The post-9/11 tributes continue to trickle in.
Even Chandler gets in the spirit of patriotism and wears a shirt that says "United We Stand."
The creases down from the shoulders suggest that he had just taken the shirt off of the shelf of whatever department store, and put it on. He notes having been up all day playing Ms. Pac-Man, so I don't know how those creases never worked their way out.
The patriotism is kind of low-key compared to how it was in real life.
It's downright Lilliputian compared to the holiday spirit that strikes everyone. In the tenth episode of the season (aired Dec. 6) menorahs are everywhere.
I'm not sure why they need to drive the holiday spirit down our throats this year.
While Central Perk seemed to be embracing Jewish culture in one episode, but it seemed to take a back seat in the next episode (aired Dec. 13).
Right here, you can see that one of the menorahs have been replaced by a nutcracker.
And here, you can see that the patriotic painting has been replaced by what only appears to be Christmas itself, vomiting in alcove in the back. That's all well and good, except:
In this same episode, according to Ross' menorah, Hanukkah is still taking place, and we're heading into the sixth night, which makes this December 14, 2001, the day after the episode aired. So, Central Perk took the Hanukkah decorations down early to make way for Christmas.
I shouldn't be that upset. Central Perk seems to be throwing Hanukkah a bit of a bone by hanging that sign across the front window. Part of the sign is obstructed by a hulking Christmas tree, but whatever.
Rachel looks good in November, given that she's six-months pregnant. I'd worry that maybe her baby isn't developing properly, but no one else seems concerned. Maybe the situation is under control.
About a month later (after Thanksgiving, but before the salvo of Christmas decorations) she's beginning to show slightly. Enough to warrant Ross to talk to Rachel's belly. At this point, they're all saying that she's four-month's pregnant. That puts conception at August.
Jumping back to an episode that took place in November, Phoebe sees the stripper from Monica's unseen bachelorette party. When Chandler finds out about it, Monica decides to hire Chandler a stripper for a bachelor party, as a two-month anniversary present. Which now puts the wedding in September, and not in May. So that means if Rachel found out that she was pregnant in September, wouldn't that mean that she's three-months pregnant in December? I'm not entirely sure how that works.
Either way, in past seasons, they used to disregard the summer months. We were left to assume that nothing noteworthy occurred in this time. This year, everyone's calendar went from mid-May to mid-September. Then wouldn't that mean that Sept. 11th never happened? What's with the flags and the wardrobe shout-outs to the FDNY and being united?
I think these are questions that will never be answered.
Chandler & Monica installed a mirror at the entrance of the guest room. It's an an awkward position such that anyone standing at a certain point on the fourth wall gets a perfect view of the butt of someone standing a few yards from the guest room door. I think they saw this as a problem, and decided that that was a bad place for a mirror. Also, it doesn't seem to be very high off the ground. If someone Ross' height wanted to look at himself in the mirror, he'd have to duck.
Rachel goes to dinner with her dad. She has to tell him that she's pregnant. I don't think that's an appropriate top to wear for a dinner with her dad in which she plans to tell him that she's having his first grandchild out of wedlock. I'm thinking she'd want something less low-cut for that conversation.
She manages to convince her dad that she and Ross are getting married on February 2nd. This not only turns out to be a more convenient date, given it's a Saturday, it also happens to be 02-02-02.
It's Thanksgiving! In hopes to avoid being put to work, Chandler fakes Monica out and pretends to be interested in football. I have to question if these people should have gotten married. Chandler's willing to lie about liking football to get out of helping his wife prepare Thanksgiving dinner, and Monica doesn't realize that this is the first time he has mentioned football in years.
This is the second time we've seen characters watch football. Both times have been on Thanksgiving. Are these people unaware of the really big game that takes place mid-winter? It usually coincides with a time when a lot of companies unveil their newest commercials. The halftime show is usually a spectacle. It's all a pretty big to-do.
No? No summer, no Super Bowl? What a bummer.
I was able to find out that Green Bay actually did play Detroit on November 22, 2001, which was Thanksgiving that year and the air date of this episode. I can't imagine this footage was taken from that day's game and spliced in. I can't find if it was ever 10-7 Green Bay at any point in the game, but Green Bay did win 29-27. Kind of odd how they would needlessly go through the trouble of showing the FOX logo on NBC. They could just tell us that he's watching football. As unbelievable as that is, we'd have no choice but to believe him.
Of course, since it's November, you never know who is going to drop by for Thanksgiving.
Jennifer Aniston's eventual ex-husband Brad Pitt! Kind of like when Tate Donovan showed up for a few episodes, only this time it's Brad Pitt. I wonder if it gets awkward when she ever watches these episodes. I also wonder if any of the cast members watch episodes. They're on all of the time. How could they not?
Marla Sokoloff didn't make the grade enough to be considered for a sweeps guest appearance as Joey's little sister. That's too bad. This was right when she was doing The Practice, not that I've seen a single episode of that show.
Okay, I just looked on IMDb, and yes I actually have seen a few episodes. Kind of sad how quickly I can forget a show that was on for eight seasons that just went off the air less than five years ago.
Trudie also gets relegated to the same December episode.
Ya know, Trudie Styler?
Sting's wife.
If it were Sting and Trudie, that would be a November episode. There would probably be a reason to have him sing, too. I like how they have to show a picture of them together, I guess to prove that this isn't just some random middle-aged British woman pretending to be Sting's wife for some American TV show.
Seeing this picture makes me think of the one thing I know about this couple, and that's the 14-hour tantric sex they reportedly have.
The last episode of 2001 is listed as The One With the Creepy Holiday Card on the DVD menu, but it's listed on IMDb as The One With Ross's Great Step Forward. It's not explained why the episode changes names. The title refers to his relationship with Mona.
Yeah, remember her?
It's all about whether Ross wants to take his relationship further. He says he does, but does he actually mean it? They've been dating since the wedding. That's anywhere from three to seven months. Yet, she's only been in less than half of the episodes that have aired since her introduction. In the episodes she doesn't appear, I don't think she's even mentioned.
How serious could that relationship be?
It's nice that the characters have the decency to pretend that they're able to have long-term relationships outside of the core group anytime before the last season, but sometimes it gets a little tiring for the viewer.
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