It’s been 20 years since Friends came to a close, but should it have been 23?
6th May 2004 was a moment. One of those “where were you when…” moments, to be more precise.
As the finale of Friends broke TV records, and David Schwimmer’s Ross frantically shouted at his answering machine as he stressed over whether Jennifer Aniston’s Rachel got off the plane, viewers across the world were hooked.
Even I, a primary schooler who sneakily stayed up past my bedtime, not really understanding any of the jokes but laughing along when my parents did, could feel the enormity of what was playing out on screen. This was pop culture history.
But should 6th May 2004 have been a moment, really? Should Friends have stuck around long enough to hit that 10th season and wind things up the way they did?
Well, after growing up with Friends as my go-to pre-sleep watch, then growing older, more jaded and more analytical, it’s become blindingly obvious that it shouldn’t – Friends should have come to a close three years earlier.
Of course, if you look at any list of the ‘best Friends moments’, plenty of quotable late-season scenes come up: “Joey doesn’t share food!”, “Princess Consuela Banana Hammock”, “It’s the humidity!”.
But for all that these have wormed their way into the zeitgeist, and were delivered by master comedians at the top of their game, the real genius of Friends was its ability to deliver such memorable moments while telling a genuinely interesting story – which, if we’re being honest, died a death several years before the show itself did.
Think back to season 1 – for me, the strongest of the lot – and the genius of Friends is in full view. There are undoubtedly moments of comedic brilliance throughout the season – Rachel’s stand-off with a foul-mannered laundromat customer; Chandler’s Trident quip – but all of the jokes are underpinned by layers beyond the humorous.
Building episodes around a group of 20-somethings struggling to find their way in the world, feeling lost, epitomising the very lyrics of The Rembrandts’ title track I’ll Be There for You, it felt like those early episodes really had something to say beyond punchy lines of dialogue.
Whether it was a young Monica feeling inadequate compared to her superstar brother in The One Where Nana Dies Twice, Chandler overcoming hurdles with his mother in The One with Mrs Bing or Ross coming to terms with becoming a parent himself in The One with Two Parts: Part 2, each episode in season 1 explored the trials and tribulations of entering adulthood feeling unprepared, out of your depth.
This commitment to complex storytelling continued through several seasons after this, despite the characters increasingly coming into their own in both their personal and professional lives. Joey’s acting career explores the impact that a rise to stardom can have on those who aren’t ready for the limelight. Phoebe’s pregnancy journey examines the fallout that can come from making sacrifices for the people you care about.
And through the blossoming romance between Chandler and Monica, there’s a central romance that overtakes every other subplot in terms of its allure. Their relationship feels fleshed out, their companionship feels genuine. They share jokes and jibes, they push each other and have real conversations – Monica’s, “If you’re too afraid to be in a real relationship, then don’t be in one,” line is an all-timer.
In finding someone like Monica, who strives for greatness and perfection – to a fault at times – Chandler grows from an aloof doof who’s terrified of commitment into someone who’s willing to sacrifice his entire life’s savings to make his partner happy (a poor financial choice, perhaps, but definitely an impressive display of being all-in).
And through her bond with Chandler, we see Monica gradually lose her more destructive type-A quirks, learning that she doesn’t always have to be the best at everything, because she has someone who will always be there to maintain her high-maintenance personality.
For all the talk of the ‘lobsters’, Ross and Rachel, it’s ‘Mondler’ that provides the most interesting relationship, the one that makes the most sense and most effectively hooks the viewers in (if you weren’t in tears during the engagement episode, you are, like Chandler, dead inside). And that’s why their wedding, the final episode of season 7, should have brought this whole show to a close.
Think beyond this episode, and what happens? Friends loses its genius, it runs out of ideas. Central characters no longer develop as people, plots increasingly feel like filler, jokes become more one-note.
Look at Joey. In the early seasons, he’s a loveable if naive guy who might not be the smartest but still has moments of substance. Sure, he’s the mate whose initial suggestion for overcoming marital breakdown is to head to a strip club, but he’s also the mate who ultimately urges Ross to “grab a spoon”.
Cut to season 10, and that episode Where Joey Speaks French, and it’s almost painful to see how far the character has regressed. Matt LeBlanc has to shift from playing a charming fool to encompassing something of a man-child – almost literally so, when Monica and Chandler announce that they’re moving home.
Even Monica, so often a lynchpin for Friends’ deeper moments, is let down, with much of Courteney Cox’s contributions collapsing into simply yelling one-liners in her then-trademark high-pitched tone.
Too large a chunk of those final few seasons is centred around Ross and Rachel, especially in the closing episodes, even though very little is done to establish that they are even compatible, let alone soulmates.
Ross’s controlling behaviour hardly eases as time progresses – the infamous episode with the male nanny proving a prime example – and Rachel demonstrates that she has much more fun going on dinner dates with Joey than she does spending time with Ross.
The series’s final few minutes, focusing on whether or not Rachel gets off a plane now or simply hops on a later return flight to New York, hit home more than they might have done – largely thanks to the performances of Schwimmer and Aniston – and the closing moments gave us Matthew Perry’s apparently ad-libbed “Where?” finisher, but ultimately that episode 20 years ago should never have happened.
Friends should have finished well before then.
Friends is now streaming on Netflix.
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