Episode 5 - TOW Phoebe's Birthday Dinner
20 January 2009
Synopsis: Phoebe invites all the friends out to a fancy restaurant for her birthday. Chandler smokes in Tulsa and when he returns Monica finds out. She is angry at him but she wants to have sex as she is ovulating. Rachel is reluctant to leave Emma for the first time. The Good: By focusing on the friends being late for dinner, the writers keep this episode moving and manage to fit in enough good jokes to make it work. Ross is good, both with his mocking of Rachel’s paranoia and his own embarrassed reactions to his mother’s story about him. Joey and Phoebe do a good job in the restaurant of keeping things funny. Meanwhile Chandler and Monica are actually involved in a decent story where she deceives him in order to get pregnant. It’s a nice twist and his indignation raises an interesting ethical question about what she did. The Bad: Unfortunately they just resolve that story without further ado which is a real waste and evidence that the writers didn’t know where they were going with it. This episode is meant to lead Phoebe to demonstrate where her character is going – as she leaves the group to be with Mike. If he weren’t such a bland character this might be a nice moment, but instead it doesn’t make much impact. Best Line: (C) “You know what actually I just got off a plane so I’m feeling kind of gross. Maybe I should just take a shower.”
(M) “Come here, you don’t need a shower.”
(C) “Alright the truth is…I soiled myself during some turbulence.” Best Friend: Chandler
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