The One With Two Parts, Part 1

"The One With Two Parts" (like the title suggests) is a two-part episode of Friends; the first of the series. Both parts aired on February 23, 1995.

Plot[]

At work, Chandler has to fire an employee for the first time ever. However, the worker he has to fire is Nina, a very attractive woman whom he asks out on a date. When Chandler discusses with his friends what he should do, they tell him not to get involved in any way with her, but this advice falls on deaf ears and he goes out with her anyway due to the fact he can not control himself. During this discussion, Marcel grabs the TV remote and switches the audio mode to SAP, changing the audio on all the channels to Spanish. No one can switch the TV back to normal mode with English.

Chandler keeps going out with Nina, but when his boss sees her still at work, he asks Chandler why she's not fired yet. Chandler makes up a lie about her being mentally unstable, which keeps her at the job. When strange things start happening around Nina (such as colleagues taking her scissors away from her), she works out her suspicions about this to Chandler, who tries to cover everything to her that she's getting a pay rise. When he asks his colleague to get Nina's papers to human resources, she mentions Nina's psychological profile, confirming Nina's suspicions. Chandler ends up confessing everything to her. In her indignity, she staples his hand on the desk.

Ross attends Lamaze classes with Carol and Susan. Several lessons along, Carol watches a labor video, which scares her. Susan consoles her by reminding her how giving birth will make them parents for the rest of their lives, making Ross doubt his parental skills.

While dining out, Joey and Chandler meet Phoebe's twin sister, Ursula. Joey finds Ursula hot, and goes out with her, making Phoebe feel neglected. When Phoebe talks about this with her friends, they try to comfort her by pointing out that he hasn't even slept with her yet, so she has nothing to worry about. Just as she knocks on Joey's apartment door, Ursula answers at the door half-naked, proving her fears right and her friends wrong.

Monica and Rachel argue on who should have taken down the Christmas light. Rachel decides to take them down, but slips and falls off the balcony. Fortunately, her ankle gets caught in the wire which stops her from falling. In the meantime, she sprains her ankle.

Cast and Crew[]

Main Cast[]

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

Supporting Cast[]

Dorien Wilson - Mr. Douglas
Jane Sibbett - Carol Willick
Jessica Hecht - Susan Bunch
Larry Hankin - Mr. Heckles
Jennifer Grant - Nina Bookbinder
Michele Lamar Richards - The Lamaze Teacher
Leila Kenzle - Fran Devanow
Helen Hunt - Jamie Buchman
Patty Tiffany - Woman
Patrick O'Bell - Mike
Katie - Marcel the Monkey (uncredited)
James Michael Tyler - Gunther (uncredited)

Crew[]

Directed By:
Michael Lembeck

Written By:
Marta Kauffman & David Crane

Trivia[]

General[]

