The One Where Ross Got High

"The One Where Ross Got High" is the ninth episode of the sixth season of Friends, which aired on November 25, 1999. Monica hosts Thanksgiving and Chandler uses the occasion to try and win her parents over. The episode involves a subplot where Rachel makes a trifle including a layer of beef.
It was written by Greg Malins and directed by Kevin S. Bright. It guest starred Elliott Gould as Jack Geller, Christina Pickles as Judy Geller, and Elle Macpherson as Janine Lecroix.
==Plot==
The Geller parents are coming over for Thanksgiving, but they don't know that Chandler and Monica are living together, or even dating for that matter. Chandler tries to charm the Gellers to get them to like him so that they can tell them the truth, but it's clear their dislike of him is deeply ingrained. Monica tells Rachel she can make the dessert this year, but the cookbook pages are stuck together and Rachel ends up making something that is half trifle half shepherd's pie. It comprises layers of ladyfingers, jam, custard, raspberries, more ladyfingers, beef sautéed with peas and onions, a little more custard, bananas, then whipped cream. Everyone taste the first bite, except Phoebe who doesn't eat meat, and Rachel herself who opts to firstly receiving complimentaries from ones who try her creation. It is clearly seen that none of them really enjoy the dessert from the first taste, except Joey, who oddly but honestly acclaims the ruined dessert, particularly its custard, jam and the sautéed beef.
Ross finally figures out why the Jack and Judy don't like Chandler: When a compliment on Judy's new sweater results in him calling it tight and then stuttering, Jack asks Judy what's wrong with Chandler, Judy says "I think he's stoned again.", which puzzles Monica and Chandler. Ross knowing what his mother meant pulls Chandler aside and explains what she said: in college Ross smoked pot in the dorm room and when his parents walked in, he blamed it on Chandler. Monica comes in saying her parents were wondering if Chandler was trying to get Ross stoned and Chandler explains what Ross did. 
Joey and Ross are also invited to spend Thanksgiving with Janine, Joey's roommate, and her hot dancer friends, but the girls make them stay. Ross tries to avoid telling his parents about getting high, forcing Monica to tell them. Furious at his sister, he finally tells his parents that it wasn't Chandler. Monica and Ross take this opportunity to yell out secrets about each other they have wanted to say, including Ross being fired from the museum then marrying Rachel and getting divorced a third time, but only after Ross reveals that Monica and Chandler are living together. This results in Phoebe admitting to being in love with Jacques Cousteau (after a dream she had earlier, although another dream saw her fantasizing about Jack); Rachel realizes she wasn't supposed to put beef in the trifle, and Joey says he just wants to leave. 
Judy takes a moment to process the preceding 30 seconds and deals with everyone in order: she tells Joey that he can leave, tells Rachel that the trifle wasn't supposed to have meat in it, informs Phoebe that Jacques Cousteau is dead, and tells Monica she didn't need to hide that she was in such an important relationship. Then Judy and Jack ask Ross about his recent bad behavior. When it comes to Chandler, they call him a wonderful human being for having been Ross' best friend through three divorces and a drug problem and express their appreciation that he's taken on Monica as well, much to his relief. They then narrow their focus back onto Ross and Monica, with Jack saying he doesn't know what to do with them. Chandler says he'll talk to them.
In the end, it is revealed that despite everyone's faking their delight on Rachel's trifle (per Joey's acting suggestion earlier upon knowing it contains beef), they don't throw away their own portions of the peculiar dessert, except Chandler, who admits to Rachel that his share was grabbed and dropped on the streets by a passing flying bird while he was "enjoying" it at the balcony. However, Joey later reveals that he ate up Monica's, Jack's and Judy's own part.
==Cast and Crew==
===Main Cast===
Jennifer Aniston - Rachel Greene
Courteney Cox Arquette - Monica Geller
Lisa Kudrow - Phoebe Buffay
Matt LeBlanc - Joey Tribbiani
Matthew Perry - Chandler Bing
David Schwimmer - Ross Geller
===Supporting Cast===
Elliott Gould - Jack Geller
Elle Macpherson - Janine Lecroix
Christina Pickles - Judy Geller
===Crew===
Directed By: 
Kevin S. Bright
Written By: 
Greg Malins
==Trivia==
===General===
*The Magna Doodle shows a drawing of an astronaut standing on the moon with a spaceship and a view of Earth in the background. 
*Monica mentions to Chandler that her parents might not like him because he "used to be aloof". Ironically, in "The One With The Metaphorical Tunnel" (S3E04), Chandler tried (and failed) to act aloof around Janice.
*In the uncut DVD version of the episode, there are a few bonus scenes included, such as:
**At the very beginning of the episode, all the friends are at Central Perk, talking about Thanksgiving and how they are all reluctant for Rachel to cook Thanksgiving dinner after Monica gave her the permission to do so.
