Ross arrives in Barbados to make his speech, while Chandler and Monica start to meddle in Phoebe's relationship with David and Mike.
Tropes:
- Actor Allusion: Hank Azaria gets to say "Ha Ha!"note
- Bait-and-Switch: As soon as Monica warns Phoebe that David will propose to her, Phoebe flippantly decides to marry him, noting that Mike would be resistant to marrying her. And at the dinner, when Mike shows up, Phoebe rejects a heartfelt proposal from Mike, this after Monica warned him and he realized there were no good reasons not to marry her. David chimes in to gloat but Phoebe then tells Mike that she never needed a proposal to him; just the reassurance that they have a future together. She then explains she would've said yes to David had he asked first, but it would've been wrong too.
- Beach Episode: Subverted. The gang arrive in Barbados only to find out it's hurricane season and the rain means they can't go outside.
- Call-Back:
- Joey wanted to go to the beach so he could dig a big hole, just like the one he dug in "The One With The Jellyfish".
- When Joey and Rachel get name tags to get into a convention, Rachel wears the name tag Kate Miller, which had been the name of Joey's colleague and (first true) love interest.note
- Did Not Get the Girl: After Mike proposes to Phoebe, David realizes he no longer has a chance with her, pointing out that even if he had proposed first, she's better off with Mike; he laments that he shouldn't have left for Minsk in the first place to ruin his career or his future with Phoebe.
- Dumbass Has a Point: Joey's response to learning one of the paleontologists doesn't own a TV does raise a good question.Joey: What's all your furniture pointing at?
- Gag Haircut: It's not a product of a trip to the hairdresser gone wrong, but Monica's hair gets very fluffy because of the humidity in Barbados. Her hair is played for laughs throughout this episode and the next two, with Chandler feeling turned off by it and comparing it to Diana Ross.
- Idiot Ball: Chandler and Ross lob this between each other. First, Chandler opens an unsolicited email promising nude photos, which erases Ross' hard drive. Second, Ross reveals that he didn't even print a hard copy of his speech.
- Mile-High Club: Joey indicates that he and Charlie might try to join during the flight to Barbados. Ross, who's probably going to be sitting very close to them, advises him against this.Joey: All right, let's do it! 5 hour flight with Charlie, have a couple of drinks, get under that blanket and do what comes naturally.
Ross: It's a blanket Joe, not a cloak of invisibility! - Pop-Cultural Osmosis Failure: Joey assumes a woman at the conference is about to ask for his autograph but she wants Ross' instead. She also has no idea who Joey is or what Days of Our Lives is as she doesn't have a television.
- Vacation Episode: Although they are technically in Barbados for Ross' speech, the others make no attempt to hide the fact that they would rather go to the beach (unfortunately, the weather is too bad for them to go out at every point but when Ross is giving his speech).
- Wrong-Name Outburst: Phoebe starts saying "Mike" when talking to David.
