Boyfriends or girlfriends may come and go, but your relationship with those adorable characters from the iconic American sitcom ‘Friends’ is purely sacrosanct, or so you feel after watching their fun-filled reunion trailer which dropped on May 19.
It evokes nostalgia and you realise that their collective adorable quotient hasn’t diminished even 14 years after the show ended in 2004.
This highly-anticipated reunion trailer opens with a nod to one of its most popular episodes from their fourth season where David Schwimmer (Ross) turns quiz master to his gang.
The actors including Jennifer Aniston (Rachel), Lisa Kudrow (Pheobe), Courteney Cox (Monica), and Matthew Le Blanc (Joey) are on a couch — just like before — excitedly answering Ross’ well-crafted questions.
“Rachel wrote Ross a letter and demanded he read it before they got back together. How long was that letter?” asked Schwimmer in his trademark quiz master voice. LeBlanc shoots up from the couch and screams excitedly: “18 pages!” But it was Aniston who proved that God is in the details — “Front and back!”
Those who have grown up watching the highly comforting and lovable ‘Friends’ would identify instantly with this scene. Ross and Rachel’s tumultuous on-off-on again relationship was one of the highlights of the show.
The trailer also addresses the very crucial question of whether Ross and Rachel were on a break or not.
One of the earlier episodes featured Schwimmer’s character cheating on his golden girl Rachel after they have a heated fight.
The jury is still out on whether Ross was technically right to be with someone else if the girlfriend declared that they were on a break. The trailer seems to indicate that barring LeBlanc, everybody else sided with ‘yes, they were on a break’ slant.
Perhaps, this re-union episode, which will premiere on May 27 on HBO Max, will finally give us devoted fans some much-needed closure. It’s about time.
While the show officially ended after 10 seasons in 2004, it earned a new fan base among today’s youth after it dropped on Netflix. ‘Friends’ is like a warm cup of cocoa on a rainy day or a bowl of steaming noodles. These characters seem familiar and even if the actors have outgrown their characters, their fans are still rooting for their return.
The trailer and our reaction to it was almost like old friends catching up after years, but their shared history makes it easier for us to pick up where we left off. Watching them read their lines again on a table also made you smile. There’s no denying that the last two years — owing to the global pandemic — has been a bleak one, but there are some things that instantly perk you up. Watching the cast of ‘Friends’ rehash their journey as actors in the public eye is decidedly therapeutic.
The trailer also gave an indication that the stars will talk about how they were plucked from relative obscurity and became global sweethearts in a decade. Le Blanc joked about how paparazzi circled on their homes and how he realised that his roof needed cleaning because of their intrusive images. These anecdotes make you realise that these chosen five still evoke great curiosity among their fan base.
The cast were in their mid-20s when fame and fans beckoned, but they seem to have truly grown up with each other and their bond with fans is far from severed.
