Friends may have ended ten years ago, but it still proves to be as culturally relevant today than ever before. Could we be any more excited to flashback to this show? No!
Fandom Flashbacks are a weekly Hypable feature that takes a look back at old shows (classic, vintage, and freshly dead) and takes our readers onto memory lane as we express our favorite moments, characters, and plots.
The thing about Friends was that the lack of serious drama and the jovial camaraderie that was evident within the group since the pilot (or, second episode, to get Rachel acclimated with the group) were two key ingredients to its success. Rachel and Monica struggled for money (“struggled”), but there was never an episode about them going broke trying to make rent (the closest they come to discussing money in a serious context is in season 2’s “The One with Five Steaks and an Eggplant.”) Ross’ romantic failures were the butt of jokes more often than they were a serious cause for concern.
The aforementioned three, in conjunction with Chandler, Joey and Phoebe, created a family dynamic that viewers are eager to try and recreate with their own friends – while rewatching copious amounts of Friends reruns.
The show was about six people in their 20s, then in their 30s trying to handle adulthood in New York City. Story lines evolved from how to combat dating and breaking up, to finding The One and settling down. Their careers were always second to their friendships – how they had all that free time to hang out in Central Perk and still get paid enough to live comfortably, we’re not so sure.
It is hard to define any Friends character with a single word. Over time, as the writers grew into their own on the show and the actors were able to be embodied to their characters, the personality traits of everyone morphed, but looking at the series premiere and finale, it’s evident that these people are not one-dimensional. Joey isn’t the brightest, but he’s incredibly loyal to his friends, but he’s also a womanizer (the only one on the show to not settle down). Phoebe starts out kind of bohemian and brainless, but turns into an eclectic woman with an even head on her shoulders.
There’s Rachel Green, the woman who was always a little spoiled, who ran out on her wedding and ran into old school friend, Monica Geller and her four other friends. After that, the rest was history. Rachel became a self-sufficient, independent woman who built a career in fashion from nothing. Monica is a chef who likes to do things her way with her insanely competitive nature.
In a way, New York City, more specifically, the fiction Central Perk coffee shop, was a seventh main character. Sure, it’s a little unrealistic to assume a group of six adults could hang out in a coffee shop all day and that they’d be at an actual job when it’s convenient for the story, but, that’s the world they, and subsequently the viewers, lived in. And it is always nice to visit as a break from our own realities.
Rachel Green The shopoholic of the group, Rachel always had the best wardrobe. She eventually works her way up the totem pole at Ralph Lauren and has a daughter with Ross in later seasons. |
Ross Geller A paleontologist and married three times, Ross’s demeanor often bordered on Eeyore-like optimism (which is to say, not very much.) He tries to be serious, but most of the time the others in the group won’t have it. |
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Chandler Bing Chandler is always good for a one-liner or pointed look that asks “could I be any more sarcastic?” His first job is working in… something. Transponster, maybe? He eventually goes to work in the advertising industry. |
Phoebe Buffay Her mother committed suicide when she was a teenager, she sings “Smelly Cat,” makes enough money to live in NYC as a “full-time” masseuse. Her twin, Ursula, occasionally makes appearances to rile her up. |
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Monica Geller Monica is the Type-A, sorta-neurotic friend. A chef with a spotless kitchen – and bedroom and living room and bathroom – making messes, literally or figuratively, are often the way to get under her skin. |
Joey Tribbiani An aspiring actor, this Italian comes from a huge family with an even bigger stomach. His go-to pick-up line never really works, but he never fails to charm the viewers. He eventually land a recurring role on Days of Our Lives and forever remains the lovable character with an insatiable appetite. |
Trying to choose one character over the others is tough. But for now, we’re going to say Rachel Green is the best character. She undergoes perhaps the most character growth through the series, has decent enough dialogue, and probably the best (least-ridiculous) wardrobe.
She stumbles into Central Perk in the pilot, donning a gaudy wedding dress and veil, at 25 without any sense of direction in life, but it turns out that was the best decision she ever made. In the first few episodes, we see her old friends (Monica, Ross) and new (Phoebe, Chandler, Joey) rally around her (literally) as she cuts up her credit cards, symbolically cutting herself off from her father’s bank account and old life. She gets a job at the coffee shop, and it turns out: she is terrible at a barista. Soon enough, she gets a job in the fashion world, eventually jumping around from Bloomingdale’s to Ralph Lauren.
As much as we love Rachel, we also love Chandler. He is so sarcastic and probably is the best character to embody most of our sarcastic personalities. His quippy one-liners and pointed facial expressions never fail to make us chuckle. He also is probably one of the most gif-able characters to come across our televisions in the past decade.
You can’t hate any singular Friends character. It’s hard to hate them, they’re the group of people who are just there. Beyond the Ross and Rachel split up that incites the classic line “we were on a break!” and the subsequent time period where Rachel ignored Ross’ presence, there’s no major blow ups that caused rifts in the group.
All of the friends have kissed each other – though two, between Rachel and Monica and Chandler and Ross are off-screen. |
Over the years, when people discuss what kind of Friends character they are, they usually say one person, then pause, and reconsider, citing another trait from a different character. Let’s be real, aren’t all the Friends our spirit animals? Here are a few gifs that make us here at Hypable think, “yes, I very much identify with that.” Most of them are from Chandler.
Asking to specifically name the best episode out of the 200 Friends episodes that aired over the years and cruel and, depending who you talk to, impossible. But if we had to pick, we’d go with the season 4 finale, “The One With Ross’ Wedding.” Everyone, sans Phoebe who’s in her third trimester, pregnant with her brothers triplets, gathers in London to watch Ross marry Emily. But nearly everything in the episode and plot is insignificant leading up to Ross’s infamous line: “I Ross, take thee, Rachel.” Every jaw dropped open. The audience gasped, Ross’s eyes grew huge, Rachel looks petrified, and it was one of the biggest moments of the show.
“Do you think he knew I was here?” |
Ross and Emily’s wedding proved to be a turning point in the show, because not only did Ross accidentally say Rachel’s name in his vows, but hours before that, at the rehearsal dinner, Monica and Chandler sleep together, starting their new trajectory as the couple on the show.
Season 5 began with “The One After Ross Says ‘Rachel'” as a continuation from the cliffhanger season 4 left viewers. We see that Emily does continue with the wedding but is furious with her new husband and eventually disappears into the night, leaving Ross to deal with the repercussions at the reception.
Meanwhile, Monica and Chandler try to brush off their night together as a one-time indiscretion, but they cannot deny their attraction. They agree to sleep together until they fly back to New York, even going so far to sleep with each other one last time on the plane. Alas, they cannot resist their attraction to each other, even when they get back to America. They’re romantically entangled from this point forward. Coupling these two up was a big decision for the show. Fans could have instantly rejected the idea of two of the leads together, and if that was the case, producers and writers would have just closed that chapter in season 5. The reaction, however, was outstanding (just listening to the quick gasp at the reveal that Monica was in bed with Chandler) and they decided to continue with the relationship.
This episode was a turning point in the series, actually, in that it was the half-way mark. No longer were these stories about young adults in their 20s, Friends now dealt with everything that comes with being a young 30-something.
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