Top 25 Friendship moments in FRIENDS to revisit in its 25th Anniversary

Dhanush Shri Vardhan
Oct 19, 2019
11 min read

Updated: Nov 9, 2021

To lighten a tired evening after a long day, to divert our thoughts from a sad feeling or to simply sit back and enjoy on a nice afternoon, F.R.I.E.N.D.S has always been there for us. A perfect mix of fun, friendship, heartbreak and romance, the show celebrates its 25th anniversary today (22.09.2019). From teaching us Unagi (A state of total awareness) to giving us the perfect Trifle recipe, nothing has ever been a Moo point with F.R.I.E.N.D.S. But most importantly, they showed us how to be a good friend. Today, we revisit 25 of the show's best friendship moments, which made the friendships strong and also made us laugh and cry at the same time. (The moments between the romantic couples as a result of non-platonic love, has not been added since it would take a whole 25 moments more.)

25. Rachel, Chandler and the cheesecake

One of the funniest episodes in the show, this episode takes the cake (literally), when Chandler Bing steals a cheesecake delivered for a neighbour. Chandler and Rachel’s relationship for some reason was never really given as much screen time as it deserves. This episode is solid proof, why this is such a powerful duo. The most laughable moment of the episode was in the end when Joey finds Rachel and Chandler eating the cake from the floor. As Chandler and Rachel freeze when they hear his footsteps, Joey casually takes a spoon out of his Jacket and joins them.

Episode: 07*11 - The one with all the cheesecakes

24. Rachel’s trifle

The closest moments between the friends come from those instances where they endure pain rather than telling the truth and hurting someone. Pain is a small word to describe Rachel Green’s newfound interest in cooking, which Joey may disagree with. Rachel makes a traditional English Trifle and accidentally adds a layer of Beef Sautéed with Peas and Onions. Since Ross and Joey want to leave fast, they don’t stop her. The friends to make her feel good eat it. Ross suffers the most, as he gobbles up everything to stop Rachel from eating it.

Episode: 06*09 - The one where Ross got high

23. Chandler and Monica moments before Mondler

Chandler and Monica are one of the perfect On-Screen couples ever In TV history but the reason for that is how close they were when they were friends. In one of the earliest episodes, it is revealed that these two knows both of their secrets that none of the others in the group knew. And Chandler has always been Monica’s go-to guy, he has always been there for her. He is the one who comforts her in the flashback episode when she is upset that no one wants to live with her when Phoebe vacates without telling. Twice in the initial seasons, Chandler assures her that if she doesn’t get a partner, he will be hers. Though Monica laughs off both the times, we know what they don’t know that we know!

Episode: Before 5th season

22. The girls in wedding dresses

F.R.I.E.N.D.S captured the friendships of both guys and girls perfectly. When Phoebe is pregnant, Monica, who is single then, prepares for her brother’s marriage and Rachel is upset about Ross getting married. The three realise they needed to be boosted and wear wedding dresses inside the apartment drinking beer. The highest point is when Rachel scares off Joshua, her then-boyfriend accidentally, wearing the dress and he runs off thinking she asks his hand for marriage.

Episode: 04*20 - The one with all the wedding dresses

21. Monica teaches Chandler

There are two separate occasions when Monica takes the role of a teacher with Chandler. When she is out of the job, Monica asks Chandler to let her help him lose weight and unfortunately for him, he says yes. Thus, began the painful ordeal for chandler as she took all his ‘lying around time’. Chandler as a last resort talks her out of it by telling her how sad and empty her life is. Though cruel, he would definitely won’t miss moving on Sundays – the God’s day! Another iconic occasion was when Monica taught Chandler about the 7 erogenous zones. 7,7,7,7,7,7!

Episode: 04*11 – The one with Phoebe’s Uterus. 02*07 The one where Ross finds out.

20. The Girls take a heartbroken Chandler to a strip club

Though the guys stick together, the girls are the ones who help out Chandler in most of his romantic quests as well as heartbreaks. After breaking up with Kathy, Chandler gets stuck in ‘Phase 3’ – the one with the sweat pants, the guys are not there to help him out. So the girls take the part upon themselves to get him to Phase 4. Though they do behave terribly in the Strip club, irritating Chandler more, the extent they go to cheer him up (considering Phoebe was pregnant at that time), is all that counts

Episode: 04*14 - The one with Joey’s dirty bag

19. Chandler stays in a box

After starting a relationship with Kathy, Chandler gets the silent treatment with Joey, as Joey thinks Chandler went behind his back. To prove his friendship with Joey, Chandler gets inside a coffin-sized wooden box with a little air-hole. Even when Kathy comes to break up with him, telling she doesn’t want to be the reason to separate the friends, Chandler doesn’t speak. Joey gets emotional seeing this, opens up the box and ask Chandler to go catch Kathy. This episode showed how much Chandler respects his friendship with Joey.

