Friends Season 4 Episodes, Ranked (Part 2)

With part 1 of our official season four rankings (and part 1 and part 2 of season three) in the books, it’s time to countdown the very best episodes of the season. Season five reviews begin this week!

12. Episode 21 – “The One with the Invitation”

Clip shows have a bad rap, and usually for good reason – “The One with the Invitation”, however, earns its place as one of the better examples of how to use the budget-friendly format to push a story forward. The only of the six Friends clip shows with any narrative ambitions – to explore the insular emotions of Ross and Rachel, as the former careens towards an impromptu wedding – “The One with the Invitation” is not only full of iconic Ross and Rachel scenes, but a rather pointed observation of their relationship, and whether (at least to this point, the second half of the series notwithstanding) it was really something meant to be. For an episode of rehashed material, “The One with the Invitation” has a surprisingly reflective tone, one I wish the series more honestly examined through the remainder of the series.

11. Episode 9 – “The One Where They’re Going to Party!”

“The One Where They’re Going to Party” is another classic episode of three random plots Friends is able to pull together with a few solid third-act scenes. It does have its significance in the Friends mythology – Monica taking the job at Alessandro’s, Friends killing off a character for the second time – but where the episode really shines is resolving its three stories, especially with Sophie’s glee at Joanna’s death, and the three guys realizing the consequences of partying in your twenties when in your thirties.

10. Episode 3 – “The One with the Cuffs”

Devoid of context, “The One with the Cuffs” is a strange episode, mixing the incredibly volatile relationship Monica has with her mother, with a storyline where Joey gets fooled by a salesmen (played by Penn Teller, for some reason?) into buying an encyclopedia. However, as the first episode truly divorced from the rampant negativity and hostility of season three’s second half, “The One with the Cuffs” works because it feels like Friends getting back to a formula that works, putting Chandler into a squarely comedic plot (chained to a desk during sex play with Rachel’s boss) while it explored the generational divide between the Gellar family with some real heartfelt writing. Not a memorable episode, but one that felt like a series starting to find itself again.

9. Episode 19 – “The One with All the Haste”

Remembered for being the episode where Ross proposes to Emily, “The One with All the Haste” is one of the more thematically satisfying episodes of the season, using a Flowers for Algernon reference to provide a backdrop for pairing of Ross and Emily’s impulsive decision, with Monica and Rachel reaching their wit’s end with their current living situation. Even though the episode ultimately operates with a bit of a limited palette, it’s still a strong episode that does just enough to justify Ross’s decision – and features one of season four’s many satisfying plot twists, when Joey and Chandler discover they’ve been moved back into their old apartment.

8. Episodes 23 & 24 – “The One with Ross’s Wedding”

It’s almost hard to rank “The One with Ross’s Wedding”, a massive two-parter set in London on the eve of Ross and Emily’s wedding; it’s such a big episode of the series, full of British cameos, new sets, and the many dramas building up inside the hour, including the Gellar/Waltham wedding budget showdown, the venue being torn down early, Joey and Chandler’s arguing, and Phoebe’s attempts to keep Rachel from going to London.

It makes for a fever dream of an hour, one that effectively ignores some of the logical inconsistencies in its plot (like being honest about whether Rachel and Ross really belong together) and delivers two of the most iconic sitcom plot twists of all-time; Monica and Chandler hooking up, and Ross ‘accidentally’ saying Rachel’s name during his wedding vows. Of course, the former would prove to be the more impactful moment on the series – regardless, it ends one of the best, most consistent seasons of the series with a maximalist fervor I can still appreciate almost 30 years later.

7. Episode 6 – “The One with the Dirty Girl”

When Chandler buys Kathy an extremely personal gift for her birthday, Friends delivers one of its early standout episodes of season four in “The One with the Dirty Girl”. Though it may often be remembered for Rebecca Romijn’s guest appearance as the titular dirty girl, this episode is really a showcase for the depth in Matthew Perry’s performance, something the show always benefited from leaning into (even in its later, lesser seasons). It even has a funny, slightly morbid C plot, which finds Phoebe and Monica trying to get paid from a particularly cheap widow, another important stepping stone in Monica’s journey in the first half of season four.

