November is officially flying by, which means Thanksgiving is right around the corner. Like many other Americans, Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays of the year. I mean, who doesn’t enjoy a gigantic feast followed by Black Friday shopping? The concept of Thanksgiving can cause one to go through a lot of different emotions – ranging from being happy to go home and see family to anxious because…you have to go home and see family. For me, I am fortunate to always look forward to Thanksgiving and spending time with my loved ones. I like to describe my typical Thanksgiving with the three F’s: Food, Family, and Football (in no particular order). I love football, but I know that eventually I will need a break from watching sports during the holidays. So, if you’re like me and your Thanksgiving is spent watching a lot of football and need a break to watch something else, you have come to the right place. The third “F” can easily be replaced by the classic sitcom, Friends. After reviewing each Thanksgiving themed episode, I have been able to rank all ten and have laid them out for your viewing pleasure. This Thanksgiving, grab some snacks, and of course some friends, and have a Friends marathon: Thanksgiving edition :).
#10 – The One With the List (Season 2, Episode 8)
In general, this episode has to be one of my least favorite Friends episodes. One of my unpopular opinions is that I normally like Ross, but in this episode it is difficult to defend him after thinking it would be a good idea to make a pros and cons list about the two women interested in him and just straight up point out their flaws. Additionally, this is not even a real Thanksgiving episode, the holiday is only briefly mentioned by Moncia at a job interview. Because of Ross’ stupid actions and the fact that Thanksgiving is not really the main focus of the episode, I definitely had to put this at #10.
#9 – The One With All the Thanksgivings (Season 5, Episode 8)
In this episode, the gang tells stories about their previous thanksgivings and of course, starts with Chandler and his strong hatred for the holiday since it stems back to when he was just a child and his parents told him they were getting a divorce. I do not particularly enjoy this episode because we see the type of kid that Chandler was in college. Even if he was younger and more immature, he still fat shamed Monica and basically did not think of her as anything until the year after when she lost a lot of weight. Given that the actual show takes place years after this occurred, we can assume (and hope) that Chandler has grown from that day, but that does not mean it did not hurt to see him act like that!
#8 – The One With Chandler in a Box (Season 4, Episode 8)
I put this episode at #8 because I hate to see when any of the gang starts fighting, especially Joey and Chandler, one of the best duos of the show. The cause of an almost abrupt end to their friendship was because of Kathy, Joey’s girlfriend at the time, who slowly began to realize that she liked Chandler more, and Chandler realized he was in love with her as well. I have to agree with Joey that it was messed up for Chandler to go behind his back with Kathy, no matter how much more compatible they were. Chandler should have been more transparent with Joey and could have avoided all of the drama between them. Although, it was cute at the end of the episode to see Joey forgive Chandler when he was in a box for six hours when Kathy came to talk to Chandler. This was the moment that Joey realized how good they work together and how much he cares about his best friend.
#7 – The One Where Chandler Doesn’t Like Dogs (Season 7, Episode 8)
In this episode, Rachel is excited that her assistant, Tag, shows up at the apartment for Thanksgiving. I always felt that their relationship was a little bit strange because they always had to sneak around since they work together, and Rachel is the one who hired him in the first place. I never understood why Rachel didn’t simply ask him out and hired the other woman who was clearly more qualified, because then they could’ve had a more normal relationship. Also, we learn that Chandler has a fear of dogs as Phoebe has snuck one into the apartment for a few days. Because of his fear, they bring the dog to Ross’s apartment, but Monica secretly brings it back to her apartment. When Chandler thinks that Monica was crying because he made the dog leave (that was Ross’s cover for why Chandler could not go into Monica’s room, with the dog in it), he goes to Ross’s apartment just to bring it back for her, which I thought was really cute. Even with his lifelong fear, he would have brought it back for Monica all by himself.
#6 – The One Where the Underdog Gets Away (Season 1, Episode 9)
This episode is from the very first season, where we are still learning about the characters and their dynamic. Monica and Ross decide to spend Thanksgiving alone at Monica’s as their parents decide to go on vacation, and the rest of the friends attempt to go see their families, but of course are unable to and find reasons to stay and join the Gellers. This was the very first time we hear about Chandler’s sad story about why he hates Thanksgiving, and ends up pleased by the end of the episode when they are all forced to eat grilled cheese sandwiches. This was because everyone rushed to the terrace to see the underdog balloon get away during the Macy’s parade, but then got locked out of the apartment, so the dinner burned. This episode captures a certain feeling of nostalgia that I love since it is from the beginning of the show.
