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The One With The Screamer

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"The One With The Screamer" is the twenty-second episode of the third season of Friends, which aired on April 24, 1997. In it, Rachel starts dating someone, and Ross finds out a secret about him, while Phoebe waits on customer service for hours.

Plot[]

Joey gets tickets for his friends to see him premiere in the play. Ross surprises Rachel when he announces he is bringing a date, but in retaliation Rachel also says she is bringing a date, and comes with Tommy, a seemingly perfectly normal guy. However, he turns out to be an aggressive guy with a hot temper who intimidates and frightens an elderly couple sitting in his and Ross' seats by, for no necessary reason, yelling his throat hoarse at them, and then calms down instantly, seemingly in a good mood now. However, as Ross is the only witness to this, Rachel doesn't believe him when he tries to warn her what an aggressive bully Tommy is, assuming he's just making up the story about Tommy screaming at the elderly couple and then calming down instantly in order to split them up and have her all to himself and hide his time when he lost his temper.

The play takes place, and Ross blows his date off when he starts focusing attention on Tommy (waiting for him to scream his head off) rather than on her. She leaves, and the director brings the early edition of the newspaper containing the review of the play. He's furious to find that the review is pretty much abysmal about everything, even the direction, and storms off. Kate, still destroyed by the review, reveals to Joey that the director dumped her after the review, and Joey supports her by staying with her at her apartment, where she passes out, and the two spend "the night" - talking to each other about their feelings. Soon after, Ross, still disapproving of Tommy, almost spills hot coffee over him. The bully intimidates Ross by ranting and shouting insults at him before calming down just as instantly as he did before, apparently in a good mood afterwards. Rachel still hangs out with Tommy despite Ross' advice, but when she, Monica, Phoebe, Chandler and Ross see him shout and rant insults at the chick and the duck after the chick urinates in his hand, she and the others realize Ross was right about him being an aggressive bully with little apparent control over his anger, and when Tommy can see that they are all clearly scared of him now, the bully breaks up with her before leaving.

Joey's new relationship with Kate does not last long, as Kate obtains a part in General Hospital in LA and leaves Joey, though not without watching him perform the play with understudy Lauren. Joey's final lines in the play take special meaning since as the character says goodbye in the play, he looks at Kate and is really also telling Kate how much her leaving matters to him too. The ending of the play is a bit of a surprise.

Phoebe spends a lot of time on the phone support line to claim the warranty on her broken phone. The support line keeps telling Phoebe that she's next in line, but Phoebe never gets picked up. She keeps herself busy by swapping Monica's and Rachel's stuff in each other's rooms, but when two days pass and she's still not picked up (by a Utah number, contrary to what Phoebe believed was a toll-free number), the guys make her. Phoebe breaks Monica's phone in the process, and she gives Monica the number of the company she can call.

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[]

Ben Stiller - Tommy
Jon Favreau - Pete Becker
Dina Meyer - Kate Miller
Reg Rogers - The Director
June Gable - Estelle Leonard
Jennifer Milmore - Lauren
James Michael Tyler - Gunther
Jeff Brooks - Stage Manager
Peter Bonerz - Theater Patron
Scott Sandler - Jonny
Laura Cayouette - Cailin

Crew[]

Directed By:
Peter Bonerz

Written By:
Shana Goldberg-Meehan & Scott Silveri

Quotes[]

Joey: Listen, I gotta double check for tickets tonight. Who-who got what?
Chandler, Phoebe and Rachel: I had one.
Monica: I need two. I’m bringing Pete. My boyfriend. I have a boyfriend now!
Joey: Two it is. Ross, how about you?
Ross: Uh, yeah, I, ah, I also need two.
Monica: Really? Who’s number two?
Chandler: Who’s number two? One of the more difficult games sewer workers play.
Ross: Uh, no, it’s-it’s just this person.
Phoebe: Like a date-type [looks at Rachel] person?
Ross: Yeah, kinda. It’s this woman from work. I hope that won’t be too weird. Will it, Rach?
Rachel: No. No, not at all, not at all. I actually was gonna bring someone myself, so...
Joey: But you said one ticket.
Rachel: I meant, me plus one!
Joey: Okay.

Chandler: Can you take a duck and a chick to the theatre?
Monica: Of course not.
Phoebe: No.
Chandler: Okay. I just wanted them to hear it from somebody else.

