The One Where I Review Season 4 of FRIENDS

 1997 was a great year to be alive. Tons of great movies and video games were coming out, some great TV shows, and music was really reaching new heights. Friends was getting ready to air its 4th season, and it just felt like it kept getting bigger and bigger. That's because the show was so great and had just finished its third season, which was somehow even better than the first two. So yeah, it's time to talk about season 4 of Friends, and all its greatness, episode by episode. (Sorry, these are so long, but every season is like 24 episodes lol)

The One With the Jellyfish: Continuing straight from the season 3 finale, we pick up with Ross entering Rachel's room to confirm that he chose her over Bonnie. The nice moment is ruined when Rachel forces Ross to read a letter before they continue their romance. Ross falls asleep as the letter is way too long, and it's one of the best jokes of the season already. It's funny how they tease Ross and Rachel getting back together, only for it to fall apart one episode into the season. Phoebe decides to give her birth mom a chance after being mad that she left her. As far as I remember, Phoebe's mom only really comes up again once in the show after this episode, and it's later in this season. Monica hangs out with Joey and Chandler at the beach, only to be stung by a jellyfish. They remember that peeing on a jellyfish sting is a good way to ease the pain, but nobody is brave enough to do it. Later, we find out that Joey was the one who stepped up and peed on Monica, only to back out at the last second and leave Chandler to do it. Apparently, this episode helped the whole peeing on a jellyfish sting become common knowledge. Just don't ask me to do it. 

GRADE: B+

"I just feel bad about all of the sleep you're going to miss, wishing you were with me!" - Rachel

"No-no-no, don't worry about me falling asleep! I STILL HAVE YOUR LETTER" - Ross

The One With the Cat: Phoebe finds a stray cat who she believes has the spirit of her mom. Not the mom she just met last episode, but the one who killed herself. I know it's totally in Phoebe's character to go along with this, but even this felt like too much for her. Ross isn't buying it either, but later has to apologize to Phoebe after hurting her feelings. The most memorable part of this episode is Joey trying to sell his giant entertainment center. There's a funny scene where he meets someone who's trying to trade his roommate's canoe for it, and Joey sympathizes with the guy who made the canoe. Later, Joey puts himself inside a cabinet to demonstrate how big it is, only to be locked in by a potential buyer who ends up robbing everything in their apartment. We are definitely getting into dumb Joey territory, and I'm here for it. Monica ends up dating Rachel's high school ex, Chip Matthews, as she had a massive crush on him back in the day. Turns out Chip hasn't changed AT ALL since High School and still acts like the dumb jock he was back then. Hearing about Chip giving wedgies to other adults is pretty funny, though. Eh, this was one of the weaker episodes so far. 

"You still live with your parents?" -Monica to Chip

"Yeah, but I can stay out as late as I want" - Chip, an adult

GRADE: C-

The One With the Cuffs: Chandler finds himself dating Rachel's boss again after the disastrous date they had last season. This time, he's fooling around with her in her office, when she handcuffs Chandler to the chair so he's forced to wait for her while she's at a meeting. Rachel finds Chandler half-naked in the office and doesn't want to help him because the boss will know it was her. Rachel is eventually able to cut a deal with Chandler that she will tell everyone he has a big dong if he stays and waits for her boss to come back. Unfortunately for Chandler, Ross and Joey quickly ruin that lie when they laugh after hearing it. Monica gets a catering gig from her mom, only to lose a nail inside one of the dishes. Monica's mom had prepared an emergency dish in case Monica did something like this, which hurts Monica to know her mom didn't trust her. It's a nice moment for Monica to finally prove her mom wrong and make her look terrible. Not the funniest story, but at least it has a feel-good moment at the end. 

"When I walk outside naked, people throw garbage at me" -  Chandler when asked why he is getting dressed.

GRADE: B-

The One With the Ballroom Dancing: Joey is forced to practice dancing with the superintendent of the building, Mr. Treeger, after Rachel gets caught clogging the trash again. It's a nice little story for a recurring character, Mr. Treeger. You get the feeling he's a lonely man with a good heart, so the story plays out nicely as he and Joey actually start to enjoy their dance practices together. I think this is the last time he gets any limelight on the show. The funniest part of the episode comes when Chandler tries to quit his gym membership and Ross tags along for support. In the end, they end up convincing Ross to join too, instead of Chandler just quitting. I love Chandler just yelling, "I want to quit the gym!" when he gets nervous. Poor Phoebe gets another weird story where she's attracted to one of her clients, but obviously can't be with him without breaking the rules of her workplace. She eventually admits her feelings to him, and they end up hooking up until someone walks in on them. The twist of the story is that the guy was married the whole time, and Phoebe gets fired for breaking the rules. 

"I'm a gym member. I try to go four times a week, but I've missed the last twelve hundred times." -Chandler

GRADE: B-

The One With Joey's New Girlfriend: This episode introduces Kathy, the new girlfriend from the episode title. Chandler feels bad as he has feelings for Kathy that he can't seem to put away. Kathy and Chandler seem like the perfect match for each other, but Chandler doesn't want to hurt Joey by telling him the truth. Ross and Rachel compete with each other over who has the best new relationship. The joke is that both of them are in terrible relationships and are lying to each other. Ross ends up dating another single parent, but she actually just wanted him to babysit while she goes on a real date with someone else. Rachel, on the other hand, is dating a broke college student who keeps stealing from her, and she's not really that into him. Always kind of hated this whole Ross and Rachel rivalry; thankfully, it doesn't last much longer in this season. Phoebe has a new sexy voice after getting sick, but it doesn't last long after Monica gives her tea to help. She tries everything to steal someone else's sickness, which she eventually does by kissing Gunther. Gunther apologizing to Rachel about it later is pretty funny. 

"Don't cover your mouth when you do that!" -Phoebe after Monica sneezes

GRADE: B

The One With the Dirty Girl: In one of the funniest jokes of the series, Ross dates a fellow Paleontologist. Turns out she's one of the most beautiful women he's ever dated, but the twist is her apartment is a complete mess, like an episode of Hoarders, with food and trash everywhere. Try as he might, he just can't make a move on her because of the gross apartment. The funniest scene is the very end when Monica tries to clean her apartment for free because of how much she hates messes. Chandler continues to crush on Kathy, buying her a very sentimental gift. He finds out Joey got her a pen, so he gives him the book to give to Kathy. She knows it was all Chandler's idea and thanks him in private. It's interesting to see Chandler try his best to move past Kathy, but he only keeps falling for her harder.  Monica and Phoebe cater a funeral, but Monica can't seem to get the widow to pay the bill. She finally stands up for herself and tells the widow off to get the money. Rachel, on the other hand, gets nothing to do, so she finishes a crossword by herself (kind of). 

"You know how you throw your jacket on the chair at the end of the day? Well, it's like that, but instead of a chair, it's a pile of garbage. And instead of a jacket, it's another pile of garbage. And instead of the end of the day, it's the end of time, and garbage is all that has survived!" -Ross on the hot girls dirty apartment

GRADE: A-

The One Where Chandler Crosses the Line: Chandler struggles to keep Kathy out of his mind, especially after seeing her naked by accident. While Joey dates another woman, Chandler and Kathy hang out together and eventually it leads to a kiss. Chandler eventually admits this to Joey after finding out Kathy broke up with him. Joey is pissed and doesn't want to be around Chandler anymore. Obviously, I get why Joey is upset, but it is a little annoying when he wasn't even being serious with Kathy and was dating behind her back. Still, it's interesting to note that Chandler could have avoided all this just by telling Joey he likes Kathy from the start. Ross gets the old Casio keyboard out to perform music, and it sucks. Phoebe thinks he's amazing because, like Ross, she also doesn't make good music. This leads to Ross playing badly on purpose (or worse than he already was) to let Phoebe shine again. Rachel tries a new thing where she eats alone at restaurants. It doesn't last long as she realizes she would like to have company again, but she runs into her future date while eating alone, and he is turned off by the whole thing. The Chandler and Joey stuff is great, but the other stuff not as great. 

"It's time to settle down, make a choice, pick a lane." -Chandler to Joey

"Who's Elaine?" -Joey

GRADE: B-

The One With Chandler In A Box: Chandler has to stay inside a box during Thanksgiving to earn back Joey's trust. He keeps making a joke of it until Joey shuts him down. Kathy shows up to apologize to Joey, but also to see Chandler one last time before she goes away for good. Joey is touched by the moment and lets Chandler run to Kathy and be with her. Good guy Joey, always letting his friends be happy. In one of the weirdest storylines in the show, Monica tries to date her ex Richard's son. The actor who plays Richard's son is pretty bland, and I always disliked him on this show. Maybe he's bad on purpose, so the audience can feel the same way Monica does when she realizes how creepy this is. They kiss, but it just reminds Monica of Richard, and it ruins everything. Ross finds out Rachel returns all of her gifts and gets mad at her. She eventually proves to him that she doesn't return everything and still has some sentimental items from when they were dating. A nice Ross and Rachel moment, the show always had these to keep the idea of them being together in the audience's mind. More on that later in the season. 

