107: TOW The Blackout: Every Day I Get A Little Bit Closer To Priesthood

First off, what I love about this is the low-key pun of “burns out” while surrounded by candles in a blackout and the irony of Rachel’s passion kickstarting from the burning out of the candle. But anyway, the thing I love about Ross’ sentiment in this scene is he’s the only one who’s been married (that we know of), so he sees Rachel craving this idea of passion, but genuinely wants her to know there’s much more to it. Realistically, Rachel didn’t just miss out on passionate sex, but the trust, security and intimacy that comes from genuinely loving the other person. In other words, there’s more that she missed out on than sex in the women’s bathroom on the second floor of the public library and she shouldn’t feel envious of this passion when there’s so much more to finding a healthy relationship… of course, this is then offset with Ross making a vague come on, telling Rachel that he sees a big passion in her future as though he is a horoscope incarnate.

Rachel appreciates the chat, but once she walks away, Joey calls Ross out on the exchange. Joey points out that Ross is no closer to Rachel’s heart, he’s been friend-zoned. After some coaxing, Ross agrees to ask Rachel out. Of course, when Ross attempts to do so, he’s attacked by a cat, leading the gang to find the cat’s owner, which causes Rachel to find Paolo — this hunky, Italian male model.

Of course, Rachel sees this as an opportunity for that passion she never got and Ross sees this as yet another obstacle.

Once the power returns, Ross is crestfallen to find Rachel and Paolo lip-locked, ending their story on an inoffensive cliffhanger.

Throughout this episode, the C storyline appears to be how Phoebe feels as though she’s constantly left in the dark about the ensemble’s news. It’s as much an addendum to the overarching stories as Monica’s cleanliness of the previous episode, however it comes up enough that it warrants pointing out.

Then of course, the B storyline is a bold choice of being 90% voiceover as we listen to Chandler’s quips and awkward insecurities as he attempts to act casual with Victoria Secret model, Jill Goodacre. Given that we now have at least two episodes wherein Chandler has difficulty getting words out around women, living in his head is humorous and humbling.

Plus, we see (as we saw with Aurora) that Chandler is much more comfortable and confident once his prospective partner has made the first move. He still can’t figure out how to swing the pen around his head, but he’s no longer the silent, creepy smile guy in the vestibule. Also, it’s fun that Chandler and Joey basically have their own language.

Overall, it’s a great episode, one that explores character relationships (Monica having a crush on Joey when she first met him / Ross & Rachel) and ends on a surprisingly upbeat note. Yes, at this point, we’re still rooting for Ross and Rachel, but Rachel kissing Paolo doesn’t feel wrong. For Rachel, this is still progress as she’s finding her footing and becoming one of the gang with a shallow passionate affair. You feel good for Rachel as — at least at this point — Paolo seems like a “treat,” something she can pursue without worrying about the long term. A healthy exploration.

Meanwhile, we don’t inherently hate Paolo as we can’t understand a word he’s saying. What we do know is he owns a cat and he seems to have an interest in spending time with Rachel — or else why wouldn’t he just invite Rachel into his bed from the onset? — and he seems like a happy guy. As Ross tries to communicate with Paolo, Paolo is happy and receptive and genuinely trying to understand, but his failure to understand isn’t malicious, it’s out of a language barrier.

Finally, we understand Ross’ frustration since he was going to make a move, but then Paolo’s cat interrupted him and now Paolo’s interrupted him. Ross has enough trouble trying to figure out what Rachel is to him, so when you throw in someone who’s ESL, it’s all the more frustrating for Ross because there is no easy way to explain it. It is petty to call Paolo a crap weasel, but it’s so obviously his own frustration manifest that it’s at least relatable.

Joey doesn’t need to communicate anything beyond this, he knows what Ross is thinking and he (Joey) is setting him straight. Ross of course plays dumb and asks “What?” to which Joey spells it out for him, “You and Rachel,” to which Ross incredulously says “What?” and scoffs before accepting what Joey is saying and asks “Why not?”

Joey, despite not being the most intelligent character, has clear prowess in relationship intuition. He spells out the message of the episode, “I’m telling you, she has no idea what you’re thinking.”

The mind-reading between the two continues when Ross says, “I’m waiting for the right moment” and all it takes is a facial motion from Joey for Ross to telepathically know exactly what he’s thinking. Without a single line of dialogue, Ross, uninterrupted asks, “What? Now?!”

This is then juxtaposed against Ross and Rachel on the balcony when Ross attempts to ask out Rachel. He says, “For a while now, I’ve been wanting to–” and Rachel starts getting squeaky and covers her mouth and Ross clearly believes that they’re on the same page, that she’s read his mind, as he looks down with confidence and says, “Yes, yes, that’s right–” before Rachel reveals she’s noticed a “wittle kitty” just above him. This solidifies that “friends can mind read” but “romantic interests are telepathically challenged.”

Patronize Phoebe / Romance Rachel

The girls read each others’ minds all throughout the episode. It starts with the blackout when Phoebe asks to borrow the phone, then asks Monica for her phone number. Monica just stares and of course Phoebe can read her mind and immediately provides a defensive, “Well I never call me!”

In the uncut version of the episode this happens again after Phoebe says “Milwaukee” to which she reads the room and says, “What? It’s a really weird place.”

Meanwhile, the whole “strangest place you’ve had sex game” is an exercise in mind-reading. Take Ross’ story simple as text:

The ride broke down.

So Carol and I went behind a couple of those mechanical Dutch children.

Then they fixed the ride and we were asked never to return to the Magic Kingdom.

It’s on the friends — given the context — to fill in the blanks as to what happened.

Of course, even Phoebe’s complaint about being “the last to know everything” is inherently ironic since to know you’re the last to know, means you already know everything — timing is irrelevant. In complaining about this, it’s revealed that Monica had a crush on Joey when he first moved in which again goes to show that romantic interests are less dialed in to the friendship telepathy.

As the story progresses and Paolo enters the scene, Rachel gushes to her gal pals about this hunky guy and all Ross needs to do is exchange “looks” with Joey for him to feel Ross’ frustration and recognize the new plight.

Of course, Phoebe continues to be the “odd one out” when she says, “I just want to bite his bottom lip” and then reading Rachel’s mind, immediately backs off, “but I won’t.” Then of course, when Rachel follows this up with a page out of her and Barry’s romance, Phoebe again, speaks before thinking, but then reads everyone’s mind and moves on.

Rachel: Those three seconds were more exciting than three weeks in Bermuda with Barry.
Phoebe: Did you ride mopeds? Cus I’ve heard… oh I see, it’s not about that right now.

Then the friends collective share another moment to patronize Phoebe when she “counts down” the final candle but nosedives deep into the negative numbers before Joey blows out the candle and the remaining collective sigh relief while Ross says “Thank you.” They were all thinking it, one of them just acted upon it.

Chandler and the audience of Friends

The final example of this is with Chandler’s entire storyline. We’re a part of the Friends ensemble because we watch them weekly (or binge if you’re a modern television viewer), but this makes us one of them. This is why we can hear Chandler’s voiceover, we can read his mind because we’re one of the friends.

We have no idea what Jill is thinking, but we know exactly what Chandler is thinking because we’re one of the gang, making us a friendly mindreader.