At the start of The Golden Girls Season 1, Dorothy Zbornak (Beatrice Arthur), Rose Nylund (Betty White) and Sophia Petrillo (Estelle Getty) were all living at the Miami home of Blanche Devereaux (Rue McClanahan). And by that point, the women had already developed a deep friendship. However, it wasn't until the Golden Girls Season 1 finale, "The Way We Met," that the show revealed just how the women had come to live together.
"The Way We Met" picks up after Rose, Dorothy and Blanche find themselves having trouble sleeping after watching classic Alfred Hitchcock thriller Psycho. Soon, the conversation turns to just how the girls originally met as they eat cheesecake. Blanche reveals that, prior to Dorothy and Rose moving in, she lived with two extremely weird women from Minnesota, who, among other things, would "floss each other's teeth."
Unable to stand their behavior, Blanche kicked the two women out and went down to the supermarket to advertise her now available rooms. While at the supermarket, Blanche encountered Rose, who herself had just been kicked out of her living situation. Rose, for her part, was evicted from her home for rescuing a cat named Mr. Peepers. Their conversation ends up being quite awkward, as Blanche thinks that Rose's lack of intelligence is actually her making jokes. Soon, though, Blanche realizes the truth and has to be won over by Rose giving Mr. Peepers to the young boy who has just lost his cast.
Dorothy, for her part, has a much simpler story. She responds to the ad after her husband, Stan, leaves her, bringing Sophia along for moral support, as she's still living at the Shady Pines retirement home. Sophia, who is still recovering from her stroke, says some glib things, which makes Dorothy think that Blanche isn't going to accept her application. In the end, though, Blanche does invite Dorothy to move in. Later, after a fire at the Shady Pines, Sophia moves in with the trio.
However, things are initially rocky, with Dorothy and Rose competing over who gets what room. Rose ends up winning a coin toss for the room, but the problems don't end there. The girls soon find that they're unable to coordinate shopping trips, as they all have different budgets and buying habits. Things come to a head, and it seems as if the friendship is going to break up before it has even begun.
Then, just when things seem darkest, Rose regales Blanche and Dorothy with their first St. Olaf story. In this particularly ridiculous story, Rose tells them about the Great Herring War, which saw the Lindstrom and Johansson families fighting over what to do with the titular fish.
As the story goes, things get even more ridiculous, and Rose eventually tells Dorothy and Blanche that "the Lindstroms wanted to train [the herring] for the circus." She explains that a herring circus is kind of like Seaworld, which still leaves quite a bit to the imagination. There's even talk of a herring cannon, and Rose confirms that such a weapon was only used once. This causes all of the women to laugh, and soon they bond over some cheesecake that Rose has brought with her. So as "The Way We Met" wraps up, one of Rose's St. Olaf stories ends up being the most important early event in a legendary sitcom friendship.
The Golden Girls stars Beatrice Arthur, Betty White, Rue McClanahan and Estelle Getty. The series is available now on streaming and home media.