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The One Where Joey Dates Rachel

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"The One Where Joey Dates Rachel" is the twelfth episode of the eighth season of Friends, which aired on January 10, 2002. This is one of the 10 episodes directed by actor David Schwimmer. In it, Phoebe gets Monica and Chandler a Ms. Pac-Man arcade machine and Chandler is desperate to get good at the game, Joey takes Rachel on a fake date to get her mind off her pregnancy, and Ross is excited to teach an advanced Paleontology class.

Plot[]

Phoebe gives Chandler and Monica a late wedding present: a fully working Ms. Pac-Man arcade cabinet. Phoebe ends up hogging the game and Monica gets frustrated. She asks Chandler for help to get Phoebe away from the game, but he won't because he's mad that he sucks at the game. Chandler plays it all day long to be better than Monica and Phoebe. He plays it so much that his hand freezes in a claw shape. When Monica gets home she sees that all the initials Chandler has entered in the high scores are dirty words. Ben is coming over soon to play the game, so Monica and Phoebe have to play and beat all of the high scores to erase the inappropriate initials. Phoebe ends up losing right as Ben walks through the door, yelling and swearing as Ross covers Ben's ears to avoid him from hearing.

When Joey mentions an upcoming date he's excited for, Rachel muses that she misses dressing up for romantic dates so Joey promises to take her out. He picks her up and brings her flowers, says no roommate talk, and they share what their secret moves are when they go on dates. They end up having a great time together and Joey starts to feel like he is developing a crush on her. This freaks Joey out to the point where he feels no connection on the date he was excited for, especially as she proves herself to be much more shallow than Rachel. Rachel seems to have no clue, as she absolutely does not feel the same at all. But Joey is visibly disturbed by these new feelings, which intensify when Rachel asks him to sit with her and hold her while watching the horror movie Cujo.

Ross is excited to begin teaching an advanced paleontology class alongside his regular one, however he learns just as his first class is ending that the advanced class is taught in a building across town. With the class just ten minutes away, Ross runs to make it but barely gets there before it finishes. Next time, he wears sneakers to work, bolts from his first class early and tries out a new route (one that apparently carries the risk of being hit by cars) and makes it, but is so exhausted he quickly collapses. Eventually, Ross finds a way to make it to the advanced class easily and in plenty of time; by wearing roller blades.

Cast and Crew[]

Main Cast[]

Jennifer Aniston - Rachel Greene
Courteney Cox - Monica Geller
Lisa Kudrow - Phoebe Buffay
Matt LeBlanc - Joey Tribbiani
Matthew Perry - Chandler Bing
David Schwimmer - Ross Geller

Supporting Cast[]

Krista Allen - Mable
Cole Sprouse - Ben Geller
Caryn Ward - Waitress
Matthew Yang King - Student
James Michael Tyler - Gunther (uncredited)

Crew[]

Directed By:
David Schwimmer

Written By:
Sherry Bilsing-Grahem

Quotes[]

[Phoebe got Monica and Chandler Ms. Pac-Man as her wedding gift for them.]
Phoebe: Do you really like it?
Monica: Are you kidding? I practically spent my entire childhood at the arcade. This is like... Oh, my, this is like my second favorite game!
Phoebe: Oh, really? What was your first?
Monica: Well, I - I really don’t remember the name of it.
Chandler: Well, what did it do?
Monica: Well, you just... you put a quarter in and, you know, pull - pull some handles and win like a candy bar or something.
Chandler: A vending machine?
Monica: Don’t feel bad for me! I won like every time!

