Second Look: Friends Season 4, Episode 8 – “The One with Chandler in a Box”

Friends Season 4, Episode 8 – “The One with Chandler in a Box”
Written by Michael Borkow
Directed by Peter Bonerz
Aired November 20, 1997 on NBC

“The One with Chandler in a Box” is a Thanksgiving Friends episode like none other in the rest of the series – and not just because it prominently features one of its characters sitting inside of a box for most of its running time. Unlike every other Turkey Day-related episode of the series (save for perhaps season 10’s “The One with the Late Thanksgiving”), “The One with Chandler in a Box” is incredibly focused on its serialized elements – which not only heighten the already-peaking dramatic crescendo of Chandler and Joey’s love triangle, but also the emotional components of its resolution. It’s why “The One with Chandler in a Box” is my favorite Thanksgiving episode of the series, despite having one of the show’s worst subplot ideas ever – the only thing truly holding it back from being an incredibly important, landmark episode for the series, rather than a really, really good mid-season episode.

Which, let’s just rip the Band-Aid off; though one might be able to see what Friends was going for when Monica, after scratching her cornea with an errant piece of ice, ends up asking her ex Richard’s adult son Timothy to the gang’s Thanksgiving dinner. As Joey so succinctly puts it: “Ew… ewww… ewwww!”

There’s nothing good about this plot; from the moment Monica starts flirting with him during her eye exam, everything about it feels uncomfortably gross. It’s never a good sign if Phoebe feels like the logical person in the room – but when she reminds Monica she’s about to be in a relationship where someone can actually use the phrase “that’s now how your dad used to do it”, it feels like Friends slipping over into some warped, Bizarro version of itself (or, if we want to be really bitchy about it, it feels like an episode yanked from the middle of season 9). It’s unpleasant as anything we’ve seen so far in season four – though, if anything, it is a great reminder that nothing good ever happens on Monica’s balcony, and is easily drowned out by the episode’s other two, much more effective stories.

“The One with Chandler in a Box” is led, of course, by its titular story – which on its own would suffice in covering for the Monica/Tim monstrosity, but is further propelled by one of the only good Ross/Rachel scenes this season. At first, it feels like Ross and Rachel are poised to drown out the rest of the episode, leaving Joey and Chandler’s conflicts feeling…. well, a bit boxed in against two underwhelming stories. Ross in particular, is rather rancid about how he perceives Rachel’s supposed lack of sentimentality. But what begins in a place of bitterness – Ross learning Rachel is a serial returner of gifts, including his – ends up being a terrifically disguised tone setter for the Joey/Chandler resolution to follow.

What “The One with Chandler in a Box” does so intelligently with its Rachel/Ross B story is with its resolution; near the end of the episode, Rachel confronts an agitated Ross with various mementos from their relationship – a ticket stub from their first date, and an eggshell from their first breakfast together (also, an extremely rare fossil from “The One Where Rachel and Ross… You Know”; “We have people looking for that”, Ross notes sheepishly). For a series that often treats sentimentality as an object of derision, seeing a genuine moment between Rachel and Ross, who’ve done nothing but trade awkward barbs for a few episodes, is an extremely potent moment – especially when Ross humbly apologizes for being so crass about his own perspective, an even rarer moment where Friends lets Schwimmer and Aniston both portray something vulnerable and honest with each other in the same scene.

That scene sets the runway for what follows, when Kathy arrives at the apartment, horrified at the damage she’s wrought to their friendship. She tenderly apologizes to Chandler, regretfully breaking up with him while he sits in his box of his shame – for someone who hasn’t had a lot of screen time to herself at this point, Paget Brewster takes full opportunity of the moment when Kathy says “I really think this could’ve been something really amazing,” putting an entire character arc’s worth of pathos into a single line of dialogue.

Joey, of course, is watching all of this from Monica’s kitchen; and goddamnit, if your heart doesn’t just melt when Joey forgives his friend and encourages him to get out of the box and go after her. Often played for fool and folly on Friends, Joey doesn’t get a lot of moments to be the show’s moral center – and LeBlanc answers the call here with aplomb, a combination of earnest emotion and awkward 90s masculinity that is pitch perfect for the moment – and something, thankfully, Friends doesn’t try to linger on, lest the sentiment of the moment curdle under an inevitable punchline.

“The One with Chandler in a Box” is such a rarity for Friends, featuring not one but two amicable resolutions between main characters in ways that feel honest to both character and story (whereas Friends would often get tripped up on in other attempts). It makes for a holiday episode that feels like a holiday episode, one grounded in an honest depiction of the show’s nuclear family, and how those meaningful connections can be an avenue for healing and comfort, if embraced with a truly open heart. And it does so through Rachel, Ross, and Joey, which may be the most unique aspect of this entire episode (how often is Friends able to accomplish emotional synergy with two characters, let alone three?)… it’s just so unfortunate this episode comes alongside a true low point for Monica’s romantic journey on the series, the one mark against this wonderfully poignant, near-perfect Friends episode.

Grade: A-

Other thoughts/observations:

• One thing Rachel is (and should be) shunned for is being an office regifter.
• Ross wondering why he corrects people’s language is such a great moment of self-reflection rarely offered to his character.
• Joey thinks he invented Secret Santa, and Ross Die Hard… do you want him to show you the napkin?
• At one point, Phoebe mentions she’s calling her mother to “ask her a left-handed cooking question.” No notes; just funny.
• Why is Ross drinking a Red Stripe in this episode? Extremely random, unfitting drink choice for his character.
• Monica won’t stand for the criticism of her life decisions: “Married a lesbian, left a man at the altar, married a gay ice dancer, threw a girl’s wooden leg in a fire, live in a box!”
• “Airhole, airhole!”
• the fact the line “do you want to be in a relationship where you can actually use the phrase ‘that’s not how your dad used to do it'” even exists in this script should’ve been a sign this whole thing was a bad idea.
• I will reiterate: NOTHING GOOD HAPPENS ON THE BALCONY.
• I love the closing credits, where everyone realizes they’re fawning over a robbery in progress.
• Extended thoughts: The Secret Santa/Die Hard bit is from the extended version… but so is a lot more Tim/Monica flirting (including him smoking a cigarette!), so let’s just leave that in the past, where it belongs.
• Up next: Monica and Phoebe buy a van in “The One Where They’re Going to Party!”