It isn’t until season four that Friends finally figures out Phoebe; episodes like ‘The One with Phoebe’s Husband’ are clear examples they haven’t quite gotten there yet. ‘Phoebe’s Husband’ is purely a filler episode, one that feels like a dumping ground for silly character jokes, and another really off-putting Rachel and Ross story line.
The Phoebe material is really odd: turns out Phoebe married a gay guy for his green card years ago, a man she was secretly in love with (despite knowing he was gay). He’s in town for a figure skating show, and Phoebe gets dolled up to go visit him, clearly still interested to see if they have a connection. Is there a reason? Not really. Does the plot go anywhere? Definitely not: turns out her gay husband wants a divorce because he’s straight, a revelation that’s followed by a line of stereotypical gay jokes reversed (“my parents are ok with it… my brother’s straight after all,” he tells her).
Is this supposed to reveal something about Phoebe? If so, it does a poor job doing that. Despite being engaged, Phoebe willingly kisses him, clearly hanging onto the idea that they might be able to share something. But she’s not upset when he leaves, or even dejected when he says he was having sex with other girls in college (the time period where she apparently had feelings for him). It doesn’t feel like a tale of ‘missed destiny’, it doesn’t really deal with Phoebe’s emotional reaction to a character we’ve never heard of or seen before… it just doesn’t feel like it has a point, besides some easy gay jokes and an opportunity for brief, completely contrived romanticism between Phoebe and her old non-flame.
The rest of the episode is dedicated to pouty Rachel trying to undermine Ross’s relationship with Julie. Knowing that Ross is struggling to have sex with another woman (the only woman he slept with turned into a lesbian, after all) so Rachel sees this as an opportunity for sabotage, a wholly unappealing decision on her part. She even goes so far to try and seduce Ross outside his apartment, in a final desperate move to keep him from having sex with Julie, the one girl who’s made him happy since his divorce.
Rachel’s pissing and moaning makes for neither good drama or comedy: she’s being selfish as shit, and doing so in the most unappealing way, complaining to everyone and insulting Julie at every opportunity. For a woman who is supposed to be Ross’s ‘friend’, she’s certainly doing a terrible job at it in the beginning of this second season. Sure, I understand she has feelings for Ross now, but instead of telling him at any point, she decides to try and ruin it in the most passive-aggressive fashion possible, while we’re supposed to believe their relationship is just meant to be. As usual, the writers playing with the idea of Rachel/Ross is doing more harm than good in ‘Phoebe’s Husband’, putting Rachel’s worst traits on display (proudly, I might add).
“The One with Phoebe’s Husband” does give us two fun facts: Chandler has a third nipple, and Joey was in a porno. But again, this feels mostly like filler in an episode all about two women not getting the love they desire, and acting in fairly unappealing fashions when pursuing their unrequited loves.