Joey Tribbiani is a consistently lovable character throughout the ten seasons of Friends. While he has probably the worst and most backward character development of the group, he still makes fans laugh and gives us a slew of iconic moments. However, in the world of the show itself, his lack of growth and the poor writing of the character may have its effects.
In season one, Joey was like a different person to the one in the finale. He was still the charming, funny, sweet guy who was a bit ditsy, but a lot about him had changed. Admittedly some of these changes would have made early Joey pretty happy with himself, but a lot of them would have also made him pretty annoyed.
Proud - Seems To Have Matured Romantically
While Joey's character development is feeble throughout the latter half of the show, and the writing team just seemed to shun him in the end, there is one aspect of his character that did seem to undergo a lot of growth; his romantic side.
Joey was a player for most of the show, but throughout the show, with help from the likes of Rachel, Joey matures massively. While he does not end up with anyone, it is clear he is past the playboy life - at least to the extent he was before - and the spin-off show Joey proves this further.
Hate - Doesn't Live Near Chandler
Joey has a deep love for Chandler and relies on him for a lot of the show for various things, taking it hard when he moves in with Monica and taking it harder when they move out to the suburbs.
Therefore it is safe to say that Joey hates that he lives far away from Chandler, and even though Joey relocates him to Los Angeles, Joey not being in the city with Chandler is not something season one Joey would want.
Proud - Can Live Independently
However, while he will dislike not living near Chandler, there is a flip side to that situation at the end of the show that is a positive for Joey; he can live on his own and be independent.
Joey attempts to move out on his own early in the show, with finances and his job not allowing him to keep up doing so. By the end of the show, he is in a much different, much better place in that regard and can live in an apartment without a roommate, something early Joey makes clear that he wants to be able to do.
Hate - Treated Like A Child
The worst thing about Joey is that he gets increasingly dumber as the show goes on for no real reason. This results in some awful stories for the actor, with some hilarious moments sprinkled in.
Unfortunately, one of the side effects of Joey's loss of intelligence is that he is often made a mockery of by the rest of the group, so often treated like a child. This could be through patronizing comments from the likes of Ross and Chandler or by people not trusting him with adult responsibilities.
Proud - Regular On Days Of Our Lives
When we first meet Joey, he is struggling in his acting career, to say the least. He is caught between poorly reviewed theatre pieces, commercials and is struggling to find stability in work. That changes thanks to Days Of Our Lives.
Joey becomes a regular on the show before getting fired, of course. Luckily, he is hired back later, and he is a regular on the show, getting movie jobs, award nominations, and a level of stability and career safety he never had before. The season one, Joey may have had bigger dreams, but he would be proud of what he was doing in season ten.
Hate - Doesn't Have A Significant Other Or Family
Joey comes from a big Italian-American family, with a mother, father, seven sisters, a Nonnie, grandmother, and likely a boatload of aunts, uncles, and cousins. It is safe to assume that Joey always envisioned himself getting married and having kids.
Unfortunately, at the end of the show, Joey is the only one of the six with no family or significant other. Joey is completely single and does not even look close to getting to the level of relationship that Mike and Phoebe and Monica and Chandler have.
Proud - Financially Stable
With Joey's career taking a long while to kick off properly, he was constantly in a place of financial struggle. While Ross, Chandler, Rachel, and Monica were on the up and doing very well consistently, Joey struggled.
He was having to borrow a lot of money from Chandler, was often stuck in the apartment not doing anything, and was pretty financially immature. Luckily once he got his second run on Days Of Our Lives and his career became rejuvenated, he got that stability; he did not need to rely on a roommate, nor did he have to borrow money; in fact, he could let others borrow money from him.
Hate - Much Dumber
One of the biggest ways the writers appeared to turn their back on Joey's character, leaving him behind in a sense, got mentioned earlier and was his decrease in intelligence, something that season one Joey would be baffled by.
Joey did lack a lot of common sense and smarts in the early seasons, but he was not massively dumb. By the end of the show, he was shown to be child-like and straight-up stupid on a slew of occasions.
Proud - Grown Relationship With Rachel
Like Joey, Rachel struggled in adult life at the very start of the show, reliant heavily on her friends. For a long time, the two were a bit of a rare pairing that just never had tonnes to do one-on-one compared to other duos in the group.
However, despite Joey admitting that Monica forced them to be friendly with Rachel, Joey eventually grows a close bond with Rachel, even falling in love with her. That obviously did not work out, but the two remained incredible friends, with Joey being a big part of Emma's early life when the three live together. The two have a friendship that was a joy to watch unfold to such a touching level, something season one Joey would be pleasantly surprised about.
Hate - The Only Friend Whose Life Isn't Moving Forward In A Significant Way
The Friends finale is a pretty perfect emotional goodbye from fans to the characters and watches everyone move onto a huge new chapter in their lives. Chandler and Monica move with the twins to the suburbs, Rachel and Ross start their life together, and Phoebe and Mike agree they want kids.
Then there is Joey. The events of Joey show him moving to Los Angeles, but in the sphere of just Friends, Joey really isn't doing anything. He remains in the same apartment, no partner, no new jobs that fans know of, and is just pretty stagnant in life. If the events of Joey are canon, then that is a positive, but not many Friends fans have indulged in the subpar spin-off, and Joey remains the same way he was for the last few seasons of the show.