Episode: 04*08 - The one with Chandler in a box

18. Joey keeps a secret!

For a good 10 episodes, the only person who knew the relationship between Chandler and Monica was Joey. He encounters a lot of embarrassing situations because of the two, as he tries to save them from others. Though being bad with secrets, Joey handles the secret pretty good that he saves them even when they mess up, taking the blames upon himself. Well, except the part where he labels Monica as a sex addict, but, hey he hid it far better than when he hid his bedtime penguin pal, Hugsy.

Episode: 5 * 5 to 14

17. Joey with the wishbone

Chandler’s internship comes to an end and he thinks he won’t get the job. Meanwhile, the gang buys some lottery tickets and checks them to see if they won. While in the process, Monica gives a wishbone, to wish for their winning and is performed by Joey and Phoebe. Much to all of their disappointment, they don’t win but Chandler gets a job bigger than what he was expecting. In the happy moment, Joey reveals to Chandler that earlier with the wishbone he didn’t wish for the lottery but for Chandler's job. Though it is just a superstition, Joey’s sweet gesture is what makes him such a good friend. That’s the reason we all prayed that Monica never finds this up!!

Episode: 09*18 - The one with the lottery

16. Phoebe acts like her twin sister to help Joey get closure.

When Joey dates Ursula against Phoebe’s wishes, she gets very upset. But, as Phoebe foresees Ursula leaves Joey heartbroken and starts to ignore him completely. Phoebe feels bad seeing Joey sad, so to give him closure, she dresses up as Ursula and breaks up with him. Being labelled as the weird one, throughout the series, it’s amazing to see how much Phoebe would do for her friends. In Phoebe Buffay’s own words, ‘Boyfriends and Girlfriends may come and go, but, this (friendship) is for life.

Episode: 01*16 – The one with the two parts

15. Rachel saved things for Monica’s wedding

As Monica – Chandler wedding comes near, a competition emerges between Rachel and Phoebe on who would be the Maid of honour. And much to Rachel’s disappointments, Phoebe wins the competition held by Joey and Ross. So, Rachel gives Phoebe all the stuff she has saved for Monica’s wedding which includes memories from their school days. After seeing, how much Monica’s wedding means to Rachel, Phoebe leaves the position to a sobbing Rachel.

Episode: 07*06 - The one with the nap partners

14. Joey proposes to Phoebe because he thought she’s pregnant

When Rachel is pregnant, Joey mistakenly thinks it's Phoebe who is pregnant. So, he proposes to Phoebe asking to marry him as he thinks it’s hard for a single mom to survive in the world. Feminism aside, this is again a small but sweet gesture by Joey.

Episode: 08*02 - The one with the red sweater

13. Joey goes vegetarian for phoebe

When Phoebe is pregnant, she gets strange cravings for meat. Since she’s a strict vegetarian, Phoebe gets upset about this. To make her feel good, Joey promises he will stop eating meat so that it will be evened out. While we all know Joey’s logic is nowhere near perfection, Phoebe feels pretty great about this. This might be a normal problem for any other characters, but, we all know how much food means to Joey. Considering his love for food, this might be Joey’s biggest sacrifice ever!

Episode: 04*16 – The one with the fake party

12. Monica makes lasagnas for Joey even as she leaves

Monica is kind of like the mother of the group, she always looks after everyone, especially when it comes to food. Whether it’s three kinds of potatoes or an entire turkey for Joey alone, she always makes sure everyone is full. In the last episode, after they pack things from the apartment. Joey sees it empty, since he is used to eating from Monica’s, he asks if this means there is nothing to eat. For which, Monica tells him that she has put three Lasagnas in his freezer. Even when she is leaving she remembers that Joey might get hungry later and saves him some food. Geez, Relax Mom(n)!

Episode: 10*18 - The Last one

11. CUPS!

Since the start of the series, Chandler is the one who pays for most of their apartment’s expenses and sometimes it extends to Joey’s personal expenses too! As Chandler moves out of his and Joey’s apartment, to Monica’s, he tries to help Joey financially by providing him with some money. But, Joey tells him that, Joey Tribbiani does not take charity. So to help him somehow, he invents a new game called ‘CUPS’ a gamble game and makes the rules in such a way, that he can give some money to Jody. Chandler succeeds with this briefly before Joey loses it all to Ross. A frustrated Chandler gives Joey money directly, which he refuses by saying, “I am not gonna miss you helping me out with money. The only thing I am gonna miss is you”. Sweet mother of all that’s good and pure!

Episode: 06*06 - The one on the last night

10. ‘I'm stuck in an ATM vestibule with Jill Goodacre’

Unlike the previous moments, this is not an emotional one. Chandler is stuck in an ATM vestibule with a hot supermodel, ‘Jill Goodacre’. He is desperate to tell this to his friends but couldn’t say it loud as she is near. He first mumbles to Monica that he is stuck in an ATM vestibule with Jill Goodacre. Monica doesn’t understand this even after hearing twice. So he asks her to put Joey on the phone. Chandler mumbles the same to him and Joey finds it in the first time itself. He also goes on to tell Chandler in the mumble language, which we couldn’t understand. For which Chandler responds, ‘Yeah like that thought never entered my mind’. We don’t know whether, Joey’s tailor Frankie could crack that code but, Chandler sure can!

