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Matthew Perry's Chandler Bing was always funny. But Friends Season 5 is where he became something more — and it changed what the entire show was.After the chaos of the Season 4 finale (Ross said Rachel's name at the altar, in case you forgot), Season 5 had to rebuild everything from scratch. And it did it through Chandler and Monica's secret romance — one of the best slow-burn relationship arcs in '90s television history, anchored by Matthew Perry's best performance in the entire run.

This is my '90s pop culture deep dive into Friends Season 5: Chandler and Monica going public, Joey finding out and reacting perfectly, Ross's annulment disaster, and "The One in Vegas" proving this show could do anything it wanted.

What I cover:

Chandler and Monica: why their relationship worked when Ross and Rachel's kept imploding

Joey finding out — and why his loyalty made him the emotional heart of this season

Ross's annulment disaster and why he was somehow still the most chaotic character

Matthew Perry in Season 5: the best acting performance in the entire Friends run

"The One in Vegas" — the bottle episode that proved Friends had no ceiling