"Hey, if everything works out between you and Richard's son, you'll be able to tell your children that you slept with their grandfather" -Ross to Monica

GRADE: B

The One Where They're Going to PARTY!: Chandler and Ross get a call from Gandalf that he's coming to town and they're going to PARTY! Gandalf is apparently the king of partying, and they always end up with a crazy story after he comes to town. Joey is a bit jealous that they don't have as much fun with him, and after Gandalf cancels on them, Joey wants to show them a good time, too. It's funny when they just end up being exhausted before it's even nighttime and call it a day. Rachel tries to get a promotion at work, but her boss, Joanna, keeps sabotaging her interviews because she doesn't want Rachel to leave her. After Rachel convinces Joanna to give her a nice new job, Joanna dies in an accident. Too bad for Rachel, she died before she put the paperwork in for her new promotion. Monica gets an offer for a chef job after she destroys a restaurant in a review. The problem is, she just promised to start a catering business with Phoebe and their new van. Thankfully, Phoebe sees how much Monica wants this chef job and tells her to take the job. I did like the Phoebe and Monica team-up, maybe it would have been cool to see them a little longer in the catering business, but it's all good. '

"Didn't you read Lord of the Rings in High School?" -Chandler to Joey

"NO, I had sex in High School." -Joey

GRADE: B

The One With the Girl From Poughkeepsie: Ross starts dating two women who live far away, one of them from Poughkeepsie. At first, he seems to like her more, but the rides to see her are exhausting him, so he decides to end it with her. On his way to see her, he falls asleep and ends up in Montreal, where he meets another beautiful woman who's even further away now. Well, at least he probably got one nice night with her before going back to New York. Chandler sets Rachel up on a date with her coworker. When his coworkers find out he's trying to set her up, they all give him gifts to try to date Rachel. He makes the mistake of saying Rachel just wants a fling, and so Rachel ends up with a one-night stand when she was hoping for a more serious relationship with the guy. Chandler learns new things about dating and women. This may come into play later in the season, perhaps. Maybe with a certain friend whose name starts with M and ends with Onica? Joey works for Monica at her restaurant, so she can fire him on purpose to prove to her coworkers she means business. Joey ends up liking how much money he makes, so he doesn't go through with it. After seeing Monica get bullied more, he decides to help her and gets himself fired because, like I've said before... Joey is the best. 

"RACHEL AND CHANDLER AH BU BA HANDLER!" -Phoebe trying to find a rhyme for Chandler's name

GRADE: B

The One With Phoebe's Uterus: One of the most memorable moments of Friends and probably the most memorable Phoebe storyline is when she decides to give birth to Frank Jr and Alice's kids for them. When Frank tells Phoebe that it just isn't possible between him and his wife, she decides to step in and have the babies for them. Phoebe's birth mom tries to convince her otherwise, but in the end, Phoebe wants to do this good thing for Frank Jr. It's a very sweet moment for Phoebe. This whole storyline was a way to let Lisa Kudrow remain on the show while she was actually Pregnant with her real-life child. It's a very weird storyline, but one that fits all the characters involved. Like, obviously, weirdo Frank Jr. is cool with it, but it's believable for Phoebe, too, and honestly, it makes her character seem a lot sweeter because of it. The episode also has a great story where Joey starts working with Ross at the museum, but doesn't sit with him at lunch because he only sits with the other "white coats". This leads to a great moment where everyone reveals their dark secrets in the lunchroom. Speaking of great scenes, Monica and Rachel decide to help Chandler out with his sex life, as he is scared to sleep with Kathy because she could compare him to Joey. The scene with Monica yelling out numbers will always be one of the funniest scenes. I mean, this episode is a classic! So many great quotes in just one episode. 

"I'M RHONDA, AND THESE AREN'T REAL!" -Rhonda, probably

"I shared my pudding with you, man! I gave you my SNACK PACK!" -Rhonda, again. 

"SEVEN! SEVEN! SEVEN! SEVEN! *mouths while holding up seven fingers* seven." - Monica

GRADE: A+

The One With the Embryos: Phoebe is nervous when she learns that she only gets one shot at getting pregnant because of how expensive the procedure is. She tries lots of silly ways to make the pregnancy stick, but in the end, she does get pregnant. Frank Jr. and Alice are overjoyed. The other big story here is Joey and Chandler battling Rachel and Monica in a trivia game to see who knows the other friends better. Ross ends up hosting the game because he has nothing else going on in his life. Things get heated when Chandler and Joey keep winning, and Monica's competitive side comes out, and she bets the apartment. It backfires instantly as the guys beat her and move into Monica's apartment, leaving Rachel and Monica to move next door into the gross guys' apartment (their words). This is a fun little story that lasts a few episodes. I always liked seeing Joey and Chandler living in the main apartment, and I think they did a good job at not letting it overstay its welcome. That's two really fun episodes in a row, it's getting gooooood. 

"I'm afraid the TV guide comes to Chanandler Bong" -Ross

"Actually, it's Miss Chanandler Bong" -Chandler

GRADE: A

The One With Rachel's Crush: Ah, spoke too soon there. I never really cared for the JOSH-UA and Rachel storyline. Mostly because Rachel just becomes really annoying and weird in this storyline, but also Joshua really isn't that interesting. I mean, bring Mark back at this point, at least I felt something for that guy, even if it was hatred. Joshua doesn't seem to pick up on any of Rachel's signals, so she has to ask him out herself, but keeps fumbling it because she's never done it before. In another frustrating storyline, Chandler thinks Kathy is cheating on him when he watches her in a play where she has to act like she's having sex with another actor. When Chandler finally realizes how dumb he's being, he goes to apologize to Kathy, only to find her sleeping with the very same guy Chandler thought she was with. Sad. I didn't really get why they ended this relationship so fast, when they took so long to finally get together. I guess it makes more sense when you see where Chandler ends up at the end of the season, but this still felt a bit rushed and out of nowhere. Although it leads to a great scene where Ross says, "Well... if she thought you were on a break." 

"Cookies and porn? You're the best mom EVER!" - Ross

GRADE: C-

The One With Joey's Dirty Day: Joey is going to be in a movie with Charlton Heston, but he goes on a fishing trip before and doesn't have time to shower before going to the set. Everyone thinks he smells horrible, so he sneaks into Charlton's trailer to shower and gets caught by Charlton himself. It's a bit funny, but maybe a weird use of Charlton Heston's talents. Rachel has to take her boss's niece, Emily, to the opera, but wants to bail to see Joshua instead. Ross does Rachel a favor and takes Emily. They end up hitting it off so well that they spend the entire weekend together in a romantic bed and breakfast. Rachel didn't get to see Joshua, and now has to deal with seeing Ross and Emily together. Monica and Phoebe try to help Chandler move on from Kathy by taking him to a strip club. It just ends up making Chandler feel awkward and sad, but later, he's able to start fantasizing about Phoebe, Monica, and the strippers, and he feels like he's closer to moving on. I really enjoy the Emily character, and look forward to seeing more of her. More Emily, less Joshua. 

"Ross! Come Look! There's a deer just outside, eating fruit from the orchard!" -Emily

GRADE: B-

The One With All the Rugby: Ross and Emily are enjoying their time together when Emily runs into an ex-boyfriend. Ross gets jealous when he hears that he's a Rugby player and wants to prove to Emily he's tough enough to play it too. Ross gets his ass handed to him most of the game, but eventually is able to summon "RED ROSS", an alter ego he uses to inflict pain. He gets a few good plays in, and Emily is impressed. Chandler runs into the great Janice again; this time, she's single and ready to mingle. Chandler isn't interested in her at all after their breakup last season, but Janice just won't go away this time. He has to pretend to go to Yemen for a work project, but Janice won't leave him until she physically sees him get on the plane and fly away. Chandler flies to Yemen, and we never see him again. Probably. Monica gets given the C plot in this episode, as she obsesses over a switch in the house that seems to do nothing. After giving up, we see that the switch seems to turn on the TV next door. Phoebe blinking to turn the TV off and on is a cute moment. 

"I'm going to Yemen? I'm going to Yemen! Hey, when we get to Yemen, can I stay with you?" -Chandler

GRADE: B

The One With the Fake Party: Oh, you're having a PAR-TEE? Rachel is desperate to get with Joshua after all her attempts to be with him thus far have failed. She decides to throw a last-minute party for Emily before she heads back to England so she can invite Joshua. This leads to some of the most cringe scenes involving Rachel, as she tries everything to impress Joshua as he awkwardly watches her fail every time. The worst part is Rachel busting out the cheer outfit and doing a routine like a high school girl. Despite her awful attempts, Joshua still ends up agreeing to go on a date with Rachel. I really hate the whole Joshua story, as I've said before, but this is as bad as it gets, at least. Ross and Rachel have a nice moment, though, where she convinces Ross to pursue a long-term relationship with Emily, despite the fact that she's leaving the country. Joey decides to give up meat so that Phoebe can eat some, as her pregnancy is making her crave dat meat. Gotta get that meat gurl, eat that MEAT! Oh, I'm still writing... sorry. 

"I say more dumb things before 9am than most people say all day" -Chandler

GRADE: D+

The One With the Free Porn: Joseph and Chandler stumble upon a pay-per-view adult channel while channel surfing and are too afraid to change it because they may lose the free porn forever. The rest of the friends are annoyed/confused by the fact that porn is now playing all the time at the apartment. Phoebe finds out she's actually having triplets for her half-brother Frank Jr. and Alice. Frank Jr. decides to try to find a better job to provide for his future kids, but to no avail. I do love the fact that Frank Jr's dream job is fixing refrigerators. A man's man, that guy. Ross declares his love to Emily, only to find out she actually has someone else in her life back in London. Ross travels to London to show Emily how far he's willing to go, but Emily has just traveled back to New York to tell Ross she wants him. I'm sitting here thinking how expensive that whole ordeal must have been. Joey and Chandler decide it's time to turn the porn off, because it's killing the vibe. Lucky for them, it's still there when they turn the TV back on! Does anyone else think it's weird that two best friends watch porn together... was this like a 90's thing?

"Bow chika-bow-wow, bow chicka-bow-wow. What is that song? It's been stuck in my head all day" -Rachel

"Oh, that's the theme to Good Will Humping" -Chandler

GRADE: B

The One With Rachel's New Dress: Oh my, Rachel is wearing a very seductive dress to impress... oh man, it's just Joshua again. So yeah, Joshua comes back into the scene, as Rachel is still trying to impress him, this time by wearing a very revealing outfit for him. It all backfires yet again, as Joshua's parents walk in on her, as they are visiting their son. It's a funny setup, but again, my disdain for Joshua keeps it from being too funny. Is it weird that I dislike all of Rachel's long-term relationships outside of Ross so far? Maybe the show did that on purpose to keep the audience rooting for Ross somehow. And yet, Ross gets to date lots of cool women like Julie and Emily. I will say Joshua being afraid of farm birds was really funny, actually. Ross is afraid that Emily will become a lesbian when she starts hanging out with his ex, Carol. Ross doesn't understand women. Chandler and Joey fight to get Phoebe to name one of the babies after them. In the end, Chandler uses his self-deprivation to win Phoebe over. This comes back into play next season. 

