Monica and Chandler announce that they won't be throwing a Thanksgiving dinner due to being too busy with the adoption. The other friends manage to convince them otherwise, but then Rachel and Phoebe sign up Emma for a baby pageant, while Ross and Joey go see an ice hockey game, making them all late.
Tropes:
- Ass Shove: Not directly, but Phoebe, Ross and Rachel amuse themselves by stuffing various items down the back of Joey's pants when he's stuck in the door.
- Beauty Contest: Rachel and Phoebe put Emma in one. Emma wins. Ross is outraged hearing that Emma was entered into the contest, but changes his tune when he hears she won a thousand dollars.
- Character Development: After years of hating Thanksgiving and refusing to eat the food, Chandler now volunteers to help Monica prepare the meal and gets mad at the others for "ruining Cranberry Day".
- Competition Freak: Once more, Phoebe goads Monica into doing something (in this case, making the Thanksgiving dinner) by appealing to her competitive streak; more specifically, to surpass herself in last year's Thanksgiving. It works.
- Denied Food as Punishment: Monica and Chandler punish the rest of the friends for being late by refusing to let them in the apartment, therefore refusing them the food they (well, mainly Monica) made.
- Group Hug: The gang celebrate the news that Chandler and Monica are getting a baby with a hug, except for Joey who's covered in food and settles for standing slightly apart from the group and miming a hug.
- Rock–Paper–Scissors: The four trapped outside try to use this to decide who goes into the apartment first. Joey holds up a hand of wiggling fingers that he claims is fire which "beats everything". Phoebe outmoves him by claiming her closed fist is a "water balloon" that douses the fire.
- Running Gag: Chandler being disproportionately proud of his cranberry sauce. Monica eventually has enough of it and snarks that a monkey could have made it.
- Scooby Stack: Ross, Joey, Rachel and Phoebe (in descending order) can only stick their heads through the narrow opening of Monica's chained apartment door. They try apologizing to her in that position. Chandler lampshades it by calling them "floating heads".
- Stock "Yuck!": Rachel remembers that Monica put some of the food in her and Joey's oven but the gang recoil in horror when they discover it's just brussels sprouts.Ross: That's worse than no food!
- Even funnier is Chandler's reaction:Chandler: Ha, ha, you're stuck with Monica's stinky brussel sprouts!
Monica: [glaring at him] Stinky?
Chandler: Please let me stay on this side of the door.
- Even funnier is Chandler's reaction:
- Stuck in the Doorway: Joey gets his head stuck in the doorway as a result of the Scooby Stack above.
- Thanksgiving Episode: Monica doesn't want to host the gang's customary Thanksgiving party, but they insist. Then they go off to do other things, which makes them very late for the dinner, leaving Monica furious. However, she mellows out when she gets a call from the adoption agency saying that she and Chandler have been selected to adopt. And so the friends settle down to eat.
- That Came Out Wrong: Chandler is gloating at the four's plan backfiring inadvertently insulting Monica's cooking in the process. He immediately apologizes for it when she confronts him, luckily she's too tense about the other four being late to hang up over it.
- Wham Line: Monica announces she doesn't care about the mess the gang made because she just got off the phone with the adoption agency.Monica: We're getting a baby!
