"The Last One" is the series finale of the American sitcom Friends. Originally shown in its entirety, the episode's two parts were classified as the seventeenth and eighteenth episodes of the tenth season, and the 235th and the 236th episodes overall. It was written by series creators David Crane and Marta Kauffman and directed by executive producer Kevin S. Bright. The series finale first aired on NBC in the United States on May 6, 2004, when it was watched by 52.5 million viewers, making it the most watched entertainment telecast in six years and the fifth most watched overall television series finale in American history as well as the most watched episode from any television series throughout the 2000s decade on American television. In Canada, the finale aired simultaneously on May 6, 2004, on Global, and was viewed by 5.16 million viewers, becoming the second-highest viewed episode of the series.
The series finale closes several long-running storylines. Ross Geller (David Schwimmer) confesses his love for Rachel Green (Jennifer Aniston), and they decide to resume their relationship; and Monica Geller (Courteney Cox) and Chandler Bing (Matthew Perry) adopt twins and move to the suburbs. The episode's final scene shows the group leaving Monica and Chandler's apartment for the final time and going for one last cup of coffee together.
Prior to writing the episode, Crane, Kauffman and Bright watched finales from other sitcoms for the inspiration. Kauffman found that she liked the ones that stayed true to the series. Filming took place at Warner Bros. Studios in Burbank, California; part one was filmed on January 16, and part two on January 23, making it the only episode that was filmed in 2004. The series finale was well received by critics and the cast members.
Phoebe Buffay and Joey Tribbiani pack the belongings of Monica Geller and Chandler Bing, who have accompanied Erica to the hospital. Rachel Green leaves Ross Geller's bedroom after their apparent reunion in the previous episode. Erica gives birth to twins, much to the surprise of Monica and Chandler, who were expecting only one child. At his apartment, Joey shows Phoebe his house-warming gift for Monica and Chandler: a chick and duckling to replace the ones that died. Ross arrives and confesses to the pair that he slept with Rachel. Rachel emerges from her bedroom and, to his disappointment, tells Ross that their night together was "the perfect way to say goodbye".
Later at the Central Perk café, Phoebe convinces Ross to tell Rachel how he feels about her before she leaves for her new job in Paris. As he is about to tell her, Central Perk manager Gunther confesses his love for Rachel. Back at Monica and Chandler's apartment, Ross decides not to tell Rachel, for fear of rejection. She prepares to leave to catch her flight, but waits long enough for Monica and Chandler to return with the twins, named Erica (after their biological mother) and Jack (after Monica and Ross's father). After Rachel leaves, Ross has a change of heart, and Phoebe takes him in her taxi to follow Rachel to the airport.
Joey returns to his apartment to fetch the chick and the duck he was hiding, but finds they have become trapped in the foosball table. Chandler and Joey decide to break it open with a crowbar and mallet when they cannot find any other way of getting the birds out, but find themselves too emotionally attached to the foosball table to break it, but Monica does it gleefully. After they retrieve the birds, Chandler suggests Joey keep them, and the two reaffirm their friendship with a long, tense hug.
Phoebe's reckless driving gets her and Ross to JFK Airport and, after buying a ticket to get past security, they search the information boards for Rachel's flight number. When they cannot locate her flight on any of the information boards, Ross calls and checks the number with Monica but discovers they are at the wrong airport; as Rachel is flying out of nearby Newark Airport. Phoebe calls Rachel, who has already boarded her flight, to stall her for time. When a passenger overhears Phoebe saying there is a problem with the fictitious "left phalange" of the plane, he gets off the plane, prompting everyone else to leave.
Phoebe and Ross arrive at the airport as Rachel boards the plane again. Ross tells her he loves her, but she is unable to deal with his confession and gets on the plane anyway. A dejected Ross returns home and finds a message from Rachel on the phone. As she realizes that she loves him too, she tries to get off the plane as a flight attendant tries to force her to sit down. The message cuts off and Ross frantically tries fixing the answering machine, wondering out loud if she got off the plane. From behind him, Rachel appears and says she did, and they get back together for good. The following morning, the friends gather in Monica and Chandler's empty apartment and reminisce about how all of them had lived there at one point or another. With some time remaining before Monica and Chandler leave for their new house, the six all leave their keys to the apartment on the kitchen counter and decide to go for one last cup of coffee together, to which Chandler quips, "Where?" and they all laugh as they head down the hallway. The final shot shows the empty apartment, slowly panning around from the living space to the front door as Jefferson Airplane's "Embryonic Journey" plays.
The series' creators completed the first draft of the hour-long finale in January 2004, four months prior to its airing on May 6. Before writing the episode, David Crane, Marta Kauffman and Kevin S. Bright decided to watch the series finales of other sitcoms, paying attention to what worked and what did not. Kauffman found that they liked the ones which stayed true to the series, and they found the finale of The Mary Tyler Moore Show to be the gold standard. The writers had difficulty writing the finale, and spent several days thinking about the final scene without being able to write a word. Crane said that they did not want to do "something high concept, or take the show out of the show".
The music playing as the camera pans across the empty apartment at the end of the episode is "Embryonic Journey" by Jefferson Airplane. The song "Yellow Ledbetter" by the band Pearl Jam is also featured in the episode—after Rachel boards the plane for the first time—making it the first Pearl Jam song to be licensed for a television show. A spokesperson for the group said it was, "simply a matter of the show's producers asking permission".
The episode was filmed in Burbank, California on Stage 24 at Warner Bros. Studios, where Friends had been filmed since its second season. The first part was taped on January 16, and the second on January 23, 2004. After the series finale, Stage 24 was renamed "The Friends Stage".
A month before the filming of the final episode, Aniston said that with each episode it got "harder just to read the lines." She explained that the cast was "all just nerves and raw emotions ... No one knows how to feel. We may need to be sedated on the last night." The producers promised a tearful ending, and the cast admitted their crying was not faked when they filmed their scenes. LeBlanc revealed it had been too much for him and the rest of the cast; he said Kudrow started crying first, and when he looked at Aniston and Cox they also appeared emotional. Schwimmer, who LeBlanc thought was the "consummate professional", was also upset, so LeBlanc "just lost it." Maggie Wheeler, who played Chandler's "on and off" girlfriend Janice, told People, "the entire cast had to go back and have their makeup redone before starting," and that Perry broke the tension by saying, "Somebody is gonna get fired." Perry told the New York Daily News that he did not cry, "but I felt like I was about to for like seven hours."
Although it was planned that some key scenes of the episode would be filmed without an audience to avoid leaks of plot spoilers, the producers decided not to worry about the issue and filmed it all in front of the live studio audience. The producers also instigated the rumor that multiple endings would be filmed; in fact, only one was planned and shot.