"Frank wants to name one of the boys Frank Jr. Jr." -Alice

"Wouldn't that be Frank the Third?" -Chandler

"Don't get me started" -Alice

GRADE: C+

The One With All the Haste: Everybody freaks out when Ross announces he and Emily are getting married. Rachel really takes this hard, but more on this next episode. Rachel is annoyed by her neighbor, who sings "MORNING'S HERE!" loudly every day. Monica and Rachel decide to try one last game to win their apartment back by putting up free Knicks season tickets and getting their apartment back. They lose again. Fed up with their situation, they decide to move everything back while the boys are gone. Joey and Chandler are angry when they find all their stuff back in their old apartment, but Rachel and Monica give them one last plea to keep things the way they are. They kiss for a full minute in front of Joey and Chandler, and the boys move back into their old apartment. Men are simple creatures, doesn't take much to make a deal. Uhm... Phoebe does something too in this episode, but I can't remember? 

"You've only known her for six weeks! okay? I've got a carton of milk in my refrigerator I've had a longer relationship with!" -Chandler on why Ross shouldn't move in with Emily

GRADE: B-

The One With All the Wedding Dresses: Ross asks Monica to go try on Emily's dress while she is back in London. Monica is overwhelmed when she tries it on, and ends up staying at the store for hours just looking at herself in the dress. She ends up wearing it at home and is surprised when Phoebe shows up, also wearing a wedding dress.  They fantasize about their wedding days together in their dresses. Rachel and Ross talk about the upcoming wedding, while Ross tries to comfort Rachel, he ends up annoying her instead. Rachel's jealousy of Ross getting married seeps into her own relationship as she tries to speed things up with Joshua, but scares him off instead. Rachel then joins the other girls with a wedding dress of her own, but when Joshua shows up to give Rachel another chance, he sees her in the wedding dress and runs off for good. Not that I'm complaining, it's nice to finally get rid of boring Joshua... although this ends up leading to some not so fun events for Ross later. Chandler takes Joey to a sleep clinic after he keeps snoring so loudly that Chandler can't sleep. Chandler meets a cute girl there, who ends up with him later in bed. She ends up screaming in bed while she sleeps, scaring Chandler and waking up Joey. Ross and Emily decide to get married in just one month. This is a totally great idea that won't backfire at all. 

"You know, whipped. WAH-PAH!" -Chandler doing a terrible whipping noise

"YOU CAN'T DO ANYTHING!" -Joey, ashamed of Chandler's terrible whipping noise

GRADE: B

The One With the Invitation: Oh no. Didn't think we'd get a clip show just 4 seasons into this show, but here we are for some reason. So clip shows in TV shows were pretty common back in the days of cable sitcoms with 20+ episode seasons. Even The Simpsons was doing this, and that was an animated show. It's an episode that consists mainly of clips from previous episodes; usually, there will be some kind of theme to it, like in this one, where it focuses on the Ross and Rachel romance. This isn't the last clip show on Friends, but yeah, these episodes may have served a purpose back in the day, before streaming, to catch audiences up to the story or to save budget on the season and throw up a cheap episode and still get ratings. It's a big waste of time when you are doing a rewatch, because you literally just watched those episodes not that long ago, so this episode is easily skipped and mostly pointless on rewatch. Really, all you get here is Ross debating whether he should invite Rachel to his wedding in London. He decides to, but she tells him that she can't go anyway because of work. As harsh as it may seem, these episodes will pretty much always get an F grade just for time-wasting.

GRADE: F

The One With the Worst Best Man Ever: Ross decides to pick Joey as his best man after Chandler says Joey will be his best man, and makes Ross mad. Joey takes it too far as he throws a bachelor party and makes T-shirts with his face on them. Joey loses Ross' wedding ring and thinks the stripper from the party stole it. Well, it turns out the duck ate it, and they need to take him to the vet to get it out. This leads to a nice and funny moment where the three guys make amends and make each other cry because of how much they love each other. Monica and Rachel try to cheer up a struggling Phoebe with a baby shower. This backfires when they try to give her gifts instead of giving the babies gifts, and Phoebe rages at the guests. Phoebe dealing with mood swings is funny, and she plays it so well in this episode. It eventually comes around, and Phoebe appreciates all the things Monica and Rachel have done for her to help. It was nice to see an episode where all the guys and girls split off again, feel like it's been a while. Joey was particularly funny in this one. 

"I've got him well trained, see, look. Stare at the wall. Hardly move. Be white." -Joey showing the stripper how well his duck is "trained."

GRADE: B+

The One With Ross's Wedding: The two-part season finale has the Friends going to London for Ross's wedding. Poor Phoebe has to stay behind. So much happens in these two episodes, let's just get into it by each character. I'll save Ross and Rachel for last since that's the big cliffhanger. Joey annoys Chandler to no end by being the most obvious tourist of all time in London. LONDON BABY! He hits up all the famous spots like Big Ben and Westminster Abbey, while Chandler pouts around like a baby. Joey does a 180 after one day and realizes he misses New York and wants to go back, so now he's the one pouting. That is, until he meets an English woman who is interested in him... of course. Chandler gets away from Joey but finds himself getting closer to Monica. After Monica is mistaken for Ross's mother, Chandler comforts her. This comfort leads to more than Chandler would have imagined, as they both end up sleeping together in the hotel room. So begins the best love story in the show, Monica and Chandler. It's a nice beginning, but it gets so much better for them next season and beyond. Phoebe is stuck at home with Rachel, who didn't want to go. Phoebe tries her best to get Rachel to forget about Ross, but Rachel still ends up leaving to admit her feelings to Ross before he gets married. The rest of Phoebe's story is just her calling Emily's family in London and yelling at them. Rachel flies on Virgin Airlines, which is funny because Richard Branson (Founder of Virgin) makes a cameo appearance in this episode. I say funny, but he's not that great, to be honest. There she sits next to another cameo, Hugh Laurie (of House), as he tells her how terrible she is for going to someone's wedding to try and ruin it. Maybe this gets to Rachel because when she arrives at the wedding, she decides to give up on her goals of telling Ross her feelings and just stays to watch the wedding. Ross has been struggling to get this wedding to happen already, with parents arguing over money and the venue being torn down early. Despite everything, the wedding still happens, and just as it is about to start, Rachel shows up. Ross is touched to her... so touched that he ends up saying her name instead of Emily's at the altar. Poor Ross just can't catch a break. Poor Emily has to deal with all this in front of all her loved ones. No one wins here. This was one of the best season finales, certainly the best one so far. Tons of fun being in London, lots of great moments between characters, and Monica and Chandler begin their romance. That last one alone is enough to make this a good episode, but everything else makes it great. The season ends on a huge cliffhanger with Ross and Emily's marriage possibly ending before it even technically begins. 

GRADE: A+

"LONDON BABY" - Joey

"Take Thee, Rachel" -Ross ruining his second marriage

"Oh, and by the way, it seems perfectly clear you were on a break." Hugh Laurie's character to Rachel

Season 4 was full of great moments, but in a way, this was the weakest season so far for me. It's weird because I think it's also the funniest season so far, but the storylines weren't always hitting on this rewatch. I mentioned how I dislike Joshua, and he stuck around for too long. Phoebe seems to get sidelined a lot after her pregnancy starts, especially in the season finale, but that's not really anyone's fault since she truly was pregnant in real life. Chandler and Kathy were great, but it ended just as it began. This was probably to get Monica and Chandler together at the end of the season, but it still sucks to build Kathy up for so long only for her to leave just as they start dating. Emily was a great addition to the show, and I love her and Ross together. Probably the one Ross relationship outside of Rachel I always root for. Of course, every long-term relationship Ross gets into is always affected in some way by Rachel. But overall, another very good season of FRIENDS. I mean, there really aren't any bad seasons of Friends, but I guess after all of this is done, I will rank them all. 

Revisiting My First Worst Songs of the Year Post 10 Years Later (2016)

I've been making these worst of the year posts for almost 10 years now. Maybe I need to find something better to do with my life? Nah, who cares about that? Making fun of bad music is too fun! That being said, my opinions on music have changed so much since I started making these posts. I feel like I've grown to love a lot of music I would not have even given a chance 10 years ago. Pop music has become something I love, not that I didn't enjoy it back then, but it's something I seek out more on my own, even outside of the charts. So I thought it would be fun to go back and see how my opinions have changed on the worst songs of 2016. Maybe I like the songs more? Maybe I hate them more? I will put my complete old post and update my thoughts in BOLD. I will also leave all my typos and dumb jokes in there for fun. 

(2016)10. Work - Rihanna: "If you had a twin i'd still choose you" - Drake 2016
With classic lines like that this song was destined to be on this list. Sorry to say I can't really understand Rihanna throughout half of this song. The chorus just repeats words over and over to an annoying point and at some points it just sounds like Rihanna is mumbling her lines. The music is boring like most pop music this year (sorry if I repeat that complaint a lot, it's hard to ignore in all these pop songs). The music just feels really weak throughout the whole song. Still this song is far from the worse this year which is why it's all the way at my 10 spot. I still get some enjoyment out of hearing Rihanna mumble half the chorus, at least in a comedic way. She seems to be putting more emphasis on her accent on this song than some of her other songs, so I can give it a pass for that.

(2026) My love for Rihanna has grown a lot over the last 10 years and my love for this song has too. I will say it's actually got some good parts I like. Outside of the chorus, the verses are actually good. Also, the parts where Rihanna sounds like she's mumbling are actually in Jamaican Patois and not just gibberish like I stupidly thought. So yeah, this song is pretty solid actually. Even Drake puts up a decent verse here, outside of that stupid twin line. I mean, that's still such a weird line to put in this song. 

(2016) 9. H.O.L.Y. - Florida Georgia Line: Speaking of lazy songs, Florida Georgia Line return to the top of the charts with their amazing song HOLY. Honestly I feel bad about putting this on the list because i'm not really huge on country music, but I know it can be done better than this. This doesn't even really feel like a country song, except the fact it's performed by Florida Georgia Line. Super cheesy cliche lyrics and super basic music with nothing exciting happening throughout the whole song. I know there's country music out there that's actually good or at the very least trying to be good, so it's sad that this super lazy song is the one that made it pretty high on the charts above the rest of them. I guess i'm just happy that this song wasn't annoying as "Cruise" and "This is How We Roll".