The Director: [enters carrying a newspaper] Here we go people! [starts reading the review] Boxing Day! The Lucille Lortel Theatre, blah-la-la-la... Ah-ha! Joey Tribbiani, gives an uneven performance, but Mr. Tribbiani is not the worst thing in this production.
Joey: Yes! Ha-ha-ha!
The Director: Kate Miller’s awkward and mannered portrayal is laughable. [Kate walks away depressed.] Badda-badda-badda. Ah-ha! Here it is! The direction by Marshall Townend is... [stops, reads it again, and throws down the paper in disgust] Thank you, boys and girls, you’ve ruined my life. Please, stuff your talentless faces with my Mother's Crabcakes! [starts to leave] Excuse me!
[Joey steps in and picks up the paper, the gang all look at him.]
Joey: Anyone mind if I save this?

[Joey and Kate kiss.]
Joey: Whoa. Wait a minute, wait a minute.
Kate: What?
Joey: I, I don’t get you. I mean, first, you hate me. Then you sleep with me. Then you want nothing to do with me, now you want me again.
Kate: What? So you never went out with an actress before?
Joey: Kate, do you even like me?
Kate: Of course I do.
Joey: Well, so, how come you blew me off? Y'know? How come you were with him?
Kate: I don’t know! I just, just do this! I-I always have to pick the, like, the smartest guy, or-or the most talented guy... Why can’t I just pick someone like you?
Joey: Thanks.
Kate: You know what I mean. I mean, like, the sweetest guy. Joey, you’re just so, you’re so, so... [She passes out and slumps against his shoulder.]
Joey: [Checks to see if she’s drooling on his shirt.] Okay. Okay, okay, hey. [Lays her down and covers her with a blanket.] There we go, let’s get your feet up there. Good night, Kate. Sweet dreams. [Picks up a garbage can] I’m gonna put this can right here in case you have to hurl.

[A bedraggled Phoebe misses Joey's play, having spent all night on the phone while kept on hold by customer service.]
Joey: Hey, Pheebs — where were ya?
Phoebe: I'm so, so, so sorry, Joey. I definitely am gonna see your play. I swear, your play is very important to us. Thank you for your patience. Your play is the next play I'm gonna see.

Rachel: What’s your favorite thing about summertime?
Monica: Umm, going to the beach. When it stays light real late.

Tommy: [petting a chick in his hand] Mr. Fuzzy Man, how are you doing? Aww... [The chick defecates in his hand.] Ew! Oh, ew! Gross! IDIOT! STUPID LITTLE FUZZY YELLOW CREATURE! Ooh, look at me, I'm so cute, I'm a little chick who's DISGUSTING! God, you're so stupid, how are you not yet extinct? [The duck, hearing all the commotion, waddles into the kitchen and starts quacking.] Quack-quack, quack-quack! What are you quacking about? DUMB DONALD DOODOO!
[Tommy looks up to see the gang in the doorway, staring at him in shock.]
Chandler: Step away from the duck.

[Joey and Lauren are doing the play.]
Joey: [sees Kate watching, he turns Lauren so that he can talk directly to Kate, but still look like he is talking to Lauren] Listen, I, ah, I gotta say goodbye, and-and I gotta say it quick ‘cause this is killing me. One thing you gotta know, is that I will never forget you. But, you’ve got things you have to do now, and so do I. And so... I’m gonna get on this spaceship, [smoke starts pouring in from the ceiling, and a ladder comes down, with flashing, colored lights on the side of it] and I’m gonna go to Blargon 7 in search of alternative fuels. But when I return, 200 years from now, you’ll be long gone. But I won’t have aged at all. [gets on the ladder] So you tell your great-great-granddaughter to look me up, because, Adrienne, baby, I’m gonna want to meet her.
[The ladder retracts, taking Joey up into the spaceship for his voyage to Blargon 7, and Kate waves goodbye.]

