"The Pilot" (also called "The One Where Monica Gets a Roommate", "The One Where It All Began", and "The First One") is the first episode of the sitcom Friends. It originally aired on September 22, 1994.
Monica's old friend Rachel shows up at the coffee house, having run out on her wedding. Rachel decides to try to make it on her own, and she moves in with Monica.
Monica's brother Ross has just found out that his wife is a lesbian. While Ross is upset over the ending of his marriage, he has had a long-time crush on Rachel and suggests to her the possibility of them going out some time.
Tropes
- Break-Up Bonfire: No actual fire but Paul's story about breaking his ex-wife's watch after they broke up is very similar. When Monica finds out Paul lied to get her into bed, she pays it forward by stomping on the watch he left in her apartment.
- Brutal Honesty: When Ross asks Phoebe to help him move, she responds with "Oh, I wish I could, but I don't want to."
- Change the Uncomfortable Subject: When Phoebe's attempts to reassure Rachel about being on her own don't work (see "Not So Different" Remark), Ross responds, "I believe the word you're looking for is, 'Anyway...'."
- Cheer Up Episode: Both plotlines. Joey and Chandler try to cheer up Ross after his marriage ends, while Monica takes in Rachel after leaving her wedding and getting cut off financially by her parents.
- Did You Just Have Sex?: Monica's co-worker knows within seconds of seeing her that Monica recently had sex with someone.
- Discreet Drink Disposal: Rachel's first attempt at making coffee is so bad Chandler and Joey take one sip and dump the rest in a nearby plant to spare her feelings.
- Early-Installment Weirdness:
- This, the first episode, is also the only one that is not titled with some variation of "The One With…" at least until the last episode (titled "The Last One").
- This is the only episode without a Cold Open, starting with the Theme Tune.
- This is the only time the montage in the Theme Tune consists only of scenes featuring the main characters playing and posing in the fountain.
- Joey is characterised as less of the charming Kindhearted Simpleton he'll later be and more of a frat boy type, recommending strip clubs to get over a divorce and hitting on a clearly distraught Rachel.
- Foreshadowing: Leonard asks why it should matter if Rachel loves Barry or not when confronting her for leaving him at the altar which is the first hint to the fact Leonard and Sandra were never happy in their marriage.
- Furniture Assembly Gag: Joey and Chandler spend and evening helping Ross put together a bunch of new furniture for his apartment because Carol apparently got everything in the divorce. All three of them struggle with the instructions for what they're supposed to be doing.Ross: (squatting with the instruction sheet in hand) I'm supposed to attach a bracket-y thing to these side things with a bunch of these little worm guys. (looks around) I have no bracket-y thing, I see no worm-guys whatsoever...and I cannot feel my legs.
- Irony: Monica lampshades how Rachel has opted to crash at the home of the person who didn't get invited to the wedding.
- Last Het Romance: Ross turns out to have been this for Carol.
- The Loins Sleep Tonight: Paul claims that ever since he broke up with his ex he hasn't been able to "perform sexually". Monica eventually finds out he was lying when her co-worker Frannie claims he told her the same thing.
- Noodle Incident: Joey was once in a production of Pinocchio as the eponymous character. Chandler happily pokes fun at him for it.Chandler: "Look, Geppetto, I'm a real, live boy!"
- No Sympathy: Joey is incredulous that Monica fell for The Loins Sleep Tonight lie, saying it was so obviously a line.
- Not a Date: Monica repeatedly insists that her going for dinner with Paul isn't a date but none of the gang buy it.Monica: It's just two people going out for dinner and not having sex!
Chandler: Sounds like a date to me. - "Not So Different" Remark: Phoebe attempts this to reassure Rachel that she understands how hard it can be to be on one's own for the first time. However, Phoebe then talks about far more intense items (her mother committing suicide, her stepfather going to prison, and an albino guy she was living with also committing suicide) that leave Rachel speechless. Ross suggests just changing the subject.
- Pet the Dog: Joey was a bit of a Jerkass due to Early-Installment Weirdness, but he assures Ross he can still find love even if it didn't work out with Carol he just has to be willing to find it.
- Recut: A longer version of this episode exists with several extra jokes and a few scenes added back in (including one of Phoebe busking on the subway after the declines to help put Ross' furniture together). While extended cuts of other episodes exist, this one is particularly notable as it's often included on home media releases that otherwise use the aired cuts. It's also popped up in syndication a few times.
- Retail Therapy: Rachel tries to find a job but was rejected for having no skills. But she's happy anyway because she found a pair of boots at 50% off.
- Retroactive Wish: Since a woman in a wedding dress (Rachel) walked into the coffee shop right when Ross said "I just want to be married", Chandler shouts, "And I just want a million dollars!"
- Runaway Bride: When we first see Rachel, she's still in her wedding dress after having run out on Barry at the altar.
- Something Else Also Rises: When Ross gets re-introduced to Rachel, they go in for a handshake and Ross's umbrella accidentally opens up between them at crotch level.
- Something Something Leonard Bernstein: Phoebe tries to cheer up Rachel by singing "My Favorite Things" from The Sound of Music, but she clearly doesn't remember all the lyrics.
- Speak of the Devil: Invoked by Chandler during the Retroactive Wish scene mentioned above.
- Spit Take: Monica when Paul tells her he hasn't been able to perform sexually for two years.Monica: I'm sorry. I'm sure getting spit on is not what you need right now.
- Street Musician: The extended cut of the episode has an extra scene of Phoebe performing for tips on a subway platform after she declines the invitation to help put Ross' furniture together.
- That Poor Plant: The plant that Chandler and Joey dump Rachel's badly-made coffee into is visibly dead for the rest of the episode. In the extended cut, when Ross tells Rachel that she made coffee so she can do anything she wants, Chandler quietly grabs the dead plant and hides it under his arms.
- Welcome Episode: For Rachel, who is new to the core group of friends.
