‘The One with Five Steaks and an Eggplant’ (aired 10/19/96)
There are some episodes of Friends where the writers seem hell bent on presenting the worst versions of the six main characters possible, for some really cheap comedic material. ‘The One with Five Steaks and an Eggplant’ is one of the most egregious cases of this, turning Chandler into a guy emotionally manipulating a woman out of sexual desperation, and making both the ‘broke’ and ‘wealthy’ group of friends complete assholes in their own right. I do think the show finds a good way to resolve Chandler’s material and make it somewhat meaningful, but the whole in-group argument over money is one of the worst episodic plots Friends has in this mediocre first half of season two.
I at least understand the point of Chandler’s activities in ‘Five Steaks’; his emotional vulnerability and growing desperation about being alone (seen most recently in ‘The One Where Heckles Dies’) makes perfect sense for him. But pretending to be someone else on the phone, picking up only after hearing her talk about being drunk and naked? It starts the plot in an uncomfortable place and only gets worse as the episode continues; by the time we’ve hit the ten minute mark, he’s set her up at the cafe to get ‘ditched’ by her ex-boyfriend, where he can swoop in and claim his sexual victory (which he does; “I’m all cried out today” he tells her as she sniffles alone over coffee).
Thankfully, his conquest doesn’t come without consequences: the woman calls Chandler’s apartment later, leaving another message on what she thinks is her ex’s machine. Turns out Chandler was terribly short-lived and boring in bed, and his post-sex confidence comes crashing down to earth – as it should. Just having sex with an emotionally vulnerable woman isn’t going to fill any emotional holes in his life, and once again, it’s a reminder to Chandler how important it is to be himself. Would Chandler normally manipulate someone into sex? I don’t think so, and the cruel reminder he receives in the form of her voice mail is almost a poetic comeuppance of Chandler’s facade.
Now, I do think that the A-plot of the episode has an interesting idea buried in it: the idea of this group of friends extending across the aisle of the middle class (the ‘upper’ and ‘lower’ middle classes) and having to deal with the financial restrictions some of them face. But holy shit do they find an ugly way to explore it, turning Phoebe, Rachel, and Joey into the bitter broke people who don’t have money because of the expensive activities the wealthier people (Monica, Chandler, and Ross) always want to celebrate with.
The way it manifests, it brings into question why these people are friends at all. The broke friends are sniveling behind the ‘rich’ people’s backs, unable to speak up about their lack of money until at the end of Ross’s birthday dinner, a number of scenes after they complain behind everyone’s backs about how expensive Ross’s birthday gift. Yes, money can get awkward between friends, but the bitterness of the less well-off characters (especially Phoebe) is ugly: after finding out that the rich friends had a good time at the Hootie and the Blowfish concert the poor kids refused to go to (saying they felt like ‘charity’ cases), she starts yelling at them. FOR HAVING A GOOD TIME!
This is followed by Chandler saying that Joey and the broke friends hold him back – a ridiculously elitist thing for any character to say to another. And it’s never resolved! As he’s saying it, Monica gets fired from her job (having kept steaks she was given from a new distributor, not knowing it was against company policy), and the episode ends with everyone crowding around Monica, a moment that supposedly brings everyone together after bickering for a half hour.
Monica getting fired should’ve happened at the beginning of the episode – putting her in the shoes of the ‘broke’ people would’ve bridged an emotional gap between the two groups that doesn’t exist at all. There’s no resolution to their argument, no real apology – Phoebe just yells a bunch about Monica getting a hickey and everyone having fun, and then Monica gets fired, and everyone’s there for each other again. It’s quite the cop out of an ending – and begs a question clearly unintended by the writers: are these people really good friends at all? Good friends wouldn’t be afraid to speak up about their feelings, or be afraid to say “I can’t afford something” – especially people in their late 20’s, we’re not talking about college kids here.
‘The One with Five Steaks and an Eggplant’ is a wasted opportunity on all fronts, undermining what could be strong emotional tent poles, and instead presenting us with a lot of off-putting negativity and dysfunction for the sake of laughs – most of which don’t manage to land very well, considering how disturbingly unfriendly everyone is being for the entirety.
Other thoughts/observations:
– Monica runs into a kid she used to baby sit, who asks if she was one of the girls who fooled around with her dad. Later on, Rachel asks: “Hey, how’s his dad?”
– The little physical bit with Chandler being hidden by Ross opening the door was the one moment of the episode I really, really enjoyed.
– was Joey just eating sandwich of mustard and bread? He put mustard on every bite, which seems a little gratuitous.
– Phoebe is so bitter and jealous in the episode… hey, at least she’s something, right?
