Joey Derangement Syndrome

The reaction I've seen from many folks on this subreddit to the Monica & Joey situation is pretty wild. The level of vitriol for Joey doesn't feel warranted, especially when compared to the alleged actions of some of his cast members. Could Joey have handled the situation with Monica better? Of course. But does he deserve to have his family mocked? No. Does he deserve to have his eventual Locks Of Love donation questioned? Get a fucking grip! (Okay, I'll give you the longboard stuff, but that's not even in the top 20 most annoying/cringe things that happened this season.)

I think much of the reaction to Joey's reunion segment is because we love to build things up just to tear them down. People loved Joey over the course of this season. And then we let some selective editing and a direct message to Madison, a person who has shown to play fast and loose with the facts, change our entire opinion of him? (Notice she didn't have any screenshots for that one, btw. And does anyone REALLY believe Madison wouldn't flirt with Joey at a bar and then try to make him look like an idiot in front of Monica when confronted about it? Be real.)

Joey and Monica seemed to really like each other in the beginning and then it fizzled. Whether it was because of the sister, or the sock bin or they just weren't into each other, it just didn't work out. Joey likely has some relationship issues he should work on away from the cameras, as do most of us. Monica said no (another thing we tend to forget in this subreddit), never told Joey she loved him, and here we are. She "won" the break-up, which seemed to be her strategy heading into the reunion. So congratulations to her. But cut my man Joey some slack.