Top 10 Friends Episodes

Ross. Chandler. Joey. Phoebe. Rachel. Monica. There it is, my ranking of my favorite Friends characters from most to least. It might be controversial to some, but who cares? It is telling that 13 years since Friends aired its finale, the show still seems as popular as ever. It is still syndicated all over the world from New Zealand to Nigeria. In its peak it was more than a water cooler show - it was a cultural phenomenon. It has undoubtedly inspired popular shows that followed it (How I Met Your Mother, The Big Bang Theory) but its perfect mix of comedic writing and sentimentality is something that is unlikely to ever be topped. This is one of the harder lists I’ve had to write. Truth be told it was supposed to be a top ten but excluding certain episodes was too difficult. So without much more ado, here’s my list of favorite Friends episodes.

15. The One where Rachel Finds Out

Season one concluded with the revelation that all viewers had been waiting for – Rachel finally found out about Ross’ love for her. With this as the major plot, the writers brought the “will they won’t they” that had been slowly brewing over the course of the season to an intriguing juncture. Would Rachel feel the same way? Would Ross finally get the satisfaction he’d been longing for? All in all, a satisfying end to the first chapter of Ross and Rachel’s complex love story.

14. The One with the Videotape

The first couple of episodes in season eight established the fact Rachel was pregnant with Ross’ baby and they were going to raise the child together. Of course this baby was only going to end up complicating the already complex Ross and Rachel dynamic. But this episode focused on the night of conception and the hilarious circumstances that brought it all together. Even though there are a couple of questions I have about the plot (How did Rachel or Ross not notice the tape?), this is a very funny and satisfying episode if you are a Ross fan like I am. This is certainly one of the most underrated episodes in the show’s run.

13. The One with the Blind Dates

Remember the complications I referred to above? They became even more prominent when Rachel gave birth to Emma at the end of season eight. With Ross and Rachel refusing to have a frank conversation about what they wanted (it was so clear they loved each other), they both decided to date other people. Granted, this was not the worst idea in principle. They only decided to ask Phoebe and Joey for help! Jon Lovitz guest starred for the second time as the human disaster Rachel was set up with.

12. The One with the Holiday Armadillo

Friends didn’t always have Christmas episodes – at least not as frequently as their Thanksgiving ones. But in the seventh season they aired two Christmas themed ones, “The One with all the Candy” and this one. In the main plot, Ross decides to dress up for Ben to commemorate Christmas only to find out there were no Santa suits available for rent. Enter the Holiday Armadillo, Santa’s part Jewish friend. It’s a little wacky to be sure (especially when Chandler’s Santa and Joey’s Superman come through), but it does teach a very important lesson – it is never too early to teach your kids their culture.

11. The One with all the Poker

In this season one episode, the characters have an old fashioned battle of the sexes. The battle medium? Poker. By this time in the show’s run, the characters had started to take form and viewers began to understand them better. This is what makes the episode’s climax (Ross and Rachel’s final showdown) so memorable. By the end, Rachel gets a win that she so desperately needed and Ross shows maturity in curbing his over competitiveness.

10. The One with Two Parties

What happens when your parents get divorced when you’re all grown up? In theory, you should cope better than you would as a child. But as episodes like this and “The One with the Lesbian Wedding” showed, it doesn’t hurt any less. When Rachel’s birthday comes round, the rest of the gang plan to throw her a surprise party with a few outside friends and her mom as expected guests. Unfortunately, her dad drops by. With quick improvisation, the gang throws another party across the hall to keep Rachel’s parents apart. The Three’s Company gang couldn’t have done it better.

9. The One That Could Have Been

It wasn’t often that the writers came up with imaginary scenarios for the characters to play out but in this season five two parter, this is what they did. We get to see how the characters interact with each other with a detail or two changed. For Ross and Rachel, they’re married to Carol and Barry respectively. Chandler and Phoebe have different vocations. Joey still has his Days of Our Lives gig and Monica is still overweight. This doesn’t just make for a memorable episode in the series, it proves that mere details won’t change their devotion to each other.

8. The One Where Ross Is Fine

How David Schwimmer never won an individual award for his work on Friends is beyond me. That’s not to say that the remaining actors weren’t talented too, but Schwimmer was superb as Ross Geller. To my mind, his most electrifying performance was in this season ten episode, where Ross finds out Joey and Rachel are together. To watch Ross slowly unravel over the course of the episode is equal parts hysterical and uncomfortable. There aren’t too many better performances from any of the actors in the show’s run but this stands out.

