Friends (season 10)
The tenth and final season of Friends, an American sitcom created by David Crane and Marta Kauffman, premiered on NBC on September 25, 2003. Friends was produced by Bright/Kauffman/Crane Productions, in association with Warner Bros. Television. The season contains 17 episodes (with the last two made into one long episode) and concluded airing on May 6, 2004.
| Friends | |
|---|---|
| Season 10 | |
 Friends season 10 DVD cover | |
| Country of origin | United States |
| No. of episodes | 18 |
| Release | |
| Original network | NBC |
| Original release | September 25, 2003 – May 6, 2004 |
| Season chronology | |
Season synopsis
The season premiere opens in Barbados following on from the season 9 finale. Ross and Charlie, a fellow paleontologist and Joey's ex-girlfriend, are kissing. Joey sees this and goes to Rachel's room, where the two of them also kiss. However, they both decide to talk to Ross about the situation to make sure he is okay with it. After they return from Barbados, Ross finds them kissing. He tries to hide the fact that he is hurt, but they realize he is when he starts acting all weird around them. Joey eventually talks to Ross about the situation and Ross says that he will be okay with their relationship. After several obstacles that prevent Joey and Rachel from consummating their relationship, they decide to just remain friends. By the sixth episode of this season, Ross becomes single again after Charlie decides to get back together with her ex-boyfriend.
Mike proposes to Phoebe and they get married mid-season. Monica and Chandler decide to try to adopt a child after finding out that they are infertile. They are eventually selected by a woman named Erica. Following this, they decide that they want to move to a house in Westchester. Rachel is head-hunted for a job with Gucci, but in the restaurant where she is being interviewed, her boss (Mr. Zelner) is seated at the next table. She gets fired from Ralph Lauren and also doesn't get the job with Gucci, which leaves her unemployed. While departing her old job, she runs into Mark, her old colleague from Bloomingdale's in Season 3, who offers her a job with Louis Vuitton in Paris. Ross, still being secretly in love with her, doesn't want her to leave and tries to make her get her old job at Ralph Lauren back by convincing her boss to increase her salary. Rachel decides she wants to go to Paris and says goodbyes to everyone personally except Ross. Ross reacts harshly and tells her that it's not fair. When Rachel goes to Ross' apartment to explain, they end up kissing and spending the night together. Ross expects Rachel to cancel her plans, but she still wants to go to Paris.
In the season's (and series') final episode, Erica delivers Monica's and Chandler's baby, although, to their surprise, she had twins, a boy and a girl. Phoebe and Ross go to the airport to try to convince Rachel to stay, but they end up going to the wrong airport. After Phoebe causes a delay in the departure, they meet Rachel at the gate before she boards, but even though Ross tells her how he feels, Rachel still boards. Ross goes back home only to find a message from Rachel saying she made a mistake. As she is hindered by a flight attendant from getting off the plane, the connection breaks. Ross frantically tries to fix the machine, wondering if she got off the plane. Rachel enters Ross' apartment and says "I got off the plane". They kiss and declare their love for each other. The last scene of the series is everyone putting their keys on the table in Monica's apartment. When Rachel asks if they want to go for one last coffee, Chandler replies with the last sarcastic word of the show, "Where?" The camera then pans across the empty apartment, before landing on the door. The show then fades to black. The tag scene pans around New York.
Reception
Collider ranked it #6 on their ranking of the ten Friends seasons, and picked "The Last One" as its highlight.[1] The final episode was watched by over 52.46 million people and is the 4th most watched episode in TV history.