[Rachel is getting ready for her fake date with Joey as there is a knock on the door.]
Rachel: Joey? Could you get that? [There is no answer and she goes and opens the door to Joey] What are you doing here? I thought you were in your room.
Joey: No, I’m picking you up for our date. These are for you. [hands her some flowers]
Rachel: Oh, lilies. Joey, they’re my favorite. Thank you.
Joey: And, a brownie! [hands her a bag with the brownie in it] Well, half a brownie. Actually, it’s just bag. It’s been a long walk from the flower shop and I was startin’ to feel faint, so...
Rachel: Oh, man! This is so great! I actually feel like I’m going on a real date! Although, I have a hint of morning sickness, and I’m wearing underwear that goes up to about... [snaps the waistband on her underwear that is just slightly below her breasts] ...there.
Joey: Hey, come on now, this is a real date. Uh, so... nice place you got here. Foosball, huh? Pizza box. Oh, a subscription to Playboy, my kind of woman.
Rachel: Yeah, actually that’s my roommate’s.
Joey: I would like to meet him. He sounds like a stand up guy.
Rachel: Ah, yes, but he’s very protective of me, so you’d better watch yourself.
Joey: Ah... Hey, so this roommate of yours... is he good looking?
Rachel: Hm-mmm.
Joey: Oh, yeah. It must be tough to keep your hands of him, huh?
Rachel: [laughs] Yeah, but I’m pretty sure he’s gay.
Joey: No, no, no, no, he’s not! No! Why are you trying to ruin the game? Come on!

Rachel: So, I get to see what Joey Tribbiani is like on a date. So, you got any moves?
Joey: No, no. I'm just myself, and if they don't like me for... [breaks down laughing] I'm sorry, I couldn't even get through that.

Joey: So, tell me one of your moves.
Rachel: Alright. So, where’d you grow up?
Joey: That’s your move? Boy, Rach, you’re lucky you’re hot.
Rachel: Come on, just answer the question!
Joey: [exasperated] Queens.
Rachel: And so, were - were you close to your parents?
Joey: Yeah, with my mom. Yeah, not so much with my dad.
Rachel: Why not?
Joey: I don’t know. I guess there’s just always been this distance, you know? I mean, we both try to pretend it’s not there, but it is.
Rachel: [sympathetic] Oh. [starts rubbing his wrist with her fingers] It’s gotta be rough.
Joey: Yeah, it is. It’s really tough. You know, sometimes I think... Wow! Nice move!
Rachel: Huh?
Joey: "Where’d you grow up," it’s so simple!
Rachel: Thank you. And now if you’ll excuse me, I have to go to the restroom.
Joey: Yeah.
[Rachel gets up and heads for the rest room.]
Rachel: And now you’re watching me walk away.
Joey: Yes, I am! Again so simple!

Joey: Between Monica, Phoebe, Chandler and Ross, if you had to - if you had to, who would you punch?
Rachel: No one, they are my friends. I wouldn't punch any of them.
Joey: Chandler?
Rachel: Yeah, but I don't know why.

Rachel: [Ross' advanced class is far away from his regular class] You were 50 minutes late to the class? What? Did you crawl there?!
Ross: No, I ran. It was really far, and when did people stop understanding the phrase, "Get the hell out of my way!"
Rachel: Well, why didn’t you just take a cab?
Ross: Ugh, between the traffic that time of day and all the one-way streets. it’ll take me twice as long. Besides, I teach the class three times a week. Who am I? Rockefeller?
Rachel: Well, you’re not gonna be able to keep doing this.
Ross: Well. I have to, okay? If I don’t, they’ll take the class away from me. And... I already put it in my family newsletter.
Rachel: Your what?
Ross: You’ve seen it, the Geller Yeller.
Rachel: Right. Wow!

[Phoebe plays Ms. Pac-Man.]
Monica: Oh, my God, Phoebe, you're on fire!
Phoebe: I know!
Chandler: One more score to go. You can do it! [touches Phoebe's shoulder]
Phoebe: Don't touch me.
Monica: [To Chandler] Don't touch her!
Chandler: All right. Go left, go left, go right, go right!
Phoebe: I can't, I can't! [she loses] NOOOOOOOOOOOO! You son of a bi-!
[Ben comes in with Ross. Epic music swells, drowning out Phoebe's 90-second curse-rant while Chandler covers his ears, Monica puts her hand on her forehead and Ross is trying to cover Ben's ears in despair.]
Ross: Phoebe!
Phoebe: Oh, hi, Ben. No, don't look at the machine!

Rachel: [Joey comes home from a date] Oh, thank God you're home. I'm watching Cujo.
Joey: [surprised] Alone?
Rachel: Yes... But what is wrong with this dog?
Joey: Hey, did you get to the part where they're trapped in the car, and Cujo's throwin' himself at the windshield?
Rachel: No, no... seriously, what's wrong with the dog?

