The One With The Sonogram At The End

"The One With The Sonogram At The End"

Season

1x02

Episode no.

2

Written by

Marta Kauffman
David Crane

Directed by

James Burrows

Original airdate

September 29, 1994

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"The One With The Sonogram At The End" is the second episode of the first season of Friends, which aired on September 29, 1994. The episode focuses on Ross discovering that his lesbian ex-wife Carol is pregnant with his child and that she is going to raise the baby with her new partner Susan. Ross and Monica's parents Jack and Judy Geller, go to Monica's apartment for dinner, which stresses Monica out. Rachel decides to give her engagement ring back to ex-fiancé Barry.

Plot

The episode begins with the gang sitting around in Central Perk discussing the importance of kissing in a relationship. Chandler compares kissing to the opening act of the stand-up comedian you have to sit through before Pink Floyd comes out. Ross mentions that men do not dislike the comedian - it is just not why they bought the ticket. Continuing the metaphorical theme, Rachel makes the point that, if men don't bring the comedian back after the show, men will be sitting at home next time, listening to the Pink Floyd album alone. Joey is completely stumped at this point, unsure whether they are still talking about sex.

Anita Barone as Carol — Carol as portrayed by Anita Barone.

At the Museum of Prehistoric History, Ross and a colleague are setting up a display of cave people. Ross' homosexual ex-wife Carol arrives, and she makes it clear to him that she is still a lesbian. It is a little uncomfortable between them, so Carol announces that she is pregnant with his child.

In the next scene, Monica is frantically cleaning the apartment in time for the arrival of her and Ross' parents. Rachel is looking for her engagement ring so that she can give it back to Barry. She then realizes that she has lost it in Monica's lasagna.

Monica can't bring herself to destroy the dish to retrieve the ring, so Chandler, Joey and Phoebe volunteer to do it. A stunned Ross arrives and tells his friends about Carol and the baby. Phoebe then finds Rachel's engagement ring in the lasagna, so Joey helps himself to the rest.

In the next scene, Jack and Judy have arrived, and it soon becomes clear how they favor Ross over Monica. Judy is catty and critical towards Monica and everything she does, whereas Jack is more gentle, but quite blunt, making the point that Monica was "chubby and had no friends" when she was a child.

Pushed to the edge, Monica forces Ross to admit the Carol situation to their parents. Instead of interrogating Ross, Judy turns to Monica and accusingly asks her, "And you knew about this?".

At Barry's dental clinic, Rachel learns that Barry is now withMindy, her former maid of honor, and that he went on their honeymoon with her. Rachel tries to play it cool, but she is actually hurt that Barry has already forgotten her and moved on so quickly.

Meanwhile, Ross meets Carol and Susan at the OB/GYN clinic. Things get complicated because Ross feels that Susan is getting too involved in decisions about the baby, and he feels like he is being pushed out. When he finds out that Carol and Susan don't even want the baby to take his last name, he decides that he doesn't want to be involved anymore. He is about to leave, but then he sees the sonogram on the monitor, so he stays to watch. In the closing credits, the friends are watching a tape of the sonogram on Monica and Rachel's TV. Chandler, Joey and Phoebe come up with a variety of strange resemblances, and Monica wells up at the thought of being an aunt. Rachel is on the phone to Mindy and congratulates her on her relationship with Barry. She then hangs up, but not before shouting down the phone, "If everything works out, and you guys end up getting married and having kids - and everything - I just hope they have his old hairline and your old nose!"

Cast and Crew

Main Cast

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

Supporting Cast

Anita Barone - Carol Willick
Jessica Hecht – Susan Bunch
Christina Pickles - Judy Geller
Elliot Gould - Jack Geller
Mitchell Whitfield - Barry Farber
Joan Pringle- Dr Oberman
Christopher Miranda - Robbie
Merrill Markoe - Marsha
James Micheal Tyler - Gunther

Crew

Directed By:
James Burrows

Written By:
Marta Kauffman & David Crane

Produced By:
Kevin Bright
David Crane
Jeff Greenstein
Marta Kauffman
Wendy Knoller
Todd Stevens
Jeff Strauss
Andy Zall

Trivia

General

The clothes the gang wear in the cold open are the same clothes they wear at the end of the next episode.
This is the first episode where clips of the show were put into the opening sequence.
- It was explained in the DVD commentary that just the fountain scenes made the friends look 'too cool' and clips of the show were added as it helped the audience familiarise themselves with the friends.
This is the first appearance of Elliott Gould and Christina Pickles as Ross and Monica's parents, Jack and Judy Geller.
This is the first appearance of Ross's ex-wife Carol Willick and her partner Susan Bunch. Anita Barone, who played Carol in this episode, was later replaced by Jane Sibbett, who made her first appearance in "The One Where Underdog Gets Away" (S1E9).
This is the first episode that shows Monica as an obsessive cleaning maniac, a recurring gag throughout the show. It is also the first to mention her childhood weight, another recurring gag.
This is the first episode to show Ross at work at the Museum. The only friends who have been shown at work before this are Monica (at Iridium) and Rachel (at the coffee-house).

Goofs

When Rachel begins to look for her ring under the couch, Monica mentions eating ice cream while holding a spray bottle and towel. The bottle disappears then reappears in her hand before the conversation is concluded.
In the last episode, it said that Barry's last name was Finkle, however, when Barry gets called down by the speaker, it refers to him as Dr. Farber.
Phoebe helps look for Rachel's engagement ring in the lasagna, which would involve handling meat, despite her being a vegetarian.through, she might be semi-vegeterian
Around halfway through the episode, when the gang meets in the coffeehouse, other people can be seen congregating through the window. As soon as we see inside the building, they have disappeared.

Memorable Quotes

Phoebe: You're all chaotic and twirly!

Judy Geller: [about Rachel] Well, at least she had the chance to leave a man at the altar. Monica:What's that supposed to mean?

'J'udy Geller: Nothing. It's an expression.

Monica:No, it's not.

Jack Geller: Don't listen to your mother. You're independent and you always have been. Even when you were a kid, and you were chubby and you had no friends, you were just fine! And you'd read alone in your room, and your puzzles...
[later] Jack Geller:There are people, like Ross, who need to shoot for the stars, with his museum and his papers getting published. Other people are satisfied with staying where they are. I'm telling you, these are the people who never get cancer. They're happy with what they have, they're basically content, like... cows.

Ross: [talking about the baby's surname] Wait a minute, why is she in the title?

Susan:Because it's my baby, too.

Ross: That's funny, I don't remember you making any sperm!