The Pilot

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The Pilot (aka The One where Monica Gets a Roommate, The One where it all Began, The First One) is the very first episode of the television situation comedy Friends. It introduces the six friends for the first time. The episode was directed by James Burrows.^[1]

First aired: September 22, 1994

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

[edit] Plot

This is the first episode of Friends. The first scene takes place in Central Perk. Monica Geller, a chef, has a date with a coworker and is putting up with teasing from her friends - actor Joey Tribbiani, office drone Chandler Bing, and quirky masseuse Phoebe Buffay. Joey says that since Monica's date agreed to go out with her, there must be something wrong with him; Phoebe's concerned over whether or not the guy eats chalk. Chandler tells everyone about a dream he had that involved him naked in front of a crowd, and a ringing telephone in place of his genitalia.

Monica's older brother, paleontologist Ross Geller, enters, depressed. His ex-wife, Carol, moved her stuff out to live with her lesbian lover. The gang's attempts to help - Phoebe tries to cleanse his aura; Joey suggests going to a strip club - don't work. Ross says all he wants is to be married again. On cue, a woman wearing a wet wedding dress enters Central Perk (in his typical fashion, Chandler immediately makes a joke out of the coincidence--"Okay, and I want a million dollars!") The woman turns out to be Rachel Green, a spoiled rich girl and friend of Monica's from high school.

Rachel explains that just before the wedding, she was in the room where the gifts were kept and came across a beautiful Limoges gravy boat. She realised the gravy boat excited her more than fiancé Barry Finkle^[2] did. She then realized that Barry looked a lot like Mr. Potato Head, and that she didn't really love him - so she ran out of the church and sought out the one person she knew still lived in the city (hoping the fact Monica wasn't invited to the wedding wouldn't be an issue).

While the gang watches a Spanish soap opera, Rachel calls her father to explain why she ran out on her wedding - and manages to force Monica to take her in as a roommate. Monica eventually agrees, saying this will be a good thing for her. Joey ends up hitting on her - Monica explains that Joey shouldn't hit on Rachel, because it's her wedding day. Joey replies: "What, like there's a rule or something?"

Monica's date - Paul the Wine Guy - arrives. Since Ross is upset about Carol, and Rachel just left a man at the altar, Monica almost doesn't go. Ross and Rachel convince her to go, and she does. Paul tells her that since his divorce two years prior, he hasn't been able to perform in the bedroom. A touched Monica helps him regain his sexual drive - but later finds out he used the same line on another co-worker, Franny.

Chandler and Joey go to Ross's apartment to help Ross put together some new furniture (since Carol took all the furniture when she moved out). Ross finds a can of Carol's favorite beer ("She drank it from the can, I should have known") and becomes upset. Joey and Chandler convince him that since he's single again, he should move on and start dating again.

Rachel decides that since she's out on her own, she should look for a job. After twelve disastrous interviews, she does find something - a pair of boots, half-price, paid for with Daddy's credit card. The gang convinces her that she doesn't need her father's money, and she cuts up her credit cards. Phoebe gives us her first glimpse of her screwed-up childhood: Her mother killed herself when Phoebe was 14 and her stepfather was in prison, so she moved to the city to live with an albino windshield-cleaner until he killed himself. All was not lost - she discovered aromatherapy. Later, Ross reveals that when he was in high school, he had a huge crush on Rachel (although she admits that she knew but just thought of him as Monica's geeky older brother) and asks her if he could ask her out sometime. Thinking Ross is just being nice, she agrees.

At the end of the episode, Rachel finally finds a job - waitressing at Central Perk.

[edit] Notes and references

^ Friends Episode 1.01 - The Pilot. Retrieved on 2006-09-13.
^ In the pilot of Friends, Rachel said Barry's last name was Finkle, but later on, Barry's last name became Farber. In "The One With the Flashback" Barry's last name is said to be Farber by one of Rachel's friends.