The American sitcom Friends ran for 10 years from 1994 to 2004. You’d be hard-pressed to find someone who hasn’t at least heard about it, if not watched it, and had every line memorized. Over time, there have been numerous discourses pointing how the show can be viewed through different lenses, many of which deem the series problematic and offensive. Despite the backlash it has received over the past decades, Friends means a lot to those who have had the sitcom with them throughout the course of their lives.
Each episode is filled with funny skits, deeply connected relationships, and ridiculous situations. It’s become very difficult to pick the best episodes, but there are definitely some that have left better impressions than others. Let's take a look at 10 best Friends episodes ever released.
10 “The One with the Prom Video”
Everyone loves a good old flashback episode. Season 2, Episode 14, "The One with the Prom Video," offers us exactly that with an additional something. Although Monica and Ross get along really well as siblings, there's always been a very clear difference in how they were treated by their parents, especially their mother. We can see this dynamic in this episode as Monica struggles to tell her parents she's unemployed.
There's a side quest of Joey and Chandler fighting over friendship bracelets, but the most important part is an old prom video that the Gellers bring over. As the gang watches the video for fun, it's finally revealed that Ross has been in love with Rachel since high school. The video touches Rachel, and the relationship between her and Ross is reconciled. The guy operating the laugh track must have had a blister after this one.
9 “The One with All the Thanksgivings”
Speaking of flashback episodes, who doesn't love the ones with all the reminiscing? "The One with All the Thanksgivings" (Season 5, Episode 8) sees the gang reminisce about their worst Thanksgivings. From Ross' divorce and eviction notice, to Chandler's parents telling him they were getting a divorce, to Phoebe's story from her past life where she lost an arm in the Civil War, to Joey getting turkey stuck on his head.
All this eventually leads to Monica recalling how she decided to lose weight due to Chandler fat-shaming her, as well as to the Thanksgiving when she accidentally cut his finger off after she tried seducing him. It's ultimately an episode where Chandler finally tells Monica he loves her for the first time ever. To this day, this fabulous episode (just like every Thanksgiving episode) stays among the fans' favorites.
8 “The One with the Videotape”
Who seduced whom is the big question that hangs in the air throughout "The One with the Videotape." Season 8, episode 4 sees Rachel and Ross yet again arguing about something, this time about who made the first move between the two, which ended up with them sleeping together. Surprisingly (or not), Ross has the whole incident videotaped, which ends up with the whole gang watching it and learning who's telling the truth. It's interesting to know that this episode was filmed right after the events of 9/11 and is also known as the episode where you can see the crew's reflection on the TV. It contains a lot of quotable lines from the series.
7 “The Last One”
We cannot leave out the very last episode that forced us to say goodbyes to six of our dear characters. Aptly named "The Last One," we see the six friends say goodbyes to their adventures and embark on new journeys with some last momentous surprises. Ross confesses his love to Rachel in the last minute, which leads to Rachel abandoning her Paris dreams and staying with him (we do not support this). Monica and Chandler finally adopt twins and leave their iconic apartment. The ending to the iconic TV series that is Friends always makes us cry, to this day.
6 “The One with Football”
Instead of properly celebrating Thanksgiving, the six friends decide to play American football right outside their apartment building. "The One With Football" focuses on Ross and Monica's sibling rivalry, which ends up postponing the actual Thanksgiving dinner. While the siblings take the competition seriously, Chandler and Joey try seducing a Dutch woman that watches their game, and Rachel struggles to show that she knows how to play. This episode can be really hard to watch for those who find Ross quite insufferable, but is great for those who enjoy Joey and Chandler's chemistry, Phoebe's daftness about football, and Monica's competitiveness.
5 “The One with All the Resolutions”
Holidays specials are always fun and full of gigs that aren't easy to forget. "The One with All the Resolutions" is the 11th episode in season 5, where the six friends make New Year's resolutions and find it really hard to stick to them. Chandler promises to cut down on the jokes, Rachel swears to stop gossiping, and Ross picks a whole new look for himself. What makes this episode unforgettable is definitely the leather pants that Ross decides to wear to a date, which results in a big catastrophe. If you struggle to not make jokes at inappropriate times, you'll find Chandler really relatable in this episode.
4 “The One Where No One’s Ready”
If there's one thing that Friends excel at, it's definitely the bottle episodes. The second episode of the third episode, also known as "The One Where No One's Ready," centers on Ross' anxiety and annoyance as the friends take too long to get ready for his special event. Chandler and Joey tease each other throughout the episode, Monica keeps checking her voice messages to hear from Richard, and Rachel can't decide what to wear. Even without a special storyline, the real-time timing of it is very on-point, making it one of the best Friends episodes.
3 “The One After Ross Says Rachel”
Is there anyone who finds Emily incredibly annoying and finds it hard watching the episodes with her in it? Season 5, Episode 1 shows us the chaos of what happened after Ross said Rachel's name instead of Emily's at the altar. We also focus on how Chandler and Monica deal with their new love affair. Ross' meltdown perfectly blends in with Monica's and Chandler's desperate attempts to find a place to be alone.
2 “The One with the Embryos”
Although the main focus was supposed to be Phoebe undergoing an embryo implant procedure to act as a surrogate mother for her brother's kids, the main event of the episode became no other than the quiz night. In "The One With The Embryos", Monica and Rachel wager their apartment in a trivia game, prepared by Ross, against Chandler and Joey. It has stayed as one of the most fun Friends episodes that you can simply watch over and over again and never get bored.
1 “The One Where Everyone Finds Out”
The one that definitely needs to take the crown is the Season 5, Episode 14, also known as "The One Where Everyone Finds Out." Monica and Chandler have been hiding their relationship for quite a few months. But, as soon as Phoebe and Rachel find out, they decide to try seducing Chandler, so they'd come clean. This quickly turns into pointless competition about who can hold out more. Eventually, all five find out about the secret relationship. "They don't know we know they know" remains one of the most hilarious and quotable lines in the series.