According to IMDB, "The One With The Embryos" is the best episode of the fourth season of Friends. The episode may actually be considered one of the most memorable of the entire series. While there have been countless fantastic episodes of Friends since the pilot first aired, even the creators of the show claim that "The One With The Embryos" was instrumental to the series' success. Here's why...
The Importance Of Having Stakes In The Competition
In an interview with TV Guide,
Friends' co-creators Marta Kauffman and David Crane, as well as their
writing staff, explained why "The One With The Embryos" really defined
why Friends was a great show. Additionally, they claimed that this
episode was hugely important to the success of Friends as it
authentically explored what made the series special. The episode, which
was the 12th episode of the fourth episode and aired in January 1998,
featured two main storylines; one with the competition between the
majority of the cast that resulted in the loss of Monica and Rachel's
apartment to Joey and Chandler.
"What's really fun about that episode is when that game starts, you don't think they're actually going to go through with the switch if the girls lose," David Crane said in the interview with TV Guide. "It feels like fake stakes or [what] we used to call 'schmuck bait'. You create some sort of storyline where you know so-and-so is never going to leave the show and all those things that they do on shows where you go, 'It's bullsh** stakes.' In this case, we went with, 'What if this is what's on the table and it actually happens?' And then they're in different apartments for almost the rest of the season. The discussion was if we do it, we have to stick to it. We can't just go, 'Oh, next week, they switch back.' If we're doing it, we're doing it. It felt crazy because that was Monica's apartment and yet, let's own it."
The choice to
actually give stakes to a storyline that could've just been about laughs
made the show unique in comparison to most sitcoms. Even today, sitcoms
don't seem to explore any genuine character stakes, even if they are
just kinda funny ones like in the completion. Of course, losing her
grandmother's apartment to Joey and Chandler was emotionally tough for
Monica, which made it significant and memorable. The same goes for
Rachel, who really didn't want to live in the boys' lesser apartment.
"On a typical sitcom, the idea is to go on a journey that takes you back to your starting point. That's in some ways what was fresh about Friends," Amy Toomin Straus, a producer and co-writer of the episode, explained. "We were allowed to do all kinds of crazy stuff. That's ultimately what's satisfying for the viewer. You're going, 'They're going to buy out of this.' [But] no, the fact that they switched apartments and it stayed that way for many episodes is exciting. And for the writers, it was like, yay! New stories! That is one of the most satisfying parts of writing on Friends: You could just go for it."
By not pulling their punches, the writers of the show had a chance to create new and dynamic stories for that plotline. But, more importantly, they were able to make similar decisions in subsequent seasons. Things like Chandler and Monica's relationship or Rachel getting pregnant weren't just gimmicky things. They didn't disappear by the end of an episode, or even a season. They had real stakes and impacted the trajectory of the entire show.
The Pheobe Storyline Made The Episode Heartfelt But Excemplified Why People Love Friends
The balance of that tug
on the heart and the absurd comedy is what makes Friends special. Think
about it... Almost every memorable moment on the show had both something
emotional and absurd going on at once. This can certainly be said of
Pheobe speaking to her embryos.
Without a doubt, "The One With The Embryos" is one of the best Pheobe episodes of Friends thanks to the authentic moments of Pheobe receiving the embryos from her brother and his wife and ultimately becoming pregnant. Not only was the writing for this storyline topnotch, but Lisa Kudrow's performance really made a splash.
"Phoebe's speech to the embryos is my favorite part of the show for several reasons. It plays in one shot. I think it's just the sweetest monologue, talking to a petri dish. That's my favorite scene," executive producer and director Kevin S. Bright explained to TV Guide. "I didn't want a cut. If we had a cut, it would've kind of spoiled it and I think it's the type of speech where she as an actor wants to show, 'I know this whole speech. You don't have to cut it up.' It probably took two takes. The [biggest] reason is my kids were born at the beginning of Friends, like right after the pilot. They were in vitro, so I had a connection to this episode as far as Phoebe's brother and his wife not being able to conceive. I think our best episodes are the ones where we do stories about things that are happening in the world that really affect people's lives, and sometimes be really tender about how they affect people's lives. And the ability to take a step back and have a laugh about it is a really incredible thing."
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