Cast and characters
- See also: List of Friends characters, Introduced in season 10
Main cast
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Recurring cast
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Guest stars
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Episodes
| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date | Prod. code | U.S. viewers (millions) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 219 | 1 | "The One After Joey and Rachel Kiss"† | Kevin S. Bright | Andrew Reich & Ted Cohen | September 25, 2003 | 176251 | 24.54[2] |
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Rachel and Joey decide to talk to Ross about their relationship, while Ross tries to talk to Joey about his relationship with Charlie. Ross confesses his relationship to Joey but Joey chickens out. Ross later walks in on Rachel and Joey kissing. Monica has her hair done in cornrows to get rid of her frizzy hair but Chandler hates it. Monica finally comes around to Chandler's way of thinking when she gets her hair caught on the shower curtain. Phoebe finds out that Mike has been seeing a woman named Precious (Anne Dudek) for the past few months and now needs to break up with her. Phoebe waits for Mike to return from his break-up but finds herself breaking up for him when Precious shows up at Mike's apartment. Note: Originally aired as a 48-minute episode. | |||||||
| 220 | 2 | "The One Where Ross Is Fine" | Ben Weiss | Sherry Bilsing-Graham & Ellen Plummer | October 2, 2003 | 176252 | 22.38[2] |
| Monica and Chandler are having a lot of trouble figuring out the adoption process so Phoebe sends them to a couple who have adopted. Monica and Chandler meet them and Monica instantly gets along with the woman (Kellie Waymire); however, later Chandler casually mentions to their son (Daryl Sabara) that he was adopted only to find out that he didn't know about it. Chandler also tells him that Santa isn't real. The couple then kick out Monica and Chandler after finding out about both this and Chandler trying to bribe him. Rachel and Joey think Ross might have problems with their new relationship but he assures them he's fine. Ross invites Rachel and Joey on a double-date with him and Charlie. They agree but Ross gets drunk at the awkward date. Joey stays with Ross overnight to make sure he's okay and they talk. Ross realizes that he has been apart from Rachel for so long that he shouldn't stop Joey and Rachel's relationship. He does give Joey his blessing even though it still hurts him because they should see where the relationship is going. Phoebe hangs out with Frank Jr. (Giovanni Ribisi) and the triplets. The kids are driving Frank Jr. crazy and he offers Phoebe one of them. He comes to the realization that he could not possibly give up any of the children so Phoebe offers to babysit so Frank Jr. and Alice will have more time to relax. The episode ends with Chandler accidentally revealing to the triplets that Phoebe gave birth to them. | |||||||
| 221 | 3 | "The One with Ross's Tan" | Gary Halvorson | Brian Buckner | October 9, 2003 | 176253 | 21.87[2] |
| After Ross sees Monica's tan, he decides to get a spray-on tan. After hearing seemingly straightforward instructions, he gets confused and accidentally gets a double dose on the front of his body and nothing on his back. Through a series of mishaps he gets more spray tan on his front until he is incredibly dark. Rachel and Joey attempt to take their relationship to the next level but Rachel keeps accidentally slapping Joey, while Joey can't get Rachel out of her clothes. Joey and Rachel ultimately decide to stay friends. Monica and Phoebe try to "cut out" an obnoxious old friend from the building when she visits from England (Jennifer Coolidge). This brings up memories of the time when Phoebe tried to "cut out" Monica many years before. | |||||||
| 222 | 4 | "The One with the Cake" | Gary Halvorson | Robert Carlock | October 23, 2003 | 176254 | 18.77[2] |
| Ross and Rachel throw a birthday party for Emma and desperately want everyone to be there for it. Everyone has prior commitments: Chandler and Monica have a romantic weekend planned, Phoebe has a client, and Joey has an audition. Ross' parents show up and the group begins celebrating. Rachel soon realizes the cake is not a bunny, as planned, but an erotic cake with her daughter's picture on it. She goes off to get it fixed but Ross needs to go get her. Phoebe, Joey, Chandler and Monica battle to see who can leave with Monica and Chandler being left behind. Luckily everyone gets back before Rachel and Ross and Emma's birthday is celebrated just as Rachel envisioned. | |||||||
| 223 | 5 | "The One Where Rachel's Sister Babysits"† | Roger Christiansen | Dana Klein Borkow | October 30, 2003 | 176255 | 19.37[2] |
