Emily's cousin kicks Ross out of the apartment
they were to live in, so he moves in with Chandler and Joey. Ross is more
than a little obnoxious, so Chandler and Joey pressure him to move to a
new place... even if it's tiny. Their guilt gets the better of them, however,
and they arrange for Ross' application to be rejected. Phoebe dates a Larry,
a health inspector she met at Monica's restaurant. At first she is turned
on by his power to close places down, but soon realizes that they're running
out of good places to eat. Rachel is convinced that Danny likes her and
that his apparent apathy toward her is just a ploy to gain the upper hand
in their relationship.
508 The One With All The Thanksgivings
After Thanksgiving dinner at Monica's, the gang
tells stories about their worst Thanksgivings
ever. In a series of flashbacks, we see Chandler
learning of his parent's divorce (1978); Phoebe losing an arm (twice) in
past lives (1862 and 1915); Joey with his head in a turkey (1992); Chandler
hurting Monica's feelings (1987); and Monica getting a little more revenge
than she planned, when Chandler loses a toe (1988).
509 The One With Ross's Sandwich
Joey lets himself look bad in order to explain
away various discoveries that could expose
Monica's and Chandler's relationship: underwear
in Monica's sofa; a lady's razor in his shower;
candlelight and videotape; a nude polaroid. He
threatens to tell everyone the truth unless
Chandler and Monica can come up with a story
that makes him look good. They don't come
through, so Joey creates a new lie: he slept
with Monica in London and she's been after him ever since. Phoebe takes
a literature class; Rachel decides to come with her, but doesn't bother
to read the books. After Rachel steals her ideas in the first class, Phoebe
feeds Rachel misinformation about the second book. Ross has a problem with
rage after someone at work steals his Thanksgiving-leftovers sandwich.
After scaring his co-workers, yelling at his boss, and getting upset at
a psychiatrist, he gets put on tranquilizers.
510 The One With The Inappropriate Sister
Because of his boredom while away from work, Ross
offers to help Joey focus on writing a
movie. Things get a little tense, however, when
Ross wants Joey to work and Chandler wants to play 'Fireball.' Phoebe volunteers
to collect Christmas donations for the poor, but ends up
getting a bucket full of unwanted 'contributions,'
so she gets tough with the donors. Monica
arranges for Rachel and Danny to go out. It seems
to be going very well until Rachel discovers
that Danny has an unusually close relationship
with his sister, Krista.
511 The One With All The Resolutions
Joey makes it possible for Monica and Chandler
to kiss at midnight on New Years, by arranging
kisses between Ross and Phoebe, and Rachel and
himself. Everyone makes resolutions: Ross
will do one new thing everyday; Chandler will
stop making fun of his friends... for at least a
week; Rachel won't gossip; Joey will learn the
guitar; Monica will take more pictures of everyone together; and Phoebe
will pilot a commercial jet. While on a date with a new girl (Elizabeth
Hornswoggle) Ross' new pair of leather pants is so hot and tight that he
can't get them back on after taking them off to cool down in the bathroom.
He calls Joey for advice, which leads to attempts first with powder and
then with lotion, which just make things worse. Joey's guitar teacher is
Phoebe, who doesn't know any actual chord names. Rachel finds out about
Monica and Chandler, and is dying to tell someone; she tries to tell Joey
but he's so tired of keeping secrets, he won't listen. Chandler can't stand
holding in the wisecracks.
512 The One With Chandler's Work Laugh
Rachel tries to learn more about Chandler and
Monica's relationship; when Rachel confronts
her, Monica makes up some pretty lame lies to
cover it up. Ross finds out Emily is engaged to
be married again; he goes out on the town and
somehow hooks up with Janice. Their
relationship starts out great, but soon Janice
can't stand Ross's constant whining and she breaks it off. Chandler takes
Monica to a work party, as well as some outings with Chandler's boss and
his wife; Monica learns that 'Work Chandler' is a suck-up with an exaggerated
laugh. Phoebe and Joey race birds.
Chandler finds out Monica gives terrible massages
but doesn't want to tell her. When the truth comes out, Monica has a hard
time accepting it. Joey is auditioning for a sophisticated part in a play,
so Rachel offers to help him look the part. She outfits him at Bloomingdales,
and part of the ensemble is a "man's bag," which bears a striking resemblence
to a purse. Unfortunately, Joey's devotion to the bag ends up costing him
the audition. Phoebe's grandmother dies; Ursula, who thought grandma was
already dead, skips the memorial. The memorial does have one unexpected
guest, however--Phoebe's father, Frank Sr. Without revealing her true identify,
she arranges to meet with him later, at which time she reveals the truth...
but things are still a little awkward.
