Phoebe suggests that Monica sing at Mike's bar. The spotlight makes Monica's shirt see-through, making her a success for the wrong reasons. Joey has to wax his eyebrows, but can't stand the pain and runs from the salon only half-done. He enlists Chandler to finish it. Ross is incensed about Rachel kissing Gavin and tries to pick up women with little success.
Tropes:
- Armor-Piercing Question: "Why didn't I get that message?"
- Competition Freak: Monica is actually pretty embarrassed at the prospect of singing for a crowd. Phoebe tries to goad her into doing it by appealing to her competitive streak, but Monica, for once, doesn't fall for it.
- Curtain Camouflage: Rachel shoves Gavin behind one of the curtains when she thinks Ross is coming home but it's just Molly, who sees the bulge where he's hiding and assumes it's someone who broke in.
- Friendship Moment: Ross and Rachel both acknowledge that they can no longer live together. She asks Joey if she can move back in, and he immediately agrees.
- Internal Reveal: Rachel discovers that Ross never delivered a message from a guy she met. It causes Rachel to decide to move back in with Joey.
- Lampshade Hanging: During their arguing, Rachel asks Ross what's wrong with the two of them and cites how people keep pointing out the oddity of explicitly being platonic but still splitting an apartment and raising a child together.
- Mood Whiplash: Joey agrees to let Rachel move back in and gives her a hug. After a quiet moment, she says his eyebrows look weird.
- Open Mouth, Insert Foot: The Internal Reveal occurs because Rachel says she kissed one guy just one time, and Ross tries to prove her wrong by citing the message from that guy at the bar. It takes Rachel asking why she never got that message for Ross to realize this was a mistake.
- Operation: Jealousy: Attempted by Ross, but he only manages to pick up Michelle. Rachel is decidedly unimpressed, as (despite Ross's claim of a connection) Michelle has just met him and thus knows practically nothing about him.
- Painful Body Waxing: Waxing his eyebrows at the salon is so excruciating for Joey that he runs away with only one eyebrow done. Chandler, however, finishes the job without causing him any pain. He's experienced at it as a result of having often done it for his father.
- Playing Sick: Rachel pretends to be sick to avoid going into work and seeing Gavin. Instead he comes to her apartment to check on her and brings her soup.
- Wardrobe Malfunction: The lights in Mike's bar turn Monica's shirt see-through and neither Mike nor Phoebe want to tell her. When Chandler arrives he immediately lets her know, but she decides she likes the attention too much to stop.
- What the Hell, Hero?: After the Internal Reveal, it goes both ways, as Rachel berates Ross for hiding that message, while he accuses her of moving on to other guys behind his back while he's taking care of their child. The argument convinces both of them that they can no longer continue living together.
