Thoughts on 822

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Here's what I think/noticed while watching 822:

Foreshadowing: I think there was more J&R foreshadowing than R&R. Why? Ross thinks sleeping with Rachel would open a can of worms, so it seems obvious to me he is not considering getting back together with Rachel. On the other hand, did you notice the look on Joey's face when Rachel thanked them all for being so supportive of her? It's pretty much in the beginning of the episode. Seems to me like the writers are giving us a little hint, that this is not over... Maybe next week?

The Ross and Rachel story made me laugh quite a lot though - "people ask me why we are not together and I just don't know what to say" lol

The Chandler and Joey story seemed ever *so* promising, and ended up being a major disapointment. If they're gonna have a plot where they want to stress how close friends these two are, why on earth do they sacrifice it for such an incredibly lame joke? And also: can't the writers at least decide on Joey's maths skills? Somewhere in S6, when he worked in CP, he easily added up what the gang had to pay, here he struggled to add 500 + 500... I'm not asking for a final decision between Dumb Joey and Smart Joey, but there should be some consistency about Joey's intelligence.

Phoebe and Monica - Were they there at all? Speaking of Phoebe, did anyone else feel they re-used parts of the episode where Phoebe has her baby shower in S4?

Is it true that sex is a way to induce labour or did they just make that up so they could write a R&R story around it? Sounds gross to me...

Andr�

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And people with an oversized ego and no respect for anything but themselves should not make music either.

"Andr� Knoche" wrote in message news:abk568$oht$[email]...

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Yes, sex is a way to induce labor. I though the ketchup bottle reference was funny, but I always thought it was the contractions from orgasms that influenced inducing labor not the pounding.

Katie

"res0vdhd" wrote in message news:UrhD8.4914$[email]...

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And there is a natural chemical in semen that is similar to the synthetic chemicals used in an induction, so it *might* ripen the cervix.

Lauren

"Lauren" wrote in message news:3cddae4a$0$237$[email]...

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"Dianna Smith" wrote in message news:...

They did the same thing on Mad About You when Jamie had tons of "false alarms."

Having said that, this was indeed a good episode, but it wasn't excellent. The numerous NBC-promos had basically killed all the impact of Ross and Rachel's kiss, and it wasn't even passionate and loving. As for Rachel, she had improved a bit from last week. In 821 she was just mean and selfish, while in this episode it was easier to understand where she was coming from. She was frustrated and uncomfortable, so I don't blame her for acting like she did. Also, it resulted in quite a few funny scenes, e.g. when she was trying to pick up the fork, and when she was snapping at Ross and Chandler. The story with Joey and Chandler had great potential, but it fell a little flat. That's really too bad, since they haven't exactly had enough time together this season. And Phoebe and Monica had a few good lines, but they are still only supporting characters who get nothing but unimportant fillers. Hopefully that will change as soon as the baby comes (although I doubt it).

"Andr?Knoche" wrote in message news:...

Oh, yeah definitely next week since it's the last episode this season. Anyway, the cliffhanger won't be anything that we can guess here on ATF. But I didn't find any J&R foreshadowing in this episode.

This was a funny episode. Rachel was being totally intolerable but atleast Ross didn't take anything she dished out quietly.

hehe. I'd forgotten about that S6 scene. Yes, this math joke was lame. I was disappointed with the Chandler and Joey's story too. The minute I saw Chandler sleeping in the cinema, it lost part of it's charm.

I enjoyed Phoebe being OTT with her pregnancy attitude and Rachel's not so much. Even though she was a lot meaner here, she was better in this episode than she was in the last.

It's true. I couldn't understand why the crowd went crazy when Ross jumped to kiss her. Is that the way R&R fans want their couple to get back toghether? Wasn't the least bit romantic or something to get excited about. I much liked the little kiss before they left the apartment.

As usual, Monica was terrible. Lending Chandler to Rachel? Wearing a slutty dress for Joey? What's wrong with her? And Tennant's going to enjoy the Phoebe and Ross bits in this episode.

Priya

"p r i y a" wrote in message news:[email]...

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And Paul and Tennant are *so* going to hate Joey for taking Chandler to the cinema...

Andr�

"Andr� Knoche" wrote in message news:ablhoj$pl0$[email]...

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?  They are?  The moment I heard Joey only had one ticket, I said aloud,
"Take Chandler."   (Didn't read the spoilers for this part.  Was in
suspense.)  It seemed like absolutely the right choice, for all the reasons
they stated so nicely in the scene of choosing.    My husband was expecting
a bunch of jokes about how the media thought Joey Tribbiani came out to the
world at his premeire by taking his long-time male lover, but what we got
was less predictable and yet, somehow, less interesting.

"abrahammy" wrote in message news:DyvD8.1685$X%[email]...

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expecting

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*grin* Did you forget the scene where Monica describes the dress she would be wearing to the premiere? Given their obsession for CCA (or famous women in general) in revealing clothes or better yet no clothes, at least Paul is going to be majorly upset.

There's no doubt Chandler was the right choice. I think if he hadn't chosen Chandler, the uproar amongst Friends fans would have been a lot worse than with the whole J/R/R situation, or at least it should have been imo.

Andre

abrahammy wrote:

He, I was also expecting a gay twist to that story, like some interview at the entrance to the cinema where some reported thought they were a couple or something. The actual chosing of Chandler was pretty expected though, although you'd have thought that the slutty dress offer would have caught his attention a bit more, didn't look lkike he even reflected over the fact...

Best Wishes Thomas

"p r i y a" wrote in message news:[email]...

