Friends Central
Register
Advertisement

"The One With Joey's Bag" is the thirteenth episode of the fifth season of Friends, which aired on February 4, 1999. When Rachel helps Joey change his image to help him land an acting gig, she includes a shoulder bag that's rather purse like. Phoebe is shocked when her dad attends her grandmother's funeral.

Plot[]

Monica and Chandler are massaging each other, but Monica is really bad at it and actually hurts Chandler a lot. However, Chandler doesn't want to tell Monica, because he doesn't want "to screw up his first real relationship by telling the truth". When she massages Phoebe, the truth comes out that no one likes Monica's massages, which is a problem for her as she wants to be the best in almost every single thing, but it also creates problems between Monica and Chandler because he didn't tell her the truth. Chandler manages to handle the situation by convincing Monica that she is the best in "giving bad massages".

Joey wants to look great for an audition, but he doesn't have a good style and comes home with a "top hat", which the others make fun of. Rachel takes him down to the store to help him out, but wants to give him a shoulder bag that goes with the clothes. Joey is furious at first, but he starts to really like it, as it isn't just good looking, but also useful. The others still make fun of him, as Joey really looks like a woman with a purse. At the audition, they also think it's a purse and send him away, because he insists on wearing the bag. Rachel finally convinces Joey that the world just isn't ready for Joey and his bag.

Phoebe's grandma, Frances, has died and Phoebe is organizing her funeral. Ursula doesn't come, because she thought Frances was dead already, but who does show up is her father. However, as soon as a shocked Phoebe asks him to confirm his name, he tries giving her a fake name before changing his mind about attending and runs. Phoebe catches him, and manages to get an appointment with him in Central Perk, pretending to be Frances' lawyer. He tells her that he came to the funeral to speak to Lily, but Phoebe tells him that Lily has been dead for 17 years. When he asks how the kids are, Phoebe reveals that she is his daughter. They awkwardly make up a bit, where it is revealed that her father always sang a sleep song for her with the same melody as Smelly Cat.

Cast and Crew[]

Main Cast[]

Jennifer Aniston - Rachel Greene
Courteney Cox - Monica Geller
Lisa Kudrow - Phoebe Buffay/Ursula Buffay
Matt LeBlanc - Joey Tribbiani
Matthew Perry - Chandler Bing
David Schwimmer - Ross Geller

Supporting Cast[]

Bob Balaban - Frank Buffay Sr.
Daniel Hagen - The Casting Director
James Michael Tyler - Gunther

Crew[]

Directed By:
Gail Mancuso

Written By:
Michael Curtis & Seth Kurland

Trivia[]

  • Ursula believes her grandmother died five years prior to this episode, and she said that she already went to the funeral and made peace with the death. This might not be an error, or Ursula being ditzy. Phoebe and Ursula were somehow separated after the death of their mom and imprisonment of their stepdad. Ursula may be talking about her adoptive or foster grandmother, someone who Phoebe probably didn't know.
  • In the uncut DVD version of the episode, there is an additional tag scene where Phoebe tells Ursula that she met their dad, but Ursula thinks John Glenn is their dad and cannot be convinced otherwise.
  • Also in the uncut version, Joey discovers there are extra pockets in the bag after Chandler mentions wallets.
  • It's unknown if Phoebe ever did really make up with her father since he was never seen or mentioned again after this episode.
  • Phoebe meets her father for the first time, which she tried to do twice in season 2. In "The One With The Bullies", its revealed that Frank left 4 years prior to that episode, therefore Frank has left for 7 years in total in between the events before that episode and up to this episode since this episode takes place 3 years (seasons) after that one.
  • This is the second funeral the gang are seen attending, the first being Ross and Monica's grandmother, Althea, in "The One Where Nana Dies Twice"
  • In the final scene, a bottle of Virgin Cola is prominently visible on the coffee table, a brand available from 1994 to 2012.
  • The ashes of Phoebe's grandmother are in a box under the seat when Joey drives her taxi to his filming location in "The One With Joey's Big Break".
  • The seating area seen at Joey's audition are where the Friends audiences sit.

Goofs[]

  • In the opening scene, when Chandler rings the timer, he drops it on his left side, but in the next scene when they are changing positions, it is on his right again. Then when Monica is giving the massage, the timer after some time shifts to the back of the bed without anyone touching it.
  • The way Ross is holding the newspaper changes when he says, "what's the part?"
  • When Phoebe is talking to her dad in Central Perk, she says "Lipstick and a daughter, big day for you" and folds her papers in half. When the camera angle changes, she folds them again.
  • When Frank says, "I was a lousy father," he is wearing both his gloves, but in the next scene he is wearing only one while the other one is in his gloved hand. In fact his gloves come on and off throughout the scene.
  • The way Rachel is holding the magazine in Bloomingdale's changes between shots.
  • When Ross follows Rachel into the memorial chapel, he draws level with the pillar with the vase on top but when the shot changes, he draws level again.
  • When Phoebe hands out the 3D glasses, she says the Rev. Pong will tell them when to put them on but the gang put them on as they try to find their seats.
  • When Phoebe's dad is talking to her in Central Perk, his coat alternates between being buttoned and unbuttoned from scene to scene.
  • After Pheobe says, "well lots of people," the camera angle shifts to her back and it is clear that she is saying something but no sound is there. (she is probably repeating the same line because her head movement is the same)
  • Although this episode aired in February, a notice on the chapel notice board promotes an activity running from October 31 to November 4.
    • This could easily have been an overlooked sign which just was not removed.
  • Phoebe tells her dad that Lilly has been dead for 17 years, but she said in "The One With The Cat" (S4E3) that she hadn't "seen that smile in 17 years" and since this episode is over a year after that one, Lilly would be dead for 18 years, not 17 at this point.

External links[]

Episode Navigation[]

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
Preceded by
"The One With Chandler's Work Laugh"
"The One With Joey's Bag" Followed by
"The One Where Everybody Finds Out"
Advertisement