It's almost one year since Friends: The Reunion dropped on HBO Max on May 27th in 2021, and fans are still thrilled by the hilarious moments and all that it revealed. One of the best moments is when Matt LeBlanc shares that he thinks by now Joey has probably opened up a sandwich shop in Venice Beach.
Joey Tribbiani gets a lot of flack for being "the dumb one" on Friends, and many fans complain that he gets dumber as the show goes on, but there are several different types of intelligence. Joey demonstrates many of them throughout the series, especially his emotional intelligence, which is incredibly high. Throughout the ten seasons, Joey Tribbiani has his moments of brilliance.
When He Knew What Chandler Needed After His Breakup
Joey's intelligence can be somewhat selective. It tends to be higher if there are beautiful women concerned in some form or fashion. In the season 4 episode "The One With Joey's Dirty Day" this type of intelligence is on display.
He has a heightened understanding of Chandler's needs after a breakup, demonstrating his emotional intelligence as Chandler's best friend. He also has these needs categorized into specific stages, and one of them is the "Strip Club stage" which Joey really doesn't want to miss. Even though his reasoning may be a little selfish, he still ends up being correct about Chandler's stages.
When He Learned How To Ballroom Dance Like A Pro
In a very memorable episode, "The One With the Ballroom Dancing" in season 4, Joey learns ballroom dance to help Mr. Treeger in an effort to keep him from reporting Monica and Rachel for illegally subletting.
Ballroom dance is notoriously one of the most demanding dance styles to learn, and Joey really catches on. Here, he is demonstrating both musical and kinesthetic intelligence, which not everybody has. He becomes pretty comfortable with ballroom in a short amount of time, which is quite impressive.
When He Hid An Emergency Kit In Monica's Room
Joey is very good at thinking outside the box. In the season 5 episode, "The One With The Kips," Joey, Phoebe, Monica, and Chandler end up in Monica's room once again while Ross and Rachel talk about Emily.
It's the same scenario as when they were stuck, bored and starving, in the season 3 episode "The One The Morning After." This time, Joey reveals that he hid a box with snacks and activities in case the situation ever happened again. It's incredibly random, and such an unlikely scenario, but it's always wise to be prepared.
When He Pieces Together Monica And Chandler's Secret
While he isn't always the most perceptive person, Joey has a major moment of putting all the pieces together later on in "The One With The Kips." He has been passively collecting clues all day and then pieces together that Monica and Chandler are together.
Joey isn't always capable of doing this, but he catches all the similarities throughout his day. He hears them both talk about seeing Donald Trump, he gets the call from the hotel about the missing eyelash curler, and it finally clicks when he hears Monica talk about how she is missing hers. It only takes him moments to figure out what's going on.
When He Remembers How To Treat A Jellyfish Sting
Not everyone can recall information they learn from watching the Discovery channel, but Joey does. In "The One With The Jellyfish," he's able to pull up valuable information when it really matters.
Once Monica has been stung by the jellyfish and is in agonizing pain, Joey immediately remembers what he's seen on TV. He remembers that peeing on it helps with the stinging. This is exactly the kind of person you want to have around in an emergency situation. He probably made a mental note to remember that fact, knowing it might come in handy someday.
When He Turns Off The Radiator With Ease
Being a good handyman takes a certain level of smarts. While Joey isn't the best carpenter around and may take too long tiling a bathroom floor, he exhibits being good with handy work a few times throughout the series.
In the season 2 episode "The One With Phoebe's Dad," Joey is the only one who knows how to turn off the radiator after the inadvertently tropical-themed Christmas party is over. He very nonchalantly explains after fixing it that all he did was turn the knob underneath the radiator. He was the only one who knew that was there.
When He Comes Up With A Plan For Phoebe To Eat Meat
In the season 4 episode "The One With The Fake Party," Phoebe is distraught when she realizes that her pregnancy is making her crave meat. It is even to the point that she sniffs it out all the way to Joey's shower.
In a moment of sweetness, emotional intelligence, and applying some interesting logic, Joey offers to not eat meat in place of Phoebe. He factors out that he eats enough meat that it would make enough of a difference for him to stop so that Phoebe can have some without feeling as guilty about it. He's a pretty good problem solver, and incredibly kind.
When He Changes The Lunchroom Dynamic At Ross's Work
Joey is really smart when it comes to social dynamics, and he immediately knows something is weird when he is working as a tour guide at Ross's museum in the season 4 episode "The One With Phoebe's Uterus" and he can't eat lunch with his friend.
He notices that Ross is acting differently around him while at work, he addresses Ross about it, and when he gets his answer, he points out what is wrong with that logic and why it shouldn't be that way. Together, he and Ross create a better dynamic in the lunchroom.
When He Knows A Good Fashion Piece When He Finds One
In "The One With Joey's Bag," from season 5, Rachel introduces Joey to his new favorite thing: a bag that is unisex. Even though he doesn't grasp the meaning of the word, he really embraces the concept when he falls in love with the bag.
He gets a lot of very 90's, hyper-masculine flack for it throughout the episode, but it doesn't phase him at all. He carries it because he knows it's a fashion statement, it's practical, and he enjoys it, which makes him smarter than anyone overlooking all of the positives because of their own issues with masculinity.
When He Helps Ross Find His Secret Admirer
Once again, Joey's selective smarts rise to the occasion when there is a woman at stake. In the season 6 episode "The One Where Ross Dates a Student," Joey helps Ross do the seemingly impossible.
Ross shares that he has a secret admirer according to an anonymous student evaluation. Brilliantly, Joey points out that all he has to do is match up the handwriting to the writing on the final exams "and boom, there's your admirer." He comes up with the plan seconds after hearing Ross's predicament. He can be quick when he wants to be.