Why Friends Season 4 Episode 21 is the ‘worst’ episode in the show’s history

Across 10 seasons of Friends, one episode stands out for an unfortunate reason: Season 4 Episode 21 is the lowest-rated episode in the series, and it’s because of a simple reason.

Friends is arguably the quintessential binge-worthy TV show. Even before the rise of Netflix and streaming services, people would watch re-runs of the sitcom ad infinitum, hopping into the show at random points – or if you’re really old school, you may even own the boxset.

Some people may argue it hasn’t aged well (yawn!), but it may be the most iconic sitcom in TV history; something attested by the outpour of tributes across the world after Matthew Perry’s death.

Let’s just get one thing clear: there isn’t a bad episode of Friends, but some are better than others.

Season 4 Episode 21 is technically the worst episode, as it has the lowest IMDb rating: 6.9, the only episode to fall beneath the 7-10 bracket.

This is ‘The One with the Invitation’, and there are two good reasons why people don’t like it as much: it revolves around Rachel weighing up whether or not she should attend Ross and Emily’s wedding, one of the most frustrating and tiresome storylines; and, more importantly, it’s mostly made up of clips from previous episodes.

Warner Bros

Friends aired six clip shows: Season 4’s ‘The One with the Invitation’, Season 6’s ‘The One with Mac and C.H.E.E.S.E’, Season 7’s ‘The One with the Vows’, Season 8’s ‘The One with Joey’s Interview’, Season 9’s ‘The One with Christmas in Tulsa’, and Season 10’s ‘The One Where Chandler Gets Caught’. They’re all the lowest-rated episodes of their respective seasons.

It’s not that they’re unenjoyable – but for the most part, they don’t add anything new to any existing stories, and they feel like filler episodes.

“I recognize the need for the producers to stretch the budget, there’s a lazy quality to these episodes, and this one is no exception,” one IMDb user wrote on the Season 4 Episode 21 page.

“Would this arguably be the worst episode of Friends? Yes, probably but as a biased fan, I couldn’t help but give it a 10,” another commented.

Friends is available on Max (or Netflix if you have a VPN). In the meantime, check out other TV shows streaming this month.