I need a break from reality right now. It’s time for a “Friends” walkthrough again. I’m on Season 5 Episode 10 now. Just yesterday I watched Episode 9 which is a favorite of mine. That’s the one with “Mental Geller.” Crazy Ross cracks me up. Episode 10 is “The One With the Inappropriate Sister.” It first ran on December 17, 1998 and, like all episodes of “Friends,” I watched it when it aired. I never watch anything when it airs anymore. Times have changed.
Let me check my calendar. Looks like I was working at Marvel on that day. I commuted in and commuted out of NYC. It also looks like I paid to have my self published comic printed that day. Payment 1 of 2 for $493 for “Delia Charm” #2. That was the sixth and final issue that my friends and I self-published of our comic book work. That brings back memories. No onto the show.
We start in Joey and Chandlers’ apartment. Ross is crashing with them at the moment since his marriage to Emily fell apart and he lost his apartment. Ross also lost his job so he’s bored out of his mind which leads to jokes with Joey about how to pace his tasks out now that he has nowhere to be. A solid bit. Here comes the theme song. Is it me or have they sped up the song over the years?
Now we’re at the coffee shop and Phoebe will be collecting for the Salvation Army or some unnamed equivalent. Not my favorite plotline. We also get a continuation of the Rachel and Danny saga as she has been obsessed with him (a new neighbor). Monica gets tired of the fourth grade shenanigans and asks Danny out for Rachel. Again, not one of their stronger plots but it has some funny moments.
Joey’s manager, Estelle, makes an appearance. She’s a character but the scene is really short. Well under a minute and it just establishes that Joey needs an acting job.
Here is Phoebe ringing a bell and trying to get donations. She guilts Monica into giving more. Things don’t go well as a random guy makes change out of her bucket. Not the funniest bit and I don’t remember it getting any better.
Back at the boys’ apartment Joey is frustrated that he has no work so Ross encourages him to write something for him to star in. This is a solid bit. Ross makes Joey a schedule so Joey can work on some writing. We all know this won’t go well. No matter how simple Ross makes it Joey never gets interested in sitting down and writing.
Now over to the ladies’ apartment. Rachel is upset that she saw Danny with his arm around a girl on the subway. Jealous Rachel is kinda funny. At the end of the conversation Chandler has to run out of Monica’s room because Rachel doesn’t know they’re sleeping together. It’s a funny physical comedy moment.
Look. A shot of the Twin Towers. There were plenty of those in this show.
At the boys’ apartment again Joey is actually trying to write but Chandler distracts him by inventing a new game. Don’t worry, Joey will write after they play the game. Heh, heh, heh…
More Phoebe swinging the bell and collecting money stuff. The main point of this is that people aren’t very friendly. It’s not particularly amusing but there is some decent farce in there.
Ross is looking over Joey’s writing. There is not much to it except the rules to Chandler and Joeys’ new game: Fireball! Chandler shows up wearing an oven mitt and carrying a fire extinguisher to punctuate the joke. Good job. I want more Fireball! Ross doesn’t. He is disappointed.
Here come the end of Rachel and Danny’s date. They had a good time and get romantic with a kiss. Rachel finds out the woman from the subway was his sister and is relieved. Danny takes Rachel in to meet his sister. The title joke is revealed as Danny acts inappropriately close with his sister. Rachel leaves. It was a solid reveal. Probably the best part of this plot line.
At the girls’ apartment Phoebe is complaining about the people abusing her bucket. She calls upon her old persona “Street Phoebe” and goes into action. Then Rachel asks Ross and Monica if they ever wrestled so she could try to get a grip on what she should think about Danny and his sister. Then, unlike Danny and his sister’s playful wrestling, Ross and Monica wrestle for real. Collegiate style. Funny moment.
Back at the funniest plot line (where Ross is cleaning the men on the foosball table with cleaning spray) Joey can’t go to the hockey game with Chandler because he didn’t finish his writing. Chandler is not having it but loses in the end. No hockey for anyone!
Later at the coffee shop Danny and his sister are inappropriate again. The whole gang is freaked out. That was a short and funny scene.
Now it’s time for the resolution of Phoebe’s plot. The tables turn and she’s the mean one. Phoebe loses her “Job” as a bell ringing donation taker. It was inevitable.
The resolution of Rachel’s plot is up next as Danny tries to make her feel comfortable. But then his sister calls out from the bathub and Rachel is out of there.
Third resolution as Chandler confronts Ross about his treatment of Joey. Joey ends up teaching them a lesson as his writing is about them fighting. A nice skit and then one last Fireball joke. I think the Fireball jokes were the best part of this episode. The last scene is Joey trying to get Rachel and Monica to kiss by writing a scene for them. Good ending.
As I check my ratings from back in 2013 I can see I gave this episode two out of five stars. That seems about right as I didn’t like two out of three plot lines. I think I liked it a little better this time around but that could be because I was writing this walkthrough so it seemed more interesting. At best I’d give it three out of five stars but that would be average and this is probably a below average episode. I’ll stick with two stars.
Now I’ll check the uncut Friends episode site to see what was cut out of this episode for syndication. They cut one line from Joey’s crank call to Chandler in the beginning. I like that line. They cut two lines that revealed that Phoebe was getting suspicious of Chandler and Monica. No great loss but it added depth. They cut a great line of Chandler’s saying it’s 4:30 so his lunch break is over. A very self-aware joke. They cut a random Joey line about writing. They also cut Monica and Chandler’s reaction to Danny and his sister’s actions. After that nothing else. About half of the cuts I’d miss if I were watching the HD version. Plus “Friends” is more nostalgic in SD. I’ll stick with the old extended cut DVDs.