by Angela Zhu

I started watching Friends a month ago as I was scrolling through Netflix looking for something to watch while eating dinner. The first episode got me hooked, and the rest of the episodes got even better. I’m only around halfway through the first season, but I get why this show is considered a classic, and I would recommend it to anyone who hasn’t watched it yet. There’s a lot of good laughs in the show, especially the one-liners from Chandler and the things Phoebe says, but there’s also some emotional depth in the show. For example with the last episode I watched, there was a sweet moment between Joey and Phoebe when Joey said that he couldn’t stop being friends with Phoebe even if it meant breaking up with Phoebe’s evil twin sister Ursula. In the end, this show’s about a group of people who really care about each other and would support each other no matter what. They go through life’s ups and downs together as they navigate job interviews, relationships, and various setbacks. However, there are some pretty problematic issues in the show, such as Carol being a lesbian being considered a running joke in the series, and the constant fat-shaming of Monica when she was younger.

But I think the overarching themes in the show are well done. There are episodes that make us laugh, or smile, or cry. On a bad day, an episode can cheer us up. I know that there’s going to be a lot of drama between Rachel and Ross, so I’m bracing myself for that, but I’m looking forward to binge-watching the show over the summer.