We waited the whole summer to find out what? By now everyone knew Rachel was pregnant so that wasn't big news. We basically learned nothing we didn't know at the end of last season. I love Phoebe but there is no way in hell someone would pull what she did on anyone let alone a friend There were some funny parts like always but basically the show was like any normal episode and nothing special compared to many season openers.
One guys opinion
Steve
My boyfriend and I made sure we had our ordered out dinner so we would both be able to watch it, and personally I found the episode to be uneventful. They didn't even show the wedding vows (or did I miss that some where). What a let down. Anyone who reads, people and those other types of magazines would easily know that it was Rachel that was pregnant because in real life her and Brad were trying. DUH!
"Steve84" wrote in message news:[email]...
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http://www.stevesfunlinks.com/
Unknown Person wrote in message news:ZOTs7.22712$[email]...
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Wedding vows? The wedding took place last season (and they exchanged wedding vows).
Lewis.
The episode is called TOW after "I Do"...
Ok, I am sorry I forgot about the vows that were at the end of last season.
Please forgive me.
"Unknown Person" wrote in message news:ZOTs7.22712$[email]...
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"Steve84" wrote in message news:[email]...
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I agree that Phoebe's mind games would not fly in real life - not the James Brolin lie, and certainly not the part where she pretends Rachel is not pregnant so she can let Rachel realize a sense of loss and be ultimately happier about the outcome. Furthermore, I thought Chandler's subplot was tired and uninspired, and Ross' was just dumb and demeaning. Joey, as always, was fairly delightful to watch.
There was one very good reason to watch this episode - Aniston. The subtlety with which she expresses Rachel's conflicting emotions was wonderful, especially in a show which has too much of late relied almost entirely on yelling, overdone slapstick, and such unrealistic silliness as the lies we watched Phoebe tell. The delivery of one line - "That was a risky little game!" managed to point out the incredible folly of Phoebe's behavior and forgive her for it in one masterful stroke.
And yes, there was one fairly significant move forward in this episode. Rachel did not have a false positive, and she is definitely keeping the baby. We have now confirmed that which we merely suspected before; had this show followed its previous pattern of cliffhangers, Rachel's original test result would have been a false positive. Remember, they rarely actually follow through on cliffhanger implications. Rachel deciding to pursue Ross ended in her meeting Julie. Ross choosing Rachel's room did not end in a permanent reunion, or even an honest review of their feelings and neither did Ross saying Rachel's name at his wedding. R&R's own wedding ended in divorce a scant six episodes later, also without any honest discussion of why their unrestrained, subconcious desire was to marry each other. Only Chandler and Monica had the benefit of having a cliffhanger scene - their awful, maudlin, overacted, overwrought proposal scene - actually be followed through. So in Rachel's second positive test result, and in her decision to keep the baby, they have taken a significant stride forward. Maybe Kauffman, Bright and Crane thought that was enough for one half hour episode.
Anyway, the father will be confirmed in 803. It will be OK.
On Fri, 28 Sep 2001 12:55:25 GMT, "abrahammy" wrote:
A bit off the topic, but does anyone think that an upcoming plot this year will be Monica's inability to conceive? If Rachel has a successful pregnancy/birth, it seems like it would be a natural plot-line. I mean after all, three pregnancies would be cliche...
Claire wrote:
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It seems that whenever they have any significantly "dramatic" moment, they feel the need to "balance" things out with almost slapstick-attempts at comedy. Ross pursuing the woman at the wedding was funny until the end -- I've concluded that the moment Ross starts to yell the comedy baloon deflates with an audible hisssssssssssss.
Do B K & C have any other shows on the air at the moment? You'd think they'd pay some more attention to making "Friends" better if not ...
"abrahammy" wrote in message news:1r_s7.2118$[email]...
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You make very good points. Claire, you must not leave this group again because I always enjoy reading what you have to say about each episode! Hehe :-)
Anyway, as a whole, I enjoyed this episode even though some of it was a little annoying. But I loved how the fact of Rachel's pregnancy was handled with some sensitivity.
