Season 7 of Friends is fine. Just fine. I honestly don't know how else I could sum it up outside of "fine". The writing is solid, the episodes are solid, the humor is solid. There aren't many high points or low points, making for what's probably the most consistently solid season of the bunch.
Season 7 is almost entirely about Monica and Chandler's wedding, and I think this works in the season's favor. There's a strong build-up throughout the season that ends on the wedding itself, and similarly to Season 4, I think the payoff makes all of this build up worth it. There are some other storylines like Rachel dating her assistant and Joey returning to Days Of Our Lives, but they're all (once again) just fine. I think the wedding preparations are the most exciting part because the show goes into every single detail, whether it's the engagement pictures, picking wedding dresses, or arranging tables. The first half of the season in particular was really good at making these wedding preparations enjoyable.
However, similarly to Season 6, I think the second half of the season has a lot of really iffy episodes and plot decisions. There's the reveal that Monica settled for Chandler over Joey (not even the showrunners liked this twist), there's the infamous incest episode, there's the episode where they had Winona Ryder appear only so she could kiss Rachel, there's one of the show's laziest clip shows in TOW The Vows, and there's Chandler's crossdressing dad whose first appearance wasn't super well-executed. It's a shame because some of these episodes are actually really funny, but these moments drag them down.
Despite this, there are still a lot of really good episodes, especially in the middle of the season:
The One With The Holiday Armadillo: How do you even come up with this kind of stuff? A holiday armadillo?! That's just comedy gold. Another strong Ross episode made even better once Chandler and Joey join in with their own costumes.
The One Where They're Up All Night: This season has some underrated episodes and this is one of the biggest examples of that. I love the concept of the whole episode taking place at night, and the situations that all of the friends get themselves into are hilarious. Phoebe's fire alarm subplot in particular is painfully relatable.
The One Where They All Turn Thirty: For a show about settling into adulthood, I'm glad they made an episode about turning 30. Despite the fairly dour concept, this episode was a really funny flashback episode, especially once they started frantically switching between flashbacks. Nothing can beat the pivot scene, but that car moving one was pretty close.
The One With Monica And Chandler's Wedding: This finale is the reason why Season 7 isn't one of the worst seasons for me. It all builds up to one of the best episodes in the whole show. Unlike Season 4, this wedding is a lot more frantic, and it's a lot of fun to try and see everyone try to get everything to go well. All of the characters and storylines from the last season are all brought together into this finale, between Chandler's parents, Joey officiating the wedding, and Rachel and Ross almost getting back together in the premiere. It's also great to see Joey finally get a big movie, and the cliffhanger of Rachel being pregnant is exciting.
Overall, Season 7 is a bit of a mixed bag. It has some really iffy plot decisions and lacks the standouts of other seasons, but it has a very solid and consistent base that builds towards one of the show's best finales. There is a lot to like here, but it's more obvious than ever that the show is starting to decline a bit.
3/5 Stars
No comments:
Post a Comment