Joey asks for Phoebe's help learning French for an audition, having lied on his resume that he is fluent. Rachel's father has a heart attack. Chandler and Monica invite Erica to New York.
Tropes:
- Above the Influence: Ross turns down Rachel's attempt to seduce him feeling it's wrong to sleep with her when she's upset about her father's heart attack.
- Bait-and-Switch: Ross asks Rachel if she was late because of something like a hair appointment, a mani-pedi, or a sale at Barney's, Rachel says she learned her father had a heart attack… while she was shopping at Barney's.
- Continuity Nod:
- Rachel's childhood bedroom has a poster of Shaun Cassidy on the wall. Rachel's love for him had previously been established in "TOW the Ball".
- When Phoebe is going through Joey's resume he confirms that its claim he can ride a horse is a lie. Back in "TOW Ross and Monica's Cousin" he'd used "ride a horse" as an example of a skill you lie about having in an audition and figure out how to do when you get the part.
- Even Bad Men Love Their Mamas: Referenced by Chandler when he talks about Erica's murderer boyfriend.Monica: Maybe we're just overreacting.
Chandler: Easy for you to say. He's a father-killer. He probably loves his mommy. He probably has a tattoo that says "Mom" on his shovel-wielding arm! - Everything Sounds Sexier in French: When Phoebe uses French, Rachel finds it sexy and even tells her: "Seriously stop it, or I'm gonna jump on ya."
- Faux Fluency: Phoebe tries to teach Joey to speech French, but no matter how hard she tries to, Joey just keeps speaking nonsense because that’s how he hears it. He tries to learn with a tape, but he still can’t speak it; he’s just convinced that he is speaking French because the man on the tape keeps telling him he did a good job.
- Hiding Behind the Language Barrier: When Joey fails to impress the play's director with his "French", Phoebe speaks to the director in French so that Joey won't understand; she tells him that Joey is her mildly retarded younger brother and asks him to humor him. The director lets Joey down easy, telling him that his French is great, but they're going to go with someone else for the part.
- Immediate Self-Contradiction: Chandler notes with disdain how most of New York is touristy. When we see him again after spending the day with Erica, he is decked out in tourist shirts and hats."New York...is AWESOME!"
- Irony: Ross is incredulous that Rachel is angry at him for not taking advantage of her.
- Miss Conception: Monica realises that "Shovelly Joe" can't be the father of Erica's baby because whatever she did with him is something that couldn't possibly lead to a pregnancy.
- Not So Above It All:
- Ross refuses Rachel's overtures on moral grounds, but he makes it clear in private that it was a very difficult thing to do.
- Chandler being all decked out in tourist gear and talking about how much fun it was.
- Not That Kind of Doctor: Ross and Rachel go to visit her dad at the hospital.Ross: I'm Doctor Ross Geller.
Rachel: Ross, stop it. That actually means something here. - Oh, Crap!: Chandler and Monica have one when Erica says that the father of her baby was either a star athlete...or another guy who killed his father with a shovel.
- Sex for Solace: Rachel tries to proposition Ross after visiting her father in the hospital. Ross turns her down as he doesn't want to take advantage of her while she's upset. The next morning Rachel is annoyed as she was perfectly aware of what she was doing and just wanted to be comforted, but instead she woke up feeling "stupid and embarrassed".Rachel: In the future, when a girl asks for some ill-advised sympathy sex... just do it.
- Ship Tease: After clearing everything up, Rachel reminds Ross that sex is never off the table for the two of them. Ross privately agrees.
- Shout-Out: While channel surfing at the hospital, Ross comes across The Valley of Gwangi.
- Very Fake Résumé: Joey's resume claims he's fluent in French when he isn't. After trying and failing to teach him, Phoebe decides she's had enough and goes through the skill list to cross off anything he can't actually do. The only thing Joey defends is "drink a gallon of milk in 10 seconds". He can't actually do that either (most of it spills down his shirt) but Phoebe is impressed enough to let him keep it.
- When Ross scolds Joey for lying on his resume, Monica points out that his resume claims he spent a year on an archaeological dig in Cairo which he never did.
- Who's Your Daddy?: Erica admits to Monica and Chandler that she's not entirely sure who the father of her baby is. It's either her high school sweetheart (a football player who got a college scholarship) or a guy who's in prison for killing his father with a shovel. After some further questioning Monica tells Chandler that whatever Erica did with "Shovelly Joe" couldn't have got her pregnant (and when Chandler asks if it's "the thing [they] hardly ever do or the thing [they] never do", he's impressed that it's the second one).
