Monica and Phoebe throw Rachel a baby shower. Rachel's mother is invited and she proposes moving in with Rachel to take care of the baby, to Rachel's chagrin. Meanwhile, Joey prepares for an audition as a game show host by practicing with Ross and Chandler.
Tropes:
- 24-Hour Party People: Many unknown (to the audience) women attend Rachel's baby shower. At least one of them gets lines this time.
- Calvinball: The rules of Bamboozled, the game show Joey is auditioning for, completely befuddle the guys, though they get used to it and enjoy it. Deconstructed when Joey goes to the audition, where he's informed test audiences found the game's rules too bizarre and so it got changed to a simple quiz game. Joey dismisses the new version as boring, but comes around when the producer tells him the scores will be held up by girls in bikinis.Joey: Well, what's complicated? You spin the Wheel of Mayhem to go up the Ladder of Chance, you go past the Mud Hut through the Rainbow Ring to get to the Golden Monkey, you pull his tail, and boom, you're in Paradise Pond!
- Game Show Host: Joey is auditioning for such a role and adopts the stereotypical hammy personality of one when practicing with the guys.
- Hi, Mom!: Joey asks Ross and Chandler to "introduce" themselves as part of the script for Bamboozled. Ross dutifully plays along by describing himself and ending with clichéd shout-out to Ben. Chandler instead claims to he a headhunter for former Soviets and ends with "Hi, Rasputin!"
- Hypocritical Humor: Rachel is disappointed to learn Sandra wasn't invited and says this is important to her. When asked what Sandra's phone number is, though, Rachel doesn't have the slightest idea.
- Ironic Echo: When they first start playing Ross refuses to talk to Chandler between questions because he thinks contestants shouldn't speak to each other. After Chandler manages to steal his points, Ross leans over to ask if he really thinks that's fair.Ross: You don't think it's a little crazy that you get all my points just 'cause you...
Chandler: I don't think the contestants are supposed to speak to each other. - It's the Best Whatever, Ever!: Despite his initial skepticism by the time the guys finish playing Bamboozled they've had so much fun that Chandler declares it "The best game EVER!" even though he lost.
- Maternally Challenged: During the shower Rachel doesn't know what any of the baby items she's being given are and realizes just how little she knows about taking care of an infant. She explains to her mother that she's done a lot of reading about what to do while pregnant but never got around to reading about what happens after the baby arrives. When Ross arrives he reminds her that he's already been through this with Ben and he can catch her up.
- Never My Fault: Sandra bullies Monica throughout the episode because Phoebe forgot to invite her, even though she had known about the party for weeks because her other two daughters got invites and never bothered to call Rachel to ask why she never received an invite.
- Not So Above It All: Ross is immediately all in on the game show. Despite his irritation at first, Chandler eventually gets sucked in and declares it the best game ever.
- Oh, Crap!: Monica upon realizing they forgot to invite Rachel's mother.
- Playing the Victim Card: Phoebe forgot to invite Rachel's mother. She tries to deflect by talking about her dead mother, but Monica cuts her off mid-sentence.
- Smarter Than You Look: Joey mispronounces "Bogota", but with what would be the appropriate Spanish pronunciation if you don't know the accent goes on the first syllable.
- Uninvited to the Party: Monica is horrified to realize she forgot to invite Rachel's mother to the baby shower. She attempts to cover by claiming it's a last-minute party, but Rachel's mother already knows about it because her other daughters (who were invited but aren't going) told her about it weeks ago.
- Written-In Absence: Both of Rachel's sisters were invited but declined. Rachel muses it's because it's a party with no alcohol or men.
- You Are Better Than You Think You Are: Rachel becomes convinced she is too incompetent to raise her baby without her mother's help, but Ross gets her out of that funk by reminding her of how strong she has proven herself from the moment she decided to live independently from her father.