#5 – The One With the Football (Season 3, Episode 9)
As we all know, Monia and Ross are very competitive with each other, and that is definitely shown throughout this episode. The gang start off playing a friendly game of football, but with Monica and Ross involved, did anyone really think it wouldn’t end up with a little bit of chaos? The siblings are playing for their family trophy, also known as “The Geller Cup,” that neither of them got to keep years ago as one football game ended just a little bit rough (are we surprised). Monica’s team has a big lead by the end, but even switches up the teams to make it girls vs. boys. Overall, we see an intense rivalry between Monica and Ross, as they are the ones who care about winning the most. If you want to find a way to watch football without having to actually watch football, then this is the perfect episode to choose!
#4 – The One With the Late Thanksgiving (Season 10, Episode 8)
When all of the friends are almost an hour late to Thanksgiving at Monica’s, Monica and Chandler do not let them in out of spite. Eventually, Monica opens the door a crack but leaves the chain on, and the rest of the friends peek their heads into the door. Joey’s head ends up getting stuck, and while trying to help him out, he ends up running into the Thanksgiving dinner that Monica had planned. Even though this would normally make Monica even more furious, she had received spectacular news at the same time – which was that she and Chandler would be able to adopt a baby. The funny events happening on the outside of the door and the victory at the end for Monica and Chandler are what made me rank this episode at #4.
#3 – The One With Rachel’s Other Sister (Season 9, Episode 8)
When Rachel’s (other) sister, Amy, shows up unexpectedly, Rachel decides to invite her over for Thanksgiving. We learn that Amy is genuinely interested in nobody except for herself and is offended when Ross and Rachel explain to her that if god forbid something were to happen to them, they would give Emma to Monica and Chandler, not to her. She is completely offended the entire episode, even though she could not even remember Emma’s name. She also was disrespectful to each of the friends and is getting on everybody’s nerves. The reason I rank this episode so high is because I appreciate Rachel’s character development since season one and how she has matured so much. I also really appreciate Christina Applegate (Amy Green) for portraying Amy so well as she genuinely drove me crazy for a solid twenty-two minutes.
#2 – The One With the Rumor (Season 8, Episode 9)
This thanksgiving, Monica, Ross, and Rachel reunite with a fellow classmate from high school. The only thing is that back in the day, this classmate (Will, who was played by Brad Pitt) used to be overweight and therefore was not treated very well by the popular girl, Rachel Green. But now that Will has lost a lot of weight, Rachel does not recognize him at first. Despite how hard he tries to be civil, Will’s hatred towards Rachel comes right back as soon as he sees her. He makes that very obvious to her and the rest of the friends, and even brings up the “I hate Rachel Green Club” that he (and guess who else – Ross!) had formed back in high school. They explain how they started a rumor that Rachel had both male and female reproductive parts and Rachel is humiliated. But it turns out that they were not the only ones spreading rumors – Rachel told one too! After revealing that she told everyone that Ross made out with the (very old) school librarian, Ross is absolutely shocked that she knew that, admitting that this was indeed not a rumor. As embarrassing as all of this was for Ross and Rachel, it was funny for viewers to get a glimpse into what high school was like for some of the friends. In fact, I kind of sympathize with Will because I can understand feeling intimidated by girls like Rachel in high school. I am glad she has grown into a mature adult, but I can only imagine what she would have been like if she hadn’t moved in with Monica (probably a lot like Amy!).
#1 – The One Where Ross Got High (Season 6, Episode 9)
And last, but certainly not least, the episode where Ross finally explains that he once smoked pot in college. In this chaotic episode, Chandler learns that Monica and Ross’ parents don’t particularly like him, and that is why they also don’t know that Monica and Chandler are moving in together – or that they are even dating at all. Jack and Judy Geller’s dislike towards Chandler stems all the way back to Ross’ sophomore year of college when he blamed the smell of pot in their room on Chandler, causing them to think that he was a drug addict! Chandler naturally forces Ross to tell them the truth, but spilling the beans did not happen so easily. It took too long for Ross to tell them, so Monica does it herself. This causes Ross to then spill more secrets about Monica, and then Monica of course has to keep the secret-spilling going. The banter between Monica and Ross is so relatable which is something I love about their relationship. I feel like I can see something like that going down between me and my sister. While all of this is occurring, Rachel is in charge of making dessert, and accidentally makes a horrible custard-meat-peas-onions trifle as two pages got stuck together in the recipe book. Ross and Joey force everyone to pretend to like the dessert, and watching everyone struggle to swallow even a little bit of it is hilarious. Between the classic sibling rivalry and Rachel’s disgusting custard, this Thanksgiving at Monica’s had to be the most chaotic but entertaining one yet.