(2026) Man, I'm glad these guys aren't really a thing anymore in 2026. They had a hold on the pop country radio for way more years than they deserved, and this song just shows how lazy they could be and still get a hit. Yeah, I agree with me from 10 years ago about everything. Well, except for the country music part, because I certainly like a lot more country than I did 10 years ago. This song is boring as hell, though, and it just feels like paint-by-numbers pop country that we still somehow get these days. 

(2016) 8. Low Life - Future/Weeknd: The power of Drake is strong with this one. I thought Drake was the king of boring songs that could put you to sleep in seconds, but Future looks to be trying to his throne. This song has zero energy musically and vocally, both singers sound like they haven't slept in weeks when they were recording and are trying their best to stay awake to finish recording. Why have a great singer like The Weeknd only to have him barely try to sing the chorus. Why is the music so boring? Why is Future allowed to make music? Why?

(2026) OH MAN, I forgot how much I hated Future's music back then. Honestly, I still have to love Future 10 years later, but I have a lot more love for The Weeknd. Mr. Weeknd has released some amazing albums in the last 10 years, so going back to this version of him is pretty depressing. Terrible lyrics and zero energy is right, but I've always disliked this style of trap song, even to this day. Future just brings no life to this track and sounds like he doesn't even want to be on his own song. Sad. 

(2016) 7. My House - Flo Rida: Here comes the artist as interesting as a blank paper, Flo Rida. I never want to hear the word house again after hearing this song (he says it a total of 18 times the whole song or 24 if you count synonyms). Also I always get really annoyed during the chorus when he does that sloppy stretch of the line "we don't have to go out". Seriously though, Flo Rida has really only made one decent song in "good feeling" and the rest of his music has been pretty terrible.

(2026) WELCOME TO MY HOUSE! AH, this song isn't that bad really. I mean, it's not great, but it's at least fun? Uhhh, I'm already bored after the first chorus. Never mind, I guess I don't disagree with myself from 10 years ago. Maybe I was a little too mean to Flo Rida, but I agree this song is pretty boring and repetitive. I still hate it when he says "We don't have to GooOOOooo out". 

(2016) 6. Work From Home - Fifth Harmony: The idea of a song about missing someone you care about because you both work different times of the day is not a bad one, but it's not executed well here. The worst part of the song is of course the lazy chorus that repeats the word "work" over and over till it doesn't make sense anymore. Also this is one of those songs that repeat the same music loop over and over until the end of the song, and it gets old pretty fast. Also there's these weird sounds during the second verse that sound really out of place, a weird squeaky noise. Also Ty Dolla $ign does a verse so that's a thing. Also the word "work" is said 97 times in this song, so that's cool.

(2026) Also, this song is still terrible 10 years later. Also, Camila Cabello left the group to make even worse music. Also, I should have mentioned the obvious joke that there were two songs that repeated the word "work" a lot in one year. Also, I used the word also too much in that review.

(2016) 5. Roses - Chainsmokers: The drop in this song is so bad, I always die a little inside when it happens. So I know music like this has a big focus on the "cool" electronic sounds and effects, but none of that stands out here. I found the music on this one to be really annoying, with all the frustrating vocal effects used and the equally frustrating random "what" chanting in the background. This song just feels one giant mess and nothing feels right together in here. The vocals and music together don't work together and it makes it really hard to listen to this song all the way through. Chainsmokers made had a lot of bad songs this year, but this one stands out above them in all the wrong ways.

(2026) Yeah, I got nothing to change about that original review. Chainsmokers were pretty bad at this, with "Closer" being the one single I actually liked by them. Even that one had the terrible vocals by Chainsmoker guy. 

(2016) 4. Me Too - Meghan Trainor: When I first heard this song the first thing that popped into my head was Will.i.am, because musically this sounds a lot like something he would do. The bass sounds sound like they came straight from a Black Eyed Peas song or a song produced by Will.i.am. Normally I find a lot of Will.i.am's music to be pretty annoying, so the fact that this sounds like it doesn't help me enjoy this, as the bass sounds are really annoying and overdone in this song. Also hearing Meghan Trainor trying to be so cocky and cool just doesn't really work for her, I just don't believe it coming from her. At least I can say she was trying to do something new, which is why this song isn't any higher, but it's still a pretty annoying song.

(2026) Good God, that bass is actually incredibly annoying. Like, I need to turn off the song because it's giving me a headache, levels of annoying. I tried to be kind to Meghan for trying something new, but she doesn't deserve that. I mean, she failed so spectacularly here that she ended up going back to her doo-wop sound not long after this. Like I said, this just doesn't work for someone like Meghan Trainor; it doesn't fit her vocal style or her personality. 

(2016) 3. We Don't Talk Anymore - Charlie Puth/Selena Gomez: A tough question I had to ask myself when making this list: Who is worse - Charlie Puth or Shawn Mendes? After some thought, the clear answer was Charlie Puth (at least this year). Not only releasing the super cheesy and unsexy "Marvin Gaye", he makes this equally lame song with Selena Gomez that's about the same overused subject like "Don't Wanna Know" by Maroon 5. The vocals in this song stay in the same tone throughout the whole runtime never doing anything interesting. The lyrics don't add anything new to this subject that's been done to death, it feels so bland and unoriginal. A lot of my frustration with pop music comes from either extremely boring songs with no emotion or songs like this one that take a subject that's been done so many times and doesn't add a single new thing to it. It just feels like one of those songs that could have been written by any song writer and could have been much better with a different performer.

(2026) Ugh, Charlie Puth. It's funny, I brought up the Charlie Puth vs Shawn Mendes argument in my original post. I still have no idea who I would pick, as both artists are as boring as they've ever been to this day. It doesn't help that he paired himself with Selena Gomez, who, at the time, I thought was one of the most boring artists making pop music. She's had a few decent songs since then, but not much, honestly. I will say the chorus isn't too bad on this song, maybe the only redeeming part of it, but not enough to bring me back to this song. 

(2016) 2. Fake Love - Drake: Drake is the king of boring songs that make me want to sleep, and most of the time actually do put me to sleep. I tried to listen to this while driving once, and it was a really bad idea. An artist that has been around as long as Drake has no excuse in releasing something this boring. BUT that's Drake thing right? Making music that's lifeless and boring with no passion. Music that's whiny and all about Drake complaining about people or his life. It's impressive the music is somehow even more boring than Drake's vocals in this song. I really wish people would stop buying and listening to bad music like this just because it comes from an artist that's already established and known around the world. I really think if this song was written by someone who wasn't as famous or popular as Drake people would hate it. Then again... I can't really speak for the majority, as I have no idea what they actually like, since artists like Flo Rida, Charlie Puth, Drake and Future all have huge hits this year. Drake needs to try something new and put more energy into his music, or at least just show some passion and emotion in his lyrics. Hopefully people will start to see how lazy this is and stop listening.

(2026) Oh man, I was such a Drake hater back then. Look, it's not a great song as far as Drake is concerned. I will say, the beat is pretty interesting, sort of reminds me a little of "Hotline Bling", which is still one of Drake's better songs. Thankfully, he released the much better "Scorpion" a year after this. Still, I could do without the drowning vocals that sound way too sleepy for a song going out to all the "haters". Yeah, I'm sick of all the people being fake right in front of my face, but not enough to show real emotion about it. 

(2016) 1. Gold - Kiiara: It was so hard trying to choose between this song and Drake for the worst of the year. This song is SO ANNOYING to listen to, and it was very hard listening to more than once. I just can't listen to this song all the way through, by the second chorus I have to change it. The chorus is one of the most frustrating things that i've heard all year, it really gets under my skin. The rest of this song is bland, boring and repetitive, but the chorus just takes it to a whole new level of bad. The lyrics repeat multiple times throughout the song, making the song that much harder to get through (since it doesn't make sense half the time anyway). While Drake might be boring, at least I can listen to his songs all the way through. This song somehow made it all the way to the TOP 13 spot and lasted 27 weeks on the HOT 100 charts. How can anyone give this a pass? How can anyone put up with the gibberish chorus? Please keep music like this away from the charts and the radio, it's not good at all.

(2026) Remember Kiiara? I didn't either until I started this post. Yeah, I can't stand this song even 10 years later. One of the worst choruses of the 2010s, easily. The chorus is supposed to be a scrambled version of the lines "The roof was on fire, but you never let me know", which is a decent line, but when scrambled to gibberish, it makes it frustrating to listen to. Maybe there was a good song somewhere in here, but this was not the way it needed to be presented. The gimmick just ruins the chorus, and the rest of the song just isn't good enough to make up for that. So yeah, I agree with 2016 me, this was the worst song of the year. But honestly, Meghan Trainor's "Me Too" probably should have been a close second. 

Our President is Terrible PART 4

 It's been almost 3 months since my last post about our garbage President, and OH MY GOD, so many terrible things have happened since then. Currently, everything in this country just keeps getting worse and worse, and every new decision our President makes just seems to break everything even more. It's not enough that he's ruining our own country, but now he's ruining the rest of the world, too, with this new war of his that even he can't seem to understand why he's doing it. So here are more reasons why our current "president" is terrrrrrible. 

IRAN WAR

This is an ongoing issue here in the world, and one that I'm not sure I fully even understand. Hell, I don't even think Trump understands much of what he's doing with this war, but now that he's stuck in it, he has no way out without looking like a moron. Well, he already looks like a giant moron, but I mean that he can't pull out without looking like an even bigger moron. It's clear that there was no real plan going into this Iran war, except that it was going to be about working with Israel to take out Iran. They say it was all to stop Iran's nuclear capabilities, as they claimed Iran was very close to being able to have nuclear weapons of their own. That seems to be a complete farce, as there is no evidence of this being true. In fact, the Counterterrorism Chief whom Trump appointed just resigned recently and said that that was all a lie, and he was disgusted by the war that Trump started with Iran. The world is suffering now more than ever with these terrible choices by our admin. Oil prices are going to keep going up, which means gas prices will go up along with them. Everyone in the world will have to deal with insane gas prices now. Not like it's a problem in the USA, since we don't rely on cars... oh wait, almost every city in the USA is completely dependent on owning a car to get around. Ah, well, just buy an electric car then, you'll be alright. 

