The One After Ross Says Rachel

"The One After Ross Says Rachel" is the fifth season premiere of Friends, which aired on September 24, 1998. It is a continuation of the season 4 finale, taking place immediately after Ross said Rachel's name at his wedding to Emily in London.
==Plot==
At Ross and Emily's wedding, Ross has just said Rachel's name instead of Emily's during his vows. Rachel wonders aloud whether she should go up to the altar, but Emily instructs the minister to continue the ceremony. She is clearly livid, and the newlyweds share a very cold and distant first kiss. They walk out of the church together, pretending to be happy by smiling, but once outside, Emily violently elbows Ross in the stomach for revenge. 
At the reception, Ross and Emily are arguing about what happened in the bathroom while Rachel, Chandler, Joey and Monica listen at the door. Ross exits the bathroom alone, and states Emily was only fixing her make up. He worries that nobody seems to be having fun at his reception. He commands Joey to dance, but Joey is embarrassed and immediately stops. Emily's stepmother's cell phone rings, and it's Phoebe again. She tells Mrs. Waltham that she is Dr. Phalange, Ross' personal physician, and that Ross forgot to take his brain medicine, meaning that women's names are interchangeable in his brain, through no fault of his own. Unfortunately, Mrs. Waltham doesn't buy the story.
Chandler approaches Monica in the buffet line. The two had made plans to meet up that night, but Chandler is worried about what the secret meetings might do to their friendship. Monica wonders how they could have let this happen, and blames the fact that they are away in a foreign, romantic country. With this logic, Monica and Chandler decide that while they are still in London, it only makes sense to keep having sex. They decide to meet in the wine cellar in a few minutes.
Monica tries to make her escape to the wine cellar, but Rachel stops her, wanting to talk about Ross saying her name at the altar and what it could mean. Monica tries to get her friend to leave her alone, but when Rachel decides to talk to Ross about what he thinks it meant, Monica tries to convince her to stay away, since he is married to Emily now. Before she gets the chance to meet Chandler in the wine cellar, Monica sees Chandler reappear. They cannot meet down there to have sex as a drunken Mr. Waltham (Emily's father) is giving guided tours of the room. Monica and Chandler see Joey eating steak, even though he promised Phoebe he would not eat meat until the babies are born. He uses the excuse that they are in another country so it does not count. Monica and Chandler, having used that reason to excuse their own behavior, let him off the hook.
Rachel approaches Ross, who is still lingering outside the bathroom waiting for Emily to come out. She pries a little into what happened at the ceremony, hoping to get Ross to admit that he said her name because he still has feelings for her, but he insists it was just a mistake and that he loves Emily. Joey comes over to tell Ross that the band is waiting for his first dance with Emily, and remarks that Emily sure is taking a long time in the bathroom. Rachel jokes that when she locked herself in the bathroom at her own wedding, it was because she was trying to climb out the window and take off. Ross barges into the bathroom, and sure enough, there's an open window and no Emily.
Monica and Chandler head up to Monica's hotel room, but find that Rachel is already there. They almost manage to shake her off by telling her they need to change and will meet her downstairs, but then Phoebe calls the hotel room and she and Rachel talk about what Ross' name reversal meant. Monica and Chandler decide to go "change" in Chandler and Joey's room instead. That plan is thwarted too, however, when Joey comes home with a girl. Chandler tells Joey that he was there first and he too has a girl with him, but Joey says that he already saw him going into the room with Monica, and they are forced to leave when Monica tries to get him to leave them, with a video of "My Giant"; a movie Joey loves and wants to watch too.
Next stop: Ross and Emily's honeymoon suite (apparently all the friends have keys to one another's hotel rooms). Monica feels guilty for using her brother's honeymoon suite, but Chandler talks her into it. However, as they pull back the covers, Ross bursts in, looking for Emily. He decides he should stay in the room in case Emily tries to find him. Monica and Chandler try to leave, but he asks them to stay and keep him company, and they can't say no.
