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.
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