Since celebrating its iconic 25th anniversary reunion, Friends has reemerged at the forefront of sitcom fame, and fans are rewatching all ten seasons available on HBO Max. The series is the perfect combination of sweet, frustrating, and laugh-out-loud silly, along with its fair share of pseudo-explicit content.
Though the group's dating habits and dalliances are motivators to catch up, what really gives the show its appeal is the characters' genuine friendships and open hearts. Despite the friends' worst decisions or social faux pas, they will be there for each other, just as the show's ultra-wholesome theme song confirms.
"The One With The East German Laundry Detergent" (Season 1, Episode 5)
This episode comes just as Friends' first season hit its stride. Fans have become familiar with Ross's long-standing crush on Rachel, but their will-they-won't-they situation had yet to bloom into anything real.
However, things changed on a simple trip to the laundromat when Ross showed the formerly-spoiled Rachel how to do her own laundry. When a rude customer attempts to steal Rachel's machine, Ross supports her, and the pair are able to hold their ground. Rachel gives Ross a celebratory kiss, followed by the unmatched physical comedy of a stunned Ross running into a dryer door. Only these characters could make such a mundane activity both wholesome and hilarious.
The One Where Ross Finds Out (Season 2, Episode 7)
In early seasons, Ross and Rachel are ships in the night when it comes to their mutual crushes. Though Rachel was ready to confess her feelings to Ross at the airport in the Season 2 opener, he came back from his work trip with a new girlfriend.
Rachel tried to play things cool, but one drunken voicemail later, all was revealed. Ross later shows up at the coffee shop where the two fight and Ross leaves. However, he comes back, and the two share an unforgettable kiss, confirming that their chemistry was some of the show's best. Still, Ross and Rachel would go through plenty of trials before getting together for good.
The One With The Prom Video (Season 2, Episode 14)
Ross and Rachel don't make it far after their passionate kiss at the coffee shop, since Rachel finds a decidedly unwholesome and unflattering list Ross wrote about her. But when Monica puts on an old tape of their prom night, the situation shifts.
In the video, Ross volunteers to fill in for Rachel's date at the last minute, but when things work out with her beau, he's left at home in a tuxedo. Realizing how sweet and devoted Ross has always been, Rachel kisses him.
The One With The Football (Season 3, Episode 9)
This Thanksgiving episode is centered around good old-fashioned fun, as the friends play touch football before their big meal. Though Monica and Ross get caught in a competitive streak, the others approach the game with ready attitudes. At least until Joey and Chandler are distracted by an attractive passerby.
Ultimately, neither Joey nor Ross are able to impress their crush, and the friends reach an impasse in their football game. Most head upstairs for dinner, while Monica and Ross continue fighting for the football, even as snow starts to fall. What's more wholesome than a 20-plus-year sibling rivalry?
The One With The Embryos (Season 4, Episode 12)
The close-knit gang gets into an argument about how well Joey, Chandler, and Ross know Rachel and Monica. So the group decides to host a trivia night about each other. When scores are tied, they raise the stakes by betting Monica and Rachel's apartment, while Chandler and Joey bet their pets, the duck and the very loud rooster.
This episode runs on pure adrenaline, as Phoebe waits for the results of a pregnancy test and the gang enters a lightning-speed question round. However, Rachel and Monica trip up when trying to answer what Chandler does for work, and they are devastated to lose their apartment to the boys. However, when Phoebe finds out she is pregnant as a surrogate for her brother, the episode's biggest loss doesn't seem so important anymore.
The One Where Everyone Finds Out (Season 5, Episode 14)
This is arguably Lisa Kudrow's funniest performance as Phoebe, and it supports fans' argument that Phoebe was the best character on Friends all along. As they check out Ugly Naked Guy's apartment across the street, she accidentally sees Chandler and Monica having sex back at Monica and Rachel's apartment. She even screams, "My eyes!" in total shock, but it's revealed that Rachel and Joey were already in the know about the relationship.
Rachel and Phoebe hatch a plan to get back at the couple for their secrecy, so Phoebe starts hitting on Chandler, sure that he'll crack and confess. However, Chandler and Monica catch onto the ruse, and Chandler and Phoebe awkwardly kiss before Chandler reveals that he's in love with Monica, and she says she loves him too for the first time in their relationship. This coupling is loyal, loving, and altogether adorable, especially after most of the friends are finally able to celebrate the relationship.
The One With The Proposal: Part 2 (Season 6, Episode 25)
The least wholesome part of the episode is Chandler's poor attempts to throw Monica off track about his proposal by telling her he doesn't want to get married. Unfortunately, Monica's ex, Richard, suddenly reenters the picture and declares his love and willingness to get married.
Monica is frustrated by the situation and tells Joey, who warns Chandler that his plan needs to wrap up quickly. Chandler returns to the apartment to find Monica filled it with candles, and she begins proposing to Chandler in one of Friends' most romantic moments. When she is too choked up to speak, Chandler finishes her proposal, and the gang celebrates the couple's engagement and deep mutual love and respect.
The One With The Red Sweater (Season 8, Episode 2)
In a series of bad ideas with pure intentions, Chandler and Ross crash a wedding to take replacement disposable camera photos after losing his and Monica's. And though Monica promised not to open wedding presents, she opens one, then can't stop herself from opening them all.
Afterward, Phoebe and Monica go on a quest to find the father of Rachel's baby. Joey proposes to Rachel, kindheartedly offering to help raise her child and confirming that he is one of the best characters—and friends—on the show. Though she turns him down, the friends remain invested in helping Rachel through her next steps, and the episode remains sweet—at least until Ross claims the red sweater he left at Joey and Rachel's apartment, and he is revealed as the baby's father.
The One In Barbados: Part 1 (Season 9, Episode 23)
There are some hilarious moments in this episode—including Monica's humidified hair, her and Chandler obsessively playing ping pong, and lots of relationship drama between Rachel and Joey and Ross. But the sweetest moments happen in Phoebe's love life. Her beau David plans to propose, but Monica told Phoebe's ex Mike to come and give things another shot.
Mike flies to Barbados and proposes right before David, and though Phoebe says no, she is reassured that they want the same things, and that they share an enduring love. She and Mike get back together, forming one of the best relationships on Friends and getting married in the show's 10th season.
The Last One: Part 2 (Season 10, Episode 18)
Friends' heartbreaking series finale wraps up its storylines with care, and fans may feel overloaded with the wholesomeness of it all. After Part 1's cliffhanger, Ross and Phoebe race to the airport to tell Rachel that Ross loves her. However, Rachel still ends up getting back on the plane to Paris, telling him, "I'm sorry."
Joey gets Monica and Chandler a sweet housewarming present for their new home in the suburbs: a chick and a duck. Ross deals with losing Rachel, but then gets a voicemail saying she loves him and is trying to get off the plane. Rachel bursts through his door, and they reunite, saying "this is it." The gang tearily bids farewell to the apartment, then they go for one last coffee at Central Perk, leaving viewers with too many feelings to name and the friends' wholesome kind of love.