‘The One with the Baby on the Bus’ (aired 11/2/95)
‘The One with the Baby on the Bus’ is a very broad episode of Friends comedically – there’s lot of physical gags with Chandler and Joey, Ross talks in a funny voice, and we hear about a half dozen of Phoebe’s songs. But there’s a certain charm to it all that comes alive in the third act, and for a filler episode, ‘Baby on the Bus’ is a pretty enjoyable episode.
Forget about Monica, Rachel, and Ross in this episode: they’re mostly ancillary to what’s going on through the episode, with Ross’s entire allergy plot being introduced and forgotten in a matter of minutes (thankfully – Ross acting childish is not fun to watch). Most of the episode’s laughs come from Joey and Chandler, who take baby Ben out for a day of adventures, assuming that ‘adventures’ would mean ‘picking up women in public’. This doesn’t work out well: one woman mistakes them for a gay couple, and they’re so distracted by a pair of attractive women that they leave Ben on the bus.
Again, lots of broad comedy here – but a lot of it works, simply because of how damn charming Joey and Chandler’s friendship is. The scene where the two are arguing over which baby is Ben is the highlight of the episode, highlighting the great chemistry between the characters, and really showcasing Matthew Perry’s ability to play off Matt LeBlanc’s simplistic straight man Joey. For a plot constructed essentially around two jokes, it works quite well because it uses every comedic advantage it has to full effect.
Like most of her other material, Phoebe’s journey as a musician is forgettable, contrived mostly to get Chrissie Hynde of The Pretenders on the show for a musical number, playing the role of confident, white-heel wearing Stephanie Schiffer, a professional musician whose presence insults Phoebe and her delicate genius. Unlike Chandler and Joey, the chemistry of Phoebe and Rachel is not very entertaining to watch (thanks to the fact Friends derives a lot of jokes from their common airhead qualities), but we do get a hilarious duet of Phoebe and Stephanie singing ‘Smelly Cat’ in the closing tag, which at least closes the Central Perk activities on a positive note.
There isn’t a lot to talk about in ‘Baby on the Bus’ without getting repetitive; it’s an episode light on plot and heavy on simplistic humor that spends just enough time with Chandler and Joey to be enjoyable. Most of the other characters are a non-presence – save for Phoebe, who is probably the least fun character to hang out with in the entire group (doubly so when her only counterpart is Rachel). But for for an episode that’s basically twiddling its thumbs, ‘Baby on the Bus’ serves its purpose well.
Other thoughts/observation:
– the receptionist at the department of human services is a bit actor I always remember fondly as the homeless guy who follows Will home from the pool parlor in The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.
– Monica mentions having a baby again, something that will factor in heavily at the end of the season.
– one of my favorite Joey/Chandler exchanges of all-time is in this episode.
Chandler: “We have to assign heads to something!”.
Joey: “Ducks is heads, because ducks have heads.”
Chandler: “what kind of scary ass clowns came to your birthday?’
– one of the show’s dirtiest jokes ever: Joey mentions an uncle with a big tongue, and Chandler asks “Is he the guy with the beautiful wife?”
– I know it’s not technically true, but I always like to think the kid asking for his condom back is actually Phoebe’s half-brother. It makes for a really great moment if it is, and it’s the same actor (acting basically in the same fashion), so it works for me.
*just a quick note: this is publishing on Wednesday to get these reviews back on schedule after missing the last couple Friday’s. Barring any complications, things are back on track for reviews to continue every Friday afternoon (episodes 7 & 8 will publish this Friday).
‘The One With Five Steaks and an Eggplant’: C-
‘The One with the Baby on the Bus’: B-
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Even though the characters are mostly jerks throughout the episode, I actually enjoy TOW Five Steaks And An Eggplant. Mainly because it takes the six out of their “glamour zones” and puts them in a much more realistic dispute. I actually wish Friends would’ve tackled such glamorless issues more often, as it would’ve especially made arcs like Ross as an NYU professor and Monica and Chandler’s post-marriage life much more interesting.
Is it just me, or did the design of the concert hall for the Hootie concert look ridiculously cheap and artificial? For a big budget sitcom, Friends had some pretty awful set designs at times.
The Hootie concert did look like crap – but it pales in comparison to every single scene that takes place on a street through the show’s run, those were just awful.
I do think there’s an interesting debate that Friends could’ve explored with the financial dynamics – but here, it’s really just Phoebe being a jerk (most of the time, nobody else speaks up, and are rather timid when they do) and everybody being bitter. I like the idea, but there’s a way to do it and not make me repel from the entire group of friends. Ultimately, they don’t really have anything to say about, so it seems like a weird idea to use in the first place if they didn’t have a real resolution for it.
Given that the series was filmed in LA, it’s not surprising that the scenes outside on the street look nothing like NYC. I’ve been to NYC before and can tell you that it’s not nearly as glamorous as shows like Friends or Sex And The City would have you believe. Girls gives a much more realistic depiction of it IMO.