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13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Move over Ross and Rachel, here comes Chandler and Monica, January 2, 2004
You have to admire the symmetry of "Friends: The Complete Fifth Season," which opens with Ross getting married and ends with Ross getting married. It reminds me of "Gone With the Wind," which begins with Scarlet pining for a man she cannot have and ends the same way. However, the key difference is that Monica and Chandler are a lot more fun than Ashley and Miss Melly ever were, that is for sure. For that reason Season Five is important in the "Friends" chronology, because it begins the second half of the series, which is operationally defined by the fact that as this point the Monica-Chandler relationship is suddenly transformed from a joke in the finale from the previous season into a driving force for both the season and the series. Even though we are now starting the final half of the final season, I think a lot of "Friends" fans are rooting more for Monica to adopt a baby (if not for Monica to actually be pregnant), then they are at this point for Ross and Rachel to finally end up together for the final time. While not as good as the fourth season, this one once again shows that having multiple story arcs for most of the characters is what works best for the series.Best Shows of the Fifth Season: "The One After Ross Says Rachel," not just because Ross is trying to salvage his new marriage before it is even official, but because Monica and Chandler cannot keep their hands or their thoughts off of one another; "The One with All the Kissing," because of the stupid Not-in-New York rule, Rachel's heartfelt admission to Ross, and Phoebe's water breaking; "The One with All the Resolutions," because Chandler is not allowed to make fun of Ross's new leather pants; "The One Where Everybody Finds Out," because they don't know that we know they know we know and because Chandler knows something none of those that think they know happen to know; and "The One in Vegas Part 2," because of the power of a hard eight. This season has one of my favorite story arcs, as Monica and Chandler try to keep their romance secret from as many Friends for as long as possible, but there are also a lot of episodes that are average at best (e.g., "The One with the Yeti," "The One Where Ross Moves In," "The One Where Rachel Smokes") to drag it down a bit. I was thinking that this season was going to grade out at a 4.5 that would get rounded up just for the surprise ending that no one every saw come (which, strangely enough, would explain why it was a surprise), but there are just too many average episodes ("The One with the Inappropriate Sister," "The One With Joey's Bag," "The One Where Ross Can't Flirt," etc.). When I realized that there were more episodes on my average list than on my best list, I had to revise my rating appropriately. Yet this season has some of my favorite moments that the highs stopped me from seeing the lows.
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