Second Look: Friends Season 5, Episode 4 – “The One Where Phoebe Hates PBS”

Friends Season 5, Episode 4 “The One Where Phoebe Hates PBS”
Written by Michael Curtis
Directed by Shelley Jensen
Aired October 15, 1998 on NBC

After an episode as momentous as “The One Hundredth”, it’s almost expected of Friends to take a beat before it really begin any of its secondary season five stories – which, at first glance, is exactly what “The One Where Phoebe Hates PBS” is, thanks to Joey and his misadventures at a PBS telethon. Underneath the pratfalls and punchlines of that silly story, however, Friends puts its two central romantic pairings on parallels paths – and even though it’s still early in season five, the distinction in quality, and dissonance, between the two arcs are already becoming clear.

This might seem a natural development, of course – after all, Ross and Rachel have been a bedrock since the series pilot, and Monica and Chandler’s spark have introduced a completely unexpected element into the mix. The issue is, Monica and Chandler’s silly fight over him finding out she said he was “the best sex she ever had” gives the episode some much-needed spark between its scenes of Joey flopping around behind the PBS telethon tables – and Ross’s story is really just a big drag, as he suddenly is faced with an increasing number of obstacles in order for Emily to forgive him (where Friends basically gives away the game that Emily/Ross is never going to actually work).

It’s really Emily that brings the episode down, even though she’s only featured in about eleven seconds of footage; after spending a half-season regrettably not making Emily a character, the only trait we are introduced to is of pure vitriol, from the pre-wedding arguments in London, to the fallout of Ross’s absolutely moronic mistake at the altar, to here, where she suddenly demands Ross leave his young son in America, and move to London with her (even though she presumably already sold most of her stuff and her apartment, since Ross points out she was already planning to move here). With a little bit of legwork in previous episodes, this story might work to a degree – but coming out of nowhere, especially after an episode like “The One Hundredth”, it makes both Emily and Ross seem a bit pathetic; Emily, for willing to back down on her word and try to make things work with Ross (which… Friends is already kind of tipping its hand on how unrealistic that possibility is), and Ross, for accepting an ultimatum to which everyone knows he won’t be able to adhere to.

It makes for quite a depressing runner underneath the lighter nature of Phoebe’s PBS hatred, Joey’s desperation, and Chandler’s arrogance; seeing a sullen Ross slink around while he conceals the nature of his reconciliation with Rachel (at the episode’s close, he’s hugging Rachel while on the phone with Emily – seems like a bad choice) feels like Friends pushing his character down the stairs just for a few cheap laughs. In no scenario does this end well with either Emily or Rachel; that truth is apparent in just a few scenes of “The One Where Phoebe Hates PBS”, and it clouds Ross’s presence throughout the episode, turning him into a sad sack of coiffed hair and lack of any moral conviction who is so desperate, he’s willing to leave the most important decisions of his life to a Magic 8 Ball (also, him agreeing means Emily’s arc will get dragged out even further, as the Friends writers make a miserable mess trying to untangle themselves from season four).

Thankfully, there’s the rest of the episode to hold things together – and the more Monica and Chandler’s relationship dynamic develops, the more fun their plotlines are. It speaks to the burden Friends put on itself to bring Rachel and Ross together for two and a half seasons (“the lobster theory” effect, if you will); without that inherent pressure on their story, Friends is able to play things a bit lighter and slower, allowing for a bit of incidental conflict between the two that only drives home what strong comedic and romantic energy they have immediately injected into the series.

While there’s not a whole lot to glean from Chandler’s little self-righteous parade, his “we owe it to sex!” speech in the episode’s third act is a perfect encapsulation of how fun and intriguing the pairing is, their shared vulnerability standing in stark contrast to their dating habits in the past – where Ross’s story is doused in cynicism and regret, there’s a sense of hope with Monica and Chandler Friends is tapping into, and it makes throwaway stories like this one feel all the more endearing, intentionally strengthening the foundation of their relationship through conflict (where as in the past, Friends would use Ross/Rachel conflicts to show how dissonant their pairing actually was). In a sense, Friends is doing the “lobster” storyline with Monica and Chandler – but by not saying it explicitly, it greatly expands the possibility spaces for their story for season five (and six and later ten, honestly) to follow.

