I had always heard that Friends set the stage for how a sitcom should end and that many other shows have tried to achieve the satisfying ending that Friends did. For the most part, I can agree with that, but not fully.
Lets start off with what I thought was the most satisfying ending, Chandler and Monica. Obviously, the ending to their storyline was getting their kid (which turned out to be twins) from Erica and then moving to the suburbs to raise them. This allowed Monica to finally be able to raise children like she had always hinted at wanting to do ever since the early seasons. This also symbolized Chandler finally completely growing up. He went from being the guy who was terrified of commitment and couldn't take anything seriously to being married and a parent of 2 children, which I thought was an awesome ending for the both of them. Simultaneously, I thought their ending was the saddest (other than Joey's but i'll get to that later). Them moving out of the apartment and having kids represented the end of an era. Their friend group would never really be the same again. The apartment was symbolic for their close knit friend group, they had all lived there, it was one of their biggest hangout spots, and them handing over the keys to it symbolized a close knit, goofy, finally grown up friend group that had to finally be adults and not dysfunctional 20-30 year olds.
Now onto my personal favorite ending, while not the most satisfying, I liked it the most. This would be the ending to Ross and Rachel's storyline, the two who were forever on and off... until now. In what I thought was a beautiful, unpredictable, cliff hanging manner, they brought Ross and Rachel together forever. I really loved the storyline to get up to the point of Ross proclaiming his love to Rachel and vice versa. The only part that wasn't satisfying was the fact Rachel had to give up her dream job in Paris, but she still got to keep her job in NYC on a higher pay and be with the man she loved rather than being on a different continent than him. I feel like this made them both much happier than they would be if she had actually moved to Paris. I pretty much knew they had to pair them up in the end to have a satisfying ending, and I'm so glad they came through with it.
Now for Phoebe. I thought her ending was really good too. She finally got stability in her life, something she had never had before. She was with a man she loved and who loved her quirks and weirdness. She got a wedding that was unique, which was definitely fitting for her. We also got the hint that Mike wanted to have kids, which Phoebe agreed with, meaning we can only imagine they lived a happy life in the end.
Now for the saddest ending, Joey. Joey was the only character that really didn't have an ending. His life stayed the same for the most part. He got a new chick and a duck and 3 casseroles and a broken foozball table, but thats it. The broken foozball table was sad, as it represented the end to Chandler and Joey's super close, amazing friendship because theyd no longer be within a hallway of each other again. He didn't get coupled up with anyone either. I know the writers wanted to show that Joey was always happy with how his life had been throughout the entire show, but the fact is that everyone around him had grown up and had been coupled up, but this made Joey seem so alone in the end. They could've at least gave him a big acting gig or something. I just really thought Joey's ending was pretty sad because he practically lost all his best friends and would be super alone in the future.
My only other complaint is that it kinda didnt feel like an series finale to me. It almost felt like a season finale instead. But the show had to end sometime, and with how long the show ran, im not sure what they could've possibly done to fix that issue. Maybe could've had Ross and Rachel get married again and had a better ending for Joey, but other than that idk. All in all, this was basically the ending I was hoping for and they did a great job of wrapping up the greatest, most well written sitcom ever.
Lets start off with what I thought was the most satisfying ending, Chandler and Monica. Obviously, the ending to their storyline was getting their kid (which turned out to be twins) from Erica and then moving to the suburbs to raise them. This allowed Monica to finally be able to raise children like she had always hinted at wanting to do ever since the early seasons. This also symbolized Chandler finally completely growing up. He went from being the guy who was terrified of commitment and couldn't take anything seriously to being married and a parent of 2 children, which I thought was an awesome ending for the both of them. Simultaneously, I thought their ending was the saddest (other than Joey's but i'll get to that later). Them moving out of the apartment and having kids represented the end of an era. Their friend group would never really be the same again. The apartment was symbolic for their close knit friend group, they had all lived there, it was one of their biggest hangout spots, and them handing over the keys to it symbolized a close knit, goofy, finally grown up friend group that had to finally be adults and not dysfunctional 20-30 year olds.
Now onto my personal favorite ending, while not the most satisfying, I liked it the most. This would be the ending to Ross and Rachel's storyline, the two who were forever on and off... until now. In what I thought was a beautiful, unpredictable, cliff hanging manner, they brought Ross and Rachel together forever. I really loved the storyline to get up to the point of Ross proclaiming his love to Rachel and vice versa. The only part that wasn't satisfying was the fact Rachel had to give up her dream job in Paris, but she still got to keep her job in NYC on a higher pay and be with the man she loved rather than being on a different continent than him. I feel like this made them both much happier than they would be if she had actually moved to Paris. I pretty much knew they had to pair them up in the end to have a satisfying ending, and I'm so glad they came through with it.
Now for Phoebe. I thought her ending was really good too. She finally got stability in her life, something she had never had before. She was with a man she loved and who loved her quirks and weirdness. She got a wedding that was unique, which was definitely fitting for her. We also got the hint that Mike wanted to have kids, which Phoebe agreed with, meaning we can only imagine they lived a happy life in the end.
Now for the saddest ending, Joey. Joey was the only character that really didn't have an ending. His life stayed the same for the most part. He got a new chick and a duck and 3 casseroles and a broken foozball table, but thats it. The broken foozball table was sad, as it represented the end to Chandler and Joey's super close, amazing friendship because theyd no longer be within a hallway of each other again. He didn't get coupled up with anyone either. I know the writers wanted to show that Joey was always happy with how his life had been throughout the entire show, but the fact is that everyone around him had grown up and had been coupled up, but this made Joey seem so alone in the end. They could've at least gave him a big acting gig or something. I just really thought Joey's ending was pretty sad because he practically lost all his best friends and would be super alone in the future.
My only other complaint is that it kinda didnt feel like an series finale to me. It almost felt like a season finale instead. But the show had to end sometime, and with how long the show ran, im not sure what they could've possibly done to fix that issue. Maybe could've had Ross and Rachel get married again and had a better ending for Joey, but other than that idk. All in all, this was basically the ending I was hoping for and they did a great job of wrapping up the greatest, most well written sitcom ever.