| The One That Could Have Been |
Article Index for The One |
Shopping Could |
Articles about The One That Could Have Been |
Website Links For One |
Information AboutThe One That Could Have Been |
| CATEGORIES ABOUT THE ONE THAT COULD HAVE BEEN | |
| friends episodes | |
| 6-15 | |
| 6-16 | |
|
"The One That Could Have Been" is the fifteenth and sixteenth episode of season six of the Television Situation Comedy '' Friends ''. It first aired as a double-length episode on February 17 , 2000 PLOT Part I , and his wife Mindy (who was slated to be Rachel's maid of honor) are getting a Divorce . Joey hears the word "divorce" and goes immediately to Ross . This gets the gang to wondering how their lives would be different if certain things had (or hadn't) happened. Rachel wonders what her life would be like if she had gone through with her marriage to Barry . Ross wonders how things would be if Carol hadn't realized she was a Lesbian . Monica wonders what things would be like if she were still overweight. Joey wonders what things would be like if he'd never been fired from '' Days Of Our Lives ''. Chandler ponders what would've happened if he'd quit his data processing job to become a freelance writer. And Phoebe wonders how things would be different if she had taken a massage client's advice and taken a job at Merrill Lynch . She explains that she turned the job down because she was going through a period where she thought everything that rhymed was true - i.e., if you sold Stocks you had to live in a Box , eat Lox , and have a pet Fox . The show then cuts to the alternate reality: Ross is buying a magazine at the news stand when he runs into someone he hadn't seen in years - Rachel Green-Farber. Ross mentions that his sister Monica is just down the road, and that Rachel should say hi. She agrees to go to the coffeehouse with him. A portly Monica is hanging out at Central Perk with her boyfriend, the boring Dr. Roger, and her actor friend Joey Tribbiani. After Dr. Roger "entertains" them with useless trivia about Hazelnuts , a depressed Chandler comes in. He got yet another rejection letter - Archie Comics didn't like his story. Knowing he's short on cash, Monica suggests that Chandler try to make a few extra bucks by working as Joey's assistant. Joey and Chandler both jump at the idea. Greedy stockbroker Phoebe enters, trying to make a deal; she's followed by Ross and Rachel. Rachel is stunned to see that Monica hasn't lost any of the weight from school. She's stunned even further when she sees Joey coming back from the bathroom - she's a huge Days fan. Later, Chandler starts his first day of work as Joey's assistant. Items on his to-do list include "Drop off my dry cleaning," "pick up my vitamins," and "teach me how to spell vitamins." Phoebe comes out of Monica's bedroom, panicking — there's been a dip in the market, and she has lost $13 million. Feeling stressed about whom to call, she has a heart attack. While visiting Phoebe in the hospital, Ross reveals that he's been doing a lot of Karate - he and Carol are going through a sexual "dry spell."
Phoebe suggests he needs to "spice things up a little" - role playing, Toys , Ménage à Trois , etc. Meanwhile, Chandler's becoming wary of new boss Joey, as Joey's been beeping him with codes. One means "bring me food." Two, "I'm with a girl; bring us food." And three: "I'm lost and I can't find food." Joey takes Rachel on a tour of the set - and invites her back to his place. Married Rachel isn't sure if she should go or not. Chandler brings Joey back a glass of orange juice - and incurs Joey's wrath when he finds that not all the pulp is gone. Ross talks to Carol about the state of their sexual relationship. He suggests all sorts of things to do to spice things up. Carol doesn't like any of his suggestions until he mentions a Threesome , at which point she becomes very interested. Later, an excited Chandler announces that he's sold his first story to Archie Comics. He's based the story on his personal experiences with Joey, but fortunately Joey is too dense to notice, thinking he's read the story already. Rachel reveals to Monica that Joey's invited her to his place — and somehow finds out that Monica is still a Virgin . Monica later catches Phoebe smoking in the hospital, while Ross intercepts a phone call from Phoebe's boss telling her she's been fired. Ross, however, doesn't tell Phoebe right away. The episode ends with Rachel deciding to go to Joey's place after all. Naturally, he asks her to bring food. Part II Continuing with the alternate reality, Ross asks Carol where she's going to find a woman who'd be interested in participating