Okay. Lets’s pop in “Friends” season two episode four and see what it’s all about. The name of the episode is “The One With Phoebe’s Husband” and it originally aired on October 12, 1995. I watched it first run and at that time in 1995 I had just turned 29 years old a couple of months before. I was right about the same age as the friends. I was only a year or two older than the characters.
In looking at my calendar from that time I can see that I worked at Marvel Comics that whole month except for the 12th and 13th of October. I wonder if I was sick those days? I wasn’t sick very often but I see no entrances on my calendar for the 12th-15th. Looks like I didn’t make it to the comic shop for my usual Saturday trip. I must have been under the weather. I can see earlier in the week I wrote two checks. One for a subscription to Archeology Magazine (which finally didn’t get renewed this very year – 2019) and another for a Time/Life book on the Ancient Persians. I’m a history fan. Now lets see what going on in the show.
In the opening scene we have Rachel in the apartment on the phone with her mom as a pigeon flies in. She pots the pigeon. Good Family Circus reference. As a surprise we get introduced to Phoebe’s previously unknown husband, Duncan. It’s a good and funny intro scene. I like it overall and even though I remember not liking this episode a whole lot It starts well. I always enjoy the theme song.
Next scene Phoebe tells everyone who Duncan is and we get all the set up we need for that plot line. Phoebe married him because he needed a green card to stay in the country. Phoebe was in love with him but he was gay. And he’s a Canadian ice dancer. His profession is a question in the “Friends 25th Anniversary Trivia Game” app. A nice “Phoebe eats meat” joke. Good gasps. Here is where we find out Chandler has a third nipple. That’s a classic bit of Friends lore. All sorts of secrets are revealed after that. This was a good scene. The ensemble was in full form. I’m liking the beginning.
Now we cut to Central Perk and Julie (Ross’s girlfriend) shows up. Rachel still doesn’t like her. I find it annoying how much Rachel is into Ross as soon as she found out she couldn’t have him. But I’ve always found Rachel a bit annoying. She was written that way so it’s no surprise that I do. Her mocking of Monica is funny. Phoebe shows up dressed all hot for Duncan who she hasn’t seen in ages. Plenty of Chandler’s third nipple jokes fly this scene too.
Now it’s a Ross and Rachel scene. Ross confesses he hasn’t had sex with Julie yet. This scene is awkward. Once again, it’s written that way but it still has a lot of cringes in it. It’s tough to take. Rachel’s gives bad advice but delivers it in a nice powder blue top. I can remember describing this show to my friends (back when I first watched it) as a “Jiggle Show” reminiscent of something like “Three’s Company.” Lot’s of hot women in tight tops. I’m okay with that.
New scene with Phoebe and Duncan in his dressing room at Madison Square Garden. They get along just fine. That scene was short and now we switch over to Ross and Julie kissing as the remaining friends drop by. Ross is not going to listen to Rachel’s bad advice. As a call back to an earlier scene they’re all going to watch a porno that Joey was almost in. He’s just the guy who stops by to fix the copier. Here is his big line. “You know that’s bad for the paper tray.” Another funny scene.
Back to Phoebe and Duncan who tells Phoebe that he needs a divorce. He then confesses the he’s discovered that he’s not really gay. I never found this scene funny. It just takes all the stereotypes of a person discovering he is gay and applies them to a person who discovers he is straight. I’m guessing that it’s supposed to be wacky and ironic but I find it predictable and unfunny. Phoebe being hurt and upset is the only part of this scene that rings true to me.
Monica coming out of Ross’s bedroom and saying “Y’know it still smells like monkey in there” is a good line. I never liked the monkey from season one and am okay with them mocking the whole monkey storyline. Rachel doesn’t want to leave Ross’s apartment because she doesn’t want Ross to have sex with Julie. Crazy Rachel is uncomfortable but funny.
Duncan gets his divorce papers signed and Phoebe leaves him never to see him again. It’s sad and touching but she throws a little bit of her own crazy in there to lighten things up.
Now back to Rachel being crazy. I still like her top though. That’s the story of Rachel. Annoying but her hotness makes you put up with her. She continues to try and sabotage Ross and he doesn’t even know it. In the end Rachel relents and gives Ross some good advice. The scene ends with Rachel all frustrated but she’s funny about it.
Final scene. “Singing in the Rain” is playings Ross skips down the street. They make it obvious and funny that he finally had sex with Julie. Nice goofy ending.
I just checked my 2012 ratings on this one and I gave it three out of five stars. That sounds about right. It was a pretty good episode. A bunch of good stuff but one of the storylines didn’t do it for me.
I just went and checked the site “The One With the Uncut Friends Scripts” to see what was in the extended episode that I watched that wasn’t in the broadcast version (current and past) and there wasn’t much cut out. Only a couple of Rachel’s lines when she was being sarcastic to Monica in the first Central Perk scene. They were a couple of good lines though so I’m glad I watched this version. Someday I’ll watch the HD ones on Netflix but not today.