"The One With The Chicken Pox" is the twenty-third episode of the second season of Friends, which aired on NBC on May 9, 1996. When Phoebe catches chicken pox, her chances for romance with an ex-love are nearly ruined. Rachel is intrigued by Phoebe's ex-love sailor suit wanting Ross to have one as well. Monica feels she may be too neurotic for straight-arrow Richard.
Plot
Ryan, a guy in the navy who used to date Phoebe, is coming to the city for two whole weeks. Ben has chicken pox and everybody except Phoebe has had them and unfortunately Phoebe gets it. Ryan also hasn't had them, but he wouldn't let the pox stand between them, resulting in both having the chicken pox and the itching driving them crazy. Ryan leaves after two not-so-romantic weeks and is never seen again.
Joey needs some money, so Chandler organizes a job as a data processor at his work for Joey. Joey, not knowing how to process data, decides to act as a processor, named Joseph. His character has two kids and a wife, Karen. Unfortunately for him, Chandler hates Joseph, because he gets along with other employees in the workplace by blaming Chandler for all his faults. They agree that Joseph has to go, after Chandler acted that he cheated with Karen.
Monica is upset that Richard doesn't have one little thing that he is obsessive about, but in the end he discovers that he has one obsessive thing (he has to sleep in the left side of the bed). Ross ends up wearing a Navy uniform to spice things up with Rachel, who kills the moment.
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
Mary-Pat Green - Jeannie
Steve Park - Scott Alexander
Tom Selleck - Dr. Richard Burke
Charlie Sheen - Ryan
Dorien Wilson - Mr. Kogen
Crew
Written By:
Brown Mandell
Directed By:
Michael Lembeck
Trivia
- In this episode, it's shown that Monica always wants to sleep at the right side (for the viewers) of the bed. However, in almost every scene where she's in bed with Chandler, she's at the left side of the bed.
- The scene where Rachel is carried away by Ross is a parody of the end scene in An Officer And A Gentleman, complete with Joe Cocker and Jennifer Warnes' "Up Where We Belong" playing in the background.
- This is the second of two episodes in which Chandler gets one of the other friends a job at his work. The other one is "The One With The Ick Factor", where Phoebe becomes Chandler's secretary.
- This is the first of three episodes in which Joey gets a job at one of his friend's work. In "The One With Phoebe's Uterus", Ross gets Joey a job as a tour guide at the museum. In "The One With The Girl From Poughkeepsie", Monica hires, and fires, Joey as a waiter at Allesandro's.
Goofs
- In the teaser scene when Monica grabs the mug from the coffee table and licks it before telling Chandler "There you go, enjoy your coffee," the mug is clearly empty.
- During the scene where Richard confronts Monica about remaking the bed, the duvet on which Monica is resting changes positions dramatically between shots.
- During the closing credits Dorrian Wilson is credited as portraying Mr. Kogen; however during the episode Chandler refers to him as Mr. Douglas. In the episode "The One With Two Parts, Part 1", the same actor plays Mr. Douglas, indicating there was an error in this episode's closing credits.
- The symptoms (spots, fever, etc) of chicken pox only develop 2 - 3 weeks after exposure to the virus. Therefore, when Ross knew that Ben had chicken pox, Phoebe shouldn't have developed the condition until at least two weeks later, and Ryan certainly shouldn't have developed the disease until the end of his stay (as Phoebe was his only contact with the virus).
- As Ryan is a Lieutenant Commander in the United States Navy who had been serving for the last two years deployed on a submarine, he would be wearing his "Dolphins" (more formally known as the "Submarine Warfare Insignia", a badge used to signify his qualification as a submariner), yet doesn't appear to be wearing one on his uniform. In addition to this, the ribbons he wears on his uniform do not correctly follow the order of precedence.
| 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 The Two Parties" |
Series Two Episodes | Followed by "The One With Barry and Mindy's Wedding" |
| << Season 1 | Season 2 | Season 3 >> | |||||||
| #01 | "The One With Ross' New Girlfriend" | #09 | "The One With Phoebe's Dad" | #17 | "The One Where Eddie Moves In" | ||||
| #02 | "The One With The Breast Milk" | #10 | "The One With Russ" | #18 | "The One Where Dr. Ramoray Dies" | ||||
| #03 | "The One Where Heckles Dies" | #11 | "The One With The Lesbian Wedding" | #19 | "The One Where Eddie Won't Go" | ||||
| #04 | "The One With Phoebe's Husband" | #12 | "The One After The Superbowl, Part 1" | #20 | "The One Where Old Yeller Dies" | ||||
| #05 | "The One With Five Steaks And An Eggplant" | #13 | "The One After The Superbowl, Part 2" | #21 | "The One With The Bullies" | ||||
| #06 | "The One With The Baby On The Bus" | #14 | "The One With The Prom Video" | #22 | "The One With The Two Parties" | ||||
| #07 | "The One Where Ross Finds Out" | #15 | "The One Where Ross And Rachel... You Know" | #23 | "The One With The Chicken Pox" | ||||
| #08 | "The One With The List" | #16 | "The One Where Joey Moves Out" | #24 | "The One With Barry And Mindy's Wedding" | ||||