Friends Guide: 1x01

The One Where Monica Gets a Roommate (Pilot)

All stories must get their starts some where and this one does in a coffee shop in Manhattan in the early '90s.  It's interesting to me, coming back to this over twenty years after its first airing, and after being out of my twenties myself.  I understand, very much, how this show would have had a lot of appeal at the time.  It's definitely sitcomish (almost to a fault at times) but there's a deeper emotional thread throughout the show.  The characters are young, and fresh, and learning, and not jaded the way older adults would be, but it's still relatable to all ages in a way.  And, style wise, it's moving out of the 80's-isms early 90's shows held on to, and moved forward into what we now know as very 90's culture.  It's all nostalgic now, in a way, 

But moving beyond that, I'm hesitant to say the episode is worth more than a set up of the characters and location.  

There are three main plotlines in the episode.  The stories of Rachel leaving her fiance at the alter and Ross coping from the finality of his divorce fit together nicely thematically.  Both about starting your life over after you originally thought you had it all planned out.  It's a nice nod to your early twenties when you get out of college and think---ah, okay my life really starts now--and you realize you aren't really sure what you're doing.  The creators have talked many times about that being the theme of the show---in addition to relying on your friends throughout the process.  So, I think the set up of the world is fantastic.  My problem is that the characters, while entirely relatable, aren't necessarily enjoyable, and fall victim to tired cliches.  (Were they cliches then? Maybe not?) 

Jennifer Aniston plays Rachel fantastically, she's one of the stronger actors in the cast right off the bat, but Rachel's poor, dumb rich girl I find hard to warm to.   And while I don't hate Ross like a lot of people hate Ross, his slow whining throughout the episode feels cumbersome.  (Not to mention I think Ross gets handed the most awkward lines throughout the episode.)  Of course, this is the beginning the ever famous Ross and Rachel love story.  The ending scene between them is sweet, and there is chemistry there, but I wouldn't call it a stand out moment---and it's more about the both of them taking that first step out of their previous lives more than their eventual relationship.  

Meanwhile, Monica has the most unmemorable plotline (the beginning of a trend the show unfortunately goes to whenever it has a loss of what to do with a character for that episode) where she dates a guy, and finds out later he was only nice to get her into bed.  It's funny that it was slightly controversial at the time---did it show Monica as someone who slept around? (**gasp**) Now it seems silly and cliche to the point where these scenes I want to skip over just to get to more interesting things.  It doesn't help that Courtney Cox and Guest Actor of the week have almost no chemistry.  (Cox is a generally good actor, but her scenes just fall flat with this guy.)  Anyway, he's the first in a long line of the "haha funny/bad date" trope the show falls back upon to a fault.  

Joey, Chandler, and Phoebe are relegated to second string players in the pilot, left with not much to do, but ultimately having the more enjoyable jokes and lines.  Well, Joey's a bit hard to watch.  I don't know why they told Matt LeBlanc to use a fake Brooklyn accent, but I'm glad it was dropped quickly as it just sounds awkward most of the time.  And admittedly, I'm not a Joey fan in general, but I have a hard time finding anything he says that funny.  On the other hand, Chandler and Phoebe are by far he stars of this episode.  Both Matthew Perry and Lisa Kudrow are fantastic with their comedic timing, and their jokes land much better than anyone else's---even with the script is weak.  Not to mention both Chandler and Phoebe don't seem from generic mold that the other characters seem to stem from, and feel fresh as a result.  

Anyway, by far, the most enjoyable aspect of this episode wasn't the actual plot, but the little moments scattered here and there, the times when the writers (or actors) deviated from the standard sitcom model and gave the characters the little quirks they'd become known for.  

Minor Thoughts: 

~The entire first scene is in Central Perk, and time elapses, which is amusing to me.  Here it is a show about young people in New York, but most of this episode is in a cafe and their apartments, not to mention Monica, Joey, Chandler, and Phoebe have been sitting there for what seems like hours.  I assume this is a Saturday, but it's still amusing that that's all they do. 

~I didn't feel like grabbing for my box set, but there's a deleted scene of Phoebe singing.  It's cute, and adds a tiny more to her character, but ultimately I can understand why they cut it.  

~So, Monica brought home a guy and had sex with him while her friend who just left a guy at the alter was sleeping in the next room?  I mean...?  

2 1/2/4 Stars: The episode feels clunky, stiff, sitcom-ish, and somewhat generic by today's standards within the script, but it introduces everyone pretty well, and there were some shining moments in the wings.  And it gets a little nudge up for starting off one of the best sitcoms of the 90s.