Trivia[]

General[]

  • This is the last appearance of Ben Geller in the series, but he is later mentioned.
  • In "The One With Ross' Denial", Chandler wanted to turn Rachel's old room into a game room with vintage arcade games, but Monica was against it and turned it into a guest bedroom. Ironically, in this episode, Monica wants to put Ms. Pac-Man, a vintage arcade game, in the guest bedroom.
  • Chandler's red shirt is an indirect tribute for the attacks of September 11, with the words "United we Stand" emblazoned on it.
    • Also, there is an American flag to the left of the entrance in Joey and Rachel's apartment, which is also an indirect tribute for the attacks of September 11.
  • The "Fit Pregnancy" magazine Rachel reads at the beginning of the episode features Alex Kingston on the cover, best known for her work on "E.R." and "Doctor Who".
  • When Rachel goes to up the door for her date, the Magna Doodle shows a drawing of the famous sun and moon colliding art.
  • The scene in the restaurant when Joey starts laughing and says "I couldn't even get through that" was an adlib left in.
  • Rachel and Joey actually start dating at the end of next season, but break-up after one week after being unable to progress beyond the kissing stage.
  • Rachel feels upset after eating lobster. Ross is allergic to lobster. Phoebe famously referred Ross as Rachel's 'lobster' in "The One With The Prom Video".
  • Joey's date mentions the actor Stephen Baldwin. His older brother Alec Baldwin appears as Parker, Phoebe's over-enthusiastic boyfriend, in "The One With The Tea Leaves" and "The One In Massapequa".
  • In the uncut DVD version of the episode, Ross is stretching his legs before he leaves ahead of his students for his next class. In the same version, on his date, Joey uses one of his moves of pretending to have a fan order him a bottle of wine.

Goofs[]

  • In the first two scenes where Ross enters the advanced class, you can see the microphone at the top of the screen.
  • When Ross enters the advanced course class, he throws his coat at the coat stand, but it falls down. In the following shot, the coat is on the coat stand.
  • In reality, Ross' graduate seminar would only involve a few students, not a packed classroom. There is no such thing in graduate school as a bell ringing at the beginning and end of a class.
  • In this episode, Chandler plays the Ms. Pac-Man game for so long that it causes his hand to become misshapen. Before he reveals that his hand is distorted, he points to the screen and his hand is just fine. However, after he shows Monica his hand, it won't move no matter what.
  • On her date with Joey, Rachel turns to the left to go to the bathroom. When Joey returns to the same restaurant with another date, his date goes to the right when she gets up use the bathroom.
  • After Joey and Rachel have returned to the apartment, the amount eaten out of the cookie Rachel holds changes between shots even though she's not eating it.
  • Towards the end of the episode when Phoebe is playing Ms. Pac-Man to try and erase the dirty top score names, you can see that the door behind her, Chandler, and Monica is wide open. Once she loses, you can hear the door open and then Ross and Ben walk in.
  • When they play the Ms. Pac-Man game and they show the screen, the game in play is not shown, but you can hear the music although it may be that the game screen is too small to see.
  • When Chandler is watching Monica arguing with Phoebe, he has a red apple with no bite marks, but in the wider shot it has a bite taken out.
  • Ms. Pac-Man only keeps track of a single high-score, in which it is displayed on the center top of the screen, so therefore, entering initials is not possible unlike many other games of the era.
  • When Monica and Chandler walk into their apartment, the first shot shows Chandler holding the bags down next to them. In the next shot, you can see Chandler is holding the left bag over his shoulder which then goes back to being by his side in the shot right after.
  • When Rachel is at the restaurant with Joey, she orders Filet Mignon, which is (usually) best served quite rare. Since Rachel is pregnant at the time, she can't eat red meat.
  • While Phoebe is in the middle of the Ms. Pac-Man game, you hear the music a couple times that is played at the intro of the game.
  • Joey's date with Rachel and his date with another woman take place at least 24 hours apart. Yet on both dates, the fresh rose arrangement on the table is exactly the same, down to the last petal.
  • In the classroom scene during the closing credits, the edge of the set and a crew member are visible when Ross skates to the left of the map.
  • There is NO WAY Monica would tolerate an arcade game sitting in the middle of her apartment.

External links[]

Episode Navigation[]

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
Preceded by
"The One With Ross' Step Forward" 		Series Eight Episodes Followed by
"The One Where Chandler Takes A Bath"
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