The One Where Joey Speaks French

"The One Where Joey Speaks French" is the thirteenth episode of the tenth season of Friends, which aired on February 19, 2004.
==Plot==
Ross accompanies Rachel to Long Island after Rachel's father has a heart attack, much to his mild displeasure due to his history with her father. They end up spending the night at Rachel's house, where Ross enters her childhood room for the first time. While they talk, Rachel attempts to get Ross to sleep with her, but Ross realizes that she's only doing it because she's upset and doesn't want to take advantage of her vulnerable state. Ironically, she is left angered by this the following morning, leading Ross to say that them having sex is 'off the table'. They argue and Ross yells that they should never have sex again... right as Rachel's father appears behind him and glares at him with a deadly look. The two talk after returning home and, while Rachel admits that it's for the best they don't go down that road again, but also admits that sex with him is really good. Eventually, Rachel cracks and says that them getting back together is 'never off the table' considering the connection they have and leaves to go to her room, leading Ross to admit to himself that he agrees with her that "it's never off the table". 
Erica comes to town and Monica and Chandler find out that the baby's father could be two different people: a guy who was good-looking and went to college on a scholarship, or a guy who is in prison for killing his father with a shovel. However Monica soon finds out the good-looking man has to be the father and not the "shovel killer." It seems Erica doesn't quite understand how a baby is made.
Phoebe, back from her honeymoon, helps Joey prepare for an audition by teaching him how to speak French (since the fact he's fluent in it is one of the many falsehoods on his resume). Joey does not progress well and just speaks gibberish, thinking he's doing a great job. Phoebe quits at first, but later goes to the audition and explains to the director in French that Joey is her mentally disabled younger brother so he'll take pity on Joey. Later the two go through Joey's resume taking off all of his fake skills. While tap dancing, archery and horseback riding are all removed, Joey's exaggerated claim to Phoebe that he can down a gallon of milk in just ten seconds quickly unravels when, in reality, he struggles to consume even half a gallon in over 30 seconds, resulting in a comical spectacle of milk cascading down his body and onto the floor, ultimately debunking his boastful assertion.
==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===
Hira Ambrosino - Nurse
Anna Faris - Erica
André Fortin - The Guy on the Tape
Ron Leibman - Dr. Leonard Greene
Alex Craig Mann - Casting Director
Tim Rhoze - Director
Cali Sheldon - Emma Geller-Greene
Noelle Sheldon - Emma Geller-Greene
===Crew===
Directed By: 
Gary Halvorson
Written By: 
Sherry Bilsing-Graham & Ellen Plummer
==Trivia==
*Phoebe learned to speak french behind a dumpster while living on the street: this was stated in "The One With The Rumor". 
*The Magna Doodle in this episode shows a drawing of an old-fashioned deep sea diver trying to retrieve a sunken treasure that is being defended by a giant squid.
*In the uncut DVD episode, Chandler suggests taking Erica to see the musical Cats. This was actually a real production which was on tour from 2001 - 2012. At the time the episode the show was on at the Eisenhower Hall Theatre in West Point, New York.
*This is the last episode with Joey's name in the title.
*This is the last episode to show Monica's bedroom.
*This is the last appearance of Ron Leibman as Dr. Leonard Greene.
*This is the only episode in which Dr. Greene appears and does not wear his glasses at all; but only because they don't appear at all in this episode, while in all of Dr. Greene's previous appearances, he was seen wearing them at various points:
**"The One With The Two Parties": When he was pissing Rachel off about her mother/his ex-wife.
**"The One With The Race Car Bed": In the restaurant when Ross asked him about his boat.
**"The One With The Stripper": In all the scenes he appeared in.
*The movie Ross watches in Dr. Greene's hospital room is the 1969 film The Valley of Gwangi.
*In the French version, Joey is learning how to speak Spanish. Also the title for the French version is "Celui qui baragouinait" (The One Who Was Jabbering). It is a cross reference between the two neighboring countries, because in "The One Where The Stripper Cries" (S10E11), during the Pyramid game show, there's a quiz where Joey's partner says some Spanish words and in the Spanish version of this episode, he says French words.
*This is not the first time Joey has lied on his resume. The first was claiming he could dance in "The One With All The Jealousy", and the second was claiming he could play the guitar in "The One With All The Resolutions".
*More recent reruns on Nick@Nite cut out Phoebe calling Joey "Retarded" in French, but the subtitles still read "He's my little brother," instead of changing the comma into a period. The original line is still intact when the episode is shown on TBS. On the recent Channel 5 run in the UK, it reads "He's my little brother".
*When Phoebe talks to the casting director, she calls her village 'Estee Lauder' though this is obviously a reference to Estée Lauder Companies, a pioneering cosmetics company. It is based in Manhattan, near where the gang lives.