I even like how Monica’s compliment to Phoebe about Chandler plays into Joey and Phobe’s little morality play, where the two explore whether there are truly any unselfish deeds humans can commit. Their little debate, which plays out as Phoebe tries to find ways to disprove Joey’s theory (that anything humans do is selfish, even altruistic acts, because it makes us feel good), is the kind of material I wish Friends used more often for its C plots; it is a rare example of Friends treating its… let’s say, non-traditionally intelligent characters, and allows them to operate on a brain frequency usually reserved for Ross, or occasionally Chandler or Monica; which at first, when Joey first tells Phoebe she’s selfish for having her brother’s kids, it doesn’t feel its going to be.

To Friends credit, though, it makes it work, building the episode to a hilarious scene where Phoebe calls into the PBS hotline, and gets Joey on television, thus proving Joey’s theory, ultimately, to be true (her horrified “oh no!” reaction is fantastic capper to the whole plot). In doing so, it is able to quietly set the stage for the final Ross scene to follow, where he experiences the dread of knowing the impending fallout of his own selfish decision (which, to recap, was choosing to marry someone when you’re still clearly dealing with lingering feelings for someone else… yup, checks out). It doesn’t exactly help with Ross’s portrayal and making it empathetic in any way, shape, or form, but it certainly an effective example of what selfish (or desperate, given he’s leaving his fate up to a child’s toy) behavior can do; Emily’s behavior puts Ross in an impossible position (a situation he engineered for himself out of an impulse decision to get engaged a year after breaking up with Rachel).

For an episode that’s ostensibly light on significant overarching plot elements, “The One Where Phoebe Hates PBS” is a surprisingly weighty episode of Friends, one able to balance light and heavy elements with an unexpected agility – and though not a consequential episode in its own right, “The One Where Phoebe Hates PBS” is a quietly an essential piece to the first act of season five, setting the tone (and unintentionally, the priorities) of the next handful of episodes to follow.

Grade: B+

Other thoughts/observations:

• Example #1,562 of why Ross is a Psychopath: who calls the wife they’re fighting with IN A MOVIE THEATER???
  
• Chandler, breaking the ice: “my office finally got wrinkle-free fax paper!”
  
• The shot of Ross taking apart the 8-ball is a great one.
  
• Chandler tries to explain why Phoebe didn’t get a letter back from Sesame Street: “You know, a lot of those Muppets don’t have thumbs.”
  
• Chandler’s exclamation at Phoebe revealing Monica’s “best sex she ever had comment” is absolute gold.
  
• Ross tries to convince Susan and Carol to move to London with him – “Great theater, great accents… tea! They have a queen; she’s a woman!”
  
• I love when Chandler catches the chick watching Emeril Live: “how many times have I told you not to watch the Cooking Channel?!!”
  
• Monica does the Chandler Dance for the first time – spoilers, it won’t be the last, or the most memorable!
  
• Phoebe thinks letting a bee sting her is selfless; she is horrified when she learns what happens after a bee stings someone.
  
• To think, Pottery Barn used to be cheaper than Williams & Sonoma. Now they’re both astronomically overpriced!
  
• Chandler and Monica making their case to each other: “We’re too good! We owe it to sex!”
  
• Ross being worried about divorced twice before he’s 30 is probably an unintentional bit of foreshadowing, but it’s a funny one.
  
• Extended thoughts: It’s been so long since I watched the broadcast version, I forgot the whole Susan/Carol scene is from the Extended Version! Besides that, this episode doesn’t have much except a good joke about British phone numbers.
  
• Up next: Joey learns the truth about Chandler in “The One with the Kips”.