The One After Vegas

"The One After Vegas" is the sixth season premiere of Friends, which aired on NBC on September 23, 1999. The plot continues from the previous episode; after Ross and Rachel's drunken wedding in Las Vegas, Monica and Chandler discuss moving in together. A subplot has Joey and Phoebe driving back to New York from Vegas, picking up a hitchhiker on the way while Ross and Rachel are adjusting to the fact that they are married.
The episode was directed by Kevin S. Bright and written by Adam Chase. Its production was documented for a Discovery Channel program.
==Plot==
The episode begins with Monica and Chandler waiting in the chapel preparing to get married. Ross and Rachel then drunkenly stumble from their ceremony and leave, laughing. Joey and Phoebe suddenly burst through the doors, and the audience is led to believe that they too are getting married. However, they see Monica and Chandler and reveal that Ross and Rachel had left them a message telling them that they are getting married and not themselves. 
Ross and Rachel wake up in bed, unaware that they got married the night before. Joey joins Phoebe for breakfast, telling her that his movie has been cancelled. Monica and Chandler arrive and, at the buffet, Chandler tells Joey that he and Monica were also planning to wed and expresses worry that the relationship is moving too fast. Monica shares the same concern with Phoebe but they are interrupted when Ross and Rachel arrive. When the others tell them they are married, they decide to get an annulment, though at first Ross just thought about divorce and their friends teased them about it. 
Joey encourages Phoebe to go with him on the long drive back to New York, to stop him from being lonely. She agrees but she is annoyed when Joey spends the whole first day asleep while she drives, and they switch over. As Phoebe sleeps, Joey picks up a hitchhiker. Initially outraged, Phoebe soon strikes up a friendship with the man, and gives him her number when he leaves. Joey asks for her forgiveness, and they play car games.
Monica and Chandler are still shaken by Ross and Rachel's drunken marriage and are unsure about whether they should get married so quickly. They grow increasingly alarmed over all the signs they see telling them to get married. They decide to leave it up to fate again, as they had the previous night, and go back to the dice table, agreeing that if Monica rolls another eight, then they'll marry. They are both visibly upset when she does roll an eight, but quickly agree that it was not a "hard" eight (two fours), so that means they should not get married.
Ross tells Rachel that he does not want three failed marriages and begs her not to annul the marriage. She refuses, so Ross tells her that he will take care of it. After leading her to believe that they are no longer married, he reveals to Phoebe that he did not get the annulment. He then tries to leave, leaving Phoebe visibly stunned.
Even after what had happened in Vegas, Chandler and Monica keep seeing signs telling them to get married, but they finally agree that it is just too soon, and they are happy with things the way they are. Despite this, Chandler still feels it is time for their relationship to move forward and suggests that they should start living together. Monica is momentarily uncertain, saying that there have not been any signs telling them to live together, but when Chandler suggests that him asking her is a sign, Monica enthusiastically agrees and jumps into his arms. She gives him an old key and, as part of a ritual, tells him to go out, lock the door and christen the key before coming back in. Unfortunately the key breaks in the lock, leaving Chandler stuck outside. Joey notices him struggling and resolves the problem by giving an almighty heave to knock the door off its hinges, leaving Chandler and Monica surprised.