*When Ross and Rachel are in her bedroom, there are posters for Shawn Cassidy's 1978 album "Under Wraps", Duran Duran's 1984 album "Arena" and The Thompson Twins' 1984 album "Into The Gap." In "The One With The Ball", before Rachel brings in her cat Ross asks Rachel if she's bought Shawn Cassidy.
*Lisa Kudrow can actually speak some French.
*Although Matt LeBlanc is of French-Canadian descent, there is no evidence of his fluency in the language.
*There is evidence that Matthew Perry can conjugate the verb "manger" in French, but he is not fluent in the language.
*The lines that Phoebe says in French:
**Oui, bien sûr je parle Français! Qu'est-ce que tu penses alors? (Yes, of course I speak French! What did you think?)
**Tout le plaisir est pour moi, mon ami (The pleasure is all mine, my friend)
**Je m'appelle Claude (My name is Claude)
**Oh, mon Dieu! (Oh, my God!)
**Écoutez, je vais vous dire la vérité. C'est mon petit frère. Il est un peu retardé, alors si vous pouviez jouer le jeu avec lui. (Listen, I'm going to tell you the truth. This is my little brother. He is a little retarded. So, if you could, just play along with him.)
**Merci, au revoir. (Thank you. Goodbye)
*It's worth noting that the correct french translation of the offensive word "retarded" would be "attardé", not "retardé", which means "delayed".
*In the uncut DVD version, Phoebe says to the gang that she isn't supposed to mention that Mike didn't poop the whole time they were on their honeymoon, and says she meant he's at a gig. Also, when Ross suggests that Monica and Chandler should take Erica to a museum, Monica quotes Chandler where he says, "You call this art? I can do that". Chandler then responds with, "It was a tower of sponges!" Also when Leonard wakes up, Ross shouts Rachel's name and she comes in to see her father, asking how he is.
*When Ross and Rachel discuss the times they've had sex, Rachel mentions his birthday as one of those times. In the uncut version of "The One Where They All Turn Thirty", Rachel tells Phoebe that she wants to sleep with Ross again in the flashback scene to his 30th.
*Although Ross turns down Rachel's request for sympathy sex, they do sleep together in three episodes time leading him to realize he wants to be with Rachel. Rachel saying "with us, it's never off the table" not only refers to having sex but also them getting back together.
*In this episode Phoebe speaks fluent French. In the original script for "The One Where Estelle Dies" (called "The One Where Jetlag Wins"), when Ross and Rachel are in their hotel room in Paris, Ross speaks French over the phone to reception.
*Ross mentions the retailer Barneys when she arrives late with Emma. This retailer filed for bankruptcy on August 6, 2019.
==Goofs/Continuity==
*When Phoebe is talking to the Casting Director and tells him in French that Joey is 'A little retarded.', the subtitles misspelled retarded. Instead they spelled it 'retarted'. This is corrected in the DVD and Netflix versions.
*When Chandler, Monica and Erica arrive back at the apartment after sightseeing, Erica and Chandler enter the apartment from the left (past where their apartment door is) rather than from the right, as if he came up the stairs. He obviously is entering from the stage and didn't take the time or cue to appear to enter from the direction of the stairs.
*When Joey is calling Phoebe after she walked out of his apartment, the shadow of a camera can be seen on Monica's door.
*When Ross and Rachel are in Rachel's apartment, standing in the kitchen they are discussing not having sex anymore and what a waste it would be. Ross says, "I hate waste." The next reverse shot with Ross' back to the camera, you can see him completing the mouthing of the words "I hate waste" even though he already said that in the previous shot when Rachel's back was to the camera.
*When Rachel comes in late to Monica and Chandler's apartment with Emma, it is obvious at times that Emma is a doll, especially because her eyes don't move for most of the scene, indicating the doll is a special one where they eyes only move occasionally.
*The actual amount of time that passes from when Phoebe says "Go" to when Joey slams down the empty milk jug is 30.69 seconds. Most doctors warn against "milk drinking challenges" as the sheer amount of milk in the stomach can cause vomiting, diarrhea, and nausea.
*When Rachel and Ross first enter her father's hospital room, one of the numbers on the monitor behind Ross is 98 but when Rachel asks Ross if he'll be okay while she's out of the room, it has 97. However when Rachel actually leaves it changes to 98 again.
*When Rachel and Ross are getting coffee in the hospital, the grip of her hand on the coffee cup changes depending on the shot.
*At the end of the episode, when Rachel goes to her bedroom, she leaves the baby monitor on the table.
== External links ==
* Transcript of the episode
* "The One Where Joey Speaks French" at the Internet Movie Database
==Episode Navigation==
Category:Friends Episodes
Category:Season 10
Category:Episodes with Joey's name in the title
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Category:Season 10 Episodes