After Rachel learns that Barry and Mindy have split up, the group begins to wonder how different their lives would have been if they had made different choices.
- Call-Back: When Rachel meets Joey, she refers to multiple instances on Days of Our Lives as if they were real, much like Joey's stalker in "The One After The Super Bowl." He then asks Monica to make sure she isn't crazy.
- Daytime Drama Queen: Rachel is starstruck when she meets Joey because she's such a huge fan of Days Of Our Lives.
- Dead Sparks: Ross and Carol are still married but the passion has long since died in their relationship. Carol rebuffs all of Ross' attempts to spice things back up and only shows interest when he suggests a threesome.
- Hollywood Heart Attack: Phoebe gets shooting pains in her arm and chest but otherwise remains conscious and calmly describes what's happening to her.
- Irony: Chandler shows concerns of Phoebe's smoking habit, and Rachel wishes she and Barry could be on a break.
- Major Injury Underreaction: Phoebe treats her heart attack as more an inconvenience than anything.
- Must Have Nicotine: Phoebe smokes like a chimney everywhere, even in her hospital room.
- Noodle Incident: Phoebe's "What If?" is inspired by the time a massage client told her that she had a knack for stocks, but she didn't take the job because she thought at the time that everything that rhymed was true, so if she worked in stocks she would "have to live in a box, and only eat lox, and have a pet fox".
- Pet the Dog: Joey hires Chandler as his assistant when he's struggling to get anything published.
- Swapped Roles: Joey is much more successful in his acting career, and thus is the one lending money to Chandler.
- Took a Level in Jerkass: While most of the group are more or less the same as people, Phoebe is much more unpleasant as she is abrasive from her high-stress job.
- Took a Level in Kindness: Assuming Rachel was the same way she acted in "TOW The Flashback", Rachel has become a lot nicer seeming nothing short of elated to see Monica again and even seems happy to see Ross despite not caring for him in high school.
- What Could Have Been: In-Universe, the two-parter explores the group if they had made different decisions. Rachel is married to Barry, Monica is overweight, Phoebe is a stockbroker, Joey is a famous actor, Chandler had quit his job and is a humorist, and Ross is still married to Carol.
- Write Who You Know: In-Universe, Chandler sells a story to Archie Comics that is clearly based on his experience being Joey's assistant. Joey at first appears to catch on as Chandler describes the plot, but then assumes that they already did that story in the comics.
