Joanna didn’t really need to die and Tommy is just a hothead. Joanna likes to be amused but not provoked. Is it possible that we only see both of them when they’re already in a bad mood? They didn’t come across as bad people, just as people who anger easily, hell all six of the friends are guilty of random anger outbursts and even meltdowns [some more than others] but the bottom line is, they are upset; they are paid to play people who are upset!
Let’s start off with Tommy; the reasons Tommy was paired alone with Rachel was to provide yet another ‘Ross is just looking out for her and nobody believes him’ plot and to get people giddy about their upcoming movie together Along Came Polly. After her relationship with Ross fails her, Rachel is eventually dating Tommy. Along Came Polly aside, Tommy wasn’t involved with drug dealing or setting cross’ on fire, basically his only crime is yelling but not just any type, yelling at people in anger as opposed to someone who is just naturally loud as he was introduced in a calm setting, but when things went awry he went ballistic more than once. Chandler was actually the bad guy in this episode and he was being a bad friend to Ross for his own amusement. It’s just Rachel’s sarcastic line; “Or maybe I should stay away from all men,” That throws people off into thinking she’s the episode’s villain. Or maybe they’ve just gotten too used to her being an episode’s villain. What happened was Ross found himself alone with Tommy walking down the aisles waiting for Joey’s play to start. Joey was backstage already/getting ready. Monica, Phoebe, Chandler and Rachel hadn’t even arrived and unfortunately there was a mix up with the seats and an old couple were already sitting there, in seats meant for Tommy and Ross. This does not sit well with Tommy and he threw a tantrum and directed pure hostile anger towards them in front of Ross.
Is it possible that Tommy was already upset about set about something unrelated like a bad day at work and took his anger out on the elderly couple? Yes it’s possible, it happens in real life too.Should he have done it? No. Did he have a right to be furious? Maybe. On the fence about it, but he was inconvenienced for something that was not his fault and he did not respond well. That was what set him off. Was Chandler secretly amused and pretending to be shocked or is he just an unreliable witness? We never find out, but Chandler shows off how to become a likable turncoat in the next scene Chandler just laughs, shrugs, tells jokes about Tommy’s behavior etc. etc. but Chandler was the first person who Ross told about Tommy’s outburst and we know how close Ross and Chandler are in reality and Ross even looked towards Chandler to back him up, Chandler refused! He made Ross look crazy and jealous! He infuriated Rachel when he knew Ross was telling the truth about Tommy’s outburst. Meanwhile Ross gets his coffee to go and isn’t paying attention and honestly I’ve tried over and over and I actually can’t blame Tommy for what happened next; Ross was walking backwards out of Central Perk, he spins around, bumps into Tommy and almost spills hot coffee all over him! He demands to know what’s in the cup as he begins his rant against Ross. His rant about Ross’ coffee isn’t out of anger more out of caution, he did after all say “Tell me it’s iced coffee? You could have spilled hot coffee all over me you idiot!” It’s the line “Tell me it’s iced coffee.” That gives the audience viewing the reason to believe that Tommy is more worried about getting a bad burn than anger or meanness. There was a similar story reported on the news of an old lady who once spilled McDonald’s hot coffee on her lap. Those burns she received were severe and it’s possible that Tommy didn’t want something similar to happen to him as well. It’s implied not stated. Anyways, Ross taps on the glass of Central Perk where Monica, Chandler and Rachel are gathered inside since they can turn around and witness Tommy’s tantrum for temselves but Chandler strikes again! He glances over and then motions Monica and Rachel not to turn around and sits there looking smug as he cuddles Monica and starts a conversation to keep Rachel distracted. Back at the apartment, Ross is desperate to get Tommy to repeat the same behavior but it backfires and after Tommy yells at the pet chick, Chandler realizes it’s not funny anymore.
Joanna yelled at people and was demanding, she briefly dated Chandler and handcuffed him, she had a habit of hiring people based on how much they amused her [Mark, Sophie, Rachel] instead of their qualifications, and she was mean to Sophie. It is possible that Sophie’s so-called incompetence stemmed from pure terror and intimidation towards Joanna at her beck and call and bullying behavior. But there were times she took that in stride and just shrugged it off. Unfortunately, even when Sophie did something nice for Joanna buying her a macaroon with her own money, Joanna took it as a gesture of sucking up and brown-nosing? Why couldn’t she just say thank you and enjoy the cookie like anyone else would? Since she never actually committed a crime or came across as unlikable that’s not a very thought out reason to die. Okay, handcuffing Chandler in the office was going a bit too far but by the same token, Rachel and Chandler did get back at her and cuff her in her own office to see how she liked it and there was some opportunity for wacky hi-jinx with her if she was alive but overall, they’ve written friends of characters and love interests out without killing them off. They write them out with nonsensical madcaps.
What I’m saying comes down to this and only this; were Joanna and Tommy only the type to yell if provoked? If Tommy isn’t provoked would he have been an average guy/date for Rachel?