Everyone goes to the hospital with Ross when Carol is in labor.
Monica wishes for a baby of her own. Meanwhile, Rachel flirts with Carol's doctor. Joey helps a woman who is giving birth without her baby's father.
Susan and Ross argue about the baby and get kicked out of the delivery room. They and Phoebe get locked in a closet, where they continue their argument, until Phoebe informs them how lucky the baby is that he has parents that love him so much, they're arguing about who will love him more.
Carol has the baby, which Susan and Ross agree to name Ben, after the name on the uniform that Phoebe was wearing.
Tropes
- Actually Pretty Funny: Ross learns Carol and Susan got held up at the gift shop arguing over which type of stuffed animal to get the baby.Ross: You don't stop for Chunkys!
Chandler: I used to have that bumper sticker.
[Ross chuckles at that] - Air-Vent Passageway: Phoebe tries to escape from the supply closet through the air vent and get help, but she gets stuck. Susan and Ross are let out by the janitor, while Phoebe remains trapped in the vent for just a little bit of the end of the episode, but gets out of the end when she sees Ben.
- Be Careful What You Wish For: Carol gets sick of how Ross and Susan's constant arguing is making labor even harder and tells them to leave. Of course, they later get stuck in a janitor closet, and she's left wondering where they are.
- Both Sides Have a Point: The argument between Ross and Susan. Both are correct that this is not an ideal situation. Ross has valid frustrations that he won't be a major part of Ben's life and he will be raised primarily by Carol and Susan. On the other hand, Susan states that although she loves Carol, she's the odd woman out in the scenario as she is not biologically related to Ben, and therefore her status is up in the air. Neither party is regarded as being more in the right, as the argument is settled by Phoebe pointing out that both individuals are fighting very hard to be in this child's life, which makes him very lucky compared to the situation she had growing up.
- Cooldown Hug: Monica is already stressed out talking to her mother over the phone and dissolves into tears when a couple walk past with their new baby. Chandler hangs up the phone for her before pulling her into a hug.
- Digging Yourself Deeper: Chandler's fallback proposal doesn't go over with Monica as well as he thought it would, and his attempt to smooth it over goes poorly, too.Chandler: Dear God! This parachute is a knapsack!
- Dude, Not Funny!: When Ross frets over Carol possibly giving birth in a cab, Rachel cracks a joke about the charges per contraction. Everyone just stares at her.
- Everyone Has Standards: Despite the back-and-forth with Lydia, Joey can't leave her high and dry when she's about to give birth. When the baby's actual father finally arrives, Joey quietly steps back rather than express his developing interest in her.
- Fake Static: Chandler does this to hang up on Judy after Monica starts crying while talking to her over the phone.
- Fallback Childbirth Pact: When Monica is moping about not having kids yet Chandler tells her if neither of them are married by the time they're forty he'll have a baby with her. Monica doesn't take it the way he intended and demands to know why he thinks she won't be married by the time she turns forty.
- Foreshadowing: Some of interactions between Monica and Chandler hint at how their relationship will develop.
- Get Out!:
- Carol when she gets sick of Ross and Susan constantly going at it.
- By the time Ross and Susan get back, the others are already there and crowding Dr. Franzblau. The nurse points out there are way too many bystanders in the room and says everyone but Ross and Susan should leave.
- Good Parents: Phoebe is actually touched by Ross and Susan's constant arguing in the closest. What she says about it puts their arguing in proper perspective.Phoebe: I mean, well, 'cause when I was growing up, you know my dad left, and my mother died, and my stepfather went to jail, so I barely had enough pieces of parents to make one whole one. And here's this little baby who has like three whole parents who care about it so much that they're fighting over who gets to love it the most. And it's not even born yet. It's just... it's just the luckiest baby in the whole world. [beat] I'm sorry, you were fighting.
- Grass is Greener: A big part of the friction between Ross and Susan. Ross can't stand the fact that, at the end of the day, he doesn't get to go home with his son, whereas Susan is irritated that his status as the baby's father still puts him above her.
- Hypocritical Humor: When Rachel's contraction joke bombs, she asks why it's somehow okay whenever Chandler makes a snarky comment. He says it's all about picking moment and proves it moments later with a bumper sticker joke.
- Inherently Attractive Profession: After meeting Dr. Franzblau, Rachel went back to the apartment and changed into a nicer outfit. Chandler asks where her interest in doctors came from.Chandler: Is, like, your father a doctor?
Rachel: Yeah. Why?
Chandler: No reason. [makes an Oh, Crap! face at Monica and Phoebe] - Instant Birth: Just Add Labor!: Averted with Carol whose labor lasts for a long time and she doesn't give birth until the end of the episode.
- Last-Minute Baby Naming: Ross, Carol and Susan don't find a name they all agree on until after the baby is born.
- Life Isn't Fair: Upon seeing a mother leave with newborn twins, Monica bemoans how unfair it is since she doesn't even have one baby. Ironic.
- Line-of-Sight Name: The baby is named Ben after the name tag on the janitor uniform Phoebe put on as a joke.
- Little Black Dress: Rachel goes home and changes into one so she'll look good while flirting with Carol's doctor.
- Locked in a Room: Phoebe, Susan and Ross end up locked inside the janitor's closet.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Chandler is frightened by Joey demonstrating some medical knowledge of the birthing process.
- Panicky Expectant Father: Ross is a bundle of nerves over the birth of his first child. He's so nervous he makes it to the hospital before Carol and Susan (who stopped on the way to get snacks).
- P.O.V. Shot: The Stinger is the cast seen through Ben's eyes.
- Proud Papa Passes Out the Cigars: When Joey gets nauseous from hearing the details of Carol's labor, Monica asks him what he'll do if he ever becomes a father.Joey: I'm gonna be in the waiting room, handing out cigars!
Chandler: Yes, Joey's made arrangements to have his baby in a movie from the fifties. - Taught by Experience: Due to being there for Lydia giving birth, Joey picks up some knowledge of the process.
- Too Much Information: Joey's reaction to Ross talking about the mucus plug.
- Unusually Uninteresting Sight: "Wait! You forgot your legs!"
- What the Hell, Hero?: Carol gets so sick of Ross and Susan's arguing that she demands they leave the room. As they keep going at it in the hallway, Phoebe hustles them into the janitor closet and yells at them for being so antagonistic near newborn babies.Phoebe: Don't make me do this again! I don't like my voice like this!
