Friends: The Reunion
„And Friends was that I came home to, Friends was … they were my friends.“
Friends did something no other series did for me. Having not a single episode I didn’t like.
Where do I start? My relationship with the show started years ago when I was a child. We were sitting there for dinner watching television. Watching „Friends“. Since then I only saw most of the episodes a couple of times irregularly on TV. Until I got Netflix. Having all episodes available to watch in chronological order, I first experienced the whole piece in a row.
Matthew Perry as Chandler, Jennifer Aniston as Rachel, Matt LeBlanc as Joey, Courteney Cox as Monica, David Schwimmer as Ross and Lisa Kudrow as Phoebe. They were the perfect cast. Their Reunion explores the casting process further and describes the difficulties that came up getting our known ensemble together and how the creators of the show just knew that they found the right one for the role. Like immediately recognising the brightest stars in the night sky.
„Why do you have to break up with her? Be a man, just stop callin.“
Another star of the show is the intro as well as its song „I’ll Be There For You“ from „The Rembrandts“. I mean how could somebody skip that intro? Well, I almost never skip intros because they are part of the experience and contribute to the atmosphere. Maybe that’s just me but I rather live films and series and get into them, feel with the characters, be a part of it, than only watch them passing by. Therefore I obviously have to dance to that intro song every time it comes up and it never gets old.
Beyond that, there is so much beauty, joy, love and also wisdom in the series. From how to get independent and start to live on your own, over how to deal with certain situations like saying the name of the wrong woman at the altar, to dating advice from Joey.
Back then when I was a child it told me not only the meaning of friendship but also of love. Ross and Rachel, the dream couple par excellence. For some reason, I always bonded with Ross the most from the male part of the group. Was it because of his attitude to always correct grammar mistakes or rather his fascination for paleontology or maybe because he’s just a hopeless romantic? However, like him, I had a major crush on Rachel in my childhood.
Looking towards the „Friends: The Reunion“ again, I only wanna say that it includes far more celebrities than our main cast in its run time of 99 minutes and if it can make „Smelly Cat“ a more or less good song, then this reunion has to be magnificent.
In conclusion, „Friends: The Reunion“ is the second goodbye we can say to our friends from TV to whom we never wanted to say goodbye. Although they weren’t real, they were true friends.