8 Cheapest Season Finale Cliffhangers In TV History

by Josh Brown

1. Friends - Take Thee Rachel

Friends Ross Take Thee Rachel
NBC

Season 4 of Friends nicely builds to the marriage of Emily and Ross, despite the fact they were never the show's most popular pairing. There are some great moments when the gang gets to London, and it all works well until the final moments, when the show fully gives in to one of its worst habits: the Ross & Rachel crutch.

Yes, they are TV's ultimate will they/won't they couple, and as such the show had to pay lip service to them as an item every so often. But there's no moment quite so brazenly designed to drive up the ratings as having Ross say the wrong name at the altar and immediately rolling the damn credits.

It felt like a moment ripped straight out of a soap opera, which Friends should never have succumbed to. It did its job, of course, because everyone was utterly desperate to see what came next, but at the expense of genuinely good character work and storytelling. Friends would deteriorate in quality in its later seasons, and its moments like this which signal the shift that would eventually arrive. The writers knew how much cultural sway Ross & Rachel had, so even though he had been shown to be completely over her, it goes back to the shallow well to prey on audience's investment in the couple.

[James]

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We love teamwork! Who doesn't? This article is a collaborative effort between Josh Brown and James Hunt.
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NCTJ-qualified journalist. Most definitely not a racing driver. Drink too much tea; eat too much peanut butter; watch too much TV. Sadly only the latter paying off so far. A mix of wise-old man in a young man's body with a child-like wonder about him and a great otherworldly sensibility.