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The One Without The Ski Trip

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"The One Without The Ski Trip" is the seventeenth episode of the third season of Friends, which aired on March 6, 1997. In it, Rachel and Ross fight over who gets to hang out with their friends more, leading to a ski trip with Rachel that goes awry.

Plot[]

It's a week after Ross and Rachel's break-up and they can't even stand being in the same room as each other, each blaming the other for their separation while their friends are caught in the middle as they try to keep them apart as much as possible. Chandler finds the break-up of the two friends particularly stressful as it reminds him of his parents' divorce and he starts to smoke again, to try to relieve his stress.

When Ross asks the guys to hang out with him, they have to dismiss the idea of attending a fashion show with Rachel. To get back at him, she invites them over to her sister's cabin for a ski trip, which the guys agree to instead of a LaserDisc weekend marathon playing darts with Ross. The guys leave for the cabin but they have to pull in so that Chandler can go to a restroom. Rachel, however, closes the door of the cab, which has the keys locked inside. After some arguing, Joey gets Phoebe to give him her bra, pulls out the wire and picks the car lock. Everyone is about to leave, but the car runs out of gas.

Saddened and alone, Ross seeks solace in Carol and Susan at their apartment. Only Carol's there, so he opens up his heart to her about him and Rachel breaking up, even though Carol has clearly set up a special romantic dinner to celebrate the first time she slept with Susan. Also, Ross tells her an edited version of the story which neglects to mention that he cheated on Rachel, instead casting her as the guilty party for cheating on him with Mark. Meanwhile, Monica distracts Rachel and Phoebe calls Ross for help. Carol intercepts the call just as Ross is mocking Phoebe and sends him off with her car so that he can help his friends, because "we both know you're gonna do it, cause you're not a jerk!". However, when Carol mentions the story that Ross told her, Phoebe sets her straight over the phone and Carol is, of course, furious. She tries to mock Ross by telling him, "you slept with another woman", to which Ross replies: "Oh, you're, you're... one to talk".

Joey and Chandler's search for help does not go well, and the guys have to wait for Ross. In the hope of finding the group, Joey arranges some twigs to read PLEH, which is HELP spelled backwards "so that the helicopters can read it from the air". Eventually, Ross finds the guys and fills their tank. Rachel leaves without a sign of gratitude, sparking up the fight again and dragging the others into it. Phoebe interrupts them and tells Ross and Rachel they need to find a way to be together without arguing, or else they can forget about everyone hanging out together. Joey agrees and adds they also need to stop putting everyone else in the middle of it. Ross and Rachel promise to try and do so, and Ross lets the guys go on the trip. As he's about to turn around, his car battery falls flat.

Ross manages to get back to Carol in the middle of the night, having bought a new car battery, but Carol, who's not exactly sleeping, closes the door in Ross' face.

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[]

Jane Sibbett - Carol Willick

Crew[]

Directed By:
Sam Simon

Written By:
Shana Goldberg-Meehan & Scott Silveri

Quotes[]

Joey (to Chandler who is reading the paper): Can I see the comics?
Chandler: This is the New York Times.
Joey: Okay, may I see the comics?

Chandler: You know what, maybe it’s gonna be okay. I mean, it’s been a week.
Joey: Yeah. I mean, it's never taken me a week to get over a relationship.
Monica: It's never taken you more than a shower to get over a relationship.

(Chandler lights a cigarette)
Phoebe: Chandler, what are you doing?
Monica: Chandler!
Chandler (realizes he's smoking): Oh my God!
Joey: You're smoking again?
Chandler: Well, actually, yesterday I was smoking again. Today, I'm, I'm smoking still.
Phoebe: Why would you start again after chewing all that quitting gum?
Chandler: Look, I'm telling you, this is just like my parents' divorce, which is when I started smoking in the first place.
Monica: Weren't you 9?
Chandler (with the cigarette sticking out of his mouth): Yeah. I'm telling you something, that, uh, first smoke after naptime. (a knock on the door is heard) Oh, that's great. With my luck, that's gonna be him.
Phoebe: Him? Him, Ross?
Chandler: Nope, "Hymn" 253: "His eyes are on the Sparrow." When my parents got divorced is when I started using humor as a defense mechanism.
(Chandler opens the door and it turns out to be Rachel)
Rachel: Hi. Uh, do you guys have plans for the weekend? Because I have my sister on hold and she said that we could use her cabin for the weekend, and go skiing. Huh? I'm asking you first, right? I mean, I'm playing by the rules.
Monica: Absolutely.
Phoebe: Yeah.
Joey: Yeah.
(Chandler starts smoking in front of Rachel)
Rachel: Chandler! You're smoking? What are you doing?
Chandler: Hey, shut up! You're not my real mom.

Phoebe: Aren't you gonna go?
Rachel: No, thank you.
Monica: No, Rachel never pees in public restrooms.
Rachel: Well, they never have any paper in there, you know, so my rule is: "No tissue, no tushy."

Joey: Anybody have a coat hanger?
Chandler: Oh, I do! (sarcasm) Oh, no, I took it out of my shirt when I put it on this morning.
Monica: So if your parents hadn't gotten divorced, you'd be able to answer a question like a normal person?

Carol: You slept with another woman?
Ross: Oh, you-you're - you're one to talk!

Ross (after filling up the cab's gas tank): You're welcome.
Rachel: Oh, I'm sorry, were you speaking to me or sleeping with someone else?

