Why I Don't Want To Watch The FRIENDS Reunion Episode

Why I won't watch FRIENDS reunion episode, maybe: The television reunion of the decade, nay century, is now live across select few OTT platforms. The Central Perk gang that we never met in real life, but still consider among people whom we know like the back of our hands, are back together after more than a decade-and-a-half. Naturally, Internet can't keep calm. I, for one, don't feel that I am up for a FRIENDS reunion, just yet.

Don't get me wrong, am not one of those "cool" creatures who look down upon this beloved sitcom, showing off their binder listing why is FRIENDS problematic, dated, and uncool, to anyone who would care. Nope, I love the show. Despite knowing that it hasn't aged well due to its all-white, heterosexual casting and plotline. Despite knowing that women don't have to be as stunning as Monica, Rachel to be unconditionally loved.

There is something about the show, a kind of comfort that it brings, that my brain switches off to all the criticism that is piled on it, and binges it every time I feel low, or bored, or numb. Does that make me a bad person? Maybe, weak would be the right word. But the fact remains, I like FRIENDS. I also have a Zee5 subscription in the family for some reason. I can also force myself to stay awake after my daughter sleeps, well at least once, to catch the special. So why don't I want to watch it?

Because I simply do not feel the need for this reunion. FRIENDS is one of those shows that nailed the elusive perfect ending. Despite some of us not being happy with the crowd-pleasing end given to the Ross-Rachel angle, we can still count FRIENDS among the shows whose end feels wholesome. In fact, I am willing to say that it is its near-perfect ending that gives the show its re-watch value. Just see what a bad ending did to Game of Thrones! How many people have re-watched the show after that debacle? Do we see people talking about it with fondness anymore? Hardly.

And that's where my hesitation stems from. What if the reunion ends up spoiling that perfect ending? We know that FRIENDS reunion is more about actors Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc, David Schwimmer and Matthew Perry than the characters they played. In a way, it is still about picking up from where we left. Can't we just let FRIENDS end on that picture frame surrounding the peephole on Monica's apartment door? To have these actors sit down for a conversation after so many years on the orange couch, about how the show impacted their lives make FRIENDS less comforting? I strongly feel, in times when comfort and smiles are hard to come by, this reunion poses a risk to take the charm away from a television show that despite being flawed always manages to make you feel good.

Maybe its the harrowing last few months that we have had, but what the heart desires now is a sense of normalcy and repetitiveness, that old episodes of FRIENDS always bring. So just for the time being perhaps, I'll stick to the reruns and ditch the reunion.

The views expressed are the author's own.