Friends - The Complete Third Season

Customer reviews:

"We were on a break!", 2008-08-22
Friends - The Complete Third Season is definitely a standout season in my opinion. The cast really became like a unit the third season, their chemistry is strong and quite rare. Season 3 is full of gems like the releationship and sad break-up of Ross and Rachel. Joey and Chandler have some new pets - a chick and a duck! Monica tries to get over break-up from Richard and dates a billionaire named Pete towards the end of the season. Phoebe is probably the most genuine and funniest character, love her performance in The One with the Dollhouse. Excellent season, I highly recommend it, enjoy!

A truly great season, 2008-03-04
While Friends has always struck me as a show that hit the ground running, the third season is where it really hits its stride. It's at this point that the show becomes about more than funny episodes as it's the season when we really start to learn a lot about the characters. Perhaps reviewing this season is most easily done by highlighting the episodes that contribute to each character's story arc.

Monica's season is off to a bad start as she does her best to try to get over Richard. It's also the first time that we really begin to see just how desperately she wants to have children, as evidenced by "The One with the Jam". This is a theme that becomes very central to her character, all the way up until the show's final episode. We also get to see Monica fall in love with a guy to whom she is initially not attracted and who seems to be the perfect man until he begins to pursue a rather suicidal goal. "The One with the Tiny T-Shirt", "The One with a Chick and a Duck" and "The One with the Ultimate Fighting Champion" are central to this story arc.

For Rachel, everything seems to be going really well--except for her job. The much celebrated Ross and Rachel relationship is in full swing at the start of the season but things start to break down in episodes like "The One with All the Jealousy" where Ross can't deal with Rachel's handsome new coworker and friend. I particularly like how Rachel begins to come into her own this season and realize that she can follow her passion in life rather than marking time at the coffee shop. While she is happy with Ross, she also begins to appreciate the value of having her own career and of doing something solely for her own fulfillment.

Phoebe begins to learn more about her origins in this season and her storyline is very much enhanced by the priceless episodes in which guest star Giovanni Ribisi plays her half brother, who she meets in "The One with Frank Jr." We also find out about Phoebe's past musical career aspirations in "The One with Phoebe's Ex-Partner" whose ending is simply classic as said partner sells Phoebe out once more, this time by pitching "Smelly Cat" to a kitty litter company. By the end of the season, Phoebe learns the shocking truth about her parents in "The One at the Beach", which is a packed episode due to its advancing multiple plotlines.

Joey shows unexpected sensitivity this season when he falls in love with a haughty co-star and then has his heart broken. It's particularly funny to watch him call all of the women he has slept with in the past ("The One with the Dollhouse") so that he can apologize to them for treating them the way he himself has just been treated. "The One with the Screamer" is also classic Joey because we are treated to a snippet of a scene from one of the downright awful plays in which he has the lead role.

Chandler's on-again-off-again relationship with the sweet but irritating Janice continues into this season with the particularly funny "The One with the Metaphorical Tunnel" in which Chandler gets a bit overzealous in his rush to prove he's over his fear of commitment and then commiserates with Rachel and Monica. Janice exits the scene once more when Joey witnesses something in the hilarious "The One with the Race Car Bed" that will ultimately lead to the dissolution of that relationship. In typical Chandler fashion, he then finds himself finding fault with yet another woman in "The One with Phoebe's Ex-Partner", though he is mature enough to admit that he's being rather terrible for it. At the end of the season, we begin to get a hint of the crush Chandler seems to be developing on Monica when in "The One with the Beach" he offers to be her boyfriend if she can't find another.

This is also a good season for the development of Ross and we begin to see just how petty he can be--but his pettiness is in equal measure to his kindness. He lets his outrageous jealousy get the best of him in "The One with All the Jealousy" and then he refuses to listen to Rachel and humiliates her at work in "The One Where Ross & Rachel Take a Break"--and then follows this up by sleeping with another woman. However, in "The One with the Tiny T-Shirt" we see how kind he can be and he follows this up with a selfless act which results in his missing his much-anticipated chance to be on the Discovery Channel.

Though there are so many varied plotlines during this season, we are shown over and over examples of the devotion these six people have to one another and I think it can't help but make the average viewer feel a bit envious.