Phoebe is attempting to become a surrogate for her brother and his wife (thus the title) but that's not the best-remembered part of the episode. This is most notable for "The Contest". Joey and Chandler correctly guess all the purchases in Monica's bag after she and Rachel run some errands, leading to an argument over which pair of roommates knows the other better. So Ross, who knows everyone well, is elected moderator and comes up with a game. Joey and Chandler have to answer questions about Rachel and Monica, while Monica and Rachel have to answer questions about Joey and Chandler, and whoever gets the most questions right wins the bet (with actual money on the line). Partway through the game, they raise the stakes due to Monica's competitiveness: if the women win, the guys have to get rid of the chick and the duck; if the men win, the two pairs will switch apartments. Joey and Chandler win by one question in "overtime" when neither Rachel or Monica know what Chandler's job is.
Tropes:
- Ask a Stupid Question...: Amid the continued Cockadoodle Dawn, a frustrated Rachel storms across the hall before crazily banging on the door and screaming at Chandler and Joey to get up. Upon the two guys opening the door...Rachel: What is that noise?!
Chandler: You. - Beat: A very effective use of the comic Beat, when, after Monica and Rachel have been answering question after question fired at them in the lightning round, they are stunned into silence by Ross asking what does Chandler do for a living.
- The Bet: It all starts with Joey and Chandler betting they know Monica and Rachel enough to guess what is in their groceries. It then escalates into a quiz game about who knows the other pair the most. And then Monica and Chandler escalate the stakes and go from betting money to gambling for their apartments.
- Big "NO!": Monica screams "NOOOO!" when she and Rachel lose the trivia game.
- Big "YES!": Joey and Chandler jump up and shout "Yes!" to winning the game.
- Bottle Episode: Aside from two brief scenes of Phoebe at the fertility doctor's office the entire episode takes place in the two main apartments.
- Bread, Eggs, Breaded Eggs: Monica's categories for bath towels include: "Fancy," "Guest," and "Fancy Guest".
- Call-Back: An "It's All Relative" question for the guys is the name of Ross and Monica's grandmother who died in "TOW Nana Dies Twice". Turns out her name was Althea.
- Calling Shot Gun: Joey calls Monica's bedroom this way, much to Chandler's disappointment.
- Cock-a-Doodle Dawn: The episode begins with Chandler and Joey's chick, who has grown into a rooster, crowing at the crack of dawn and waking up Rachel.
- Competition Freak: This side of Monica really comes out in this episode. Rachel also gets pretty worked up as the game progresses.
- Girls vs. Boys Plot: Rachel and Monica play against Chandler and Joey in a game of trivia about each other. If the girls win, the boys get rid of the chick and the duck, but if the boys win, they get the girls's apartment. Since the girls failed to answer the question about Chandler's job, they boys win and the episode ends with the apartment switch.
- Group Hug: The gang celebrate Phoebe's positive pregnancy test this way. After a few seconds Phoebe points out that being squeezed like that probably isn't good for the baby, so the gang let her duck out and put Alice in the middle instead.
- Happy Dance: After Joey and Chandler win the game, they start dancing.
- Heads or Tails?: Ross attempts to start the trivia game by flipping a coin to see who goes first. Cue all four players watching in silence as the coin lands on the table and then looking up at Ross.Ross: (picking up the coin) Okay, somebody call it this time!
- Honor Before Reason: Ross explains that the rules of the lightning round are "thirty seconds, all the questions you can answer." Then, during their turn in the lightning round, Rachel and Monica get stumped when asked what Chandler's job is. However, instead of blurting out a random guess so they can move on to the question (like Rachel did for the question about how old Chandler was when he first touched a girl's breast), they insist on figuring out the correct answer, seemingly for no reason than they don't want to admit they don't know something so basic about their friend. It ends up costing them their apartment.
- Hypocritical Humor: Ross initially objects to being named quizmaster, but when they suggest Phoebe do it, he meekly says he wants to play too.
- I Gave My Word: Despite the silliness of the competition and being a Sore Loser Monica keeps to the agreement and swaps apartments, even persuading Rachel to go along with it.
- Never My Fault: Monica has this attitude towards Rachel, claiming they never would have had to switch apartments if not for Rachel blurting out "Chandler Bing" instead of "Chnandler Bong" for the name on the TV guide. However, not only are we left uncertain if this answer would have been ruled correct as the complete name was "Miss Chnandler Bong," but Monica was the one who insisted on raising the stakes. In addition, she gets really annoyed for Rachel for guessing that Chandler's job title is "transponster" because that isn't a word, but she herself had no idea what the right answer was either.
- No Indoor Voice: After several rounds of the game Rachel starts shouting all of her answers. When Ross points out she doesn't have to do this she shouts her apology.
- Not a Morning Person: Rachel, as Monica lampshades, then again you'd probably be cranky too if you'd been woken up at 6am by a crowing rooster.
- Not So Above It All: Once both pairs opt for their trivia game, it's immediately suggested that Ross make up the questions. Ross is incredulous about being expected to drop everything for a silly game, but when Phoebe is suggested as an alternative, he sheepishly says, "I wanna play."
- Obliquely Obfuscated Occupation: The Running Gag of nobody else knowing what exactly Chandler does for a living pays off in a big way. After Ross's trivia game demonstrates that the foursome knows every minute detail of each others' lives—Chandler is afraid of the "Lord of the Dance" guy, Joey had an imaginary friend named Maurice, Rachel claims her favourite film is Dangerous Liaisons when it's actually Weekend at Bernie's, Monica has eleven different categories of towels—the ladies are completely stumped by, and lose the game and their apartment on account of, the question "What is Chandler Bing's job?"
- Oh, Crap!: Monica and Rachel's reaction when they're asked what Chandler's job is, both of them realizing they don't have a clue.
- Perfectly Cromulent Word: Rachel's guess of "transponster" for Chandler's job.Monica: THAT'S NOT EVEN A WORD!
- Plot Hole:
- Though Ross explicitly says that each team get an unlimited number of questions they can answer in the lightning round, when Monica and Rachel get stuck on what Chandler's job is, Ross declares, "You need this [question] or you lose the game," which isn't true if they can still attempt more questions if they answer incorrectly.
- When Rachel yells "transponster" for Chandler's job, Ross doesn't immediately tell her it's wrong and move on to the next question like he did when the guys guessed where Monica once got a pencil stuck in her body or when the girls answered fourteen for Chandler's age when he first touched a girl's breast.
- Real Life Writes the Plot: The whole "Phoebe Is Carrying Her Brother's Baby" is because Lisa Kudrow became pregnant and they incorporated it into the show.
- Shout-Out: The women correctly state that Joey had a childhood Imaginary Friend named Maurice, who was a space cowboy - which comes from "The Joker" by Steve Miller Band.
- Skewed Priorities:
- When Ross asks what Chandler's job is, both Monica and Rachel openly struggle to think of an answer. Chandler is automatically irritated by this rather than realizing what it means for winning the game and bet. By contrast, Joey is visibly elated because he immediately knows they're about to win.
- Related to the above, Rachel and Monica end up wasting half the round trying (and failing) to remember what Chandler's job instead of just blurting out a guess so they can move on to more questions that they'd likely have an easier time answering.
- Teen Pregnancy: Frank's tip for Phoebe how she could support the process contains this trope.
- Tiebreaker Round: The "Lightning Round" which Ross prepared specifically to break a tie in the main game.
- Wham Line: How Chandler ups the stakes and affects a good chunk of the season.Chandler: If we win, we get your apartment.
