Phoebe and Mike decide to move in together. This broaches the topic of marriage between them, leading to an impasse as Phoebe would like to get married, but Mike would not. Monica and Chandler each borrow money from Joey, keeping it a secret from each other as they agreed never to borrow money. To cover for Monica, Joey lies to Chandler that Monica wants to get her boobs done, leading to misunderstandings. Rachel baby-proofs Joey's apartment and now he can't open anything.
Tropes:
- Berate and Switch: When Monica says she needs $2,000, Joey sternly asks if she thinks he's some kind of well-paid soap opera star. When Monica retorts yes, Joey happily says he is and gets to writing a check.
- Both Sides Have a Point: Monica agrees that Joey is a pig and that Rachel can't do the babyproofing herself.
- Commitment Issues: Mike feels troubled by the idea of marriage.
- Differing Priorities Break Up: Phoebe really wants to get married, but Mike has sworn off marriage after his first went up in flames. The two still love each other, but decide they can't stay together if they want different things.
- Discriminate and Switch: Joey balks at Rachel doing the babyproofing herself, which Rachel takes as him suggesting women couldn't succeed at such a thing.Joey: Women can. You can't.
- Freudian Excuse: Joey says his parents never babyproofed the house, leading to multiple occasions of him falling down the stairs and electrocuting himself.
- Friendship Moment: When told the money is for rent and other big bills, Joey doesn't hesitate to write Monica a check. He's also prepared to write a second check for the exact same amount when Chandler asks rather than deny his best friend or reveal Monica's secret.
- Funny Background Event: When Rachel admits she's only pretending to help carry Mike's couch Joey can be seen shooting her a Death Glare.
- Group Hug: The friends (sans Ross, who's downstairs) hug each other to comfort Phoebe after breaking up with Mike.
- Hidden Depths: Phoebe visits Ross to ask him about marriage because she wants to know Ross's thoughts on the idea after Mike revealed his lack of interest in getting married again. While acknowledging that his own marriages ended badly, Ross affirms that he still loves the idea of marriage, describing it as the idea of wanting to be that committed to another person.
- I Just Want to Be Normal: A big reason Phoebe wants to get married is because she would like a sense of normalcy in her life.
- Instantly Proven Wrong: Phoebe does a bit with her as the Wet Blanket Wife and Mike as the Henpecked Husband, saying she was inspired by Monica and Chandler's relationship.Monica: We don't do that. Tell her we don't do that.
Chandler: [flatly] Yes, dear. - Never Lend to a Friend: When Monica and Joey discuss if he can lend her money, Joey points out that it's always a mistake to lend to a friend. Monica points out he has borrowed from Chandler before, to which Joey replies Chandler would say that had been a mistake.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: While Phoebe will tease Ross about his divorces if the chance comes up in conversation, here she visits him directly to ask for his thoughts on marriage, and listens with genuine interest to his reasoning for still being in favour of marriage despite his own failures.
- One Dialogue, Two Conversations: Rachel thinks Chandler's sudden talk about how he doesn't want Monica to get any bigger refers to what she will look like pregnant, when it's really that Chandler doesn't want her to get a boob job. She tells Monica her thoughts, leading to a conversation between Monica and Chandler where Monica tries to make him come to terms with the fact that her body will change, while Chandler tries to convince her no part of her needs to change. The misunderstanding is undone when Rachel explicitly talks about pregnancy.
- Smart Ball: Joey agrees to lend money to Monica and keep it a secret, which proves a problem when Chandler asks to borrow the same amount. Joey accidentally reveals some details, but he covers by saying he just figured it out on the basis of Chandler not having a job and knowing a close friend's basic financial needs. His boob job lie (while odd) completely fools Chandler.
- Stage Whisper: During the scene where Chandler asks Joey for money, Joey makes several comments to himself that Chandler doesn't hear despite sitting beside him.