6. Episode 18 – “The One with Rachel’s New Dress”

The lone highlight of the brief, forgettable Rachel/Joshua era, “The One with Rachel’s New Dress” takes what initially feels like a throwaway trio of plots – Ross’s paranoia around Susan, Chandler and Joey fighting over the name of Phoebe’s third triplet, and Rachel’s unfortunate attempts to seduce Joshua at his parent’s cabin – and turns it into one of the more potently reflective half hours of the season…. well, for at least two of the plots, there’s really no helping the dead-end Rachel/Joshua romance, and the episode smartly isolates her from the rest of the group. In doing so, it allows for some really heartfelt storytelling, where Ross and Carol reforge their friendship, and Phoebe and Chandler embrace over their shared attempt to break the generational traumas in their families – with those stories at its core, “The One with Rachel’s New Dress” is easily one of season four’s more emotionally resonant episodes.

5. Episode 17 – “The One with the Free Porn”

Years before the internet changed the conversation, “The One with the Free Porn” asked an important question”: would free porn be too much of a good thing? Oddly enough, that question provides the foundation for one of season four’s most well-constructed half hours, a thoroughline it explores with Ross’s decision to declare his love for Emily and Phoebe’s discovery she’s going to be a surrogate mother to triplets. It ends up being more funny than it is contemplative (and it’s debatable whether it really earns its Ross/Emily ending, the two confessing each other’s love on opposite coasts), but its undeniably effective, especially in setting the stage for the final act of season four.

4. Episode 8 – “The One with Chandler in a Box”

The best of Friends‘s iconic Thanksgiving episodes, “The One with Chandler in a Box” is a fantastic topper to the first act of season four, putting Joey and Chandler’s friendship to the test as they deal with the fallout of Chandler kissing Kathy. It does so, despite having one of the grossest subplots in Friends history, when Monica briefly entertains the idea of dating Richard’s son Timothy (something the rest of the group never really lets her off the hook for, thank goodness) – and one of the more combative, raw interactions between Ross and Rachel, as they fight over Rachel’s perceived lack of sentimentality when it comes to their relationship. For a holiday episode, “The One with Chandler in a Box” is a rather vulnerable episode for multiple characters, heightening a predictable set of stories with some incredible performances, and just enough pathos to realize some of the season’s potential.

3. Episode 7 – “The One Where Chandler Crosses the Line”

After Chandler discovers Joey is dating other women alongside Kathy, he can’t take it anymore – and in the process, kicks off one of the more meaningful, grounded emotional arcs in the series, as Chandler and Joey find the limits of their friendship being when Chandler kisses Kathy. Even more interesting about “The One Where Chandler Crosses the Line” is how it features one of the only good Phoebe/Ross pairings of the series (when Ross reveals his musical ‘talents’ to the world, making Phoebe insanely envious) – and also is one of the more fascinating extended episodes of the series, with an entire third plot of Rachel learning how to date (and break up) with herself. There’s really a lot going on this episode – but the episode does an incredibly job balancing these elements, a great example of season four’s subtly reflective, poignant qualities, and how the season had radically reshaped itself after its toxic, disappointing third season.

2. Episode 11 – “The One with Phoebe’s Uterus”

“The One with Phoebe’s Uterus” is the beginning of Friends‘s most powerful individual emotional journey, when Frank Jr. and Alice ask Phoebe to carry a surrogate child for them, and she hesitantly agrees. An episode about fear and faith (which also features Joey seeking equality during his brief career at Ross’s museum, and Chandler’s bedroom anxiety with Kathy), “The One with Phoebe’s Uterus” spends its running time exploring how its characters react to uncomfortable ideas, how they find comfort and conviction in the support they find in their core group of friends. It’s one of the more powerful examples of Friends‘s emotional pathos in the series, a phenomenal episode that would top an episode ranking of most episodes of the series – if it wasn’t also an incredibly effective setup for the episode to follow.

1. Episode 12 – “The One with the Embryos”

“The One with the Embryos” is my favorite episode of Friends, the episode where Phoebe makes the choice to become a surrogate mother, and Ross prepares a trivia game for the ages. On these two parallel tracks, Friends delivers its most poignant, funny, revealing episodes ever, as Phoebe faces the pressure of trying not to disappoint Alice and Frank Jr. (and, you know, not waste their entire life savings), and the teams of Joey/Chandler and Monica/Rachel unveil some juicy Friends factoids as they fight for money – and eventually, Moncia’s apartment.

“The One with the Embryos” is an episode rich with character, pathos, and humor; if there’s a perfect episode of the series, this one is it, something it reinforces when everyone gathers for Phoebe to reveal the exciting news of her pregnancy (a moment that comes after the climactic fight between the two teams is resolved, a neat little slight of hand one would never expect from Friends). There’s a reason it is the only A+ grade I’ve ever given on this website; it is a timeless example of everything the series was capable of, the episode where everything clicked into place and Friends embodied all of the elements, comedic and emotional, that made it the iconic, generation-spanning hit it still remains, nearly 30 years since its debut.