The One Where Joey Tells Rachel

"The One Where Joey Tells Rachel" is the sixteenth episode of the eighth season of Friends, which aired on February 28, 2002.
==Plot==
Ross freaks out when Joey tells him that he is in love with Rachel. He and Gunther wonder why Joey has to fall in love with Rachel and not one of the other million girls out there. Ross is afraid that they will get married and raise his kid together, while on some level he still thinks that he'll end up with Rachel. Joey feels really bad about Ross, so he wants to leave the country and go to Vermont (a bit of Joey logic here). Monica tells Ross how bad Joey feels about it and makes him realize that it's for the best if he talks to him. Ross goes to tell Joey that he doesn't hate him and Joey promises to never act on his feelings for Rachel because he won't jeopardize his friendship to Ross. But when Ross realizes that Joey really is in love for the first time in his life he tells Joey to talk to Rachel, and if she feels the same way Ross will be OK. Joey then goes on dinner with Rachel and, after much delay, finally tells her how he feels. Rachel doesn't feel the same way, which Joey was expecting, but when Rachel becomes upset that her rejection may end their friendship, Joey assures her they'll still be friends and they both start crying.
Phoebe dates a British guy called Don, who she thinks is Monica's soul-mate. Much to Chandler's protest, she introduces him to Monica, who turns out to get along perfectly. It turns out that Allesandro's is one of Don's favorite restaurants and that they both want to live in a house made of cheese. When Chandler keeps acting all weird about it, Monica convinces him that she wants to live with him and not with Don.
==Cast and Crew==
===Main Cast===
Jennifer Aniston - Rachel Greene
Courteney Cox - Monica Geller
Lisa Kudrow - Phoebe Buffay
Matt LeBlanc - Joey Tribbiani
Matthew Perry - Chandler Bing
David Schwimmer - Ross Geller
===Supporting Cast===
Sam Pancake - The Waiter
James Michael Tyler - Gunther
Harry Van Gorkum - Don
Terence Paul Winter - Waiter #2
===Crew===
Directed By: 
Ben Weiss
Written By: 
Andrew Reich & Ted Cohen
==Trivia==
*Matt LeBlanc received his first Emmy nomination of the series for this episode.
*When Ross is talking to Joey in the kitchen of his apartment there is a turkey in the oven.
*This episode is the first of two appearances of Sam Pancake as a waiter in Friends.
**In this episode he waits Joey and Rachel at his table, but can't get rid of them because they're hugging each other in a melancholy hug. When the second waiter points this out to him, he remarks how one of them would die, hoping Rachel would be the one to do so. At the look of shock on his colleague's face, he exclaims: "What? The guy is really cute!"
**In "The One With The Blind Dates" (S9E14), Pancake has Ross sitting on his station. When Ross' date doesn't show up (since Joey and Phoebe give her a wrong date and time, making it look like she stood Ross up), Pancake seems sorry for Ross and offers him crab cakes on the house. Ross says that he hoped to have sex that night, to which the waiter gives him a meaningful, lustful look. Ross orders only the crab cakes, which the waiter then brings.
*When Ross is looking at Joey's head shot he says "I didn't know Joey was on JAG." Harry Van Gorkum who guest stars as Don, also guest starred on JAG, a adventure drama show that ran from 1995-2005 that dealt with a group of military lawyers who investigated, prosecuted, and defended those charged with military crimes. This scene is only in the DVD-version.
*This is one of the few episodes that has only two and not three story lines.
*Calvin and Hobbes which features on Joey's (unseen) t-shirt was a cartoon strip that ran from 1985 to 1995.
*The Magna Doodle in this episode shows a drawing of a worried face.
*This is the first time Ross expresses his fear that Joey and Rachel will marry. The next time is when he finds out about their relationship in "The One Where Ross Is Fine"..
*There's a hint that Ross still has feelings for Rachel and hopes they will end up together when he tells Monica "it's Rachel, you know". He also tells Joey "If she (Rachel ) is going to end up with someone else, I can't think of a nicer guy". 
*This is the second episode where sun-dried tomatoes are discussed, the first time being in "The One With Two Parts, Part 2" when Ross has lunch with his father Jack Geller. 
*Joey suggests that Ross wants to hit him. He suggests this again in "The One Where Emma Cries" after accidentally proposing to Rachel in "The One Where Rachel Has A Baby, Part 2". 
*The fact that Joey doesn't know that Vermont is a US state, and uses the dollar like any other US state (and not "Vermont money"), speaks of his gaps in general knowledge.
===Continuity/Goofs===
*The secondary storyline is that Phoebe is dating a guy who she thinks could be Monica's soul mate, and when Chandler discusses the possibility of soul mates with Monica, she states that she doesn't believe in soul mates. But at the end of Season 7, in The One With Monica And Chandler's Wedding (S7E24), as part of her wedding vows, Monica calls Chandler her soul mate.
*Joey states during his conversation with Ross that this is the first time he's actually in love with someone, but he already said that when he fell in love with Kate in Season 3. However, this time, his falling in love did not stem from recent sexual fantasies, nor have the two had sex. 
*Ross leaves the coffeehouse without his milk although he's probably more upset by Joey's words.
== External links ==
* Transcript of the episode including the deleted scenes
* "The One Where Joey Tells Rachel" at the Internet Movie Database
==Episode Navigation==
Category:Friends Episodes
Category:Season 8
Category:Episodes with Rachel's name in the title
Category:Episodes with Joey's name in the title
Category:Episodes
Category:Season 8 Episodes