Chandler (Ross and Rachel have exploded at each other): Guys, guys, guess who I am! (Starts dancing and jumping around)
Phoebe: Hey, hey, hey, hey, HEY! Look what you're doing to Chandler! Yeah, look, we know this is really, really hard for you guys. Okay? You don’t, all right, you don’t have to love each other, okay? You don’t, you don’t even have to like each other much right now. But please, you have to figure out a way to be around each other.
Joey: Yeah, and not put us in the middle.
Phoebe: Yeah, otherwise, I mean, that’s, that’s, that’s just it for us hanging out together, you know? Is that what you want? Can you be civil?
Rachel: Yeah.
Ross: I can.
Phoebe: Okay. Good, all right, let’s get back in the car, ‘cause it’s freezing, and my chest is unsupported.

Trivia[]

  • This is the first time Ross says the classic "We were on a break."
  • This is the first time Chandler has smoked since "The One With The Thumb" (S1E3). At the time Phoebe gave him $7000 to never smoke again. It is not mentioned if he had to return the money.
  • This is the only appearance of Monica in Phoebe's cab.
  • This is the second time Phoebe tries to encourage Ross and Rachel to work things out in their troubled relationship, the first being when she reassures Ross that he and Rachel will get together in "The One With The Prom Video". Over the course of the remainder of the series she becomes, along with Joey, their closest friends culminating in her driving Ross to the airport to catch Rachel in "The Last One, Part 2".
  • When they're locked out of the car, Phoebe takes her bra off through her sleeve. In the very beginning of "The One With The East German Laundry Detergent" (S1E5), Ross talks profusely about that gesture, which he finds "amazing".
  • This is the second episode that has no scenes inside Monica's Apartment. The first one was "The One With The Birth" (S1E23).
  • This is the second time Ross is portrayed as cheap after Monica called him a "cheapasaurus" in "The One With The Prom Video".
  • This episode reveals that Chandler started using humor as a defense mechanism as a result of his parents getting divorced.
  • The dressing gown that Carol is wearing at the end of the episode is the same one that Monica wore in "The One With The Prom Video" (S2E14). Rachel also wore it in "The Pilot" (S1E1).
  • This is one of the few episodes that doesn't start with "The One With..." or "The One Where..."
  • Chandler mentions Shelley Winters, an American actress who starred in many films besides The Poseidon Adventure mentioned here.
  • Ross mentions the TV series M*A*S*H, which was based on a film starring Elliott Gould, who plays his father Jack in the Friends universe.
  • For unknown reasons this is one of the few episodes to not air on Nick @ Nite.
    • The others being ""The One With Joey's Dirty Day" (although it only aired on January 2023, September 2023, November 2023, and September 30, 2024 for Every Friends Episode Ever), "The One Where Rachel Smokes" (which will air on October 3, 2024 for Every Friends Episode Ever), "The One Where Chandler Can't Cry" (which will only be airing on November 4, 2023), "The One With The Stripper" (which will only be airing October 10, 2024 for Every Friends Episode Ever), "The One With The Sharks" (which only will be airing on November 5, 2023) and "The One With Phoebe's Birthday Dinner" (which only will be airing on October 12, 2024 for Every Friends Episode Ever).
    • Nick@Nite is finally scheduled to air this episode on December 15, 2023, due to 25 Days of Friendsmas as Phoebe's cab, and along with episodes: The One With Phoebe's Dad, The One After Vegas, and The Last One (two-parter).
  • Various websites listing celebrity statistics agree that Jennifer Aniston has the largest bra size of the 3 Friends main actresses.
  • Rachel's bra size is revealed to be 34 C in "The Last One".

Goofs[]

  • When Phoebe is able to get back into the cab after the keys were locked in, she starts up the car, but this part is obviously sped up. Phoebe says "okay" which could have been a voice over, for her mouth is not moving during this part of the scene.
  • Near the end of the rest stop scene, a camera man is visible on the left side of screen after Rachel says "Thank you."
    • HD version only.
  • The title of the episode is "The One Without the Ski Trip" however after Ross brings them gas the friends do continue to their destination for the ski trip. Possibly it refers to the fact that Ross is the "one" who misses out on the ski trip.
  • In the coffeehouse, when Monica tells Joey "It never takes you more than a shower to get over a relationship," the camera looks at Joey then moves to Chandler who starts saying something but the shot changes and Chandler is not heard.
  • When Ross arrives at the rest stop, Rachel audibly voices her disgust at his presence. However, it's clear that her mouth doesn't move at all in order to make that noise.
  • When Chandler tells Rachel to "shut up; you're not my mom," Joey has both hands on the bottom of the Chinese food carton. In the next shot his right hand is on top of the box.
  • The rest stop is a set on a soundstage, which means you can't have cars driving any sort of distance or high speed. It is obvious at the end of the episode that when the cab drives away with everyone in it except Ross, that the cab is stationary and the camera is panning along the side of it to give the appearance of the cab pulling away.
  • When the gang are all hanging at Ross' place, he says that the upcoming weekend will be the first one he is going to be alone by himself. However, in the opening scene, Chandler says that it's been a week since Ross and Rachel broke up.
  • Phoebe calls AAA to pick them up, but no one knew where they were, so AAA couldn't send a car. But somehow Ross was able to find them just fine. However, Phoebe wasn't sure which highway they took and asked if AAA someone could send someone down two highways to check all the rest stops. Ross, after dating Rachel for a year, probably knew the general if not the specific location of her sister's cabin, and would have known which highway they would have taken and likely enough known how far away they were based on how many hours they had been gone. Unlike AAA, Ross was willing to check every rest stop on the way.

Gallery[]

Screenshots[]

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 The Morning After" 		Series Three Episodes Followed by
"The One With The Hypnosis Tape"
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