Quite a while later, Ross has fallen asleep with his head in Monica's lap, so she and Chandler cannot escape. When Monica and Chandler consider having sex with Ross in the next room, but a knock on the door wakes Ross up. He hopes it is Emily, but it is only her father and stepmother coming to get her things. Emily's father tells Ross that she has gone into hiding, and never wants to see Ross again. Ross begs him to tell Emily that he will be at the airport waiting to catch the flight for their honeymoon, and he hopes Emily will be there too. Emily's father agrees to give her the message.
Monica and Chandler are sitting next to each other on the flight back to New York. They decide that maybe it was for the best that they never got together again, as it made their one night together more special. Chandler declares that they are still over international waters. Monica goes to the bathroom, with the idea that Chandler will join her there in a minute. As soon as she leaves, however, Joey takes her seat and engages Chandler in a conversation about his future as an actor. An annoyed Monica returns from the bathroom half an hour later, and Joey is still talking to Chandler.
Back at the apartment, Monica, Chandler, and Joey are greeted by Phoebe. Joey and Phoebe go home, leaving Monica and Chandler alone at last. They decide that it is a good thing that they agreed not to sleep together in New York. Monica thanks Chandler, telling him that the night in London meant a lot to her, since she was going through a hard time. Chandler reveals that the night meant a lot to him too, because Monica is "really hot". The two hug, and Chandler leaves. He comes back in a minute later, saying, "I'm still on London time, does that count?" to which Monica responds "Oh, that counts," and they kiss for the first time on-camera.
At the airport, Rachel is on standby for a flight to New York, when she passes Ross, sitting at his gate, waiting for Emily. It is the final boarding call for Ross and Emily's flight to Greece, and Emily has not shown up. Rachel convinces Ross that he should go to Greece without Emily, to clear his head. Since Rachel does not have a ticket home, Ross offers her Emily's ticket to Greece. As they board the plane, Ross realizes he has forgotten his jacket in the waiting area, so Rachel goes on ahead. As Ross goes to get his jacket, he sees Emily, who has shown up at last. However, she has just seen Rachel get on their plane, and runs away furious with Ross chasing. As a result, Rachel is left to fly to Greece alone and doesn't realize she's been abandoned until after the plane starts moving.
==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===
Tom Conti - Stephen Waltham
Jennifer Saunders - Andrea Waltham
Helen Baxendale - Emily Waltham
Olivia Williams - Felicity (cameo)
Elliott Gould - Jack Geller
Christina Pickles - Judy Geller
Peter Eyre - The Registrar
===Crew===
Directed By: 
Kevin S. Bright
Written By: 
Seth Kurland
==Trivia==
===General===
*This episode, as well as "The One With Ross' Wedding", features a special title sequence with scenes from only the episode taking place in London.
*Helen Baxendale, who played Emily, was pregnant during the filming of the season 5 episodes. In this episode, she is only seen at the ceremony and in one brief scene at the airport.
*This episode was partially shot in front of a British audience.
*During the off-season, after the season 4 finale, the producers decided to change Tom Conti's character name from Steven to Stephen and Peter Eyre's character from "The Register" to "The Registrar."
*At the airport, Ross' flight to Greece is Flight 1066. 1066 is the year of the Battle of Hastings, the battle that shifted control in Britain and started the line of English Kings and Queens of the centuries.
*Rachel goes alone to Greece, in real life, Jennifer Aniston's family came to America from this country by the family name of Anastasakis. By jus sanguinis, she is Greek.
*This is the first time Phoebe uses her alias Regina Phalange. She says she is Dr. Phalange while talking to Emily's stepmother. She uses this persona again in "The One In Vegas, Part 2", (S5E24) while joining a blackjack table with Joey and pretending they never met. This was to convince a blackjack dealer (played by Tom Lennon) that Joey is his "identical hand twin." Regina Phalange shows up in "The One With The Videotape" (S8E4) as well, along with the introduction of Joey's alias, Ken Adams. Phoebe uses Regina to rescue Joey from the audition where he is supposed to speak French in "The One Where Joey Speaks French" (S10E13). Also, during "The Last One, Part 2" (S10E18),  she successfully forces Rachel's flight to Paris to return to the airport by alarming passengers when they overhear her tell Rachel on the phone that "something is wrong with the left phalange" of the plane.
