By Samantha Ruenzi, Entertainment Editor
The long awaited Friends reunion has officially arrived exclusively on HBO Max! Friends is a beloved show in my family, especially for my dad. When his family moved to the U.S. from Europe and knew little English, watching Friends greatly helped him learn the language. In 2019, fifteen years after my dad watched the finale in 2004, I started watching the show myself. I have to admit, the first episode wasn’t my favorite, but as I continued watching, it became one of my favorite TV shows! Now before I go on, here’s a reminder that spoilers are ahead.
The first thing I noticed about the reunion was that it was more like a table talk get-together between the cast. Initially, I was expecting an actual episode that would include an update of where the “friends” are now, and perhaps feature Emma (Ross and Rachel’s daughter) all grown up. However, I believe that they decided not to do an actual episode, because the creators don’t want to ruin the legacy of the show. The reunion included all of the original cast as the main characters: Jennifer Aniston (Rachel Green), Courteney Cox (Monica Geller), Lisa Kudrow (Phoebe Buffay), Matt LeBlanc (Joey Tribbiani), Matthew Perry (Chandler Bing), and David Schwimmer (Ross Geller). The cast reminisced about their time together filming the show. They walked through the iconic sets, like Central Perk, Monica’s apartment, and Joey’s apartment. Some secrets were revealed as well; Schwimmer admitted that he had a crush on Aniston during the early seasons, which came as a major surprise for fans. Many familiar faces were included in the reunion. James Corden was the host, grilling the cast with questions. Justin Bieber, Cindy Crawford, and Cara Delevingne modeled iconic costumes that appeared throughout the show, like Ross’ sputnik Halloween costume, Ross’ original leather pants, and Rachel’s pink bridesmaid dress. And of course LeBlanc modeled Joey’s layered outfit of Chandler’s clothes. David Beckham, BTS, Lady Gaga, Malala Yousafzai, Elliott Gould and Christina Pickles (who played the parents of Ross and Monica), Tom Selleck (Richard), James Michael Tyler (Gunther), Maggie Wheeler (Janice), and Reese Witherspoon (Rachel’s sister, Jill) all also attended the reunion.
The reunion was not without flaw, however. I was disappointed that other significant characters in the show didn’t get a chance to appear. Paul Rudd, who played Phoebe’s husband Mike Hannigan; twins Noelle and Cali Sheldon, who played Ross and Rachel’s daughter; twins Cole and Dylan Sprouse who played Ross’ son; and Jane Sibbet and Jessica Hecht, who played Ross’ ex-wife and her partner, would have all been great to see in the reunion.
Nevertheless, the reunion went better than I expected. Personally, I found it a little bittersweet to watch, but also touching at the same time. Still, I think they did a decent job overall of delving into the process of casting the characters and recalling memories while filming one of the most popular TV shows of all time.
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