We can't forget the fact that the USA bombed a school in Iran, killing innocent children alongside the adults who care for these children. Trump tried his best to find a way to place the blame on Iran, because he's a heartless bastard who probably never felt the love of his own father. But, it's so fucking gross how this admin is so perfectly fine with doing war crimes and killing children and not even showing the tiniest bit of remorse. Hell, we saw Trump wearing his stupid MAGA hat during a ceremony for the fallen soldiers of this "Operation Epic Fury". Dude can't even be respectful to the soldiers he got killed with his pointless war. How many more soldiers will you send to their death, Trump? Just recently, he declared a 48-hour warning to Iran, saying he will destroy power plants if they don't open the Strait of Hormuz. This isn't going to end anytime soon, is it? Oh, and it looks like he's already backed off on that 48-hour threat. Somebody, please, stop this idiot from making any important choices going forward, and get rid of all his idiot yes men. 

Robert Mueller

Last time I wrote about how Trump was completely insensitive about the death of Rob Reiner. He celebrated his death and made it all about himself, as a terrible person would. This time, he celebrated Robert Mueller's death on social media by just straight up saying, "Good. I'm glad he's dead". I mean, I know they had a lot of bad history together, but Trump just has zero class when it comes to... well, anything really. He just can't find a way to keep his stupid mouth shut and let anything go. He holds grudges for decades, regardless of how small and petty. Just know that if this ever happens to the President, everyone will be celebrating around the world. Like fireworks and parades type of celebrations.  

Racist Obama Video

Trump posted a video that depicted former President Obama and his wife, Michelle Obama, as monkeys. What do you even say to that? There's no denying this shit is racist, and our current president is racist. I mean, we already knew that, but why the hell are you posting videos like this, and why does he never get any repercussions for any of this shit? We all know he hates Obama more than anyone; he can't stop bringing him up every chance he gets. I swear, Trump is the only President in my lifetime who could even get away with this. The Republican Party is so broken that they don't really seem to care that much about all the horrendous things Trump keeps doing. Of course, they blame this on his team and say Trump wasn't the one who posted it. Not buying it. Trump would be stupid enough to post this on his page, and even he knows at this point he'll just get away with it anyway. 

Kaitlin Collins

Trump lashed out at Kaitlin Collins after she asked a good question about Epstein's victims and them getting justice. Trump dodged the question and instead went on a rant about how terrible CNN is and how he thinks Kaitlin Collins is terrible at her job. All this ended with a sexist "you should smile more" by Trump. Kaitlin rightfully says she's asking a serious question about victims, why would she smile? It's just another day of Trump being perfectly okay with being openly sexist. I mean, at this point, it doesn't seem to bother most of his fans. If they're okay with racism, why not be okay with sexism too? He also told another woman reporter a few weeks before this to "Quiet piggy". This is coming from an overweight man who can't even stand straight and feeds everyone McDonald's. Turns out he was the piggy all along. 

Melania Movie

What the hell was this? Can someone explain to me why the most boring woman alive needs an entire movie about her life? Directed by a man accused of rape by several women, and who also appeared in the Epstein files. Just a disaster waiting to happen. Well, it was a disaster of a movie that was only watched by the die-hard MAGA fans. I can't imagine they even liked it much, but they have to pretend to like it because... I don't even know at this point. It's okay to admit the movie sucked, alright, even if you like Trump, it's fine to think Melania is a very boring person. Not every famous person needs a movie made about their life, and this movie was proof. I guess to be fair, I didn't actually watch it, because what person with actual life goals and aspirations would actually walk into a theater and sit through this? By the way, they poured 75 million dollars into this movie. 75 MILLION! Here are some infinitely better movies that cost way less or about the same:

Breakfast Club: 1M

28 Years Later: 75M (a blockbuster with fantastic effects and great actors costs the same)

Saw: 1.2M

Rocky: About a Million

I'd imagine some of the older movies I mentioned aren't adjusted for inflation, but even so, it's still going to be so much cheaper, even if it were adjusted. 

Hell, even the recent NBA Bulls, The Last Dance, documentary cost less to make, and it's considered by many to be one of the best documentaries of all time, with athletes more well-known than Melania. The point is that that much money wasn't needed to make a doc about Melania, and the budget certainly didn't show in the doc itself. Unless they paid Melania or Trump most of the budget, which wouldn't be that shocking. 

Kristi Noem

Trump just recently fired the Secretary of DHS Kristi Noem. It was a long time coming, I mean, she was just awful at her job. I say this, but really, almost all of Trump's cabinet appointees are terrible at their jobs. Kristi Noem, who is famous for killing a dog, was fired not too long ago, and Trump has already found a replacement. The sad part of all this was that the reason why she was fired was not that she was terrible at her job, which she was, but because of what she said about Trump. She basically threw Trump under the bus when asked why she spent so much money making tons of commercials with herself in them. 220 million dollars to make a bunch of worthless commercials with Noem riding horses, trying to convince everyone she's actually good at her job. It wasn't long after blaming Trump for the commercial budget that she was fired from her position. 

There's also the alleged story of her having an affair with Corey Lewandowski, who served as a special adviser to the DHS. Both people in this affair are married with children, by the way. There were rumors of them sleeping together on their expensive luxury jet while they traveled across the country. If true, it just further shows how terrible these people are at their jobs, and Trump is terrible at picking the people who will be in positions of great power. 

Pam Bondi

About a month ago, Pam Bondi, who is the current attorney general, was questioned about the Epstein Files. There, she completely embarrassed herself by dodging as many questions as possible and showing no respect to the victims of Epstein, who were watching her bumble her way through the hearing. The funniest and dumbest moment came when Bondi started ranting about how great the DOW is when asked about Epstein and his victims. "The DOW is over 50,000!" she says, as everyone in the room rolled their eyes or laughed at the stupidity of the statement. At this point, we know Trump cares more about the stock market than pretty much anything else. The market seems to really drive a lot of Trump's decisions as President, and when it starts to go down, he seems to try any cheap tactic to get it to rise again. But this wasn't about that; it was about Epstein's list and the survivors who are looking for justice. It doesn't seem like any justice will be had in this current administration, as they are pretty much doing anything they can to get people to forget about Epstein and move on from this. Like perhaps starting a war in Iran? 

Jake Paul

Two of your least favorite humans are hanging out like bros together. Gross. Trump invited Jake Paul to one of his rallies, where Jake Paul wore a suit and was sweating straight through that suit, leaving giant wet marks under his armpits and on the sides of his entire torso. Dude needs to get some new deodorant. Actually, he was there TO promote his deodorant, so I guess that didn't go so well. I don't know, man, Jake just looked so gross and sweaty, and his gross beard looks like it hasn't been washed in like 5 years. I feel like his very presence on screen makes me want to vomit, so I can't imagine what it's like actually being around him. Trump seems to love him, though, which makes sense because he's one of the other guys whose presence makes me want to vomit. I'd imagine women instinctively cover their drinks when they see these two guys approaching. ANYWAY, the whole point of this was Trump endorsing Jake Paul for some kind of future position in Government. Please God, if you are still out there, don't let Jake Paul have a position of power in this country. Well, I guess I'll go watch Jake Paul get his jaw broken again from his last fight. 

As always, below are some articles if you want more information on some of these topics and news. 

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cg4g66r3z40o

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/mar/11/iran-war-missile-strike-elementary-school

https://www.cnbc.com/2026/02/11/trump-pam-bondi-hearing-stock-epstein-judiciary-dow.html

https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/donald-trump-faces-backlash-wearing-091400501.html

https://www.cnn.com/2026/03/21/politics/donald-trump-robert-mueller-insensitive-comments

https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/5796885-kristi-noem-homeland-security-ad-democrats-investigation/

https://www.politico.com/news/2026/03/04/noem-lewandowski-relationship-tabloid-garbage-0081318

https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/celebrity/articles/cnn-kaitlan-collins-breaks-silence-184025519.html

The One Where I Review Season 3 of FRIENDS

Season 3 of Friends debuted on Television all the way back in September of 1996. Rewatching the first two seasons has been a lot of fun, as it usually is, but it's nice to be able to actually write these short reviews to eventually go back to and see how much I agree with myself in the future. Season 3 is one of the most memorable seasons and one that has an impact on every season after with the big breakup episode, but I'll talk about that when we get to that episode. The season picks up with all the stories from last season, like Ross and Rachel dating and Chandler's new love for Janice. 

The One With the Princess Leia Fantasy: Joey and Janice's DAY OF FUN! We see that Joey is getting tired of Janice being at the apartment all the time again, but deals with it for Chandler's sake. By the end of the episode, he still can't stand her, but decides to at least make peace with her. Janice continues to be a great guest character, going to miss her when she leaves again. Monica is depressed after breaking up with Richard, but her dad comforts her later by telling her that Richard is just as miserable as she is. It's a sweet moment, one of the few we get between Monica and her dad. Ross tells Rachel about his Princess Leia fantasy, which Rachel decides to fulfill. It's all ruined when, right before this happens, Chandler tells Ross that sometimes he thinks about his mom during sex accidentally, and he can't get his brain to move on from the image. So, of course, this leads to Ross picturing Rachel as his mom in the Princess Leia bikini and ruins his fantasy. They also mention the hot girl from the Xerox place in this episode, a recurring topic that becomes very important later in the season. 

"Oh, by the way, there is no Count Rushmore!" - Chandler

"Then who's the guy who painted the faces on the mountain?!" - Joey

GRADE: B

The One Where No One's Ready: The first bottle episode (and only?) of the show is also one of the most memorable episodes of the series. The entire episode takes place in Monica's apartment as Ross tries desperately to get everyone ready to leave on time for his important work event. This goes poorly as all the friends find ways to delay getting ready. Joey and Chandler are fighting about a chair, which leads to them spilling sauce on Phoebe and ruining her dress. Rachel can't decide what to wear and keeps changing her mind, further stressing Ross out. Monica is freaking out after hearing a woman's voice on Richard's answering machine after she left a "breezy" message of her own. The pacing of the episode is perfect as each character goes through their own crisis with tons of great jokes. The best moment has to be Joey putting on all of Chandler's clothes at the same time. 

