The One After Vegas
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"The One After Vegas" is the first episode of season 6 of the sitcom Friends.
First aired: September 23, 1999
[edit] Plot
This episode picks up with the final scene of the season 5 cliffhanger, The One In Vegas, Part Two. To quote that episode's article:
| “ | Chandler and Monica [are] at a Las Vegas wedding chapel: "One marriage, please!" They have to wait, however, as the chapel is currently in use. Finally, its occupants burst out in joyous celebration: Ross and Rachel, still with doodled-on faces, still roaring drunk, and now very legally married. They charge out into the night while Chandler and Monica stare. | ” |
At this point, Joey and Phoebe both run into the chapel as well (Chandler: "Is everybody getting married?!"), only to emerge in confusion. It appears that Ross and Rachel invited them to their wedding—which, Monica and Chandler exclaim hastily, is the same reason they are there. The next morning, Ross and Rachel awaken in the same bed, totally hung over—Rachel with clothes on, and Ross without—and competely unaware of the previous night's escapades. However, it all comes screaming back to them when they join the gang for a buffet breakfast the next morning.
Joey announces that the movie which was to be his big break has been canceled, and makes plans to fly home with the gang. Unfortunately, he used Phoebe's cab to drive to Vegas in the first place, and so must drive it home. Phoebe agrees to accompany him ("Are you asking me to have a frenaissance?"), but is disappointed when he spends most of the first day sleeping. Joey agrees to replace her as driver, but ends up taking on a hitchhiker while she sleeps. At first, Phoebe is incensed at Joey, but when she and the hitchhiker hit it off (in fact, they make arrangements to hook up later), she forgives him.
Monica and Chandler debate the wisdom of their marriage plans. Both feel like they're moving too quickly and are scared of change, but both also feel deeply in love and that they ought to make some further commitment. They decide to wait for signs that they should marry, like taking another spin at a craps table. After wagering on number eight again, they are increasingly alarmed because all signs seem positive for the marriage. In the end, Chandler suggests that he move into Monica's apartment, and Monica ceremonially gives him the key so that he can let himself in ("The door hasn’t been locked in five years," Chandler remarks, "but okay!"). Then the key breaks in the lock. "Are you hugging the door right now?" Chandler asks. "...No," Monica states. "Yeah-yeah, me neither," says Chandler.
Finally, Ross approaches Rachel with a simple answer to their predicament: they can ask for an annulment on their wedding. However, Ross doesn't want to get one: "Look, I can’t have three failed marriages." Rachel is incredulous—"Oh Ross, come on! This is not a marriage, this is the world’s worst hangover!"—and finally declares an ultimatum: "If you do not get this annulment, I will!" Ross accedes unhappily, but just prior to the closing credits, makes a confession to Phoebe: he did not actually annul the marriage.
[edit] Trivia
- In this episode, Courteney Cox (Monica) was first attributed as "Courteney Cox Arquette," due to her marriage to David Arquette during the show's summer hiatus. As a joke, every person on the opening credits had their name appended with Arquette's surname, including show creators David Crane (Arquette) and Marta Kauffman (Arquette). This is also the only episode of the series in which Courteney Cox is credited before Jennifer Aniston in the opening theme due to the joke.
- The episode is dedicated to Courteney Cox and David Arquette "Who really did get married."
- The making of this episode was documented in a behind-the-scenes featurette that was released on video in the UK as "On The Inside" (as a part of a special "Best of" boxset) and later on DVD as "The One That Goes Behind the Scenes" (on the re-release of the season ten DVD). It shows a number of line changes and reveals that the first draft was nine minutes too long, the first cut was four and a half minutes long, and shows the writers adding and changing a number of lines during the taping.
| Preceded by "The One In Vegas, Part Two" |
List of Friends episodes | Followed by "The One Where Ross Hugs Rachel" |
