theLeftAhead

Friends S6:E3 – Wanted. Female roommate. Non-smoker. Non-ugly. What it do, Friendsters? Do you know anyone who needs a place? Just kidding. Your humble servant Kenny A. doesn’t actually need a roommate. And even if I did, this would be a terrible time to interview prospects since I’m just getting over a vicious cold (there’s probably still lots and lots of wicked germs at my place). Speaking of the cold I finally just fought off… regretfully, I must report that (because of my illness) I was unable to make it to a theatre to attend the third night of Friends 25th: The One with the Anniversary. I’m pretty bummed that because of schedule conflict on the first two nights and then my cold, I wasn’t able to take part in this massive celebration of the GOAT sitcom at all. ? It would’ve been pretty cool to have had the experience of seeing Monica, Rachel, Phoebe, Chandler, Joey, and Ross on the big screen. Oh well, life goes on. Normally, class…I would ask you all if you were able to take part in any of the three nights of Friends 25th and if so, ask you to report back. But seeing as how I’ve just described how regretful I am to have missed it, hearing your experiences from it will likely just bum me out more. What do you say we just move on instead? Thanks, y’all. You’re the best.

Before we move into our discussion on this week’s episode, I just wanted to mention another pop culture FRIENDS reference associated with the 25th anniversary that I didn’t catch two weeks ago (just stumbled across it a couple of days ago) but now that’s it’s on my radar, I thought it was interesting enough to be worth mentioning. So, the FRIENDS reference I want to highlight today is the Ralph Lauren x Friends: 25th Anniversary campaign. In this campaign, the designer clothing company uses models to recreate the iconic FRIENDS opening credits at the fountain. Ralph Lauren also does a photo shoot at Central Perk with the models. (Side note: Ralph Lauren’s ad campaign seems eerily similar to the JAY-Z video that used black actors to recreate a Friends episode a couple of year ago. We covered JAY-Z’s reimagining in Fine By Me.) I’m not really that into fashion (shocker, I know) so had it been almost any other designer, I wouldn’t have given too much thought to a fashion ad campaign that had models recreating iconic FRIENDS content. However, I actually thought this was pretty cool because it was Ralph Lauren. As any self-respecting FRIENDS fan knows, Rachel Green worked for several seasons at Ralph Lauren. Not only that, but Ralph Lauren himself actually makes a cameo on the show in…SPOILER ALERT…S6:E8…The One with Ross’ Teeth. So more on that in six weeks, on November 18th to be precise. Anyway, the larger point that I’m trying to make is that I think the Ralph Lauren 25th Friends Anniversary ad campaign is cool because of the company and founder’s history with the show, it’s a poetic little tasty offering of art imitating life imitating art. And I guess (in my best Forrest Gump voice) that’s all I have to say about that.

Today’s episode finds our heroes grappling with the implications of Monica and Chandler moving in together. For example, one implication of Monica and Chandler moving in together is that Joey needs a new roommate. To solve that problem, Joey takes out an ad in the newspaper which allows him to interview non-smoker, non-ugly, nineteen year old female prospective roommates. Ladies, her’s a pro tip: if you want to live with Joey Tribbiani, make sure you’re on the same wavelength with him in regards to doggy associations. Another implication of Monica and Chandler moving in together is Rachel has to find a new place to live. After turning down Joey’s offer to move in across the hall because of Naked Thursdays and losing the opportunity to sublet Ross’ co-worker’s apartment, Rachel lands on moving in with Ross. Phoebe, who is still pestering Ross about him being secretly still in love with Rachel, of course thinks this is a terrible idea. Finally, the last implications of Monica and Chandler moving in together is that they will have a spare bedroom that they need to figure out what to do with. Since Chandler wants a game room and Monica wants a guest room, predictably…they get in a massive fight and silliness ensues. As much as I enjoy all of the silliness, I think that this is a fine a place to wrap up for the week as any. What’s that, Johnny? No, I told you I don’t want to hear how awesome it was to see FRIENDS on the big screen. Why would you bring that up again? You’re dismissed, Johnny. See you next week. What a punk ass, class. Now that he’s gone, the rest of you are dismissed as well. See you next week. Lates.

Recap in the Key of Phoebe – This is the one where Rachel has to find a new place to live, Monica and Chandler get in a fight about what to do with their spare bedroom, Phoebe continues to pester Ross about his secret love for Rachel, Joey determines that the opposite of him (a guy who’s not nineteen) is in fact a girl who is nineteen and decides to put out an ad to find a non-smoker, non-ugly nineteen year old female roommate, Ross offers to have Rachel move in with him (because he’s secretly still in love with her), and Rachel accepts Ross’ offer in order to avoid living with Joey and being required to participate in Naked Thursdays.

Gandalf Gaffes – None. Flawless episode!

Chan Man Quip of the Week – [The Setup] Chandler comes over to Monica’s to try to make up after the fight about what to do with the spare bedroom. He says hi and Monica reciprocates. Chandler clumsily breaks the ice with, “Hi, listen, I’m sorry about before. I don’t need to have a game room. I mean, when I was a kid I only played those games because I couldn’t get girls, and now I can…‘em…now, I have you. (Chandler notices that Monica is glaring and knows he’s digging himself a hole.) Not-not that I think that I have you or think of you as property in any sort of way, I see women…” Monica interrupts, cutting him off with, “Stop it, Chandler. I’m sorry too.” Surprised, Chandler asks, “Really?” Monica responds, “Yeah! Oh yes!” Relieved, Chandler says, “Ohh.” Monica continues, “Listen, we don’t have to make that a guest room, we can think of something to do with the room together.” Chandler excitedly responds, “That’s a great idea! We can easily think of a way for us both to enjoy the room.” Monica egress, “Totally!” They experience and awkward silence as they both start trying to think of a way for them both to enjoy the room. After a moment, realizing that they’re both stumped, Chandler declares, “We don’t have to come up with this now.” Relieved, Monica says, “Oh, good.” Moving on, Chandler says, “Hey, ya know what? Why don’t we think about changes we can make in the living room?” Defensively, Monica asks, “Changes?” Chandler answers, “Yeah, I mean we’re gonna have to move around some furniture to make room for my chair.” He kisses Monica and then walks into the living room to brainstorm where his chair will go. Monica follows him and alarmed, asks, “You’re-you’re-you’re gonna bring the Barca Lounger over here?” Chandler answers her question with a question, wondering, “Is that a problem?” Grandstanding, Monica says, “Well, it’s a set and they should probably stay together.” Problem-solving her suggestion, Chandler offers, “Oh, that’s cool. Then I’ll just bring them both over.” Becoming more irritable, Monica continues grandstanding with, “See now-now you’re taking them away from their home.” [The Knockout] Fed up with all of his ideas being shot down, Chandler erupts like a volcano of sarcasm and claps back with, “Okay, I get it. So, I get nothing! Nothing here is mine! Everything here is yours! I’ll get up in the morning, put on your clothes, and head off to work!”
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Headline GIF Source: Confession of a Watery Tart