in a Threesome . To his amazement, she has a list three pages long. He says talk of their impending threesome is getting him hot - but Carol wants to "save it." A frustrated Ross does some Karate moves. While visiting Phoebe in the hospital, Ross, Monica , and Chandler struggle with how to tell her she's been fired. Ross finally approaches the subject by suggesting she look for a different job, since the stockbroker career obviously stresses her out. Monica says she could pick up guitar again, or go back to her massage practice — ideas that aren't particularly lucrative, and ideas which greedy Phoebe hates. Chandler says if they tell her outright, it may kill her, but after she insults him, he says "But I think we should tell her." Rachel has decided to accept Joey 's invitation, and goes to his apartment for drinks. She admires some of his tacky stuff - the indoor rain sculpture and the big ceramic dog - before using his bathroom. Monica finally feels ready to have sex with Dr. Roger, so she prepares a romantic meal including Oysters (an Aphrodisiac ) and Couscous . But just as they're sitting down to eat, Roger gets paged to the hospital. Meanwhile, Ross and Carol are readying to have their threesome. The woman Carol picked — Susan Bunch — shows up; however, she focuses all her attention on Carol and ignores Ross. Chandler goes to Monica's to console her after Roger was paged away. After making fun of Roger's boring stories ("Here's some little known facts about couscous; they didn't add the second cous until 1979 "), Monica reveals to him that she's still a virgin. Chandler, who claims to have had sex with four women, wonders why; Monica says she was waiting for the perfect guy. She's not sure, however, that Roger was the perfect guy. Monica, worried that she's going to die a virgin, suggests that she and Chandler have sex. Rachel, by now thoroughly drunk, is making a spectacle of herself at Joey's. She falls off his couch and ends up drinking so much that after Joey kisses her, she throws up. She wakes up the next morning, feeling horrible because of the drinking, and because she was going to cheat on her husband. Joey gives her a ring (that he stole from the set) to remind her that she is a good person. Her attempt at an affair was unsuccessful, but when she gets home, she finds Barry in bed with another woman. After some suggestion, and pointing out that it's just one friend helping another, Monica and Chandler agree to have sex. Chandler has some misgivings, as he doesn't want to disappoint her, but Monica points out that she has nothing to compare it to. After discussing their "moves" (or lack thereof, in Monica's case), Chandler tries to kiss her - but Monica giggles too much, so they turn the lights off. They do the deed - and both enjoy it so much they do it again. Chandler, however, is disappointed when Monica reveals she wants to sleep with Dr. Roger anyway. Ross tells Joey about his threesome, which wasn't as exciting as he'd hoped. He managed to have sex with Carol, but Susan kept "kicking me away," and he even left partway through to make a sandwich — and they didn't miss him. Phoebe, going stir-crazy in the hospital, sneaks out and goes back to work, not knowing she's been fired. After learning she really has been fired for losing $13 million, she has another heart attack. Rachel storms into Central Perk looking for Joey and finds Ross instead. She vents about the fact that she found Barry in bed with their dog walker, and Ross vents about his failed threesome. Rachel points out that maybe Carol is a Lesbian . Ross denies this at first, but realizes she's right. Chandler goes over to see Monica, who is disappointed because Roger was beeped again. Chandler reveals that he's the one who beeped Roger away — he couldn't stop thinking about Monica, and felt she deserved better than Roger. He wants to date her, but knows he's never been in a serious relationship and isn't a doctor, but apparently Monica doesn't care about all that and kisses him. During the closing credits, Phoebe is back to singing at Central Perk, about how two heart attacks make you see what's important in life (as soon as the bastards she worked for die). PRODUCTION In keeping with the theme of this episode, the opening credits depict the various Friends as they 'could have been': Rachel is shown in bed with Barry, fat Monica is shown eating, stock broker Phoebe is arguing with someone on her cell phone, Ross is trying to get intimate with Carol, who keeps shaking him off, Joey checks out a girl as she walks away and Chandler is shown falling asleep at his computer.
ADDITIONAL CAST
|
|
|