In the series finale of Friends, Rachel ends up with Ross, which was just one of the contentious conclusions of the sitcom, after a 10-year run.
Friends premiered in 1994 and was immediately a hit with television viewers. Following the lives of six best friends, the prolific sitcom concluded in 2004, after a 10-year run.
Like most prolific television series, the finale is still a contentious point for viewers. Viewers mostly felt like the series finale was arguably underwhelming.
Moreover, while most of the main characters of the show did end up getting a happy ending, viewers could not get over how some characters did not get the “happy ending” they deserved.
What was Friends about?
Created by David Crane and Marta Kauffman, according to IMDb, Friends, “Follows the personal and professional lives of six twenty to thirty-something-year-old friends living in Manhattan.”
In the lead role was Jennifer Aniston as Rachel Green, with the rest of the main cast including Courteney Cox and David Schwimmer as brother and sister, Monica and Ross Geller, respectively.
Lisa Kudrow played Phoebe Buffay, and Matthew Perry and Matt LeBlanc rounded off the main cast, as they played Chandler Bing and Joey Tribbiani respectively.
Who does Rachel end up with in Friends?
For the better part of the 10-year run of Friends, viewers watched as Rachel and Ross struggled with their on-and-off again relationship.
At the beginning of the sitcom’s run, when they were still together, the two were one of television’s favourite contentious couples.
Therefore, with the series finale, people wondered if they would end up together. This is as Rachel had gotten a job offer to work for Louis Vuitton in Paris.
Initially, she had accepted the job offer as she and Ross had broken up, once again. However, Ross decides to fight for Rachel by going to the airport to profess his commitment.
However, Rachel decides to get on the plane. When he gets home, he plays a voice message from Rachel, where you could hear that she was attempting to disembark from the plane, so that she could go to him.
As the message ends abruptly, with Ross unsure if she was able to disembark, Rachel walks through the door, affirming that she got off the plane, suggesting that she is ready to commit to Ross.
Why did viewers not like Rachel’s ending?
While fans of the series who watched the back-and-forth relationship between Rachel and Ros for the better part of the sitcom were happy that they ended up together, there was some criticism.
This is as the ending seemed to suggest that Rachel was willing to give up her dream job of working for Louis Vuitton in Paris to maintain her relationship.
Fans wondered why she could not have both love and her dream job. While the notion of “women can do it all” rings louder in today’s socio-political climate, even then it was questioned why Rachel could not have it all.
Who got married on Friends?
The final season of Friends saw most of the main cast find their happily-ever-after through marriage and suggestions of creating a family in the future.
By the end of the series finale, Chandler and Monica were married and parents of two adopted children.
Phoebe also found love and got married to her love interest, Mike, played by Paul Rudd. Their marriage was as bizarre and as comical as Phoebe’s personality throughout the series, as they got married during a blizzard on a snowy street in Central Park.
Who does Joey end up with on Friends?
Joey Tribbiani did not get the same happy ending as the rest of the main characters. Instead of getting married, Joey got a new chick and duck.
Joey had initially bought the animals as a housewarming gift for Monica and Chandler, but Chandler suggests that he keep them.
Joey’s lack of love at the end upset viewers, as he was the only one to not have found love. This could have been a result of the actor getting his own spin-off, Joey, however, fans were still disgruntled.
Conclusion
Friends concluded in 2004, after 10 successful seasons of the show. The main cast would reunite again in 2021 for the HBO Max reunion special, Friends: The Reunion.
While the special saw the cast work down memory lane, it also confirmed that there will never be a reboot.
Therefore, we will never know if Rachel and Ross eventually got married and had children. Moreover, if they stayed together all these years.
Or if Monica and Chandler went on to have more adopted children, and what happened with Phoebe and Mike, or if Joey did eventually find love.