Along with "The One With The Monkey", Lisa Kudrow received her first Emmy nomination for this episode.
This is the first two-part episode in the series.
- This is also the only episode that specifically referred to its episode structure. As there were a number of two-part episodes in later seasons, they needed to distinguish them from this episode.
Like "The One That Could Have Been" (S6E15/16), this episode had both its parts aired on the same date. Other two-part episodes have different names and had different air dates (as happened with "The One Where Ross And Rachel Take A Break" (S3E15), "The One With The Morning After" (S3E16), "The One With Rachel's Sister" (S6E13) and "The One Where Chandler Can't Cry" (S6E14). From Season 4 onward, all season finales followed this episode's format.
This is the first appearance of Phoebe's twin sister, Ursula. The character of Ursula, also played by Lisa Kudrow, comes from the TV series Mad About You: she's an inept waitress who works at Riff's. Helen Hunt and Leila Kenzle also appear in this episode as their Mad About You characters Jamie Buchman and Fran Devanow, and mistake Phoebe for Ursula in Central Perk. Because of this, one may consider this episode to be a brief and slight crossover between the two series.
In the previous episode, Chandler said W.E.N.U.S. meant "weekly estimated net usage systems". In this episode, Nina says it stands for "weekly estimated net usage statistics" and Mr. Douglas seems to corroborate this version when he translates A.N.U.S. into "annual net usage statistics".
This is the first time Mr. Heckles complains about the noise coming from Monica and Rachel's apartment, however in "The One With The Flashback" he already used to complain since at least 2 years earlier.
At the end of a scene, the hotel on the right is the one that would later be used as the Tipton, the main setting of the Disney show, The Suite Life of Zack & Cody, which starred Cole Sprouse as Cody Martin who lived in the hotel. Cole played Ross Geller's son, Ben in later seasons on Friends.
Chandler dates Nina in this episode whom he's supposed to have fired. In around 6 years time, Rachel will hire and then briefly date an assistant Tag when she gets promoted. (This indirectly leads to her being fired later).
Phoebe asks "have you ever had a boyfriend who's also your best friend?" Ross and Rachel will become best friends and will start dating next season. Monica and Chandler will also best friends and start secretly dating in season 5. In both cases they will eventually marry each other: Ross and Rachel in season 6 (although both were drunk at the time and divorced soon after without having lived together) and Monica and Chandler in the season 7 finale.
The gang were watching a Spanish language TV program while Rachel was on the phone to her father in "The Pilot".
Chandler makes a joke with him and Ross catching up later in the gym. In season 4's "The One With The Ballroom Dancing" Chandler and Ross unwillingly end up members of the same gym.
On a few occasions characters break the 4th wall by looking directly into the camera: first Ross at the Lamaze class, when the instructor says "Imagine your vagina is opening like a flower" (though this may have been deliberate) and at the end Mr Heckles when Rachel is shouting and banging on his window.
Ross asks Susan to "run deep". In part two of this double episode Ross talks about a dream he had in which he "hikes" the baby. Both are American football terms.
When Phoebe is describing how Ursula stole her old boyfriend, Rachel wears the same clothes she wore when she cleaned the apartment in "The One With The Butt" and also wears them in most of "The One Where Joey Moves Out".
When the gang is watching Family Matters on TV, if you listen real closely you can hear the laugh track in the background repeat itself at least thrice.
Although Monica is Jewish, she puts up Christmas lights and a Christmas tree.
This episode was used as "U is for Ursula" in the Nick at Nite Friends A-Z Event (January 2023).

Goofs[]

Just after the credits, a boom mic appears at the top of the screen in the center of the window on the right.
In the credits, Jennifer Grant, who plays Nina is credited as playing a character named Michelle.
When Joey enters Monica's apartment, Chandler begins to unscrew the bottle top, the next shot it's off but on again in the next shot.
When Ross is talking to Rachel and the gang in the coffeehouse, Ross says "I'm going to be a father" and Chandler has a green mug in his left hand but in the next shot as Rachel says "Is it just occurring to you" the cup and hand are on Chandler's lap instantly.
In the same scene Rachel's hands change position between shots.
Also in the same scene just after Chandler says "monkeys and babies are actually different" the cup is in his left hand and he's using the handle. However Joey stands up and we get a brief shot of Ross before a wider shot of Joey, Rachel, Ross and Chandler and the handle is on the right.
When Rachel falls while taking down the Christmas lights, she takes the whole cord down with her. Therefore she wouldn't have anything to be hanging from. Also this is the location of the fire escape so she wouldn't have fallen that far.
At the Lamaze class, when they are showing a film on the TV set, Ross holds a doll with his hand on the top of the doll's head. From a different angle his hand is on the shoulder of the doll.
At the coffeehouse, as Joey is leaving for his date with Ursula, Rachel moves and sits on the chair where Joey was. Joey then asks Phoebe "You meant sex, right", and after that Rachel sits on the chair again.

Memorable Quotes[]

Ross: I don't know if he's testing me, or just acting out, but my monkey is out of control.
Joey: Hey, Pheebs, guess who we saw today?
Phoebe: Oh, great! Liam Neeson.
Joey: No.
Phoebe: Morley Safer.
Joey: Nope.
Phoebe: The woman who cuts my hair.
Monica: This could be a really long game.
Ross: I've got to go; I've got Lamaze class.
Chandler: And I've got Earth Science, but I'll catch you in gym?
Mr. Heckles: I can hear you through the ceiling. My cats can't sleep.
Rachel: You don't even have cats.
Mr. Heckles: I could have cats.
Monica: Goodbye, Mr. Heckles.
Rachel: Are you seeing her again tonight?
Joey: Yep. Ice Capades.
Chandler: This is serious. I've never known you to pay for any kind of capade.