**Phalanges (phalagex bone) refers to the digital bones in the hand and feet of most vertebrates. 
* When Ross tells the guests they should be dancing at the reception, the couple standing at the buffet are the same as Tom and Sue, the friends of Mike's parents in "The One With Ross' Inappropriate Song" (S9E7).
*This episode marks the final appearances of Stephen Waltham, Andrea Waltham and Felicity. 
===Goofs/Continuity===
*In "The One With The Truth About London" Joey said that he only left one condom for Chandler, but in this episode it is revealed that they "did it" 7 times. It's possible that Chandler had a second box of condoms in his bag—we saw him put a red box of condoms into his bag in "The One With Ross' Wedding, Part 1", yet the box Joey leaves the hotel room with in the flashback in "The One With The Truth About London" is blue. 
*When Monica, Chandler, and Joey are flying back to New York, the display screen in front of their seats shows the plane indicating their position facing east, as though they are traveling towards London. They are supposed to be flying back to New York.
*When Monica asks Joey why he is eating meat, a white napkin on his hand keep appearing and disappearing between the shots.
*When Monica and Chandler are arranging to meet for a quickie, Chandler puts lots of food on his plate. Once he tosses his plate onto the table, most of the food is gone.
*When Phoebe is talking to Emily's stepmother on the phone, the buildings outside Phoebe's window are moving slowly from side to side.
*The man sitting behind Rachel to the left looks at the camera quite a bit at the end of the show as the plane takes off for Greece.
*In more recent versions of the episode, the Virgin Atlantic plane flying Chandler, Monica and Joey back to New York is in a much more recent livery, which was introduced only in 2010. The livery back in 1998 was very different. This plane is also seen in the previous episode when Rachel flies to London. 
*Matthew Perry had his teeth capped in between seasons 4 and 5. So Chandler's teeth go from being crooked in the last episode of season 4 to straight in the first episode of season 5, even though both episodes take place at Ross' wedding, and no time has gone by.
*Likewise, Ross' hair has got quite a lot longer in the split second between the wedding scene and the aftermath.
*When Chandler goes to unpack, he turns left after closing the door rather than towards his apartment.
*At the reception Jack Geller says "Who serves steak when there's no place to sit? How are you supposed to eat this?" and Joey comes up eating steak in his hands. However in "The One With Ross' Wedding", Emily reveals that they are having chicken kiev (instead of chicken tarragon).
* The laugh tracks from the end of "The One With Ross' Wedding" and the beginning of this episode are different.
**There may have been a different British audience that night.
**Additionally the cheering track from the recap when Ross says Rachel's name at the alter previously appeared in 'Full House,' which was coincidentally filmed at the Warner Bros. lot.
**It also appeared in other shows such as Family Matters, and the Dan Schneider created/ produced shows iCarly and Victorious for Nickelodeon/ Teennick.
**It can also be heard on the TV version of "The One Where Richard And Monica Are Just Friends".
*When Joey informs Ross that the band is ready, Ross says "I don't care about the stupid band!" Right after, you can see Rachel raising her hand up to her mouth, laughing. This was the same scene seen in the bloopers of this episode.
*In the honeymoon suite, when Chandler says to Ross "Yeah, uh, for about 30 minutes" his lips obviously say a different phrase.
* Before and during the time Chandler says "Wow, in 45 minutes you could find her twice" in the honeymoon suite, the stage lighting shining on him is very obvious. It is also quite pronounced during the rest of the scene, most likely due to the lack of lighting in the hotel suite set.
*In the last episode, Rachel wears a ring on her right hand but in this episode, it is on the left hand.
==External links==
*Transcript of the episode including the deleted scenes
*"The One After Ross Says Rachel" at the Internet Movie Database
*"The One After Ross Says Rachel" at Wikipedia
== Episode Navigation==
Category:Season 5
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Category:Episodes with Ross' name in the title
Category:Episodes with Rachel's name in the title
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