The One With Rachel's Assistant

The One With Rachel's Assistant
Season 7, episode 4
150th overall episode of Friends
Rachel and her assistant Tag Jones.
Episode Information
Airdate	October 26, 2000
Written by	Brian Boyle
Directed by	David Schwimmer
Episode Guide
Previous	The One With Phoebe's Cookies
Next	The One With The Engagement Picture
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"The One With Rachel's Assistant" is the fourth episode of the seventh season of Friends, which aired on NBC on October 26, 2000.

Plot

The episode starts with the gang in Monica's apartment, watching an appalling episode of Joey's detective series, 'Mac and C.H.E.E.S.E.' Although Joey thinks the show is fantastic, no one has the heart to tell him that the episode was awful. When Joey is out of earshot, Chandler remarks, "That was one of the worst things ever... and not just on TV." Phoebe, however, simply presses her breasts against him rather than lie or hurt his feelings.

The day begins with Phoebe and Monica sitting in Central Perk, when Rachel and Joey burst in and start to compete over who has the best news. Rachel was promoted by Ralph Lauren, in person, to head a division and subsequently can hire a personal assistant. Joey has received a call from the producers of Days of our Lives, recommending him for the role of Drake Ramoray's twin, Stryker.

In Rachel's office, she has just finished interviewing a woman named Hilda, who has all the relevant qualifications and plenty of experience. As she is on the verge of hiring her, a young, handsome man named Tag Jones appears and Rachel is smitten with him. Despite Phoebe's misgivings, and that fact that Tag has no experience, Rachel hires him, and spreads lies around the office that he is gay, to keep other girls away from him. However he is more interested in Phoebe.

Joey visits the casting director of Days of Our Lives, Terry, and is outraged when Terry asks him to audition for the role. Overconfident about 'Mac and C.H.E.E.S.E.', Joey tells Terry what to do with the comeback role, and storms out. Later that night, however, he receives a call from the producers of 'Mac and C.H.E.E.S.E.' who tell him that the series has been cancelled. Joey half-heartedly begs Terry for help, and he is allowed to return to Days of Our Lives as Drake, albeit in a coma.

Meanwhile, Monica tricks Chandler into telling her an embarrassing 'Ross at Disneyland' anecdote, in which Ross had an accident in his pants riding Space Mountain after eating tacos (although Ross claims he had food poisoning). Ross finds out and retorts, starting a series of spilled secrets the three use against each-other, like when Chandler wore Monica's underwear to work and when Chandler accidentally kissed a guy.

Cast and Crew

Main Cast

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

Supporting Cast

Eddie Cahill - Tag Jones
Michael Kagan - Terry
Jean St. James - Hilda
Cody Tucker - Kathy
Cynthia Graham - Nurse #1
Renee Rogers - Nurse #2
Eric Rutherford - Stryker
James Michael Tyler - Gunther

Crew

Directed By:
David Schwimmer

Written By:
Brian Boyle

Trivia

• Phoebe and Chandler urge Rachel not to appoint Tag as her assistant but she goes ahead anyway. Phoebe also tells Rachel she can't date Tag but she will anyway later in the series. This decision will ultimately contribute to her being fired. In season 1 Rachel criticized Chandler for dating his assistant, Nina, when she was supposed to have been fired.
• Ross mocks Chandler for having unintentionally kissed a guy at a bar while drunk, but Ross willingly kissed a guy, Joey, when the latter wanted to practice kissing for a role in The One With Barry and Mindy's Wedding; moreover, while drunk Chandler unintentionally kissed Ross in The One Where Chandler Can't Remember Which Sister.
• Despite warnings from her friends (and their boss), Rachel and Tag later begin a relationship. This action likely contributed to the decision to fire her after she was caught having an interview for a job at Gucci by her current boss, Mr Zelner.

Goofs

• In this episode, Chandler says that Ross got drunk and slept with the cleaning lady at college. It was previously established that Ross only slept with Carol before the start of the series. Next season Rachel reveals that she saw him making out with the librarian. It's possible Ross wanted no one else to know and Chandler had previously agreed not to say anything.
• When Rachel shows Phoebe the Polaroid of Tag, you can see the stage lighting in the background of the photograph. This was likely the real photograph that Rachel took while sitting in her office in the previous scene.
• When Tag first comes into Rachel's office to interview, there is no plant to the right of the doorway (and likely none in the office), but when Tag returns to bring Rachel a potted plant, a large plant appears next to the door, which she says was there during the interview.
  • However, since some time had passed between the interview and Tag returning to the office, it is reasonable to assume that Rachel had brought the plant in or had been given it in that time.

External links

• The One with Rachel's Assistant at the Internet Movie Database

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