Ross goes on a Valentine's date and ends up at the same restaurant as Carol and Susan. Susan has to leave on business, and Ross' date leaves when he pays too much attention to Carol.
Joey and Chandler double date, with Joey's date bringing a friend for Chandler. However, the date for Chandler turns out to be Janice.
Monica, Phoebe and Rachel, dateless for Valentine's day, burn mementos from their past boyfriends.
Tropes
- Bedmate Reveal: Chandler ended up on a blind date with Janice, who he's dumped twice in the last three months. The next morning, we see him wake up, with two hands on his chest. A third hand comes into shot, rubbing his eyes. He looks down at the two hands on his chest, then — with mounting horror — over at Janice in bed next to him.
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Phoebe, Rachel, and Monica end up scoring a date with some of the firemen who seem nice at first, but the very end reveals they're not as nice as they seem.
- Break-Up Bonfire: Monica, Phoebe, and Rachel burn mementos of their exes when they find themselves all single on Valentine's Day and decide to do something to "cleanse" their bad luck. The firemen who attend when it inevitably gets out of control tell them that Valentine's Day is one of their busiest nights of the year, for exactly that reason. In the extended cut of the episode they reveal they have a speech prepared offering tips on how to safely conduct such a bonfire which ends with advice to let go of their memories and love themselves.
- Carpet of Virility: Monica tries to burn a naked photograph of her ex-boyfriend Scotty who was apparently so hairy Rachel thinks he's wearing a sweater until Monica corrects her.Fireman: Woah, that guy's hairier than the chief!
- Continuity Nod: It's revealed that Phoebe was so desperate for a date on Valentine's Day she almost attempted to get back together with Roger from the previous episode.
- Double Date: Chandler and Joey's plot.
- Firemen Are Hot: The girls are all attracted to the firemen who show up to deal with the out of control bonfire. Shame they turned out to be jerks.
- Jerkass Has a Point: While they turn out to be jerks at the end, the firemen do give the girls some good advice, especially that the most important thing they can do is love themselves over being hung up on a failed relationship.
- The Key Is Behind the Lock: One of the ingredients for Phoebe's ritual is the semen of a righteous man. Rachel points out that if they had that they wouldn't need the ritual.
- On Second Thought: Rachel and Monica are initially hesitant to go with Phoebe's memento-burning ritual. However, the other option she presents is to dance around naked with sticks, so they go with the fire.
- Sex with the Ex: Against his better judgement, Chandler ends up in bed with Janice after having too much champagne.
- Tempting Fate: As the firemen leave the apartment, the girls rejoice over finally being able to date nice guys. Cue the firemen talking to each other about how they won't tell their wives about the upcoming date.
- Valentine's Day Episode: The episode shows what everyone is doing for Valentine's Day.
- Vocal Evolution: Janice's voice is now the more familiar higher screechy pitch it is for the rest of the series than the medium-high pitch it was in her first two appearances, while her trademark laugh has finally evolved to its more rapid-fire version.
