Phoebe Buffay’s iconic line from Friends season 2 about lobsters isn’t actually true, but the long-lasting impact of her metaphor has given it an entirely new meaning. As the group’s most eccentric member, Lisa Kudrow’s character Phoebe Buffay often made bizarre statements or held beliefs that defied logic, but her friends didn’t always fact-check or correct her on them. From hinting that she still believed in Santa Claus during Friends season 6 to saying she didn’t believe in gravity, Phoebe’s claims shouldn’t have always been trusted. For instance, one of Phoebe’s most notable quotes was a claim about lobsters' mating habits, which turned out to have a large impact on the sitcom’s romantic subplots.
In Friends season 2, episode 14, “The One with the Prom Video,” Phoebe explains Ross and Rachel will end up together because Rachel is his “lobster.” Phoebe elaborates that “it’s a known fact that lobsters fall in love and mate for life,” with old lobster couples supposedly holding one another’s claws in tanks. Perhaps blinded by the support for his romance with Rachel, the scientist Ross doesn’t think to debunk Phoebe’s claim. Instead, Ross furthers the odd metaphor by telling Rachel that she’s his lobster, indicating they’re meant to be together.
Phoebe Is Wrong: Lobsters Don’t Actually Mate For Life
It turns out that Phoebe’s lobster theory is wrong. Lobsters are not one of the many animal species that practice monogamy, with male lobsters actually being notable for their promiscuity (via New York Times). Male lobsters can hold onto a monogamous streak for about two weeks before moving on to their next mate, so Ross may have taken Friends’ “lobster theory” too seriously when sleeping with Chloe after Rachel wanted a break. This scientific analysis of lobsters was also supported by Ready Seafood’s in-house marine biologist Curt Brown, who confirmed to E! that lobsters do not mate for life.
It’s pretty shocking that Friends’ Ross Geller, who had a reputation for being a know-it-all and correcting his friends, didn’t question Phoebe’s theory. Ross and Phoebe notably got into disagreements over their different responses to scientific theories and facts, such as Phoebe rejecting evolution and gravity. Since Ross's scientific focus was on dinosaurs, fossils, and pre-historic creatures, which includes ancestors of crustaceans like lobsters, he likely would have known enough about lobsters' mating patterns to refute Phoebe's statement.
Why Friends’ Iconic Lobsters Line Still Works
Even if Phoebe’s claim about lobsters mating for life isn’t based on scientific facts, her theory has taken on a life and meaning of its own. Stating that two people are one another’s “lobster” is a reference to two people being soulmates, which came to define Ross and Rachel’s relationship throughout Friends’ ten seasons. Phoebe’s original lobster metaphor for getting together and staying together for life also changed with the progression of Ross and Rachel's romance. Ross and Rachel were on-and-off throughout Friends, so being each other’s “lobster” turned out to mean two people are meant to be together and will always come back to one another despite a rocky road.