==Cast and Crew==
===Main Cast===
Courteney Cox Arquette - Monica Geller
Jennifer Aniston ArquetteCourteney Cox had gotten married to David Arquette between seasons and "Arquette" was added to her name in the opening credits. For this episode, it was added to everyone else's (along with the creators) as well. - Rachel Greene
Lisa Kudrow Arquette - Phoebe Buffay
Matt LeBlanc Arquette - Joey Tribbiani
Matthew Perry Arquette - Chandler Bing
David Schwimmer Arquette - Ross Geller
===Supporting Cast===
Bill Stevenson - Rick
Nina Mann - The Attendant 
Rick Pasqualone - The Croupier 
Joel Heyman - The Guy Watching The Game (uncredited)
James Michael Tyler- Gunther
===Crew===
Directed By: 
Kevin S. Bright
Written By: 
Greg Malins & Scott Silveri
==Production==
The new sets constructed for the previous episode were left standing over the summer hiatus, allowing the production team to resume filming on the Vegas sets with minimal disruption. A discussion was held during rehearsals about the ink Ross and Rachel had applied to each other's faces in the previous episode; dialogue had established that it was permanent and Marta Kauffman was keen to show it was still there in the scene where Ross and Rachel arrive at breakfast, albeit fainter than before. Others preferred that it was gone completely and this was what was shown in the scene as filmed. There was worry that people would not understand the joke that indicated Phoebe had married someone in a Vegas wedding, but a vox pop of the audience showed they did.
During editing, three minutes and 40 seconds were trimmed from the episode to bring it down to the appropriate running time of 22 minutes. Additional time was created for this and future episodes by shortening the theme song from 45 seconds to 35. Production required 52 takes, 14 scenes and seven rewrites.
Between seasons, Cox married David Arquette, becoming Courteney Cox Arquette. An in-joke reference to this is made in the opening credits, where the rest of the cast (and executive producers) have "Arquette" appended to their names. The dedication "To Courteney and David, who did get married" appears during the fade out to the tag scene. Courteney dropped the Arquette part professionally after the death of her father in 2001.
Behind-the-scenes footage, along with talking heads by producers, writers and cast, was filmed for an episode of On the Inside, a Discovery Channel series. The program was released in the United Kingdom in 2001 as part of a special "best of" VHS boxset. In 2004 it was included as an extra on the US season five DVD set, titled "The One That Goes Behind The Scenes", as well as on "The Best of Friends, Vol. 3" and "The Best of Friends, Vol. 4". It was re-released in the UK on the season ten DVD set under this same title. 
==Reception==
 
Entertainment Weekly rates the episode B+, praising Schwimmer and Aniston for spinning "new variations on Ross' and Rachel's twisted romantic fates" and citing the line "This is not a marriage -- this is the world's worst hangover!" as the best line of the episode. The authors of Friends Like Us: The Unofficial Guide to Friends also mention this line, and praise the moments when Monica and Chandler act like newlyweds, however hard they try not to. They describe Ross' actions as "predictable" but wonder "just how far the writers will go before we all tire of Ross' self-centered, clinical logic trampling over the feelings of the very people he claims to love the most."
The episode was nominated for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Sound Mixing in a Comedy Series or Special at the 52nd Annual Primetime Emmy Awards but lost to an episode of Ally McBeal.
==Trivia==
===General===
*Starting with this episode, Courteney Cox is credited as Courteney Cox Arquette in every episode for the rest of the series, following her marriage to David Arquette.
*When Joey and Phoebe run into the wedding chapel, their lines are voice-overs. 
*A video tape of Chandler singing "Space Oddity" was shown in "The One Where Ross Can't Flirt" (S5E19).
*This is the first episode where the gang make fun of Ross' failed marriages.
*Phoebe's statement "it's not like you're married everywhere" implies she got married in Vegas.
*Ross and Rachel remain married for 6 months before divorcing. It's hinted, but not stated that they remarried after the series finale. 
*When Phoebe is asleep and Joey is driving the taxi, the theme tune from the film Taxi Driver starring Robert De Niro plays.
*Ross wakes up without any clothes on and Rachel is in her sleepwear implying they had sex after getting married but both deny it. Evidence for them having sex is that some of the pictures on the wall are at an angle which could have occurred while they were having sex as their heads banged the headboard against the wall, especially if the sex was very passionate. The next time they definitely have sex is when Emma is conceived in "The One With The Vows". It's never revealed if they actually had sex in this episode.
*This is the last time Rachel and Ross are seen in bed together, apart from a flashback to "The One With The Jellyfish" seen later in the series. Although the uncut version of "The Last One, Part 1" shows them going to bed they're not seen in bed together and their next scene shows Rachel getting dressed after they've slept together. 
