Season 1 mainly focuses around Ross (David Schwimmer) and Rachel (Jennifer Aniston), both of whom have just had their lives completely upheaved. For Ross, his wife realized she was gay and left him. And for Rachel, she realized the man she was marrying wasn't for her and ran out on both her wedding and her family as a whole. Despite the show containing an ensemble cast of six characters, Season 1 is also the only season of Friends to have blatant main characters. Most of the main storylines revolve around them.
As for Chandler (Matthew Perry), Joey (Matt LeBlanc), Monica (Courtney Cox), and Phoebe (Lisa Kudrow), they're mostly relegated to subplots. Sometimes they're the focus of the episode, but none of them really have any overarching storylines like Ross and Rachel. Despite this, an interesting aspect of Season 1 is the numerous sequences of the group just hanging out in Central Perk talking about random stuff. It's these sequences where you can see the ensemble's chemistry truly shine, showing just how quickly the cast managed to generate a genuine and believable friendship. Right from the start of the pilot episode, you can tell that these six characters are great friends.
The writing doesn't fare as well. While there are tons of great exchanges, comedic setpieces, and episodes, there are a lot of iffy plot points and moments of clunky writing that show that Friends still has a long way to go. The worst of it is the incredibly odd storyline of Ross getting a pet monkey named Marcel, which feels incredibly cartoonish compared to the rest of the season, and it's a joke that gets old really quickly. I'm glad they got rid of Marcel near the end.
Despite this, there were still a lot of great episodes, so here's a rundown of some of the most noteable:
The One With George Stephanopolous: I think this episode best exemplifies the more down-to-earth nature of Season 1. After meeting some of her old friends, Rachel realizes just how aimless her life has become since she ran out on the wedding. What ensues are some really heartfelt discussions with Monica and Phoebe about not knowing where your life is heading that I think anyone can relate to.
The One With The Blackout: This episode is just absolutely hysterical. Between Phoebe's first guitar performance, Ross getting attacked by a cat, the group making scary noises in the dark, and Chandler dealing with getting locked in a bank with a model, TOW The Blackout takes its central concept and runs with it, creating the first genuinely amazing episode of the show.
The One With All The Poker: If I ever want to introduce people to Friends, this is the first episode I'll show them. It exemplifies just how strong the cast's chemistry is, to the point where they can make an entire episode of them playing poker and make it interesting. It helps that the writing is especially sharp and quotable here.
The One With The Birth/The One Where Rachel Finds Out: The last few episodes of Season 1 serve as great resolutions to the many plot threads that Ross and Rachel have to deal with, but these two are particular highlights. In TOW The Birth, we get the birth of Ross's child, along with a moment that unintentionally foreshadowed the entire second half of Friends. In TOW Rachel Finds Out, we get a more low-key finale that gives a rewarding progression of Ross and Rachel's will-they-won't-they relationship.
Overall, Season 1 of Friends is a pretty good debut season for the show. While the writing is a bit clunky and some characters get shafted, the ensemble cast is perfectly established from the start and the grounded tone helps it stand out. And there's still tons of funny and heartfelt episodes and moments throughout.
3/5 Stars
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