world, to escape reality.
Somewhere down the line, all characters had been through tough times that could have given birth to the mental disorder — Ross had serious abandonment issues, Rachel had traits of a sociopath and Daddy issues, Monica had an eating disorder which caused weight gain (and OCD later), Joey cracked under the pressure of being the only man in the family of girls, Chandler was scarred by his parent's dysfunctional relationship and Phoebe couldn't bear the trauma of her mother's suicide and living on the street with no friends.