"You know what's weird? Donald Duck never wore pants, but when he stepped out of the shower, he always put a towel around his waist. I mean, what is that about?" - Chandler

GRADE: A

The One With All the Jam: Monica decides to start a "jam plan" to get over Richard, which involves... making a lot of jam. When that doesn't work, she decides to look into sperm donors to try to start a family on her own. She ends up finding Joey's sperm donor profile, which is the funniest part of the episode. Thankfully, Joey has a sweet moment with Monica and helps her feel better about the recent Richard breakup. I always like the Joey is a sweetheart moments in the show; he's the most loyal friend of them all. In a pretty bad storyline, Phoebe dates her twin sister's stalker, played by David Arquette. The same David Arquette who would marry Courtney Cox just a few years later. In fact, they had probably just met earlier in the year, filming the first Scream in 1996. Anyway, the stalker story sucks, and it was a weird use of David Arquette, and it even felt weird for Phoebe's character. Eh, this episode overall is pretty forgettable outside of that nice Joey and Monica moment. Actually, a fun fact of this episode is that Joey's character breaks his arm at the start, but that was actually to cover up the fact that Matt LeBlanc actually dislocated his shoulder during the filming of the last episode. 

GRADE: C-

The One With the Metaphorical Tunnel: Chandler is afraid of taking the next step with Janice until he talks to Joey about it. Then Chandler takes his commitment too far and scares Janice away. The girls have to comfort Chandler as he thinks he blew it with Janice until she comes back for Chandler. It's a nice moment of growth for Chandler, and it shows that with the right person, he's willing to finally commit. On the other story we get Phoebe becoming Joey's agent, as she does a great job getting him more auditions. Sadly, this means also hearing back after Joey's auditions and having to tell Joey he didn't get the part. This leads to a fun scene where she gives Joey feedback and makes him sad. Ross also tries to convince his son Ben to stop playing with a Barbie doll, because of toxic masculinity or something like that. I mean, I played with girls' toys when I was a kid, and I turned out fine... well, I guess fine is a strong word. 

"Sure. Jump off the high dive, stare down the barrel of a gun, pee into the wind!" - Joey

"I assure you, if I'm staring down the barrel of a gun, I'm going to be peeing in every which way" - Chandler

GRADE: C+

The One With Frank, Jr.: The highlight of the episode is seeing Frank Jr again, as I've said before, he's a very fun character. This time, he and Phoebe have some sibling bonding time as they try to get to know each other, with mostly poor results. Frank thinks Phoebe is a sex worker when she tells him she's a masseuse, and he gets in trouble when he makes a move on one of Phoebe's coworkers. I also love Frank wanting to set everything on fire at the apartment. Joey builds his famous entertainment center in this episode, which becomes a running joke for the rest of the season because it's too big. Chandler and Janice tell Ross and Rachel about their list of 5 celebrity freebies they can "sleep with" without it counting as cheating. Ross struggles to make his list as he keeps wanting to change celebs. He ends up narrowly leaving out Isabella Rossellini, who just so happens to show up at the coffee shop later. Another okay episode, with a few good moments. Thank god for Frank Jr.

"You know how we're always saying we need a place to put the mail? Well, I started building one. But then I decided to take the next step." - Joey

"You're building a post office?" - Chandler

GRADE: C+

The One With the Flashback: A flashback is triggered after Janice asks the friends which one of them almost hooked up with each other. The flashback takes place at least a year before the pilot episode, as Rachel has just gotten engaged to Barry and runs into Monica at a bar (that eventually becomes Central Perk). Rachel is back to her old ways as she's hanging out with her rich friends, but Chandler catches her eye. We get a hint to Rachel's doubts about Barry as she fantasizes about hooking up with Chandler at the bar later on, a pairing I'm glad we never actually saw. Ross is dealing with a sexless marriage with his wife, Carol. Carol gets excited when Ross brings up the idea of having a threesome, which, of course, leads to Ross finding out Carol is a lesbian. Phoebe comforts Ross after his realization that his marriage is over, and they nearly have sex on the pool table before they realize it's a bad idea. It's honestly an interesting romantic partnership, but obviously, the show probably wouldn't have worked as well if Phoebe replaced Rachel in the romance. The last story has Joey meeting Chandler for the first time as he is looking for a new place to live. Monica sees Joey and instantly has a crush on him, leading to Joey trying to sleep with her. His methods are too aggressive, though, and she shuts him down, but ultimately remains his friend. Probably the most believable relationship would have been Joey and Monica, but of course, that would delete Chandler from the future, and again, would make the show worse. This is a fun episode, though, with lots of fun teases as relationships that never actually happen on the show, but ultimately it doesn't actually affect anything in the future outside of Joey moving in with Chandler. 

"Get ready for me to whip your butt!" - Monica

"Okay, but after that, we're playing some pool." - Chandler

GRADE: B

The One With the Racecar Bed: Monica buys a new bed from Janice's separated husband behind Chandler's back, but she ends up with the wrong order in the form of a racecar bed. While returning the bed, Joey catches Janice and her husband kissing in the backroom of the store. Ross and Rachel have dinner with Mr. Greene, but Ross keeps embarrassing himself in front of him. It gets worse when Ross leaves a tip after Mr. Greene doesn't, but he's caught in the act. The funniest part of the episode is when  Ross and Mr. Greene finally find common ground by making fun of Rachel. One of my favorite jokes is when they make fun of the fact that she has one shorter leg than the other. Joey starts teaching an acting class, but becomes jealous of one of his students who is clearly better than him. He tries to sabotage him when they end up auditioning for the same part, but it only makes him have an even better audition. Another solid episode, but nothing amazing. Fun fact: this is the first time Gunther is revealed to be in love with Rachel.

"To work in soap operas, some of you are going to have to become much more attractive." - Joey to his class

GRADE: B-

The One With the Giant Poking Device: Continuing from the last episode, Joey tells Chandler about Janice kissing her husband. Chandler decides to ask her about it, and she tells him she's in love with both of them. Chandler, being the good guy he is, decides to step away from Janice, giving her a chance to make things work with her husband. It shows time and time again that Chandler is a mature guy and is always ready to do the right thing, even if it hurts him. Well... I say that, but next season Chandler makes a big mistake, more on that next season. Monica and Rachel take care of Ben while Ross is at work, and Monica bangs Ben's head against the ceiling. Ben decides to try to rat her out by saying "Monica bang" over and over. It's a cute little story, and I love when they massacre the stuffed bear to give Ben a hat over his bump. Phoebe gets a mildly funny story where she's afraid to go to the dentist because someone always dies when she does. She thinks she's killed ugly naked guy, so the friends make a giant poking device to see if he's alive. Unfortunately, he is. 

"What's the matter (Phoebe), you need a dentist? I got a good one." - Ross

"Thanks, I have a good one too, I just can't see him" - Phoebe

"See, that's the problem with invisible dentists" - Chandler

GRADE: B

The One With the Football: One of the funniest episodes of the series involves all the friends playing football. This is one of the better Ross and Monica episodes, and that's saying something because there are a lot of good ones for them. I like all the little stories that happen during the game, like Rachel being ignored by everyone until the end, where she has her big moment. Chandler and Joey are fighting over a girl who is at the park, and for the first time ever, Chandler gets the girl over Joey. That lasts about a few seconds, as Chandler embarrasses himself in front of her, and she rejects him, too. But really, the main part of the episode that carries it is Monica and Ross battling over the "Geller Cup," which is an ugly troll doll trophy from their childhood that Monica had been holding onto. Monica and Ross constantly being childish towards each other is too funny, and I love how it ends with them just fighting for the trophy alone while all the other friends are back home enjoying Thanksgiving. 

"Nice try (Chandler), see, the Netherlands is a make-believe place where Peter Pan and Tinker Bell come from." - Joey, when asked where Dutch people come from

GRADE: A+

The One Where Rachel Quits: In an uneven episode, Rachel finally quits her job at Central Perk, which sets of a series of events that will be pretty important later on in the season. Rachel proves to be terrible at her job time and time again, but it's because she hates it, and she wants to work in the clothing/fashion industry. The best story from this episode, though, is Ross selling Girl Scout cookies to help a young girl whose leg he accidentally broke. It leads to a lot of funny scenes, like Ross selling cookies to stoners and Ross being overly competitive with a bunch of little girls. There are also some funny scenes of Monica getting addicted to the cookies and Ross having to cut her off. This all leads to one of the sweetest scenes on the show, where Ross and Chandler pretend to take the young girl to space after she fails to win a trip to Space Camp. In a more boring story, Phoebe is mad at Joey for selling Christmas trees. 

"Says here a puppet got whacked on Sesame Street last night. Where exactly were you at ten-ish?" - Chandler to Ross after he accidentally broke the little girl's leg earlier

GRADE: B

The One Where Chandler Can't Remember Which Sister: We are introduced to fan favorite Mark in this episode, who becomes a big part of the Ross and Rachel story. I say fan favorite sarcastically; of course, I doubt any Friends fans like Mark that much. Mark does help Rachel get a job at Bloomingdale's, so at least he's got that going for him. Ross is immediately suspicious of Mark and thinks he's only trying to get with Rachel. More on that later. During a party at his apartment, Chandler gets drunk and makes out with one of Joey's sisters. The problem is that he has seven sisters, and Chandler can't remember which one he was with. It's almost foreshadowing future events in the next season. I do love the scene where Joey's grandma keeps answering Chandler when he's asking Mary-Angela questions to figure out which one she is. There's also a fun gag with Monica's upstairs neighbor being too loud, and Phoebe starts to date him, only to hear him cheating on her later because he's so loud. 

