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Techtite's TV Reviews! |
"There's a reason sitcoms like this last a whole decade. If anyone were to figure out what that reason was, I'd be a whole lot less depressed right now that the sitcom is over!" --from the review ------------- Sidebar :: -------------
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Friends:The Series Finale(Exclusive Limited Edition DVD)
Click picture to order this DVD A Techtite ReviewAs Always, a review of The Show and The DVD (extras)! The Series Finale: Feelings are very mixed about the series finale of Friends. However, for every time I see a negative review, I see a comment saying something like, "...in all honesty, I never really watched it much." Then why do you think you can review the finale? That said: to this longtime fan of the series, the finale was everything I wanted. Let be begin by saying what a perfect finale is. For one thing, a finale needs closure. Some "chapter" needs to be concluded, preferably whatever the "theme" was for the series (example: in Star Trek Voyager, they finally return home). However, such a conclusion to said "chapter" in the story should not include death, depression, or the utter destruction of everything a series was intended for. In this case, this series was intended as a comedy. So in order to have a good finale, this series needed to have closure, which meant sadness in a way, but...keep it funny! If that sounds ambiguous, you're beginning to understand how difficult it was to end this series the right way. However, to this fan, that's exactly what they did. First of all, the "closure": Monica and Chandler are a family now, with one --no, make that two!-- newborn children. A family of four is difficult to raise in an apartment as small as the bachelor pad the "friends" have hung out in for ten years, so they're moving out. Cue the dramatic ending where they show the empty Friends apartment. Now that's closure. However, this is a trifle compared to the story that began as of the very series premiere: the relationship between Ross and Rachel. So, the perfect finale must have Rachel and Ross reunite. So, reunite they do. To other TV critics, this is an overly simplistic ending. To me, I wonder why I bother to read the rants of other TV critics. Of course the best ending is Rachel and Ross getting back together. Even casual fans know this. I wouldn't even call their reuniting a "simplistic" finale. In a race to keep Rachel from going to Paris, Ross is raced to the airport by Phoebe (who's always been trying to get them back together; haven't you watched the series?). In a humorous effort to "stall" her flight, they lie to her that Phoebe had a "premonition" that something was wrong with the plane. This causes a ruckus on her flight, and Rachel misses the plane...only to get quickly onto an alternate flight. The chaos ensues when Ross arrives to the airport only seconds late, only to have Phoebe scream "Rachelllllll" into the airplane terminal at the top of her lungs. To see a grown woman screaming another woman's name in a crowded airport terminal is, in this fan's opinion, a vintage Friends moment. I won't spoil the rest for you, aside from saying the bottom line: this scene was the core element of the perfect Friends finale, and fans got it. What else happens in the finale? Well, the good news is that there are no cheap Joey plugs. We all know that Matt Leblanc is off to be on his own series, so it would've been redundant to waste time in a one-hour finale with comments like, "Well, I'm off to California"..."Oh, you mean you get to be on that cool new NBC sitcom, Joey? Tell us about it!"..."[ADVERTISEMENT] ...[ADVERTISEMENT] ...[ADVERTISEMENT]" ...you get the idea. No, they didn't do anything like that. That's what made this finale not unlike the Cheers finale, which did not waste time offering plugs for its spin-off, Frasier. After all; it's not like Frasier needed such plugs, did it? Joey will succeed or fail regardless of shameless plugs during the prior series. The series finale's writers knew this. Any mistakes...? Well, yes. For one thing, Ross doesn't throw caution to the wind and propose to Rachel. Unlike people who have never dated before, Ross and Rachel had every reason to be engaged by the final few minutes. They already had a baby together, they've already been married (!), and the only thing lacking was them confessing their true love for each other, which they did. Rumors claim the original ending had Ross proposing to Rachel, but it was cut. As always, fans can't have it all. Still, as series finales go, this was a good one. Believe me when I say that, because I've seen some real stinkers. Mad About You comes to mind, as does The Wonder Years. This finale was different. Let the agnostic TV couch potatoes say that they wanted something more pivotal, like a death or something. Of course they feel that way, because they felt absolutely nothing for either the series, or its characters. For fans of the series, this was a great ending...and bad pun notwithstanding, isn't that what Friends are for?
The DVD: Okay, so with the full season sets out in full swing, it's a foregone conclusion this finale will be offered with the full final season, in the next two years, at most. However, if you want the finale itself, this $10 DVD is a steal. It's an even bigger steal when you consider the extras. For one, there's the two versions of the finale: the broadcast version, and the "director's cut." The unedited version --which will probably never air on regular TV, due to its additional length-- clocks in at just 2 and a half minutes more than the broadcast version. These moments are almost entirely just before the main credits, with Phoebe and Joey packing boxes at Monica and Chandler's apartment (with a cute joke of how Joey decides to label some boxes), Monica and Chandler arriving at the maternity wing of the hospital only to go into the wrong labor room, and a prelude to Rachel and Ross' night together, where they wonder if they're doing the right thing, only to conclude that's never stopped them in the past. In short; the directors cut is, admittedly, only for real, tired and true, diehard Friends fans. If that applies to you, enjoy! Added to the two finale versions is the original pilot episode. This is a nice touch: for ten bucks, even the most agnostic of fans can have both the premiere and the finale, preserved forevermore on one disc. In addition are some cute video clips, including 10 seasons' worth of the opening credit sequence (showing how the series, and the stars, have changed in ten years), and the original series theme song's music video by The Rembrandts. Is this enough for extras? Well, for some people, I've heard the answer is "no," though come on: what did you expect? Bloopers and outtakes would probably be best left for the season sets. For ten bucks, you get two versions of the finale, and the pilot episode, plus a ten-season-long timeline of opening credits, and a music video. For ten bucks that's a steal if you ask me. I mean, condescending tones held at bay: what did you expect for ten bucks? Exactly. Fans: go get this DVD now.
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