Friends Central
Register
Advertisement

"The One With The Stain" is the seventh episode of the eighth season of Friends, which aired on November 8, 2001.

Plot[]

Chandler hires a maid, Brenda, to clean the apartment and after enough persuading, Monica agrees to give her a chance, but then believes that she has stolen her jeans that she lost. To prove it, Monica goes between her legs while she's cleaning behind the cabinets to look for a noticeable stain on the crotch, then leading Brenda to believe she's a lesbian. Later on when Chandler gets home, Monica tells him what she did but then thinks that Brenda is wearing her bra that also went missing. She persuades Chandler to see if it is and Brenda prominently quits just as Monica learns that Rachel took her jeans and that all along, she was in fact wearing that bra.

Rachel is looking for a new apartment and Ross tells her that a woman died in his building that morning. They go to check out the place but the woman's daughter says she was a fighter and managed to pull through. Ross pretends to know her and begins to learn Dutch, due to their Dutch lineage, he also gets verbally insulted by Gunther who is fluent in Dutch. Joey meanwhile, wants Rachel to stay and does his best to persuade her. After proving to her he'll be alright with the baby living there and even claims he'll not bring women home if they have a problem with the baby, Rachel decides to stay just as the woman does pass away and Ross fulfills her dying wish by kissing her.

Phoebe is asked out by Eric who breaks up with Ursula, upon learning she was lying to him in the previous episode. However, he can't stand to look at Phoebe because it reminds him of Ursula but manages to kiss her and they have fun until Phoebe has to leave. When she gets back she learns that Eric had sex with Ursula while she was gone, thinking it was Phoebe. The two agree they shouldn't see each other again.

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[]

Arden Myrin - Brenda
Sean Penn - Eric
Dale Raoul - Mrs. Verhoeven
James Michael Tyler - Gunther

Crew[]

Directed By:
Kevin S. Bright

Written By:
R. Lee Fleming Jr.

Trivia[]

General[]

  • It is revealed in this episode that Gunther speaks Dutch. Although the name Gunther is associated with Germany, it's origins also stem from France and likely the name spread to The Netherlands during the various European conflicts.
  • Earlier in the series it's said that Monica does not like that people clean her apartment because they change everything and yet in the beginning of this episode she is happy that Chandler cleaned. (Although since she was understanding about his past attempt to clean that ended with things not quite in the right place, she may have reached a point where she can accept others' input in her cleaning efforts.)
  • This is the first time Ross has suggested to Rachel she moves into his building since they were briefly roommates two years ago. Rachel actually moves in with Ross later in this season (resulting in Ross and Mona breaking up).
  • Rachel says "you gave the baby Huggsy" and Joey immediately removes it. He will have the same difficulty giving up Huggsy when Rachel and Emma live there next season.
  • This episode is dedicated to the memory of Pearl Harmon, but who she was and how she was relevant to the show is unknown (She was Matt le Blancs great grandmother, who died on October 26th 2001).


Goofs[]

  • While Monica is in her kitchen trying to spot the ink stain on the maid's jeans, you can see that she is wearing a bra with white straps; later in the episode, Rachel points out Monica's pink bra strap.
  • Monica tells Chandler that the pants and bra the maid supposedly stole from her have an ink stain and a rip, respectively. Monica wanting to keep these items seems somewhat out of character for her since she is neurotic about structure and cleanliness.
  • When Eric is taking out his contact lenses, he only takes out one.
  • When Monica grabs her top after the maid compliments it, you see that her bra strap is white. Later, Rachel points out her pink bra strap.
  • The maid says she is going to the laundry room, yet in Season 1 we learn that Monica and Rachel's building does not have a laundry room ("The One With The East German Laundry Detergent") It's possible that one has been installed since then or that she is going to the remote laundry room.
  • Ross says that he heard a woman died while he was on the elevator. In "The One With The Cop" in season 5, we learn that the building doesn't have an elevator (although it may have had one installed since then).
  • Chandler says to Monica, "If it's not her bra" to Monica about the maid, but he should be saying "If it's not your bra", instead of "her bra".

Dutch translations[]

Mrs. Verhoeven: Ik ben vereerd om een vriend van mijn moeder te ontmoeten.
Translation: I'm honored to meet a friend of my mother.
Ross: Bedankt voor de koffie
Translation: Thanks for the coffee
Gunther: Je spreekt Nederlands! Dat is te gek. Heb je familie daar?
Translation: You speak Dutch! That's awesome. Do you have any relatives living there?
Gunther: Jij hebt seks met ezels!
Translation: You have sex with donkeys!

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 The Halloween Party"
Series Eight Episodes Followed by
"The One With The Stripper"
Advertisement