514 The One Where Everybody Finds Out
Ugly Naked Guy prepares to move, and Ross applies
to sublet the apartment. Competition for
the place is fierce, so when a bribe doesn't
seal the deal, Ross decides to cultivate and exploit a common interest--nakedness.
Phoebe, while looking at Ross' potential new apartment with Rachel, looks
out the window and sees Chandler and Monica "doing it." Phoebe and Rachel
decide to use their knowledge of this romance to play some practical jokes
on Monica and Chandler--jokes which include Phoebe making passes at Chandler.
Monica realizes they must know, so she and Chandler play along, and each
side tries to see who will crack first. Now everybody knows, except Ross.
...Until he gets the apartment, looks out the window, and
suddenly has a return of his rage problem.
515 The One With The Girl Who Hits Joey
Ross confronts Chandler about his relationship
with Monica; at first Ross is angry, but he
quickly sees the good in it. Ross, Joey, Rachel,
and Phoebe talk about what it will be like if
Chandler and Monica have kids. Chandler gets
a bit freaked out about the idea of a lasting
commitment and ends up in an argument with Monica.
In a misguided effort to apologize,
Chandler proposes marriage--an offer which Monica
does not accept. Meanwhile, Joey dates
Katie, a cute little woman who likes to punch
Joey's arm--a lot. It gets to be too much for Joey, and he decides to break
up with her--which he's very nervous about. Luckily, Katie nearly gets
in a fight with Rachel and threatens to walk out on Joey if he doesn't
take her side. He refuses and the relationship ends. Ross moves into his
new apartment; the president of the tenant's committee asks him to contribute
100 dollars toward's the retiring handyman's gift. Ross has never even
met the man, to he declines. Everyone in the building decides Ross is cheap
and not "their kind of people," so he stubbornly tries to win their friendship.
Things just get worse, however, despite (and a little because of) Phoebe's
efforts to help him.
Joey has a dream that Monica is his girlfriend;
Monica tells him it just means he wants a
relationship with the closeness that he sees
between herself and Chandler. She suggests he try being friends with a
woman before being intimate. After hitting on Rachel (unsuccessfully),
Joey tries to make friends with new women; but they find his "friends first"
approach so enticing that they want the intimacy immediately. Phoebe finds
a police badge under a cushion at the coffee house. She plans to return
it but has too much fun pretending to be a cop... until she pulls it on
the actual owner of the badge. She drops the badge and runs away; he tracks
her down and asks her on a date. Ross (accompanied by Rachel) buys a new
couch, but can't get it up the stairs to his apartment.
517 The One With Rachel's Inadvertent Kiss
Rachel has an interview at Ralph Lauren, where
she mistakenly kisses the interviewer (Mr.
Zelner). She gets called back for a second interview,
where she again mistakes Mr. Zelner's
actions and chews him out. Later, realizing her
mistake, she meets with him again, straightens things out, and gets the
job. Ross spends all his free time 'acting' in front of his window, thinking
it entertains his friends. Joey tries to find a woman who keeps waving
at him from Ross' building, but somehow keeps ending up at Ross' place
instead. Monica obsesses about proving that she and Chandler are still
a hot couple, like Phoebe and Gary. Chandler enjoys it for a while, but
eventually helps Monica see that their relationship has progressed to a
better level.
518 The One Where Rachel Smokes
Ben auditions for a soup commercial and Joey comes
along to try for a part as well. Things are
going great until Joey gets paired with another
child and it gets competitive. Joey has a little trouble with his line,
however. Rachel starts her new job at Ralph Lauren; she soon feels left
out because all the decisions get made on smoking breaks, and she doesn't
smoke. She tries to
solve the problem by taking up the habit; it
doesn't work out too well, so she convinces her
co-workers to quit... but that lasts about a
day. Phoebe and Monica plan a surprise birthday
party for Rachel. Monica, in her usual fashion,
takes over completely, leaving Phoebe in charge
of only cups and ice. Phoebe decides to make
the most of it; she makes everything imaginable
out of cups, and serves every kind of ice.
519 The One Where Ross Can't Flirt
Monica and Chandler are going out for their ten-month
anniversary; Chandler wants Monica to
wear the earings he gave her. However, she lent
them to Phoebe, who lent them to Rachel, who lost one. Ross sees Chandler
flirting with the pizza girl (Caitlin) and decides he's going to turn on
the charm as well, with disasterous results. Joey has a part on Law and
Order; his
grandmother comes over to watch the show, but
his part has been cut. Joey quickly improves a scene on video tape and
slips it into the VCR.