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Rachel's sister Amy (Christina Applegate) shows up at Ross' looking for Rachel and Rachel quickly learns she plans to marry her ex-boyfriend's father. Rachel takes her in, much to Joey's chagrin, and tries to help her get her life together. Amy offers to baby-sit Emma, who she calls Ella, but messes up by getting Emma's ears pierced. Rachel is incredibly upset but eventually she and Amy come to an understanding when Rachel finds out her other sister, Jill, is now fat. Mike attempts to propose to Phoebe on the big screen but Phoebe tells him how lame that is when another couple gets engaged that way. Phoebe tries to fix it by proposing to him on the big screen but Mike gets laughed at. Mike finally proposes at a restaurant and Phoebe accepts. Monica and Chandler ask Rachel to write a letter of recommendation for them to their adoption agency but Joey feels left out. They ask Joey but he tries to write the letter using big words, only for Joey to use a thesaurus to a ridiculous degree (to the point that he refers to himself as a baby kangaroo). He finally re-drafts the letter but gives the handwritten letter to the agency before Monica and Chandler can approve it. The agency thinks a child has written the letter and loves it. Note: Originally aired as a 43-minute episode. | |||||||
| 224 | 6 | "The One with Ross's Grant" | Ben Weiss | Sebastian Jones | November 6, 2003 | 176256 | 20.38[2] |
| Ross applies for a paleontology grant – and finds out Charlie's ex-boyfriend – Benjamin Hobart (Greg Kinnear) reviews the applications. Ross and Charlie have dinner with him and it becomes obvious that Benjamin still has feelings for her. During the interview, Benjamin sabotages Ross' application by not asking him any paleontological questions. Ross is upset so he informs Charlie. Benjamin confesses his feelings to Charlie and his ploy to get her back. Charlie reveals she still has feelings for Benjamin and gets back together with him, ending her and Ross' relationship. Phoebe is getting rid of things so Mike can move in but is sad to part with her disturbing artwork, Gladys. Monica pretends to like it but secretly hates it. Phoebe gives it to her but Monica and Rachel fight over who should have it since Phoebe thinks they both want it. She makes another even more disturbing artwork Glynnis which Monica keeps while Rachel keeps Gladys. Joey wants Chandler to get him a job in a commercial Chandler is working on but Chandler doesn't think he's right for the part. Chandler lies to Joey, but Joey realises when Chandler doesn't comment on the bizarre Japanese male lipstick commercial from his audition tape. Chandler makes it up to Joey by wearing the lipstick from the commercial. | |||||||
| 225 | 7 | "The One with the Home Study" | Kevin S. Bright | Mark Kunerth | November 13, 2003 | 176257 | 20.21[2] |
| Monica and Chandler are worried about the adoption agency interviewer when they learn Joey slept with her and never called her back. They keep assuring her they are not friends with Joey. Joey climbs up the fire escape to check on Chandler and Monica when they won't open the door. Joey pretends he was heartbroken since the interviewer never called him and successfully convinces her of that idea. Phoebe and Mike are hesitant to spend such a large amount of money on their wedding and agree to marry at City Hall with the money donated to charity. They have a change of heart and take the money back but then are guilt-ridden. Eventually the charity rejects their donation and tells them to have a good wedding. Ross tries to help Rachel get over her fear of swings while she helps him get over his fear of spiders. | |||||||
| 226 | 8 | "The One with the Late Thanksgiving" | Gary Halvorson | Shana Goldberg-Meehan | November 20, 2003 | 176259 | 20.66[2] |
| Monica and Chandler decide not to host Thanksgiving but Phoebe convinces them to by appealing to Monica's competitive nature. Chandler helps out for the first time by making cranberry sauce and surprisingly, Monica lets him. Rachel and Phoebe enter Emma in a beauty pageant and win while Ross and Joey go to a Rangers game and as a result all four are nearly an hour late. Angry that nobody turned up on time when they didn't want to host the meal to begin with, Monica and Chandler lock the door and refuse to let anyone in. Everyone manages to get their heads in the door but no further due to the chain being bolted, and eventually Joey gets stuck and is sent flying into the food when the door breaks. However, the argument is forgotten when Monica and Chandler get a call telling them a girl from Ohio has picked them to adopt her baby and everyone sits down for a belated Thanksgiving. | |||||||
| 227 | 9 | "The One with the Birth Mother" | David Schwimmer | Scott Silveri | January 8, 2004 | 176258 | 25.49[2] |
