Friends (Season 5)

As mentioned in my review of Season 4, Season 5 is the funniest season of Friends and it's not even close. It may lack the excellent plotting of Seasons 2-4, but it makes up for it in pure hilarity and being stuffed to the brim with the funniest episodes of the show. Every time I watch it, I'm just in awe of how many amazing and iconic episodes they managed to squeeze into a single season.

Season 5's story is a bit less dramatic than the last few. Phoebe gives birth and Ross gets divorced pretty early on in the season, and most of it is spent with Monica and Chandler, who are trying to keep their new relationship a secret. There's also Phoebe briefly dating a cop, Ross struggling to keep his life in check after the divorce, and Rachel getting a job at Ralph Lauren, but otherwise there isn't too much to this one. I think Ross is the highlight of this season. They made him a lot more unhinged and gave him a lot of moments where he's embarrassing himself in some way, it's great.

Despite the simpler plot, Season 5 truly excels when it comes to the humor. I'm not over-exaggerating when I say that almost every episode of this season has a moment that is pure gold, whether it's Ross moving in with Joey and Chandler, Joey's reaction to learning Monica and Chandler are dating, the "near-death experience" with Phoebe's boyfriend, and Joey getting lost in Ross's apartment, along with all of the episodes I'm going to list below. 

Speaking of which, let's get to those notable episodes, because there are a lot of them:

The One With The Thanksgiving Flashbacks: This is the most iconic flashback episode of the show for a very good reason. The flashback of Joey getting a turkey stuck on his head is hilarious on its own, but we get to learn a lot more about Ross and Monica's past, as the second half of the episode actually plays Monica's fatness for drama for once. It's still a really funny episode, but the emotional impact of it elevates it to be one of the greatest in the show.

The One With Ross's Sandwich: I'm just listing this episode for the titular sandwich. David Schwimmer's acting this season is great and this episode is the moment I started to like Ross. It's hilarious to see him so unhinged, and his outburst about his sandwich is so goddamn funny.

The One With All The Resolutions: Every character has a resolution that they try to achieve in this episode, and it's fun to see them try to achieve said achievements, to various degrees of success. Ross is once again the highlight with his hysterical "leather pants" incident.

The One Where Everyone Finds Out: The best episode of the show, bar none. Seeing everyone react to the reveal that Monica and Chandler is great, along with the amazingly awkward third act where Phoebe and Chandler pretend to be in love with each other. Ross's attempts at getting Ugly Fat Guy's house is also really fun to watch.

The One With The Cop: "Pivot! Pivot! Pivot!". Do I really need to say more?

The One Where Ross Tries To Flirt: This has always been a super underrated and forgotten episode, and that's a real shame. It's one of Friends's better bottle episodes, between Ross's awkwardly flirting, and Joey's adorable relationship with his nonna. But the real highlight is Chandler recording himself singing Space Odyssey, and the whole group finding out. Simply glorious.

The One In Vegas: While not as strong of a finale as the last two seasons (Joey and Phoebe's subplots were kinda inconsequential), the last few minutes alone are notable. Monica and Chandler considering getting married is a great end to the season, and Ross and Rachel drunkenly eloping is yet another stunning cliffhanger.

Overall, Season 5 is top-notch Friends humor. Even though the plotting is light and simple, the comedy more than makes up for it, and the season packs in some of the funniest and most iconic episodes in the show.

5/5 Stars