520 The One With The Ride-Along
Ross, Joey, and Chandler go on a ride-along with
Gary; thinking a car back-fire is actually a
gunshot, Joey dives and protects Ross from harm.
Chandler is upset that Joey chose to protect Ross... until he learns that
Joey was really trying to protect his sandwich. While getting Margarita
fixings as Ross' apartment, Rachel overhears Emily--who is getting married
the next day--leaving a message, wondering if their break-up was a mistake.
Monica and Rachel debate about what to do, and Rachel accidentally erases
the message. She stays and waits for Ross to return so she can tell him.
Gary decides to ask Phoebe to live with him. She
doesn't think it's a good idea, which makes him sad, so she ends up agreeing.
After some changes of heart (back and forth) they finally move in together...
until one morning Gary shoots a bird that's chirping outside the window.
Phoebe breaks up with him. Ross and Joey throw a ball back and forth without
dropping it for a couple hours; soon it becomes a contest, joined by Monica
and Chandler. Around the tenth hour, they invite Phoebe to join; unfortunatly,
she doesn't feel like playing. Rachel spends a thousand dollars on a pure-bred,
hairless Sphinx cat, like the one her grandmother had when Rachel was a
kid. Unfortunately, this cat is not very nice, and a scratched-up Rachel
ends up selling the cat to Gunther.
522 The One With Joey's Big Break
Rachel has an eye infection but doesn't want anyone
touching her eye. Monica finally gets her to a doctor but then Rachel won't
use the eyedrops. Everyone has to hold her down and force her to use them.
Phoebe is mad at Ross but can't remember why. Joey gets the lead role in
a
independent film called Shutter Speed, being
filmed in Las Vegas. He and Chandler start a road trip but Chandler lets
slip that he doesn't think this is Joey's big break, and gets kicked out
of the car. Joey makes it to Vegas but the movie is shutting down from
lack of funds, leaving Joey trying to make ends meet as a gladiator at
Caesar's Palace.
Monica runs into Richard but doesn't want Chandler
to know, because it might spoil their
anniversary. As an gift for Chandler, she gets
them tickets to Las Vegas. Phoebe invites herself, Ross, and Rachel along
as well. Phoebe compares everything about the trip to the London trip she
missed last year. Ross and Rachel have to work, so they plan to come a
day later. On the plane, Phoebe lets slip about Richard; Chandler tells
Monica he's okay with it; later, in Vegas, they end up fighting over it.
Meanwhile, Rachel (being alone in her apartment) decides to go around naked.
Ross sees her from his apartment and thinks she's coming on to him. He
goes over and makes an embarrassing scene. Rachel teases him about it the
next day on their flight, so they both start doing their best to embarrass
each other... a contest which is topped off by Ross drawing a mustache
on a sleeping Rachel. Joey admits to his friends that his film's been shut
down; he decides to play Black Jack to turn a $100 tip into enough money
to finish the movie. He loses, but discovers something much for valuable
(to him, at least): His identical hand twin. Monica, on her way to apologize
to Chandler, finds a chip on the floor and places a bet at a craps table...
and starts a winning streak. Chandler sees her celebrating and hugging
the person next to her... and he walks out.
Ross and Rachel arrive at the casino, where Rachel
quickly learns she is "a human doodle". The ink won't come off, so she
and Ross spend the day hiding in the hotel room, raiding the
mini-bar. Once they're completely drunk, Rachel
finally agrees to go back down to the
casino--after she draws on Ross' face. Phoebe,
playing the slots, is plagued by a lurker: An
elderly woman who follows her around, waiting
for her to give up a machine that hasn't paid out, then takes over and
hits the jackpot (a strategy with absolutely no basis in the laws of
probability). She decides to out-lurk the lurker;
but during a confrontation with her, Phoebe gets thrown out of the casino.
Joey tries to persuade his identical hand twin that they should go into
show business. He becomes such a nuisance that he gets thrown out, too.
Chandler makes a scene to get Monica's attention. They make up, and Monica
continues her winning streak playing craps. Chandler says if she rolls
another hard eight, they'll get married. The dice bounce off the table
and the roll is disqualified; one die shows a four, the other is on it's
edge between four and five. Chander decides it's a four. They arrive at
the wedding chapel and are waiting for the previous service to end, when
the chapel doors fly open and out walk the drunken Ross and Rachel, newly
married.