‘This will be the last that we are ever asked about the show as a group,’ said Courtney Cox, holding back tears.
On May 27th, fans across the world rode the sweet high of watching all six friends together again – our Rachel, Ross, Monica, Chandler, Joey, and Phoebe, in the exact same apartment and the coffee shop they had filmed in for ten long seasons. This is the second time they have been here since their shooting ended in 2004 and it sure brought nostalgia and memories, but mostly tears. No, the cast did not bring in their characters for the reunion. However, the six of them told stories while hanging out on the rebuilt Friends set, filling up fans on some juicy titbits from the show during an interview in front of the fountain, welcoming guests and recreating iconic scenes from the show. Amidst all these, I took notice of few random details that made the rundown all the more emotional, even after so many years.
Hugsy, the penguin
My eyes spotted Hugsy, the penguin hanging out on Joey and Chandler’s couch. It might come across as silly and dumb to many if I said I wanted an entire episode dedicated to that story of Joey’s penguin pal, but that’s exactly what I wanted.
Reliving the “One with the Embryos”
The cast re-enacts the scene of boys versus the girls quiz from “The One with the Embryos” where Monica and Rachel lose their apartment to Joey and Chandler. David Schwimmer becomes the game show’s emcee here. It was one great opportunity for us, the fans to see the old ‘Friends’ friends back here: Mr. Heckles and Richard from the show arrives.
Table reads of some of the best scenes
I have watched “The One where Everybody Finds Out” for more times than I can remember. It is definitely my go-to after a rough day and Lisa Kudrow’s ‘not without you, lover’ will be playing on loop in my brain rent free, forever (at least I want it that way).So to have all the actors to gather around and reread the scenes from that episode and slip back into the characters in the process so easily brought back memories I had whilst watching it the first time. All the scenes they choose to do this reread segment were well thought out. They even surprisingly read the scene from ‘The One with the Jellyfish’’ where Monica, Chandler and Joey narrated the story of how Chandler had to pee after she got stung by a jellyfish. Besides, a major revelation came from David Schwimmer and Jeniffer Aniston when they read Ross and Rachel’s first kiss scene from “The One Where Ross Finds Out”. They admitted to having had feelings for each other during this very scene but never acted on it. Instead they channelled their sentiments into their respective character. The chemistry in the early seasons now makes so much sense, aha!
Lisa Kudrow is so much like Phoebe
While we can all agree that Courtney Cox became the mom-friend here again and Matt Blanc showed reflections of the easygoing character of Joey, Lisa Kudrow was undoubtedly the closest to her character. The quips and nuances of her character were all visible even during the formal sit-down with James Corden in the early part of the special. Remember how she reacted to the bug in her hair? Yes, unique Phoebe style!
Of course, a two hour episode cannot encapsulate a decade of television dominance but it sure does leave us wanting for more. All the details, both significant and insignificant, shall stick with me until they come back for another special. Alright, I am hyperventilating! I have to go re-watch “The One where Everybody Finds out” one more time to level off.