The One with Ross's Step Forward

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Friends season eight September 2001 - May 2002 List of Friends episodes
Episodes: The One After "I Do" The One with the Red Sweater The One Where Rachel Tells... The One with the Videotape The One with Rachel's Date The One with the Halloween Party The One with the Stain The One with the Stripper The One with the Rumor The One with Monica's Boots The One with Ross's Step Forward (a.k.a. The One With the Creepy Holiday Card) The One Where Joey Dates Rachel The One Where Chandler Takes a Bath The One with the Secret Closet The One with the Birthing Video The One Where Joey Tells Rachel The One with the Tea Leaves The One in Massapequa (a.k.a. The One With the Zesty Guy) The One with Joey's Interview The One with the Baby Shower The One with the Cooking Class The One Where Rachel is Late The One Where Rachel Has a Baby, Part One The One Where Rachel Has a Baby, Part Two

"The One With Ross's Step Forward" is the eleventh episode of the eighth season of Friends.

First aired: December 13, 2001

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

[edit] Plot

Due to her pregnancy, Rachel finds herself aroused by all kinds of men throughout the episode. ("Last weekend I went from store to store sitting on Santas' laps.") She decides to see her gynecologist about this, who is being substituted by an attractive male doctor, who Rachel immediately starts hitting on. When she tells Joey she is feeling "erotically charged" (to which Joey replies "Is that college talk for horny?") and asks him why just one great night with no strings attached is so hard to find, the two of them start to awkwardly avoid each other.

Mona suggests to Ross to send out Christmas cards together; Ross reluctantly agrees, although he is shocked by how seriously Mona obviously takes their relationship. ("Married couples send out cards, families send out cards. People who have been dating for a couple of months do not send out cards. What is she, crazy?") He later tells her he's not ready for that state of a relationship, which prompts Mona to ask Ross where in their relationship they are. To get out of "The Talk", Ross urges Mona to get started with the cards, but she insists on having the conversation. He asks advice from Monica and Phoebe who suggest Ross give Mona a key to his apartment as a gesture of their relationship moving forward. Shocked by the idea, Ross decides to rather have the talk with her, initiates it, but finds he can't do it, so he ends up giving her what turns out to be the only key to his apartment. ("I am now a homeless person in a very serious relationship.") Mona later catches Ross having the lock exchanged.

Chandler's annoying boss happily announces his divorce and invites Monica and Chandler for dinner, to which Monica refuses to come, leaving Chandler in a major dilemma. To get out of it, he tells his boss that he and Monica have split up, causing the boss to take Chandler for a guys night out to a strip club.