Episode: 01*07 - The one with the blackout

9. The dead Christmas trees

In a Christmas episode, Phoebe tells Joey that she’s against the idea of young trees being cut in the name of Christmas. But, Joey tells her that these trees grow for that, that it’s their dream. But then, she finds out that the old trees are thrown into the chipper. This makes her very upset. To make her happy, the friends buy all the old Christmas trees and decorate them in Monica’s apartment. The idea of Monica telling okay to this plan is still something unbelievable. But then, no matter what, you have to be there for your friends. *four claps*

Episode: 03*10 - The one where Rachel quits

8. That’s not even a word!!

One of the most iconic episodes in the series is ‘The one with the Embryos’. The funniest episode of the season, also shows us how much the friends know about each other. From their grocery practices to their internal fears. This one episode really showed us how close these friends are and the fact that Ross knows this much detail about everyone to write the questions makes him one of the closest ones. In case you are wondering, Chandler’s job is ‘Statistical Analysis and Data Reconfiguration’. Thank me later!

Episode: 04*12 - The one with the Embryos

7. Joey breaks up with Janine for his friends

For Joey, it has always been his friends before any girls. He proved this with Kathy and then with Rachel too. So, when he starts to date his hot roommate Janine and finds out that she doesn’t like Chandler and Monica, he tries to make it work as much as possible. But, when he finds that there is no chance for it, he leaves Janine. Classic Joey! We still wish that they could have shown us Monica beating up Janine though.

Episode: 06*11 - The one with Apothecary table

6. Ross buys Phoebe a bike

When Ross hears the story of how Phoebe never got her own bike, it makes him feel bad for her. She further tells that she would sit on the box of the bike her neighbour had and his step-father would drag her in the backyard. Ross as a surprise buys her a brand new bike that looks the same as the one her neighbour girl had. And later even, teaches her to ride it. Though she gets very angry for him leaving the bike after telling him that he won’t, we agree with Ross that it is a standard technique and forgive him.

Episode: 07*09 - The one with all the candy

5. She’s clearly an Emma

Rachel gives birth to a baby girl, but she and Ross couldn’t find a perfect name. Rachel asks Monica what name she has in mind for her child since she knows Monica has thought about it years before. Monica refuses to tell her but Rachel assures her, she would not steal the name. But, when she tells the name, Monica notices that Rachel loves it very much. So she gives her the name. Rachel is surprised, since Monica loves the name very much. To which Monica replies, ‘Yes, but I love you more’.

Episode: 08*24 - The one where Rachel has a baby

4. The Joey Room

When Chandler is telling about his dream life with Monica before their marriage, he tells about how he wants their kids to grow and how he wants the house to be, while also adding that they would have an apartment by the garage where Joey could grow old. So, it was even sweeter when they got a Joey room in their new house four seasons later. When Joey comes to see their house, they tell him that he has a room. This is more special than anything has ever done for the other friends. Monica is the unofficial mother of the gang, it only makes sense that Chandler should be like a dad. Well, at least to Joey, that is.

Episode: 10*14 - The one with Princess Consuela

3. Welcome to the real world!!

The only reason the whole series started was because Rachel came as a new member to complete the gang. And the only reason she came in was because of Monica. Monica allowed her into her apartment, into her life and those of the other friends even though she didn’t even invite her for the wedding. Rachel was a rich pampered kid at the starting of the series, the whole gang came to her rescue to tell her that the real world sucks, but she will love it. It’s as Rachel quoted, she got her magic beans!

Episode: 01*01 - The one where it all began

2. Joey moves out.

This is one of the most emotional moments in the entire series. When Joey starts to earn well, he decides to move to a better place which upsets Chandler. Chandler losing the Foosball table, Joey giving it back to him, watching Baywatch alone in the barcaloungers…. the whole story is funny and emotional at the same time. This is one of the earliest episodes in the series where they showed how deep their friendships are. And Joey coming back to the apartment is still one of my favourite scenes. Remember, when Joey leaves the apartment but then comes back for a hug? Yeah, that was the best hug in the whole series. Who’s cutting those stupid Onions?

Episode: 02*16 - The one where Joey moves out

1. The one where they all had keys – The last one

The most emotional and tear-jerking moment in the entire series is the last few moments the friends spend in Monica’s apartment. This moment is at the top not just because of its brilliant writing, but because of how it efficiently and effectively ends a saga. Every season, every episode and every joke for almost 10 years lead to this moment and it didn’t disappoint. From the start, Monica’s apartment has been the hanging out spot for the friends. All the fights, emotions and happy memories were created there, so when they leave it, it’s too emotional to watch. It only fits that everyone had a key to the apartment, after all, it’s the purple door that comes to our minds when anyone talks about F.R.I.E.N.D.S.