The One with Rachel's Big Kiss

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Friends season seven September 2000 - May 2001 List of Friends episodes
Episodes: The One with Monica's Thunder The One with Rachel's Book The One with Phoebe's Cookies The One with Rachel's Assistant The One with the Engagement Picture The One with the Nap Partners The One with Ross's Library Book The One Where Chandler Doesn't Like Dogs The One with All the Candy The One with the Holiday Armadillo The One with All the Cheesecakes The One Where They're Up All Night The One Where Rosita Dies The One Where They All Turn Thirty The One with Joey's New Brain The One with the Truth About London The One with the Cheap Wedding Dress The One with Joey's Award The One with Ross and Monica's Cousin The One with Rachel's Big Kiss The One with the Vows The One with Chandler's Dad The One with Chandler And Monica's Wedding, Part One The One with Chandler And Monica's Wedding, Part Two

"The One with Rachel's Big Kiss" is the twentieth episode of the seventh season of Friends.

First aired: April 26, 2001

[edit] Plot

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

At Central Perk, Rachel meets (and is exhausted by) Melissa (Winona Ryder), an old sorority sister. After exchanging greetings and making dinner plans, Monica reveals that in their senior year of college, Rachel & Melissa had gotten drunk at a sorority luau and had wound up kissing "for a bit". Joey is predictably intrigued.

Back at Monica's apartment, Monica plans the reception of her and Chandler's wedding, using a model complete with pins color-coded by whose guest they are (red for Monica, blue for Chandler). Chandler is depressed by how few guests he has compared to Monica. After the seating chart is finalized, Joey asks where his parents will sit, and Monica states that they aren't invited. Chandler enlists Joey's parents to boost his own guest count.

At Ralph Lauren, Rachel shows Chandler a rack of men's suits worn by celebrities, including Pierce Brosnan's tuxedo from James Bond. Struck by the idea of wearing James Bond's tux to his wedding, he wonders aloud whether Monica will allow him to wear it.

Rachel walks in on Phoebe and Joey playing their version of chess, and the story of her liaison with Melissa comes out. Phoebe disbelieves that Rachel could participate in anything so wild. To prove her story is true and that she is not, in Phoebe's words, "vanilla," Rachel invites Phoebe along to dinner with Melissa.

At Central Perk, Ross brandishes a tux that he reveals to have been worn by Val Kilmer in "that Batman movie he was in". Chandler worries that Batman is cooler than James Bond and that Ross's tux will overshadow his.

After Monica has meticulously rearranged her reception to include Joey's parents, he informs her that they won't be coming because they feel unwanted. Even though this is true, he convinces Monica to re-invite them and blame their previous "misunderstanding" on their two pet peeves: the U.S. Post Office and the Irish.

Chandler whines to Monica that with Batman's tux, Ross will be cooler than he, the groom. Monica comforts him that James bond is sexier (or at least more heterosexual) than Batman. Joey comes in and tries to convince Monica to allow him to delay her wedding to accommodate his parents' schedule, as they have a christening to attend the same day.

At Eddie's, a fancy restaurant, Melissa and Phoebe swap sorority stories (fictional, in Phoebe's case) and Rachel playfully tries to get Melissa to confirm the story of their making out to Phoebe, but she denies it. Rachel tries to jog Melissa's memory with the pertinent details of their sorority party experience (including the sound of coconut bikini tops banging together) but Melissa continues to insist that it never happened. Phoebe tells Rachel that she believes her, but almost simultaneously agrees (albeit sotto voce) with Melissa's denial, exasperating Rachel.

Ross begins carrying around his celebrity tux around as a conversation piece, while Chandler has had to give up James Bond's tux because the pants were too tight. Since there is only one celebrity tux left, Ross lets Chandler try it on. He finds it comfortable, but then discovers Val Kilmer's invitation to the premiere of At First Sight in the jacket pocket, thereby dissolving the tux's Batman cachet.

Leaving Eddie's, Melissa says her goodbyes to Phoebe and informs Rachel that she won't contact her again, since she's become weird. Tired of Melissa's "forgetfulness", Rachel kisses her. A transformation comes over Melissa and she gushes out the truth that she's been in love with Rachel ever since the night in college and that no one could kiss like Rachel just had and not mean it. Rachel counters that she's just a good kisser, and Melissa backs down and tries unsuccessfully to write the whole thing off as a joke. Heartbroken, she leaves in a taxi. Phoebe then kisses a stunned Rachel "to see what all the fuss is about."

("And?" Rachel asks. Phoebe: "I've had better.")