Phoebe reunites with Mike. Ross, Charlie, Joey, and Rachel make major changes to their relationships. Original airdate, May 15, 2003.
Tropes:
- Big Damn Kiss: After seeing Ross and Charlie kiss in the lobby, Joey goes to Rachel and kisses her.
- Casual Kink: Phoebe so enjoys seeing Mike being aggressive at ping-pong that she tells him they're taking the paddle home with them.
- Closed Door Rapport: Subverted when Joey leaves the room after learning Rachel has feelings for him. He stops and leans his back against the closed door only for Rachel to open it from the inside sending him crashing to the floor.
- Competition Freak: Mike turns out to be extremely competitive at ping-pong, giving even Monica a run for her money.Chandler: Oh dear god, there's two of them.
- Continuity Nod: The "Pictionary Incident", where Monica threw a plate at Chandler, first mentioned on "The One with All the Poker", is brought up again.
- Did Not Get the Girl: Charlie breaks up with Joey because she still has feelings for Ross.
- Heh Heh, You Said "X": Joey and Rachel laugh during Ross' speech when he starts talking about Homo erectus.
- Hidden Depths: Mike and later Chandler prove to be quite adept at ping-pong.
- Hollywood Board Games: Monica is still a Competition Freak as ever. Just, this time, instead of getting obsessed with winning at Pictionary, it's ping-pong now.
- Hot Guy, Ugly Wife: Because of Monica's crazy hair and how sweaty she gets during the game, Chandler remarks he feels like the more attractive one in their relationship for the first time ever.
- I Was Beaten by a Girl: Monica tries to get under Mike's skin by reminding him he lost one of the games to a girl. He retorts that she doesn't look particularly feminine at the moment, given the crazy hair and all the sweat.
- Jerkass Has a Point: When Chandler urges her to just give up, Monica says that they vowed to stand by each other in sickness and in hell, with ultra-competitiveness being what she considers her sickness (though Chandler thought it was the obsessive cleaning). When Monica is injured and unable to continue playing, Chandler steps up to win the game for her.
- Only Sane Man: Chandler during the ping-pong subplot. Monica and Mike get extremely competitive, while Phoebe gets turned on by Mike's drive to win and cheers him on.
- Rule of Pool: Invoked. Ross makes a run for it when he finds out there's a tradition of the keynote speaker being thrown in the hotel pool.
- Rules Lawyer: Mike exploits his knowledge of the game in order to get the better of Monica during a round. An amused Phoebe points out he used to be a lawyer.
- Serious Business: Monica and Mike become very invested in playing ping-pong, to the extent that they spend four hours playing the game and Monica's hand is left blistered.
- Wham Shot: After Ross and Charlie kiss, Joey walks with determination to Rachel's room and knocks. Rachel opens, Joey kisses her, and she kisses him back, they pause and then kiss passionately.
- Yank the Dog's Chain: The only time the weather clears up is when the other friends are obligated to stay inside and listen to Ross give his speech.