"You see! You can't tell them apart either! Bleh!" - Chandler about Joey's sisters

"Well, we didn't fool around with any of them! Bleh! Bleh!" - Phoebe

GRADE: C+

The One With All the Jealousy: Ross continues to be jealous of Mark, so much so that he starts sending Rachel too many gifts at work. I do love the barbershop quartet he sends her, who show up at the end of the episode again. It's a nice continuation of the Mark and Rachel story, which eventually leads to the biggest moment of the season later. I think it's interesting to see Ross acting like the idiot here, even though you can kind of get where he's coming from. Monica starts dating a poet from her work named Julio. He writes her a poem that she loves, until the other friends tell her it's about her and it's degrading. She gets revenge on Julio by bringing back the barbershop quartet to sing him a song about how much of a pig he is, which is very satisfying. We also get Joey pretending to know how to do musical theatre and dancing, but he is forced to teach the actors the dance after the instructor has to leave. The funniest part of the episode is Joey running away after he's forced to dance in front of the instructor. 

"You are just a butt-munch! No one likes a butt-munch." - The Barbershop quartet singing to Julio

GRADE: B

The One Where Monica and Richard Are Just Friends: Monica runs into Richard at a video store, and all their feelings come rushing back. They decide to try to become friends with benefits, and it works for a while, until they realize they still have strong feelings for each other. They decided to have one last night together before saying goodbye for good. I'm not sure how I feel about it. I mean, it was nice to see Richard again, but it also felt like Monica was going backwards after spending so many episodes mourning this relationship. Phoebe dates a jock who wears shorts that reveal his balls when he sits down. It's a funny joke that maybe goes on for a bit too long, but I guess they needed to give Pheebs something to do here. Joey and Rachel give each other their favorite books to read (The Shining and Little Women), but Joey spoils the ending for Rachel. I do love Joey putting the books in his freezer because the books are too scary or sad. 

"Hey buddy, this is a family place. Put the mouse back in the house" - Gunther, to the jock who was showing his balls

GRADE: C+

The One With Phoebe's Ex-Partner: Phoebe's old friend and songwriting partner, Leslie, plays a show at Central Perk and tries to reunite with Phoebe. Phoebe isn't having any of it, though, as she's still hurt that Leslie ditched her to write music for commercials. Eventually, they rejoin one last time before Leslie runs off again to sell Phoebe's song to a cat litter company. I do love Leslie, though; her voice is really great in the few songs they sing. Actually, you'd instantly recognize her voice if you grew up watching Rugrats or Powerpuff Girls, as she is the voice of Tommy and Buttercup. Chandler starts dating Ginger, who has an artificial leg. Turns out, Joey also dated Ginger, but ran away from her after accidentally burning her leg in a fire while they were out camping. Joey telling that story will always be one of the funniest moments of the season. Chandler is grossed out by the leg, but eventually makes peace with it. Ginger is happy with Chandler's maturity until she finds out about his third nipple and breaks up with him instantly. 

"Jingle bitch screwed me over! Go to hell, jingle whore!" - Phoebe singing a song about Leslie 

GRADE: A-

The One Where Ross and Rachel Take a Break: Ross's jealousy finally exhausts Rachel, and she decides to take a break from him after a heated argument. From Ross's point of view, he's sad that they never spend time together anymore because Rachel is too busy with her new job. From Rachel's point of view, she's finally doing a job she actually cares about, and thinks Ross should be happy for her and understand her new commitments. Mark basically gets what he wants here because Ross couldn't put his jealousy aside for Rachel's sake. Joey and Chandler finally ask out the Xerox girl named Chloe, but are confused when she seemingly makes a date with both of them. They hilariously try to figure out how to proceed if they end up having a threesome with her after the "date". Well, it turns out she's actually into Ross and wants to hook up with him. Ross gives Rachel one last call before doing anything stupid, but when he hears Mark's voice, he decides to go all in with the Xerox girl and sleeps with her. It's interesting how a bad coincidence leads to Ross's decision to hook up with the Xerox girl. In a way, you can see why, since in his head, he thinks Rachel is doing the same with Mark at the moment. It also kind of confuses me as to why Rachel calls Mark over right after their fight, especially knowing it was kind of about him. Mark sucks because it really seems like he purposely wanted Ross to hear his voice to further drive him away from Rachel. We also get Phoebe dating a Russian(?) diplomat whose translator keeps getting in the way of their intimate moments. Pretty great scene where Monica dates the translator and they both go off on their own, leaving Phoebe with the Russian(?) speaker, whom she can't understand. I say Russian because it's the closest language I can think of, but apparently, he's speaking gibberish mostly. He's also from a fictional country that they never actually mention. 

"My guy has coupons. Your guy can't even SAY coupons" - Monica to Phoebe and her Russian*-speaking date

GRADE: A

The One With the Morning After: As far as funny episodes go, this is probably the least funny of all the Friends episodes. To be fair, it's not meant to be a very funny episode and is actually the most serious episode of the show so far, probably of the entire show. Ross wakes up after sleeping with the Xerox girl, only to find that Rachel left him a message and wants to get back together. Ross then spends the entire day trying to stop the trail that leads from the Xerox girl back to Rachel, but it is too late. Rachel finds out about Ross and the Xerox girl through Gunther, and so begins the emotional rollercoaster that is this episode. The rest of the episode is Ross and Rachel fighting, as Ross tries his best to win Rachel back, but Rachel just can't see Ross the same after finding out he was with another woman. I'll be honest, I have often skipped this episode on my rewatches, as it's just not a very fun episode to go through again. The acting is fantastic, though, and David and Jennifer as Ross and Rachel do some of their best work here with tears in their eyes and lots of big emotions. It's a huge turning point for the show in a way, because this moment is pretty much referenced throughout the rest of the show, and Ross and Rachel's breakup carries on throughout the rest of the show. The rest of the friends are stuck in Monica's room while this is all happening, providing some comedic relief throughout the fight. But overall, this is a heartbreaking episode. At least it's done very well.

"Look, if you absolutely have to tell her, at least wait until the timing is right. And that's what death beds are for." - Chandler

GRADE: A

The One With the Ski Trip: After the big breakup, all the friends have to divide their time between Rachel and Ross, as they can't be in the same room together. Rachel invites everyone to a ski cabin for the weekend, leaving Ross forced to spend the weekend alone. On the way to the cabin, Phoebe's taxi runs out of gas and leaves them stranded at a snowy rest stop with no one around. This episode is particularly great for Chandler, as he is lashing out at everyone after the breakup and starts smoking again. He's like a darker version of Chandler in the next few episodes, and it's great. Ross annoys Carol on her special date night with Susan, as he has no one else to talk to. I'll admit this episode is a bit of a comedown from the last two emotional episodes, but it was probably needed after all that. I always found this episode to be a bit of a chore to watch, but it's basically here to get Rachel and Ross to slowly move past the breakup from the last episode. 

"You SLEPT with another woman?!" - Carol

"Oh, you're - You're one to talk" -  Ross

GRADE: C-

The One With the Hypnosis Tape: Two big moments happen in this episode, and that's the introduction of Pete and Alice. Pete is a random customer at the restaurant Monica works at, and he asks her out after hearing she's single. Turns out Pete is a millionaire who owns a tech company, so he takes her on a date to Italy for some pizza. As much as Monica likes the idea of dating him, she just has no feelings for him after the date. Frank Jr. returns to visit Phoebe and tell her about his new fiance named, Alice. The thing is, Alice was his teacher in school and is much older than him, so this freaks Phoebe out, and she tries to break them up. I love the scene where Ross and Joey try to convince Frank to stay single, but he ends up inspiring them, and they become part of his wedding party. Chandler gets a tape from Rachel to help him quit smoking again. The tape was made for women, and after listening to it during sleep, he starts acting more feminine the next day. Certainly a big upgrade from the last episode, as things go back to normal and we get some fun storylines that will carry on for the next few episodes. 

"Think about it, you're 18, and she's 44. When you're 36, she's going to be 88" - Joey to Frank Jr.

"You think I don't know that?" - Frank Jr

GRADE: B+

The One With the Tiny T-Shirt: FRANKIE SAYS RELAX! Ross is hurt when Rachel gives him a box of his stuff that she had from their days of dating. In his anger, he takes a shirt back that he gave to Rachel. There's a nice, sweet moment at the end where he gives her back the shirt, and it shows that Rachel still cares for Ross, and a spark of hope that they could potentially still work out together. Monica continues dating Pete, but still has no feelings for him despite trying her best. I forgot to mention in the last episode that Pete is played by the great Jon Favreau, you may know him from the MCU as Happy, or maybe his cult classic film, Swingers. He's a great addition to the cast this season. Rachel also goes on a date with douchebag Mark, but ultimately can't find herself taking things further with him as she has mixed feelings about everything that happened between them and Ross. Thankfully, this is the last we get to see Mark until his random appearance in the last season. Good riddance. 

"You slept with someone three hours after you broke up. I mean, bullets have left guns slower!" - Chandler to Ross, after Ross sees Mark with Rachel

GRADE: C+

The One With the Dollhouse: Monica's Aunt Silvia dies and leaves her a big dollhouse that she's wanted since she was little. Of course, this is Monica, so she creates all these needless rules for the house and doesn't let Phoebe play with it. Phoebe creates her own dollhouse instead, and everyone likes it more than Monica's. This is one of those episodes where Monica's controlling gets out of hand. I remember a lot more of these coming up in the future. Joey is going to star in a play, and his co-star, Kate, doesn't take him seriously. Joey develops a big crush on Kate, but she pays him no attention, as she's already dating the play's director. Things get steamy, though, when Kate and Joey rehearse this big kiss, and it leads to them sleeping together afterward. For the first time on the show, Joey sleeps with someone and wants to pursue something more, but is rejected by Kate as she only saw it as a one-night thing. Chandler dates Rachel's boss, but he totally hates her. Of course, Chandler can't admit that, so he lies to her and says he liked her. Rachel forces Chandler to tell the truth. Another very fun episode, and I really liked the Joey storyline with Kate here. It's cool to see Joey on the other side of things for once. 

