Friends: Every Season Finale Ranked Worst To Best
Friends typically nailed the season finale, but which was the greatest?
Almost two decades on from its final episode, Friends remains a pivotal asset of the average daytime television schedule, proving its status as an all-time great sitcom.
It told as basic a plot as you need; you take six friends, you put them in a big city, and you follow each cast member's individual journey throughout the ten seasons. There was no lead character, but rather an ensemble cast. It worked, of course, with each season typically culminating in a major turning point for one or more of the beloved six. It's almost an unwritten rule of television that the season finale of a respected sitcom must end with some sort of natural conclusion that both wraps up every loose end from the season's previous episodes, while also hyping you up for the following season.
Friends achieved this every time.
Season ten, for example, wrapped up each character's story arc meticulously. Ross and Rachel were finally back together (for good this time), Chandler and Monica had just become parents to Jack and Erica, Phoebe was in a happy marriage with Mike, and Joey remained single, which, while appearing as a mundane ending for him, is precisely how his story should have concluded.
Was it the best finale, though?
10. The One In Barbados (Season Nine)
Season nine was at one point going to be the finale until season ten was commissioned, but let's look at this without any knowledge of the tenth season.
Ross would have ended his Friends career in a relationship with Charlie. Nothing wrong with her as a character, but it wasn't the desired end result for the palaeontologist.
Rachel and Joey would have ended in a relationship together, which remains a top-three contender for the worst Friends storyline.
Chandler and Monica's arcs would have concluded with them playing a pissing game of ping pong opposite Phoebe and Mike. The ping pong scenes were entertaining for what they were, but as a season finale subplot? The Friends writers weren't even trying.
The only saving grace to this finale was Phoebe and Mike getting back together. The sublime awkwardness of David, who was planning to pop the question to Pheebs, added plenty of hilarity to the scene.
That the main plot of this finale was Ross' keynote speech hindered the two-part episode from succeeding in places it otherwise would have. The developing relationship between Ross and Charlie worked well, but it both didn't work at this point in the show's history and didn't serve well in the finale. Plus, it led to Roey/Jachel becoming canon. It resulted in a cliffhanger ending, yes, but not the ending anyone wanted.