Trivia[]

  • This is the only episode in which Monica, Rachel, Ross and Chandler see Estelle. Thus, this leaves only Phoebe never meeting her. Also, despite Phoebe having never met explicitly Estelle, the former was able to imitate the latter's voice after she passed away in "The One Where Estelle Dies" (S10E15).
  • This is the only episode where Monica and Pete are in a stable relationship and they are not involved in any storyline. In the uncut DVD version of the episode, Monica constantly casually references her relationship with Pete. Monica also tells Phoebe she will kill her if Pete calls and she doesn't put him through.
  • Ben Stiller guest stars as Tommy, Rachel's date, in this episode. Stiller would co-star alongside David Schwimmer in the Madagascar animated film series but unlike in this episode, their characters are friends in the animation films.
  • Aside from the brief scene across the hall where the gang observe Tommy shouting at the chick and the duck, Phoebe is in Monica and Rachel's apartment for the whole episode.
  • This is the last appearance of Kate Miller.
  • Kate moves to Los Angeles in this episode. Joey moves there in the spin-off Joey.
  • Although not really a running gag on the show, Phoebe is shown to be quite accident-prone.
    • In this episode, she breaks her own and Monica's phones.
    • In "The One With The Flashback" (S3E6), she reveals to Monica that she stained her couch pillow from one side with an ink dot, and with a big spaghetti stain on the other.
    • In "The One With All The Candy" (S7E9), she keeps falling off the bike she receives as a gift from Ross (until she has training wheels attached to her bike at the end of the episode).
    • In "The One Where Chandler Takes A Bath" (S8E13), Phoebe returns Monica's iron only to reveal that she had broken it.
    • In "The One With The Lottery" (S9E18), she drops the bowl that holds all the lottery tickets on the street.
  • During the start of the episode, Rachel is seen wearing the "Adidas Stan Smith" tennis shoes.
  • It's clear that at the end of this episode, Rachel and Ross are friends again although they fall out again for a time next season for a few weeks after "The One With The Jellyfish" (S4E1).
  • General Hospital is a long-running medical drama which started in 1963 on ABC television and up to October 2018 had over 14000 episodes.
  • Joey mentions that the job he gave up to act in the play was de-clawing cats. The State of New York outlawed this in 2019, about 22 years after this episode aired.
  • The theater patron who suffers verbal abuse by Tommy was played by the episode's director, Peter Bonerz.
  • The director's pretentious line to Joey and Kate ("a plague on both your houses!") originates from Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet.
  • The man who plays Mike's parents' friend in "The One With Ross' Inappropriate Song" can be seen in the background once the play is over and Joey introduces Kate to everyone.
  • This episode was used as "S is for Screamer" in the Nick at Nite Friends A-Z Event (January 2023).

Goofs[]

  • When the director is reading the paper about the play, Ross moves place without time to do so.
  • When Tommy is screaming at the chick, he's holding paper he used to clean his hands. He puts the paper down, but when the camera angle changes it's in his hand again.
  • When Gunther brings Chandler the cup of coffee from the woman at the bar, Chandler takes it with his right hand. In the next shot, he is holding it with his left hand, which was on the couch's arm. More ahead, when he's going to drink, he's not holding it by its handle, but when he drinks, he is. Also, in this sequence, the way Monica is holding her cup changes between shots too.
  • When the director reads the line in paper "Mr. Tribbiani is not the worst thing in the production" and Joey goes all "yesss!!", a second later we see a hand coming in the frame at top right side which grabs Joey's head from behind as if trying to position it and then goes away, later in wider shot no such person is apparent to whom the hand could have belonged.
  • When Joey is holding the ladder, his hands change places as the angle changes between shots.
  • In the cold opening, Joey is asking who wants tickets for his play. After asking Monica and then saying, "Two it is," Joey turns to Ross and says, "Ross, how about you?" Ross doesn't have anything in his hand, but in a close-up he is holding a potato chip.
  • It is highly unlikely a drama critic can have their review of a live stage production printed in a newspaper within hours because the review has go through an editing process.
  • When Joey is backstage saying goodbye to Kate, someone yells, "Joey, on stage!" No one would yell backstage at a live production.
  • After Monica and Rachel get back from the play, Phoebe states that she switched all the contents of Monica and Rachel's rooms, causing the two switch rooms for the night. Despite this, Monica can be seen coming out of her original bedroom the next morning.
  • Any time Monica and Rachel's phone base is visible while Phoebe is shown waiting on hold, it is clear that there are no cords, so the phone is not connected to anything.

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 25
Preceded by
"The One With A Chick And A Duck" 		Series Three Episodes Followed by
"The One With Ross' Thing"
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