"A house for dolls? That's great! When I was growing up, I had a barrel" - Phoebe

"You had a barrel for a doll house?" - Ross

"No, just a barrel" - Phoebe

GRADE: B+

The One With a Chick. and a Duck.: The introduction to Joey and Chandler's chick and duck. Dick the Duck and Yasmine the Chick, named after Chandler's biggest celeb crush. Monica has to wear skates at work thanks to Phoebe, and she crashes into Rachel and injures her arm. This leads to Ross taking care of Rachel and helping her get ready for a work event, and later on, taking her to the hospital instead. He actually ends up giving away his opportunity to be on a TV show to help Rachel, and when she finds out, she's very touched. This is another little spark between Ross and Rachel that gives you even more hope that they could fix things. Monica is still not into Pete. He offers to make her the head chef at a new restaurant he purchased, but she's skeptical that he's still trying to win her over romantically. When she finds out that she was right, she rejects his new job proposal. This leads to a goodbye kiss between them, and the kiss is so good that she finally feels something for Pete. So begins the new relationship between Pete and Monica. I'll admit I never cared much for this relationship, and it honestly feels like the show didn't either. More on this later... 

"Now, you stay out here and think about what you DID!" - Chandler to the duck

GRADE: C+

The One With the Screamer: Ben Stiller guest stars in this episode as Rachel's new romantic interest, Tommy. Ross meets him at Joey's play and is shocked when he yells at an old couple who were in their seats. Ross obsesses over catching him screaming again, ruining his own date in the process. Ben Stiller is hilarious, though. I loved seeing him on this show, and honestly, I completely forgot about this appearance, so it was a cool surprise. At the end of the episode, the rest of the friends catch him screaming at the chick and the duck, and it's amazing. Joey's play bombs, and the director breaks up with Kate after seeing her performance get terrible reviews. This leads to Joey making her feel better, and they have a nice romantic night together. It ends poorly for Joey, as Kate leaves the next day for Hollywood when she's offered a new role. This is just how Joey's romances play out, it seems. He finally falls for a girl, and it just falls apart instantly. No wonder he just sticks with the one-night stands. Oh, and Phoebe spends the entire episode on hold on a warranty call. 

"STEP away from the duck!" -Chandler to Tommy when they catch him yelling at the duck

GRADE: B

The One With Ross's Thing: NO! Not THAT thing! Ross has a growth on his back and can't identify it, so he sees multiple doctors. Only Phoebe's weird guru can figure it out, but only because he accidentally rips it off. Not the best storyline, but the scene where all the doctors come to look at Ross's butt is pretty funny. This story kind of reminds me of a Seinfeld episode where George sees a guru for some reason. I guess Gurus were a funny concept in the 90s? Monica thinks Pete is getting ready to propose to her when she finds an order for a ring design in his office. Turns out, the ring design was for a UFC ring, as Pete is getting ready to compete in mixed martial arts. Let's face it, we all knew Pete was going to get his ass kicked. Phoebe dates a fireman and a teacher and can't decide who to stay with. Every time she thinks she's found a reason to pick one, the other surprises her with the same exact thing the other guy had. It's an okay story, not super funny or memorable, but the ending is pretty decent. This is easily one of the weakest episodes of the season for me. 

"What's a kundis?" - Ross

"Nothing, what's a kundis with you?" - Guru

GRADE: C-

The One With the Ultimate Fighting Champion: When I said earlier that I think the show doesn't even care about Monica and Pete's relationship, this is what I meant. Pete is quickly written off the show as the writers just turn him into an idiot in two episodes, giving Monica no reason to stay with him. I mean, it was never going to live up to the Richard relationship, and it wasn't really trying to, so that's okay. Still, it seems like they rushed this ending here to get Pete out of the show before the season ended. Pete gets his ass kicked multiple times, and Monica doesn't want to see him getting hurt, so she ends things with him. Bye Pete! Ross starts dating Bonnie, whom Rachel thinks is a bald woman, so she's cool with it. Turns out, Bonnie is no longer bald and is very beautiful, so Rachel becomes jealous. Bonnie is one of the cooler characters on the show, probably too cool for Ross, really. Chandler has to deal with his boss, who keeps spanking his buttocks as a form of praise. Slap dat ass. But Chandler isn't into it, because he's a baby. Joking aside, it's a fun storyline, but nothing too crazy. I do like the end where Chandler feels left out when everyone else gets spanked. 

Also, Billy Crystal and Robin Williams make an appearance at the start of the episode, and it's the most random, hilarious scene on the show. 

"I have a feeling my wife is sleeping with her gynecologist" - Robin Williams

"Really? How do you know?" - Billy Crystal

"Well, he's got access" - Robin Williams

GRADE: B

The One at the Beach: The first season finale that takes place in a whole new location, a trend that continues in the next few seasons. This time, the friends all go to the beach! The two big things here are Phoebe meeting her real mom and Ross and Rachel possibly getting back together, finally. Phoebe finds out her mom's best friend, whom she's named after, lives out in Montauk, and everyone decides to make a trip out of it. The big twist is that Phoebe is actually Phoebe's mother. That is, Phoebe Senior is actually Phoebe Buffay's mother. Rachel sabotages Ross's new girlfriend Bonnie by getting her to shave her head again, and Ross is very much not into it. Ross ends up confronting Rachel, but they end up kissing, giving Ross a choice to make at the end of the episode. The rest of the friends play strip poker because Joey wouldn't shut up about it. They all team up on Joey, and he loses all his clothes first. Chandler is annoyed that Monica says she wouldn't date him, but we know what happens there. Monica is destined to be a BING! 

In this episode, Phoebe uses the popular phrase "BFF" for the first time in a television show, which apparently made it even more popular after it aired. They didn't invent the phrase, but it's cool to know the phrase became so popular again because of Friends. 

"Which one of you has the gun to my head?" - Monica, when asked to pick between Joey and Chandler

GRADE: A-

Another season of Friends is done, and this one is probably the best one so far. Certainly, the most emotional season with the Ross and Rachel breakup storyline. The Ross and Rachel breakup is pretty much the turning point for the show in a lot of ways, as it's the moment that's referenced the most in the rest of the show, I believe. That and so many storylines going forward for those two characters revolve around the breakup. Get ready to hear "we were on a break" a bunch of times throughout the show. 

World Cup 2026 Sucks and It Hasn't Even Started Yet

 The 2026 World Cup is set to take place this summer in the USA, with some games also taking place in Mexico and Canada. You know, when this was first announced years ago, I was super excited to see the World Cup finally come back to the States and potentially even finally see a World Cup game in person. That dream was shattered into tiny bite-sized pieces pretty soon after FIFA unveiled how they were going to sell tickets. A lottery system. Yes, FIFA was going to use luck to determine who gets to buy tickets to the game, unless you were planning on buying super expensive travel packages. So that's bad enough, pretty much making it inevitable that a bunch of tickets would end up being resold for higher prices to people who didn't get picked. But then the prices were revealed...

So tickets to the World Cup have been getting more expensive over time; that's not surprising, but what is surprising is how much more expensive they got this time around. Just to put a comparison to the last World Cup, the final game in the 2022 World Cup started at around 200$, and the final game of this year's World Cup starts at 2000$. You're telling me in just 4 years the cheapest final ticket went up by 1800$? How is that even possible? They did end up adding some affordable, cheap seats for less than 100$, but again, it was up to you to win a lottery to gain access to those tickets. If you didn't gain access, well then, it's up to the resale market, and that is a nightmare. I mean, if you were planning on seeing any of the home teams like the USA, Mexico, or Canada, then you'll have to spend even more money because those are very hard to find at a good price. Basically, the more popular the team, the worse the tickets are. 

The prices got so bad that even players started speaking out against FIFA for how much they were charging for the games. One of the American players, Tim Weah, gave a comment about how ridiculous the prices are. This led the Team USA coach to rant in an interview, telling his players to stop talking about prices and focus on the game. Basically, the old shut up and dribble argument. God forbid players actually give their opinions on the World Cup and FIFA. 

Ticket prices are just one big flaw in the upcoming World Cup; the other big one is the current administration of the United States. Trump and his buddies have been making jokes over the last year about deporting fans who come to watch their teams play, so that's pretty fucked up. I mean, the landscape here has been so hostile towards immigrants since Trump took office again. I think that has really affected how many people actually want to travel from different countries to see their home teams play in the USA. Why travel around the world to a country that doesn't even want you here, or will give you trouble for just visiting? That, on top of paying more than ever to get into a game, can't be very encouraging for fans who usually travel to the World Cup.

The last few weeks, the USA has started a new war with Iran, which is certainly complicating a lot of different things in the World Cup right now. First thing is the fact that Iran itself has already qualified for the World Cup, so that's a big problem when the host country is actively at war with you. I mean, I guess maybe Iran could possibly play in Canada or Mexico instead if that's even an option. That, and a lot of the countries in the Middle East, could potentially be compromised and not have a way to travel to the USA if this war lasts until the summer. Iraq has already tried to postpone a game, as they have a playoff match in late March that could be difficult to get to with the ongoing war in  Iran, especially with Iraq being between both Israel and Iran geographically. It's sad because Iraq is actually a good team, and they are the favorites to win this playoff match and make it to the World Cup officially. 

So the World Cup is going to be a big mess this summer, and it's already had so many problems even before it's started. With terrible pricing shutting out normal fans, teams that are in danger of missing out due to current events, and a host country that's currently hostile to many participating countries, it's all set to be one of the worst World Cup events in recent memory. Look, it may all work out in the end, and all the countries that qualified could make it and play, and the tournament could end up being a lot of fun. Even if that somehow happens, it doesn't mean we should forget the way FIFA has acted the last few years leading up to this World Cup, and all the greed that's taken over the biggest sports event in the world. FIFA has let greed ruin any good reputation the World Cup has by accepting bribes from host countries and shutting out many fans by pricing them out. Can't forget what happened last time with Qatar, and soon to happen in Saudi Arabia at the 2034 World Cup. And can’t forget to mention them giving Trump a peace prize he totally deserved. Not like he’s starting wars for no reason the last month or anything. That’s what peace is all about though right? Hating immigrants and bombing innocent civilians! Idiots. 

If you don't know by now: FIFA SUCKS. And so does Trump. Two evils meant for each other, I guess.