Laurie
I was worried for a second that Phoebe wasn't lying and that it was
actually negative. who knows, the writer's may have decided to go in a
different direction considering jennifer aniston did not get pregnant over
the summer. I'm glad they made it perfectly clear she was pregnant and
keeping the baby.
kisses, ellen
God Bless America
"abrahammy" wrote:
A lot of snipping throughout.
Ross' plot was "demeaning", but Joey using his speech at his best friends' wedding as a chance to audition was "delightful"?
Oh, right, this is Claire, right? The Geller hater?
The proposal scene was in the flashback/clip episode rerun a few weeks ago. I thought it was done perfectly. Even brought me as close to tears as I ever come, it was that good.
On Sun, 30 Sep 2001 07:33:12 GMT, [email] (Todd) wrote:
No, it's Claire the New Screeching Geller hater if I'm not mistaken. I do believe the only reason she's watching the show again is because of Ross.
Really? IIRC, even a few C&M fans wished better of that scene at the time. Considering that it came up for some very heavy criticism from just about every outlet imaginable because the incredibly forced crying ruined what otherwise would have been a good scene, I suspect you're probably in the minority. It tried to be something it wasn't, and should never have been, and that's where they went wrong.
"Todd" wrote in message news:[email]...
Grin. You don't know or understand me very well. Which, since I boycotted season seven almost completely, and didn't show up, is quite to be expected.
A little history. During one particular part of this newsgroup's history, we actually had visits from a show's writer. During this time we learned that the writers basically decided to start writing Ross very differently so he'd be funnier, and finally decided that the only way to make him be funny was to make him look as bad as possible as often as possible. David Crane basically admitted in an interview that Ross' character had suffered substantially in the past couple of years, and wrote that decision off by asking if we should "apologize to a fictional character for allowing the writers to have fun at their jobs." All of the characters do things that are objectionable at times, but for a long while there Ross was never allowed to do anything positive or sympathetic. I tend to object more to yet another script which shows Ross doing creepy stuff because there has recently been so little that is positive; as Joey has always remained sympathetic, his lapses into self-indulgence don't bother me as much. There is also a matter of degree here; Ross gave up his position at the table of the wedding party and blew off his sister completely to ogle a stranger and pretend to be nice to children. Joey moved heaven and earth to be there for his friends; when forced to give the toast that Ross, as Best Man, abandoned, he momentarily allowed personal interest to color his remarks, but the net result appeared more positive. He just seems to be more good-natured about it. Since Ross was my favorite character when he better balanced and more sympathetic, I have been a long-time critic of the direction they took him. It strikes me as lazy. There was just a period in there where they weren't interested in really working hard on any aspect of the show that did not relate to Chandler and Monica.
I can tell from your comment above that you basically have decided that any opinion I have is by definition invalid. That is your opinion, and you have a right to it, but I believe my perceptions are probably more well-considered and informed than you realize. Now, there ARE a few things on which we will never agree. Chandler and Monica were wonderful in season five, but they have been overused since and I will probably never think much of the acting skill of Courteney Cox. If that attitude means that everything I say is completely invalid and should be dismissed out of hand, so be it.
followed
For what it's worth, Entertainment Weekly appears to agree with you. When the show first aired, opinion here appeared to be split almost down the middle. Some people were touched by that scene, and some people thought it was way over the top. I personally thought Chandler's charming, understated, "It's a four" from the previous year was much more satisfying.
"abrahammy" wrote in message news:K8Ht7.5983$[email]...
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What Claire said is proven by the comments that are found everywhere despising Ross over and over again. He used to be a popular character on this show but now he seems to have fallen to the bottom of peoples' lists. I hear this again and again. If the writers were successful with the direction they took with the Ross character, then why do I hear from so many that the show would be much better if Ross just disappeared? This attitude says a lot (to me anyway). For those of us who really liked the "old" Ross, this has been a tough ride.
Laurie
On Fri, 28 Sep 2001, abrahammy stated this considered view. Waking from my doze, I hastily scrawled -
Were we watching the same scene, Claire???
I thought it was extremely moving - did you expect it to be done in a monotone?
Why do we need to see everything in the first episode? There's a whole season ahead of us.
Brad
Steve84 writes:
I assume they have definitely ruled out the "false positive" option, anyway.
CHANDLER'S DAD! CHANDLER'S DAD! CHANDLER'S DAD!