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I think Joey looks really uncomfortable when the camera switches to him right after Rachel thanks everyone for being so helpful. It's weird though, couple wise I've always been more of an R&R fan than any other couple but the way things are going right now I *so* don't want it to happen, it'd be totally unbelievable, plus I vividly remember 401 and I don't think they are afraid of re-using that scenario...

me

Just goes to prove they can be dysfunctional and funny at the same time, unlike last week

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It didn't lose part of its charm, it lost all of its charm

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It wasn't romantic but it was hilarious how Ross got increasingly annoyed with her, until he had enough:

Rachel: "what are you doing?" Ross: "I'm getting that baby out of you"

Oi? Phoebe and Ross? When/Where? Or are you talking about the scene in CP when Ross finds out about the bet?

Andr�

"Andr?Knoche" wrote in message news:...

Well, only one more episode to go and we'll know for sure. I just hope they don't get R&R together and do the season 3 bickering and fighting thing again.

It's not the consistancy about Joey's intelligence that bothers me. It's just that they could have written cleverer dumb jokes that adding two 500's.

Their scenes were the funniest in the episode but I can't help but wonder if the R&R fans who expecting a passionate kiss were happy with it? The promos made it look like a very romantic kiss, which it wasn't.

Oh, it's nothing. He and I had discussed about Phoebe always siding with Ross and I just remembered that in the CP scene. It'll show up in his review. :)

Priya

p r i y a :

They may do anything but repeating themselves. I hope they've realized that, too. With some optimism you can see it already: In the past it took merely 2 episodes for Rachel to get Ross if she wanted so, yet he is not showing serious interest right now, he's just a daddy-to-be. On the other hand she's neither acting as if she wants him, and stated so in 821.

It was exactly the kind of kiss /I/ was hoping for. But then again, I'm not able to watch the NBC promos, which is not such a bad thing IMHO. The kisses on the couch don't count, just some basic foreplay of a *really* annoyed Ross, but the kiss at the door showed that they're not just friends, neither lovers. If they were just friends they wouldn't have kissed at all, because in difference to the couch kisses there was no need for it. If they were in love the kiss would have been longer or multiple and more intense, and we would have seen a well known "R&R look into each others eyes" scene before they left. I suppose there's no word (neither in English nor in any other language I know) for their special relationship. Btw.: When I saw him rubbing her arm in the beginning of the episode, I had one of those early season "Ain't they cute together?" moments, quickly screwed by Rachel's "You!".

Christoph

Christoph P�per wrote in message news:...

I agree that the kiss near the door was much sweeter but I was talking about the couch kiss. The promo that I saw makes that couch kiss look really romantic, which it wasn't. I have read a lot of R&R fans comments and most of them didn't like it.

Priya

Yeah, maybe they could have used that scene to better empathise (sp?) better just how much Chandler have spent on helping Joey.. like Joey recalculating over and over untill he finaly gives up and uses the calculator.. only to confirm the hugh sum?

Best Wishes Thomas

"Andr?Knoche" wrote in message news:...

I was still hoping for a better fight and reconciliation between them. Like we had in earlier season when Chandler disliked Joey's bracelet or forgot to write down messages for him.

Priya

Rachel trying to get Ross to have sex with her had me laughing loud all the time, one of the most prolonged and intense laughs I've had ina long time... good episode!

At least they could ahve given some good explanation to why he fell asleep, I mean.. I don't see Chandler as someone who would fall asleep in a (aparently) violent, actionfilled movie. There could have been some (possibly funny) reason for hem beeing over tired, this way it was just unkind and not at all like him :/

Well, wasn't the point more that she'd do anything for a bit of fame and glamour? I's not like she would ear the dress explicitly for Joey. The giving Chandler to Rachel for sex to win a bet was ott though... But then again, you never know with someone who hires her husband a hooker and hits on the maid ;) ;) ;)

Best Wishes Thomas

ubject: Thoughts on 822 From: "Andr� Knoche" [email] Date: 5/11/2002 6:15 PM Eastern Standard Time

Why on earth would you possibly want the Joey/Rachael storyline to start again? Do we really want to see more shows where Joey gets his hopes up for a woman who has made it so blantantly obvious to anyone with 2 eyes and ears that she's just not interested in him? Not me. I don't want to see Joey get his heart broken again. Rachael does not have romantic feelings for Joey. I don't understand why people can not grasp that concept. Does she have to wear it on a t-shirt for the rest of the remaining episodes for everyone to understand that? How many times is she going to have to reject Joey for your sake? I say, the writers need to stay away from all that. Leave poor Joey alone. I for one, would like to see him happy, not rejected!

"Banglebabe30" wrote in message news:[email]...

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I think everybody wants to see Joey happy. A lot of people (not me though) think the ultimate thing to make Joey happy would be to get involved with Rachel. I think I have a small tendency towards R&R myself, but mostly I'm indifferent to the couplings on the show, as long as it works - and the current R&R "tension" does not work at all for me. It more or less comes out of the blue, contradicts with stuff that happened (or didnt happen) a few episodes earlier, for example Rachel having doubts about moving in with Ross first, because "it's us", which could easily be interpreted as Rachel saying she doesn't want to get involved with Ross again. This interpretation is supported by the fact that Rachel didn't mind Ross going out with Mona, yet she totally freaked out about the sales woman. And in 822 she desperately wants to have sex with Ross, although it is just to fasten up the process of going into labour.

The whole R&R arc of the last few episodes has Sweeps Stunt written all over it, in the finale something that'll make it look like R&R could get back together for good could happen... And the S9 opener will explain all the R&R tension away with pregnancy hormones. I'm dreading this scenario, they've pulled it countless times before, so there's a good chance they'll do it again. Also the J&R arc was dropped like a hot potatoe, Rachel said she wasn't in love with Joey, one episode later they can't talk to each other at all and ever since 818 it seems like that storyline has never existed... It just seems odd to have it end like that.

Andr