Friends: "The One Where Underdog Gets Away"

Premiered November 17, 1994.

It’s Thanksgiving week in mid-1990s Manhattan, and holiday plans are in process.

Rachel (Jennifer Aniston) needs money so she can go to Vail with her family and hopes to earn it from her job at the coffee shop.

Ross (David Schwimmer) and Monica (Courtney Cox) are upset when they learn their parents are spending Thanksgiving in Puerto Rico.  Monica volunteers to do her best to replicate the family Thanksgiving meal, promising to include “the lumps” in their mother’s mashed potato recipe.  

Phoebe (Lisa Kudrow) plans to visit to her grandmother and her boyfriend for Thanksgiving, however,  they won’t be celebrating Thanksgiving until December because the boyfriend is “lunar.”  Monica invites Phoebe to her place for Thanksgiving dinner.

Actor Joey (Matt LeBlanc) has recently gotten a job as a poster model for a free clinic.  Unbeknownst to him, his image is being used on the poster about venereal disease.  His family now thinks he has VD so he’s on his own for the holiday, and he’s going to be at Monica’s as well.

Chandler (Matthew Perry) does not celebrate the occasion due to a Thanksgiving childhood trauma, and he he plans to have a “feast” of grilled cheese, tomato soup and Funions.

Thanksgiving expectations and tensions begin to mount.  Monica is getting frazzled about meal preparation, especially since everyone expects her to prepare potatoes for the meal in different styles (with lumps, whipped with peas & carrots, as tater tots, etc).

Rachel is thrilled to learn that her friends have taken up a collection to get her a plane ticket to Vail.

Then Chandler arrives with news that the Underdog balloon has “escaped” from the Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade.  Everyone runs to the rooftop of the apartment building to witness Underdog’s unscheduled flight.

Unfortunately, Monica and Rachel miscommunicate about keys to the front door, and find themselves locked out of their apartment, which means that Monica’s feast is overcooking and Rachel’s plane ticket and baggage are inaccessible.  

Is Thanksgiving ruined?

RigbyMel says:

This is a solid Thanksgiving episode with many of the expected tropes that have come to be associated with turkey day TV including the requisite cooking disaster and time spent with friends and/or family and the attendant tensions holiday expectations bring.

There is a subplot involving Ross (my least favorite character on the show because he is awful and entitled and self-centered) spending some time with his pregnant ex-wife and competing with her girlfriend for the affections of their unborn baby.  This subplot and some of the jokes (like one about Joey wearing makeup for his modeling job) haven't aged particularly well in my estimation.

That being said, it's nice to see actual Macy's Thanksgiving parade footage from 1993 including the Underdog and Smokey Bear balloons.   The national TV broadcast of the Macy's parade makes it a Thanksgiving touchstone for people all across the US and watching old footage from the parade provides interesting views of various moments in pop culture.     The unexpectedness of Underdog's "escape" from the parade and Joey's modelling woes add zest to the proceedings.

If you're a fan of the show and want to enjoy some 1990s nostalgia over your Thanksgiving weekend, this episode is recommended, even if it's not quite a classic.

RigbyMel's rating:

3 pumpkin pies

J.A. Morris says:

"The One Where Underdog Gets Away" is a solid Thanksgiving episode. I've written here before about how the Macy's Parade is as important to Thanksgiving as pumpkin pie, turkey and candied yams. This episode is another example of the parade's importance. The Smokey Bear balloon made its last appearance in the 1993 edition of the parade, footage of which is shown here.

The only problem I have with this episode is Ross' subplot mentioned by Rigbymel. It has nothing do with Thanksgiving and feels phoned in from another episode (it's also not particularly funny).

I found myself identifying Monica.  I've been in scenarios where I felt like I was doing all the work to make others happy (as I imagine a lot of us have).  Her breakdown felt genuine, nice work by Courtney Cox.  As Phoebe and Chandler had the funniest lines in this episode.  

If you were a big fan of Friends, it will provide a nice trip back to the 90s where you can pay a holiday visit to your old TV "friends."  Hardcore fans of the Macy's Parade may also enjoy it.

J.A. Morris' rating:

2 and a half pumpkin pies.

Friends: "The One With The Candy Hearts"

Premiered February 9, 1995

Monica: Roger wants to take her out tomorrow night.

Rachel: No! Phoebes! Don't you remember why you dumped the guy?

Phoebe: 'Cause he was creepy, and mean, and a little frightening... alright, still, it's nice to have a date on Valentine's Day!

Monica: But Phoebe, you can go out with a creepy guy any night of the year. I know I do.

In this episode from the first season of the series,  it's nearly Valentine's day.

Ross' ex-wife Carol has recently left him for another woman and his crush on Rachel (Jennifer Aniston) is unrequited.  At Central Perk, he spots Kristen (Heather Medway), a woman he likes who lives in his building.  Joey and Chandler tell him to ask her out, thinking he'll strike out.  to everyone's surprise, Kristen agrees to go out with Ross (David Schwimmer) on Valentine's Day.

