Monica prepares a birthday party for Rachel. Ross tries to stop Joey from flirting with Emma's hot new babysitter. Rachel develops a rapport with Gavin. Phoebe and Mike find a family of rats in her apartment and Phoebe adopts the babies when they accidentally kill the parent.
Tropes:
- Abhorrent Admirer: A rare case of Rachel acknowledging and being wary of Gunther's infatuation: she stops her friends from singing "Happy Birthday to You" so that he won't remember it's her birthday and come up to hug her.
- Adoring the Pests: Phoebe had befriended a rat that occasionally visited her apartment, whom she called Bob. Mike, not knowing this, sets a trap, but by the time Phoebe explained the situation to Mike, the rat is killed by the trap. Then they discover that "Bob" was a mother, and end up keeping her orphaned litter as pets. A side comment also suggests that Bob is not the only one.Phoebe: Oh, my God, we killed Bob!
Mike: Not necessarily. Maybe it's a mouse.
Phoebe: Susie?! - Belligerent Sexual Tension: Rachel and Gavin bicker throughout the episode and she tells Monica she can't stand him. But then he shows up for her birthday with a present and the two kiss.
- Birthday Episode: Rachel celebrates her birthday and a party is thrown at Monica's apartment.
- Brick Joke: At the start of the episode, Chandler says Monica kicked him out of the house for constantly singing "I Will Survive" in a helium voice. The Stinger actually shows him singing it.
- Call-Back: After deciding to safely remove Bob's litter from her apartment, Phoebe says this whole situation brings back painful memories of giving birth to her brother's triplets and having to give them up. She then realizes she never told Mike that story and now has some explaining to do.
- Continuity Nod: Gavin brings up Rachel dating Tag when she criticises him for checking out a coworker. Apparently Rachel doesn't remember what his last name was.
- Eek, a Mouse!!: Monica and Rachel see a shoebox and think it's a present for Rachel, but shriek when they find Phoebe and Mike's rat babies instead.Monica: I think that's what a stroke feels like.
- Even the Girls Want Her: When Rachel asks Monica if she sees what the guys see in Molly, Monica admits she wouldn't kick Molly out of bed.
- Forbidden Fruit: When talking to Joey about staying away from the babysitter, Ross ends up saying that the woman is off limits. Joey lampshades how that just makes him want her even more. Ross getting Chandler to run defense is later described by Joey as an obstacle to overcome.
- Girl on Girl Is Hot: Rather than getting depressed, Joey is gleeful at the discovery that the babysitter he tried picking up is a lesbian.
- Global Ignorance: Phoebe does a Crossword Puzzle and asks Mike what the capital of Peru is. He says (correctly) Lima. She looks at him slightly condescendingly and says it starts with a V and ends with an X, hopefully with a T and an O in the middle. Mike humors her and says the capital of Peru actually is Vtox.
- Helium Speech: Chandler breathes the helium in the balloons and gets a comically high-pitched voice as a result.
- I Ate WHAT?!: Mike spits out some crackers when Phoebe points out they're for Bob the rat.
- Incompatible Orientation: Any concerns that Joey might sleep with the babysitter are put to rest when it turns out she is in a relationship with another woman.
- Internal Reveal: Phoebe casually mentions giving birth to the triplets in front of Mike, and then realizes she hadn't actually told him about that yet.
- Neat Freak: Rachel offers to help Monica clean up after the party but Monica turns her down.Monica: No way! You had your party, now I have mine!
- No More for Me: After admitting she wouldn't kick Molly out of bed, Monica declares that she's had enough vodka for the evening.
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: When Ross suggests he focus his sexual energy somewhere other than the babysitter, Joey looks around the room and ends up staring at Monica.Monica: [to Chandler] Take me home!
- Stating the Simple Solution: "I know this is gonna sound crazy, but we could not let the box of rats ruin our lives."
- Your Tomcat Is Pregnant: Phoebe assumed the rat who sometimes shows up in her apartment is male and named it Bob. Later she and Mike find it with a litter. Mike thinks they should give it a new name, to which Phoebe says she likes Bob for a girl.
