Did 'Friends' Predict 'The Matrix'? The Viral Fan Theory, Explained
As is common with beloved, long-running sitcoms, Friends (1994) has enjoyed its fair share of fan theories over the years. There are some darker theories, such as that the show takes place in a psychiatric hospital and the friends are actually patients with personality disorders, or that one of the characters dreams or hallucinates the entire show. Then, there are some lighter, funnier, and weirder theories, such as that Phoebe (Lisa Kudrow) is on the run from porn barons. However, arguably the most intriguing and mind-blowing theories are those that posit connections between Friends and other major franchises.
Fans have argued that Friends takes place in the same universe as Home Alone (1990), Seinfeld (1989), Parks and Recreation (2009), and more. From eagle-eyed viewers spotting familiar suburban backdrops to coincidental name drops, fans don’t need much to connect the dots between universes. One fan, though, went beyond typical fan theories. In what began as a comedy bit and soon morphed into a mind-boggling fan theory, one viewer argued that the Friends pilot episode predicted The Matrix (1999) five years before its premiere.
How The 'Friends' And 'Matrix' Fan Theory Began
The theory that Friends predicted The Matrix began with comedian Heidi Regan, who initially framed the theory as a stand-up comedy bit. For the bit, Regan provided an increasingly obscure list of connections between Friends and The Matrix. As wild and far-fetched as the connections were, one still couldn’t help but be impressed by the sheer number of coincidences in the theory.
Regan posted a TikTok video sharing highlights of her comedy bit, and it quickly went viral, gaining over 35,000 likes. The video begins with Regan explaining that Neo (Keanu Reeves) visits the Oracle (Gloria Foster) and encounters a boy with a spoon (Rowan Witt) in The Matrix. While speaking with the Oracle, Neo ponders if he’s “The One,” and she offers him a cookie. Coincidentally, the Friends pilot sees Ross (David Schwimmer) debating whether there’s such a thing as “The One” romantically. It gets even more mind-blowing when Joey (Matt LeBlanc) uses a spoon as a metaphor.
So, if Joey is the boy with the spoon, who is the Oracle? Regan pulls up a snippet from the Friends pilot where, after Ross dramatically describes his feelings, Chandler offers breezily, “Cookie?” Regan goes on to point out that Neo’s room number, 101, indicates he is “The One.” Meanwhile, the Friends apartment number is 5, which in binary is 101. Friends references “The One” outside the pilot, too, considering every single episode title begins with “The One.”
In another mind-blowing connection, Regan shows the final scene of the Friends pilot, where Chandler recounts a dream in which he’s Liza Minnelli and gets a call from her mom. Now, Minnelli’s mother is the famous actress Judy Garland, best known for playing Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz (1939). And what is Cypher’s (Joe Pantoliano) iconic line in The Matrix? “Buckle your seatbelt, Dorothy, ‘cause Kansas is going bye-bye.”
Does 'The Matrix' And 'Friends' Fan Theory Add Up?
In the caption of the viral TikTok highlighting her theory, Regan explained that she made up the premise of her “silly” theory as a joke. However, it then sent her down a rabbit hole where she incidentally blew her own mind with a theory so intricate that she dedicated a show to it. What you see in the TikTok is just the tip of the iceberg.
In a YouTube video featuring the full bit, she argues that Rachel (Jennifer Aniston) follows Neo’s trajectory as someone dissatisfied with her life, ultimately pulled into the “real world” by her friends. One of the wildest coincidences she points out is that Central Perk in Friends is located on Lafayette Street in real life, whereas Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne) uses the Lafayette Hotel as his headquarters in The Matrix. Regan even finds a direct connection between Friends and The Matrix director, the Wachowski sisters, as one episode features a poster for Speed Racer (1967), a show the Wachowskis would later adapt into the 2008 film Speed Racer.
Ultimately, The Matrix and Friends fan theory is a joke. There’s no real connection between the two projects, just a handful of obscure coincidences. At the same time, the coincidences are so numerous and unexpected that it does make one pause. Regan’s bit is genius in that it shows how fan theories and conspiracy theories can flourish. If you just give it enough thought and look hard enough, you can connect dots that were never meant to be connected. Even more eerily, if you present every unintentional coincidence in just the right way, you might be able to convince an entire audience or an internet following that these coincidences constitute a connection or a prediction.