Joey (Matt LeBlanc) has a Valentine's date set up...but his date Lorraine (Nancy Valen) says he needs to bring a friend for her friend.  So Chandler (Matthew Perry) will go to dinner with Lorraine's friend.  He's reluctant and says the friend sounds like a "pathetic mess."

Phoebe (Lisa Kudrow), Monica (Courtney Cox)  and Rachel who do not have Valentine dates, are discussing their recent relationship struggles.  Rachel wonders why good women like them always end up dating jerks.  Phoebe suggests a cleansing ritual to help them "break the bad boyfriend cycle."  They decide to make a bonfire out of gifts, love letters and other reminders of ex-boyfriends.

When they meet up later at a restaurant, Lorraine is excited to see Joey.

On the other hand, Chandler is shocked to learn he's been matched up with Janice (Maggie Wheeler), who he recently dumped (on New Year's Eve).

Oh. My. God!

Lorraine and Joey are hitting it off nicely.  At the same table,  Chandler and Janice are having a terrible time.

Things get worse when Joey and Lorraine decide to leave early.  Joey (stupidly) leaves them his credit card.  They order two bottles of expensive champagne...and wake up next to each other.

Now Chandler has a new problem: how can he dump Janice on Valentine's Day?

Ross and Kristen have dinner at a Japanese steakhouse.

Shortly into their date, Ross' ex-wife Carol shows up with her girlfriend Susan (Jessica Hecht).

Their presence distracts Ross and threatens to ruin his evening with Kristen.

Meanwhile, back at the boyfriend bonfire, things get a little bit out of hand...

...when Rachel dumps a bottle of (highly flammable!) grappa on the bonfire!

Will Chandler go through with his plans to dump Janice on Valentine's Day?  Can Ross salvage his evening with Kristen with his ex-wife sitting in front of him?  Will Monica, Rachel and Phoebe live to see February 15th?

J.A. Morris says:

I was never a regular viewer of Friends, but I've watched it occasionally over the years.  "The One With The Candy Hearts" is okay.   As usual, Phoebe and Chandler get the best lines of the episode.  I know a lot of people find Janice annoying, but I always found her amusing.  Maggie Wheeler gave her all every time she played the character.

When he sees his ex & her girlfriend, Ross tries to hide behind a menu.

Ross was never my favorite character on the show.  But he's sympathetic when he runs into Carol on Valentine's Day, even if he goes a bit too far.  The "cleansing ritual" scenes are all pretty funny.

I guess my biggest problem with "The One With The Candy Hearts" is that Chandler and Joey don't seem much better than the "jerks" who Phoebe, Rachel and Monica are cleansing from their lives.  Chandler talks about Janice like she's terrible, then spends the night with her, then (20 year old SPOILER ALERT) dumps her on Valentine's Day.  I guess we're supposed to be okay with it because Janice is annoying? 

If you were a Friends fan in the 90s, "The One With The Candy Hearts" will provide some nice, nostalgic Valentine's Day laughs.  But it's not exactly "essential" holiday viewing.

J.A. Morris' rating:

2 and a half Valentine Hearts.

RigbyMel says:

Unlike J.A. Morris, I was a pretty regular viewer of Friends, especially during the first couple of seasons.   Let us just say that it conjures warm memories of college for me up to a point.    (Wow!  The 1990s nostalgia is strong with this one!)

That being said, it's been a long while since I've watched many episodes of the series and I am older and (hopefully) a bit less naive nowadays.   So Ross -- who I thought was kind of sweet back in the day  (although I always preferred Chandler) -- now strikes me as being extremely whiny and irritating in the worst Nice Guy (tm) sort of way.  His interaction with Carol at the hibachi restaurant is supposed to endear him to us (if not to his date!),  but their little heart to heart about dating at the end of the episode just feels a bit hollow and pat to me.

Yeah, Ross, your date left ages ago ...  because you were paying more attention to your ex than to her.

I definitely remember relating rather strongly to Phoebe, Monica and Rachel's attempt to get rid of bad boyfriend vibes when this episode first aired.  And I love Phoebe's sort of hippie/Wicca ideas about how to accomplish this.   Their cleansing ritual attempt remains pretty funny after all these years.  

A classic "boyfriend bonfire"

I also remember feeling kind of bad for Janice.  Sure,  she is kind of annoying, but she can't help the way she speaks and Chandler is kind of mean with the whole on-again-off-again way he treats her in general.

"The One With the Candy Hearts" is a fun, albeit slight episode of the series.   If you want to get your mid-90s nostalgia on, it's worth revisiting, but isn't particularly a classic holiday episode.

RigbyMel's rating:

2 and a half Valentine hearts