| Monica and Chandler fly to Ohio to meet the birth mother, Erica (Anna Faris), of their prospective child. It becomes clear very quickly their files have been mixed up since Erica thinks Chandler is a doctor and Monica is a minister. They go along with the lie but Chandler feels guilty. He soon convinces Monica to come clean which causes Erica to reject them. Chandler catches up to Erica and convinces her to still consider them. He tells her about their jobs and how much Monica wants this child and he feels horrible that he cannot give his wife this one thing. Erica decides they are the right couple and decides they can adopt her baby. Meanwhile, Joey is set up with one of Phoebe's friends (Annie Parisse) but has problems on the date when she keeps eating off of his plate. Rachel and Phoebe take Ross shopping for clothes but Rachel and Ross' bags get switched. Ross doesn't realize he's wearing a woman's sweater and is incredibly comfortable in it, only to go on a date with a woman which comes to a very quick end when she wears the same garment. | |||||||
| 228 | 10 | "The One Where Chandler Gets Caught" | Gary Halvorson | Doty Abrams | January 15, 2004 | 176268 | 26.68[2] |
| Rachel and Phoebe see Chandler getting into a car with another woman. He dodges their questions by pretending to be at work but they follow him to the suburbs and find them entering a house. They believe he is cheating on Monica and tell Ross and Joey. The four of them tell Monica but Monica doesn't react the way they thought she would. It soon comes out they are looking to buy a house in the suburbs to raise their family (the woman having been their realtor). The group tries to convince them to stay in the city while reminiscing about the past few years. In the end Monica and Chandler get the house and tell everyone they are moving right after giving them gifts. | |||||||
| 229 | 11 | "The One Where the Stripper Cries"† | Kevin S. Bright | David Crane & Marta Kauffman | February 5, 2004 | 176260 | 24.91[2] |
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Monica and Rachel throw Phoebe a bachelorette party but Phoebe is disappointed there is no stripper. Rachel and Monica hire a male stripper (Danny DeVito) at the last minute; but when he gets there, Phoebe insults him. He begins to cry. Ross and Chandler attend their college reunion and remember the girl they made a pact not to date. Ross makes his move but discovers Chandler used to make out with her all the time. Chandler informs Ross that he broke the pact as well but with a different girl (Kimberley Davies) at a party. At the same party, Monica and Rachel were visiting and Chandler made-out with Rachel to get back at Ross. Ross is upset because this is also the night of the first kiss between him and Rachel but later finds out he actually kissed Monica. Joey is a guest star on the television game show Pyramid and does horribly. Joey nearly redeems himself in the final round but messes up on the final question, which costs him the game. Note: Originally aired as a 42-minute episode. Guest stars Ellen Pompeo and Donny Osmond | |||||||
| 230 | 12 | "The One with Phoebe's Wedding"† | Kevin S. Bright | Robert Carlock & Dana Klein Borkow | February 12, 2004 | 176262 | 25.90[2] |
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Phoebe's wedding to Mike is nearly upon the gang, and wedding planner Monica is going overboard, much to everyone's irritation. Eventually it gets too much for Phoebe who fires her intending to do the job herself. Meanwhile Phoebe has also asked Joey to give her away, causing him to give Mike more than a few warnings about Phoebe's welfare. Ross and Chandler also find they're not part of the wedding party but compete when one of Mike's groomsmen drops out and he offers to let one of them fill the position. A freak blizzard hits New York and it becomes obvious the wedding will have to be postponed, but Phoebe and Mike decide to get married outside with a still-ordained Joey acting as minister and Phoebe rehires Monica knowing she can pull it all off in time. Mike tells Ross and Chandler that he's decided to allow his family dog to fill in the vacant groomsman position but still needs one of them to walk the dog down the aisle and Chandler's fear of dogs allows Ross to fill the role only while Chandler fills in for Joey giving Phoebe away. In the end, everything works out and Phoebe has the wedding of her dreams in the snow-filled street outside Central Perk. Note: Originally aired as a 42-minute episode. | |||||||
| 231 | 13 | "The One Where Joey Speaks French" | Gary Halvorson | Sherry Bilsing-Graham & Ellen Plummer | February 19, 2004 | 176261 | 24.27[2] |
| Phoebe tries to teach Joey how to speak French for a play. Rachel's dad has a heart attack, so she goes to Long Island, accompanied by Ross, to visit him, which leads Rachel to want sympathy sex with Ross, but he turns her down since he thinks it's not a good idea. Rachel, the next morning, becomes mad at Ross because of this and he says they should never have sex again, saying it's "off the table". Back in the city, Rachel again thanks Ross for coming with her and the two comment about their history of sleeping together. Rachel says for her and Ross, it's "never off the table", confusing him and he leaves. Meanwhile, Erica, the birth mother, comes for a visit and reveals that the father of her baby may be a shovel killer, which is not the case as the father is another guy she slept with. | |||||||