**Rachel melting butter being all proud of herself for doing so, though much to Monica's dismay Rachel burns it.
**Phoebe comes in with a paper turkey.
**After Monica finds out that Ross was the one that got high and urges him to tell the truth, Chandler asks if there is any more lies he should know leading to Ross replying that he microwaved a bunch of Jack's records.
**Monica introducing Janine to Jack and Judy at the end of the episode only for her to mention that she already met Jack when he walked in on her when she was changing.
*Rachel also tells Phoebe that he has walked in on her when she was changing.
*Joey's love for jam was previously shown in "The One With The Jam" (S3E03).
*Elliott Gould said on Friends of Friends that this was his favorite episode to film.
*There's a blooper of the scene where Joey and Ross are eating Rachel's trifle and David Schwimmer causes Matt LeBlanc to start cracking up because of the way David says "It tastes like feet", while Matt is eating.
*There's also a blooper before that when David Schwimmer can't eat the portion of trifle in front of him, causing Jennifer to laugh, especially when Matt puts some of David's trifle on to his plate.
*Internet personality Brad Jones had his friends actually made Rachel's trifle for him to eat.
*This episode marks Jack and Judy's only Season 6 appearance.
*Jennifer Aniston eventually tried the ruined trifle in the uncut version of Friends: The Reunion.
*The PlayStation game that Ross and Joey are playing is Twisted Metal 2.
*When Ross says that the pages of the recipe book are stuck together, Joey yells "Chandler!" it is an adlib and not in the script.
*This is a rare time Ross is scolded by his parents.
*This episode was used as "T is for Trifle" in the Nick at Nite Friends A-Z Event (January 2023).
===Goofs===
*During Rachel's explanation of her trifle, Ross asks what the layer before the bananas was, upon hearing about the layer of beef, peas and onions. She answers 'beef' but in her previous line she mentioned "a little more custard" in between the beef and banana layers. Of course, given the tone in which Ross asks the question, it's possible that she knew what he meant to ask, given that she was unsure about adding beef herself.
*If Rachel had spent so much time making the trifle how come she didn't have a piece for herself? 
*Shepherd's pie has lamb, not beef, in it. Cottage pie is the beef equivalent.
*When Mr. Geller tells Monica "and we kind of figured about the porch swing", you can see the edge of the set where Rachel's old room is supposed to be. The floor changes colors and marker tape is visible on the ground.
*When Rachel says "I can't believe you all ate it" referring to her mixed up trifle and Monica says "I didn't eat mine, it's still in the bathroom ", Joey says "No it isn't, I ate yours" and indicates the bathroom with his left hand but in the next shot he can be seen repeating the gesture.
*If you look carefully, the amount of trifle on Ross' plate changes radically between the shot when Monica leaves for the balcony and the close-up of Ross, Rachel and Joey. This is because of the blooper mentioned in the Trivia when David couldn't eat the trifle in front of him.
*Surely Monica, a head chef in a busy restaurant and an incredibly detail-oriented person, would have noticed Rachel sautéing beef, peas and onions when neither Thanksgiving dinner nor a traditional English trifle has these. 
==Quotes==
Monica: Dad, you know that mailman you got fired? He didn't steal your Playboys, Ross did.
Ross: Yeah, well Hurricane Gloria didn't break the porch swing, Monica did.
Monica: Ross hasn't worked at the museum for a year.
Ross: Monica and Chandler are living together!
Monica: Ross married Rachel in Vegas, and got divorced, AGAIN!
Phoebe: I love Jacques Cousteau!
Rachel: I wasn't supposed to put beef in the trifle!
Joey: I wanna gooooo!
Judy: That's a lot of information to get in thirty seconds. All right, Joey, if you wanna leave, just leave. Rachel, no, you weren't supposed to put beef in the trifle. It did not taste good. Phoebe, I'm sorry, but I think Jacques Cousteau is dead. Monica, why you felt you had to hide the fact that you're in an important relationship is beyond me.
Jack: And we kinda figured about the porch swing.
Rachel: Joey, what is wrong with your apartment? It's like a hundred degrees in there.
Joey: Did it make you want to walk around in your underwear?
Rachel: No.
Joey: Still not hot enough!
Ross: What is with everyone today? It's Thanksgiving not truth day!
==Images==
TOWRossGotHigh-MonicaActingTechnique.png
Tastes like feet.jpg
TOWRossGotHigh.png
== External links ==
* Transcript of the episode including the deleted scenes
* "The One Where Ross Got High" at the Internet Movie Database
==Episode Navigation==
Category:Friends Episodes
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The One Where Ross Gets High
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