*Chandler and Monica actually get married at the end of season seven in "The One With Monica And Chandler's Wedding".
*The uncut DVD episode includes Chandler telling Rachel that Ross invited them all to come and watch, to which Rachel replies "what is wrong with you?"
*Rachel's line, "This isn't a marriage, this is just the world's worst hangover!" was actually improvised during shooting, as the original line, "Stop saying the word 'marriage'!" wasn't considered funny enough.
**Stephen Prime revealed that he had to edit down the uproar of laughter and applause during that take because it carried on over Rachel's line into Ross' reaction; for these he used the earlier take. 
*Joey's line "this is where I make my money back" was also not in the original script.
**We can see the writers brainstorming about it in "Friends: The Reunion".
*Matthew Perry improvised Chandler's line "I don't think they're as much dating as they are two bottles of vodka walking around in human form." after the original line "I don't think they're as much dating as they are drunk." failed to elicit laughter from the audience.
**This line is only seen on the uncut DVD version.
*Courteney Cox is credited before Jennifer Aniston in the opening theme. This was due to the name changing joke.
* When Ross enters Rachel and Monica's apartment, Rachel is wearing the same dress she wore at breakfast at the start of the episode.
*When Ross says they didn't have sex when Rachel says that she remembers laughing a lot, it is implied that this is because of when she couldn't stop laughing after their first official date in "The One Where Ross And Rachel... You Know" and it ruined the mood. 
===Goofs/Continuity===
*The dialog between Chandler and Monica is re-shot for this episode, and not the original from the previous episode. In the previous episode, the dialog is: "Chandler: Okay, this is it. We're gonna get married. Monica: Are you sure you want to do this?". This episode's dialog is: "Chandler: Ok, this is it. Monica: Are you sure you want to do this?". The way both actors say the dialog is different too. Also, the last lines spoken by Ross and Rachel are omitted.﻿
*Monica's hair is noticeably longer in the wedding chapel at the beginning of this episode when compared to her hair at the end of the previous episode in the wedding chapel. 
*When Joey and Phoebe are running into the chapel, Joey is yelling for Phoebe to hurry, to which she replies with an OK, but, if you look closely, neither of their lips are moving.
*When Phoebe and Joey are talking at breakfast about driving home together, Phoebe's fork keeps disappearing and reappearing as the camera angle changes.
*When Ross and Rachel come down to breakfast, all the writing is gone from their faces. However, in the previous episode, they were told on the phone that the pen would not come off. The producers had a lengthy conversation about this detail.  In addition, even though Ross drew on Rachel's face almost twelve hours before she drew on his, the writing on their faces fades at exactly the same time. And earlier in the episode when they woke up in bed together the pen on their face was still on, but faintly, the faintness perhaps being a result of kissing each other but they couldn't have gotten it off by the time they went down to breakfast. However it's possible they had a shower before breakfast and the hot water or a shower product removed it.
*During breakfast, when Phoebe says she's drunk, Chandler's hand goes from his face to his side when the camera angle changes.
*During breakfast, when Ross says that he doesn't love to get divorced, Rachel's hand suddenly is on her face after the camera angle changes.
*In Central Perk, when Ross is telling Rachel that he doesn't want to get the annulment his can of soda just says & W, the brand is called A & W.
* Both Rachel and Phoebe, and to some extent Ross look a lot tanner than in the previous episode which were set a few hours earlier. (The actors obviously tanned during the summer vacation and the episode was shot after it.)
* After Joey picks up the hitchhiker, in the next shot the only person seen in the taxi is the driver.
*Phoebe pulls out of traffic over to the cub at the railroad station. without ever turning the steering wheel.
==Photos==
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==References==
== External links ==
* Transcript of the episode including the deleted scenes
* "The One After Vegas" at Wikipedia
* "The One After Vegas" at the Internet Movie Database
==Episode Navigation==
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Category:Season 6
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