| 232 | 14 | "The One with Princess Consuela" | Gary Halvorson | Story by : Robert Carlock Teleplay by : Tracy Reilly | February 26, 2004 | 176263 | 22.83[2] |
| Rachel has an interview in a restaurant for Gucci however her boss from Ralph Lauren catches her when he ends up at the next table and she ends up fired, with her erratic behaviour in front of the Gucci representative (Brent Spiner) causing her to not get that job either. By a twist of fate she bumps into her old colleague Mark from Bloomingdale's who arranges for her an interview which she passes, only for the job offer to be from Louis Vuitton in Paris. Newly married Phoebe tries to change her name to Phoebe Hannigan, but after learning from a government worker (Craig Robinson) that she can change her name to whatever she wants, she changes it to "Princess Consuela Bananahammock", but insists that her friends call her Valerie. Mike is unimpressed by this, and decides to make a point by changing his name to "Crap Bag". Eventually Princess Consuela gets it and changes her name again to Phoebe Buffay-Hannigan. Meanwhile, Monica and Chandler plead with a depressed Joey to see their new prospective house, and he meets an eight-year-old girl (Dakota Fanning) who makes him realize he needs to let them go. | |||||||
| 233 | 15 | "The One Where Estelle Dies" | Gary Halvorson | Story by : Mark Kunerth Teleplay by : David Crane & Marta Kauffman | April 22, 2004 | 176264 | 22.64[2] |
| Joey's agent Estelle dies, but the group doesn't want to tell him as it could push him over the edge after all the recent changes he's witnessed. Phoebe impersonates Estelle's voice and pretends to still be alive to try to get Joey to fire her, but Joey ends up terrified when he gets a phone call from 'Estelle' after learning about her death. While being shown their new home by their realtor (Jane Lynch), Monica and Chandler are horrified to find that Janice (Maggie Wheeler) is considering buying the house next door to them, leading Chandler to take drastic measures to ensure she doesn't move in. Ross tries to get Rachel her old job back so she won't have to move to Paris. However, when he succeeds, Rachel becomes upset that, although she won't have to leave her friends, she won't be able to visit the 'Fashion Capital of the World'. In the end, Ross persuades her to do what she wants to do. | |||||||
| 234 | 16 | "The One with Rachel's Going Away Party" | Gary Halvorson | Andrew Reich & Ted Cohen | April 29, 2004 | 176265 | 24.51[2] |
| As Erica arrives in New York to prepare for the baby's birth, the gang hold Rachel's going away party, during which she gives each of her friends an individual goodbye, moving them all to tears, except for Ross, leaving him hurt and wondering why she doesn't say goodbye to him. Rachel later reveals to Ross that with their history, it would be too difficult for her to say goodbye to him, and the emotional argument that follows leads to them sleeping together. Monica and Chandler start packing up their apartment and Chandler finds a pair of handcuffs and tries to find out who they belong to. Erica goes into labor, leading Chandler and Monica to rush her to the hospital. | |||||||
| 235 236 | 17 18 | "The Last One" | Kevin S. Bright | Marta Kauffman & David Crane | May 6, 2004[lower-alpha 1] | 176266 176267 | 52.46[2] |
| After having sex with Ross, Rachel says it was 'the perfect way to say goodbye', and he realizes he is still in love with her. Phoebe and Joey pack Monica and Chandler's belongings as the couple accompany Erica to the hospital. Ross and Phoebe race to the airport to tell Rachel of his feelings – but she gets on the plane anyway. Meanwhile, Erica gives birth to twins which Chandler and Monica name Jack and Erica. Still on the plane, contemplating Ross' plea, Rachel has a change of heart. She leaves the plane and goes to Ross' apartment to tell him that she loves him. After years of separation, the two finally get back together for good, saying "this is it", hinting they will marry after the series (which is revealed to be true in the spin-off, Joey). Back in Monica's apartment, the friends turn in their keys and go out for their last cup of coffee together as a group. The series ends with the friends leaving and a camera panning the apartment and the city. | |||||||
^† denotes a "super-sized" 40-minute episode (with advertisements; actual runtime around 28 minutes).
Notes
- These episodes originally aired as a single double-length episode but are sometimes split into two episodes for syndication, reruns and DVD presentation.
References
- Chitwood, Adam (December 26, 2019). "'Friends' Seasons Ranked from Worst to Best".
- "Friends Nielsen Ratings Archive – Season Ten". Newmusicandmore.tripod.com. Retrieved July 31, 2014.
External links
- Friends – list of episodes at IMDb
- Friends Season 10 at TV.com
- Friends: Season 10 at Rotten Tomatoes