most of the show's legions of fans wanted." Newsday's Noel Holston called the episode "sweet and dumb and satisfying," while Roger Catlin of The Hartford Courant felt that newcomers to the series would be "surprised at how laughless the affair could be, and how nearly every strained gag depends on the sheer stupidity of its characters." An editorial in USA Today highlighted the view of many critics who found problem with the aging cast, commenting, "Friends was getting creaky even as it remained popular." Heather Havrilesky of Salon.com said that despite the "nauseating hype and the disappointing season and the lackluster finale, it's important to remember what a great show this was for such a very long time." Ken Parish Perkins of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram gave the finale a B grade, calling it "more touching than comical, more satisfying in terms of closure than knee-slappingly funny." Response from the staff The cast members reportedly got together in Los Angeles; David Schwimmer, who plays Ross, said, "It's exactly what I had hoped. We all end up with a sense of a new beginning and the audience has a sense that it's a new chapter in the lives of all these characters." At the taping of the episode, the cast and crew passed around yearbooks, custom-made by the production staff, and signed them for each other. The cast gave the producers inscribed Cartier SA watches, while the producers gave the cast Neil Lane jewelry. As the sets were broken down, the cast and crew each got a chunk of the street outside Central Perk in a glass box as a keepsake. There were three separate wrap parties—a dinner at the Aniston-Pitt residence on January 19, 2004, a sit down at cast hangout Il Sole in West Hollywood on January 22, and a big party for 1,000 guests on January 24 at Los Angeles' Park Plaza Hotel. At the party at the Park Plaza Hotel, The Rembrandts performed the theme song of Friends, "I'll Be There for You", and the cast gave a re-enactment of the pilot episode's first scene. References External links Friends (season 10) episodes American television series finales 2004 American television episodes