Joey Tribbiani with Rachel he gives him the go ahead. Ross basically says that he's not okay with it but he wants to be, and the two's friendship deepens due to Joey's refusal to date Rachel unless Ross okays the deal. However, Joey and Rachel do not date long and later Joey encourages Ross to pursue Rachel in the season finale. Joey and Monica are close friends often joking around with each other. Joey allowed Monica to hire and fire him to prove to her employees that she was not a pushover. When he discovered that Monica and Chandler had developed a
The One with the Proposal together, revealing he had intended to propose. Richard advises Chandler to go to Monica, telling him if he succeeds in winning her back, he must never let her go. Feeling envious of Chandler and Monica, Rachel decides to follow Phoebe's lead and secure Ross as her marriage "backup" (i.e. - they will get married if they're both still single at 40), but she finds that Phoebe had long since made Ross her second backup after Joey. All three confront Phoebe about this, and it's decided that Joey will remain Phoebe's backup, while Ross becomes Rachel's. After searching for Monica all