7. The One Where the Stripper Cries

When shows run for a while, a dip in quality is expected. As such, it was hardly surprising that the tenth and final season wasn’t as sharp as seasons prior. But episodes like this one – penned by the show’s creators – showed that Friends could still bring the magic. This episode not only had notable guest stars like Danny DeVito and Donny Osmond, but it marked the final time viewers got to see fat Monica, Rachel (with her original nose), Chandler (with his eighties quaff) and Ross (with his porn moustache. DeVito’s performance as the aging stripper is as funny a guest performance as there has ever been on the show and makes this episode one of Friends’ most memorable.

6. The One with the Stripper

That’s right folks, this list has two stripper episodes. In this season eight episode, Monica attempts to organize a post-wedding bachelor party for Chandler after he finds out she had a secret bachelorette party for herself. Unfortunately for her, this lady was not so much a stripper as she was a hooker. The other plot sees Ross and Rachel having to deal with the fallout of her pregnancy. Ross has to figure out how to bring it up with his current girlfriend, Mona, while Rachel has to tell her Dad. The scene in Ross’ apartment with Mona and Rachel’s Dad has to be one of the funniest in the show’s history.

5. The One with all the Thanksgivings

The Thanksgiving episode was a staple of every Friends season much like The Simpsons and their Halloween episodes. Over the course of the show there were memorable Thanksgiving episodes like The One with the Rumor (with Brad Pitt as a guest star) and The One with Rachel’s Other Sister (with Christina Applegate). But this episode has to go down as the best Thanksgiving episode Friends did. Not only because of what it represented for Chandler and Monica’s (still secret) relationship but because we got to see a throwback of the gang (sans Joey and Phoebe) as teens again. Of course we got to see a throwback of sorts for Phoebe that was hilarious in its own right.

4. The One with the Prom Video

Or the one where Ross and Rachel finally start dating aka the one where Ross is Rachel’s lobster. This episode will always rank high among regular viewers because of what it meant for Ross and Rachel as a couple. Granted, not everyone loves their relationship but the scene where they share their second on-screen kiss is as iconic as any in the show’s history. You just need to hear the audience reaction to understand the relevance. It also marks the first time we saw Ross, Monica and Rachel as teens. The throwbacks happened a few more times in later seasons but the nothing can beat the first time.

3. The One Where No One’s Ready

This episode got an unexpected renaissance of sorts in 2017 thanks to Jay Z’s “Moonlight” video. It is also the first bottle episode (an episode that plays out in real time) that Friends did. Like most bottle episodes, the premise is simple enough – Ross has to convince the rest of the gang to get ready for an important function. Unfortunately, he only has 20 minutes or so to get them out the door and they’re being impossible. This episode works because of the undeniable dynamic that the actors had built by this point in the show’s run. So even though the plot was relatively simple, the episode is deservedly cherished in the hearts of most Friends’ fans.

2. The One with the Embryos

This season four episode may as well have been titled the one where Monica and Rachel bet the apartment considering how relatively forgettable Phoebe’s embryos storyline is. Admittedly Phoebe’s decision to be a surrogate for her brother and sister-in-law was a major narrative for the fourth season and part of season five, but the large scale bet between Chandler/Joey and Monica/Rachel makes for one of the most memorable plots in the show’s history. The guys challenge the ladies to a trivia contest over who knows the other pair more and the prizes – the girls’ apartment and giving up the chick and the duck – give the contest an edge. Filled with memorable quotes and hilarious one-liners, this is understandably thought of as the greatest Friends episode ever.

1. The One with the Lottery

This is an admittedly controversial choice for greatest Friends episode ever. But aside from being a standout episode from season nine, this episode sums up everything that was great about the show. For one, the plot involved the whole gang and as such most of the episode was set in Monica’s apartment. Friends had many Hollywood titans like Julia Roberts, Gary Oldman, Bruce Willis and even Charlton Heston feature and by and large they all excelled. But the best episodes were the ones that focused on the six friends and their interactions with each other. For another thing, playing to win the lottery is a very relatable and engaging storyline for the gang. The chance to win $300 million dollars brings out interesting facets of their personalities and unsurprisingly the actors all deliver fantastic performances. The writing is sharp, the pacing is brisk and the laughs are plentiful. This is for me the quintessential Friends episode and the best.

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