The Routine
Friends S6:E10 - Yo, yo, yo!!! How's it hanging, Mercedes Friends? Welcome, welcome, welcome to the last post of the first decade of Friends 20/20! In fact, even though my boss Ted James is back from sabbatical, he's given no indication that there are any other posts planned this December so welcome, welcome, welcome to potentially the last post of the first decade of theLeftAhead. This blog site launched in June 2011 so we're not quite a decade old yet but it's still an honor (as the lowly pop culture writer) to be closing out the 2010s (and ringing in 2020) with a Friends 20/20 post. Speaking of the end of the decade, it's pretty crazy to wrap my head around the fact that the "millennial moment" is squarely in our 20/20 sights. I remember being a snot-nosed 21 year old college student at the end of 1999 and how excited I was to be old enough to legally purchase alcohol for the biggest New Year's Eve celebration of my lifetime. My college years certainly feel like a part of the distant past, but still...how can the end of the 90's be 20 years ago? Time flies, I guess. Some things have changed dramatically in the past 20 years but one thing that has never gone out of style is The Routine! As a last-class-of-the-decade gift to you class, I'm going to be extremely brief today. Please don't construe this as an attempt at a MAIL-IN SPECIAL. (I can almost feel Ted James hovering over me, breathing down my neck as soon as my fingers started typing the letters for "mail in special.") No, our brevity today is not a lazy M.I.S. cop out to close out the decade but instead, it is to not steal focus as we pay homage to the magnificence of The Routine in the video that I'm embedding below. Words cannot do justice to the glorious splendor that is The Routine so rather than attempt some two bit Hemingwayesque exposition on the subject that falls both flat and short, it makes much more sense for me to share the video and allow each and every one of you Friends 20/20 readers the moment of zen that is watching Ross and Monica's brother-sister synchronized dance routine and then trot off into a new year, a new decade with a great big smile on your face. So without further delay...have a great rest of your holiday season. I'll see you in the Roaring 20's. You. Are. Welcome.
Recap in the Key of Phoebe - This is the one where Janine invites Joey to attend the dance party taping for Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve, Janine also invites Monica and Ross (after finding out how huge of fans they are of the show), Phoebe and Rachel recruit Chandler to help them look for where Monica hid their Christmas gifts, Joey finally kisses Janine, and Monica and Ross get up on the podium for "fake midnight" after showing the snippy guy The Routine.Gandalf Gaffes - None. Flawless episode!Chan Man Quip of the Week - [The Setup] Rachel and Chandler are at Monica and Chandler's apartment searching for where Monica hid their Christmas presents. Phoebe is also a co-conspirator (and a mischievous one at that) as she returns to the apartment recruiting the chick and the duck to join the "hunt" from across the hall at Joey's. As she enters with the chick and the duck in tow, Phoebe says, "Hey! Look who I found!" Addressing the chick and the duck, Chandler cheerfully greets them with, "Oh, hey guys!" Revealing her plot, Phoebe says, "Ya know, birds have a very good sense of direction, and I thought maybe they could help us find where the presents are hidden." [The Knockout] Not buying Phoebe's logic or perhaps just wanting to spread a little holiday sneer, Chandler sarcastically claps back, "Yes, if the presents are hidden south for the winter."#TheChickAndTheDuck
Video Source: bearmanager on YouTubeFeatured Image Source: Life & StyleHeadline GIF Source: Giphy
