Monica has a date with Chip, Rachel's old prom date. Phoebe thinks her mom's spirit is inhabiting a stray cat, but Ross is the only one who tries to talk her out of it. Joey attempts to sell the entertainment center, but is tricked by a potential buyer and trapped inside it, causing his and Chandler's stuff to all get stolen.
Tropes
- Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking: While the girls go over everything the thief took, Joey says he also took the five of spades from his card deck. But then finds it.
- The Bet: Joey states to one of the potential buyers he will knock down 5 dollars to the price of the entertainment center if he can't fit inside it.
- Big "OMG!": Chandler, upon noticing the apartment has been stripped to the bone.
- Brick Joke: Joey and Chandler show the entertainment center to two guys:
- One of them offers to trade a canoe for it, which his roommate objects to because "he built it with his own hands," echoing Joey's refusal to give up the unit. In The Stinger, it's shown that Joey and Chandler did end up trading the unit for the canoe.
- The other states he doesn't believe Joey can't fit inside the center. Joey not only says he once did it, but he goes on to successfully demonstrate that he can fit in there. Then, just like Chandler did the first time, he puts a bar on the door so he can't come out... Then, unfortunately, he proceeds to rob their living room.
- Call-Back: Monica and Rachel's plot sees the former going on a date with Chip Matthews who took Rachel to the prom.
- Didn't See That Coming: Monica mentions that her band uniform back in high school had to be specially made in home ec. Rachel actually worked on that project, though she says they were told it was for the school mascot.
- Friendship Moment:
- Rachel was initially resistant to Monica going out with one of her old exes, but she gave her blessing (and a hug) after Monica talks about what high school was like for a Formerly Fat girl rather than a popular cheerleader.
- Ross offers Chandler and Joey his extra futon (though Joey ruins the moment by thinking Ross was bragging about it).
- Insane Troll Logic: How Phoebe figures the cat is her reincarnated mother.Phoebe: The first thing she was drawn to was the orange felt lining of my guitar case.
Ross: So?
Phoebe: So… my mom's favorite fish was orange ruffee. [beat] Cats love fish! - Irony: Monica comes back from the date saying she always wanted to go out with Chip back in high school and technically did so tonight.
- Karma Houdini: The guy who robs Joey and Chandler is never caught.
- Manchild: It turns out Chip Matthews hasn't changed at all since high school. He still hangs around with the same group of friends, still works at the same movie theater and still lives with his parents. Monica is horrified but gleefully notes that "I got to dump Chip Matthews in high school".
- Mistaken for Stray: Phoebe takes in what appears to be a stray cat, whom she's convinced is her reincarnated mother, which makes her get extremely attached. Unfortunately, the cat actually belongs to a little girl, and when the others chicken out, Ross is forced to confront her so that the girl can have her cat back.
- No Sympathy: Double subverted. Coming home to a robbed apartment, Chandler is genuinely worried about Joey being locked in the entertainment center, until he finds out Joey got in voluntarily and thus caused the whole mess.
- Obliquely Obfuscated Occupation: Joey refers to Chandler as an accountant and when Chandler corrects him asks "What do you do?" Ross, Rachel and Phoebe quickly add that they don't know what Chandler does for a living either.
- Similar Squad: The two roommates checking out the entertainment center resemble Joey and Chandler, being respectively a slow-witted wannabe builder and a snarker frustrated by his buddy's antics.
- Tropey, Come Home: The theme of Phoebe's plot after Rachel finds a missing poster that states the cat's name is Julio. Unlike most versions of this trope, we only see Phoebe's side of the story, not the missing cat's owner's.
