"The One Where Ross And Rachel Take A Break" is the fifteenth episode of the third season of Friends, which aired on February 13, 1997. It marks the start of the 'We were on a break' era that carries on for a long time afterwards.
Plot
When Chloe, "the girl from the Xerox place" which Joey and Chandler go to even when they don't have stuff to make copies of, asks them what they're doing that night, they ponder a threesome with her. The two are scared to death about the thing, but Chloe just invites them to a party she's going to.
Phoebe is going out with Sergei, a diplomat (often presumed to be Russian because of the name but the language he speaks is not like Russian at all) who can't string two words in English together. Although Phoebe doesn't mind this, she's a little annoyed by Mischa, his translator, who follows them on dates and keeps interrupting with out-of-place translations. Phoebe invites Monica to date the translator, and Monica accepts. However, Mischa and Monica hit it off and spend the whole date talking, leaving Sergei and Phoebe unable to communicate. After getting into an argument with Sergei, Mischa resigns his post and leaves the restaurant, taking Monica with him. Phoebe and Sergei remain alone at the restaurant, and the two literally have nothing to say to each other.
Ross is at Monica's, waiting for Rachel to come from work and celebrate with him their anniversary. However, Rachel has left a message with Monica for Ross to call her. When he does, Rachel tells him that it's unlikely that she will make it for the night. Deeply upset about this, Ross decides to go to Rachel's workplace with a picnic basket. Rachel doesn't have the time nor the mind to hang out with Ross, who just wants to distract her for ten minutes from work. He succeeds by lighting her desk on fire. When she bids him goodbye, he packs and leaves. Back at Rachel's, Ross waits for her from work. She arrives and slams her work stuff on the floor, expecting an apology from Ross for storming in her workplace with the basket. The two have one of their worst fights, and when Ross brings up Mark's name in the fight, Rachel is exasperated and can't handle it anymore, stating that what they need to do is to "take a break ... a break from us [Ross & Rachel]". Ross leaves without another word.
Rachel waits by the phone for Ross to call, but when the phone rings, it's Mark. When he hears Rachel's unnervingly sad tone, he offers to come over. Meanwhile, at the pub, Joey and Chandler are bored to death with Chloe's talk about copying machines, when Ross enters. Chloe knows him well, since he visits her shop often with stuff for her to copy. When he explains his presence due to him breaking up with Rachel, Chandler and Joey are in disbelief. However, when he talks it out, the two convince him to call Rachel and try and work it out. This he does from the bar, but he also hears Mark at her apartment and assumes the worst. He hangs up on Rachel and goes to the bar, where Chloe joins him.
Rachel tries calling Ross again, but as he's not home, no one replies. At the bar, Chloe tries to cheer him up by drinking with him. When Ross' favorite song, U2's With Or Without You, comes up, she drags him to the dance-floor. He starts finding solace in Chloe and doesn't object when she makes a move on him. A few seconds later, they start kissing...
Cast and Crew
Main Cast
Jennifer Aniston - Rachel Green
Courtney Cox - Monica Geller
Lisa Kudrow - Phoebe Buffay
Matt LeBlanc - Joey Tribbiani
Matthew Perry - Chandler Bing
David Schwimmer - Ross Geller
Supporting Cast
Steven Eckholdt - Mark Robinson
Stephen Kearney - Mischa
Jim Pirri - Sergei
Angela Featherstone - Chloe
Laura Dean - Sophie
Maury Ginsberg - Isaac
James Michael Tyler - Gunther
Crew
Directed By:
James Burrows
Written By:
Michael Borkow
Trivia
- This is one of the two two-part episodes that don't air on the same date and are named different
- The One With Rachel's Sister and The One Where Chandler Can't Cry is the other one.
- This is the first appearance of Rachel's fellow colleague Sophie on the series.
- This is also the first appearance of Chloe, the famous "Xerox girl at the copy place" often mentioned by the guys in other episodes before this one. Ironically, the one to end up with her (Ross) is the one shown to have fantasized about her the least.
- The scene where "With or Without You" plays with a melancholy Ross and Rachel in separate places thinking about each other is a reference to The One With The List
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 |
| Preceded by "The One With Phoebe's Ex-Partner" |
Series Three Episodes | Followed by "The One With The Morning After" |
| << Season 2 | Season 3 | Season 4 >> | |||||||
| #01 | "The One With The Princess Leia Fantasy" | #10 | "The One Where Rachel Quits" | #19 | "The One With The Tiny T-Shirt" | ||||
| #02 | "The One Where No One's Ready" | #11 | "The One Where Chandler Can't Remember Which Sister" | #20 | "The One With The Dollhouse" | ||||
| #03 | "The One With The Jam" | #12 | "The One With All The Jealousy" | #21 | "The One With A Chick And A Duck" | ||||
| #04 | "The One With The Metaphorical Tunnel" | #13 | "The One Where Monica And Richard Are Friends" | #22 | "The One With The Screamer" | ||||
| #05 | "The One With Frank Jr." | #14 | "The One With Phoebe's Ex-Partner" | #23 | "The One With Ross' Thing" | ||||
| #06 | "The One With The Flashback" | #15 | "The One Where Ross And Rachel Take A Break" | #24 | "The One With The Ultimate Fighting Champion" | ||||
| #07 | "The One With The Race Car Bed" | #16 | "The One With The Morning After" | #25 | "The One At The Beach" | ||||
| #08 | "The One With The Giant Poking Device" | #17 | "The One Without The Ski Trip" | ||||||
| #09 | "The One With The Football" | #18 | "The One With The Hypnosis Tape" | ||||||