Ross reveals a sexual fantasy to Rachel, which involves Princess Leia's gold bikini from Return of the Jedi. Monica suffers from insomnia after breaking up with Richard. Chandler, back together with Janice, wants Joey to bond with her, a seemingly impossible request. To remedy the situation, Janice insists she and Joey spend a fun day together so they can finally bond.

Ross is in a hurry to get everyone ready in time for an important banquet at the museum but they keep delaying. Monica freaks out after hearing a voicemail from Richard, unsure if it is an old message or a new one. Joey and Chandler fight over who can sit in Monica's chair. Phoebe arrives on time but gets in the way of Joey and Chandler throwing hummus, which lands on her dress.

Phoebe is stalked by a man named Malcolm who mistakes her for her identical twin, Ursula. Phoebe then tries to help Malcolm to get over Ursula. Ross and Rachel give Chandler "boyfriend" lessons, one of which ultimately backfires on Ross. Monica copes with her break-up with Richard by making jam, and then considers having a baby by artificial insemination through a sperm bank.

Phoebe pretends to be Joey's agent and has some success in getting him auditions, but the initial rush soon wears off when she is forced to tell him why he is always being turned down. Ben brings a Barbie doll that he has personally picked for himself on his weekend visit with Ross. This bothers Ross, who then tries to get him to give up Barbie in favor of G.

Phoebe's half-brother, Frank Jr., comes to town but his quirky behavior makes bonding difficult. This is made even more awkward when Frank Jr. initially misunderstands that Phoebe works as a hooker, and sexually hits on her masseuse friend during a massage session. Joey builds an entertainment unit that is too big for the apartment and annoys Chandler.

When Janice playfully asks the gang if any two of them (other than current couple Ross and Rachel, as well as siblings Ross and Monica) have ever slept together, the gang flashes back to 1993 (one year before the pilot episode), the time when the coffee shop was a bar. The gang's secrets are revealed: Ross and Phoebe nearly had sex on a pool table when the former was depressed after finding out his then-wife, Carol, is a lesbian; Joey mistook Monica's lemonade offer as an advancement and hit on her by getting naked; Chandler tried to hit on Rachel at the bar when he overheard her lamenting to her girlfriends that she might not have anymore casual flings after getting married with Barry.

Rachel tries to get her father and Ross to bond during a dinner out together, only for Ross to criticize her father for under-tipping. Hoping for one last chance for the men to get along, Rachel sets up a brunch the morning after, only for it to backfire on her when she realizes that criticizing her is the only common interest that both men have.

When Chandler wants to buy Janice an expensive gift for her birthday, Joey reveals that he saw her kissing her ex-husband. Upon confronting her about the kiss and heeding Joey's advice, Chandler reluctantly breaks up with her, not wanting her to destroy her family. While babysitting Ben, Monica accidentally bumps his head on a post.

Emotions become the feast of the day when the gang plays touch football on Thanksgiving, unleashing Ross's and Monica's competitive streaks. Joey and Chandler argue over who gets to date a Dutch model watching the game. Rachel, feeling continually sidelined, makes a play that seems to win the game, but when it falls short, Ross and Monica simultaneously dive for the ball, with neither one refusing to yield it.

When Gunther tells Rachel that she has to undergo retraining despite having worked at the coffee shop for two and a half years, she becomes fed up and ultimately quits upon heeding Chandler's and Joey's advice on taking the fear from being unemployed in order to pursue her passion in fashion. Both men then lend out a helping hand in her job search - Chandler helps her in preparing her resumés, while Joey gets her a job lead at Fortunata Fashions with the help of his father.

Monica and Rachel's noisy upstairs neighbor is excessively charming. Phoebe confronts him about the noise and ends up dating him, making Monica and Rachel uncomfortable when they later hear all of Phoebe's intimate upstairs activities. Rachel is frustrated with her new job of making coffee all day and sorting hangers.

Convinced Mark wants to steal Rachel, a jealous Ross showers her with romantic gifts at the workplace. Rachel assures Ross he can trust her with Mark, then becomes jealous when he and Ben have a play date with the stripper from a bachelor party he attended who has a son Ben's age. Joey's numerous lies on his padded résumé catch up with him when he is forced to teach a dance to an entire Broadway cast, unsuccessfully.

Monica's willpower is tested after running into Richard at the video store. The two decide to just be "friends", but soon are more than that. Joey agrees to read Little Women while Rachel reads The Shining. Phoebe's athletic new boyfriend accidentally keeps exposing himself through his loose-fitting shorts.

Phoebe is reunited with her former singing partner Leslie (E.G. Daily), but is offended when Leslie thinks "Smelly Cat" has potential as cat food ad jingle. Chandler dates a woman with a prosthetic leg (Sherilyn Fenn), only to learn she once dated Joey, who accidentally threw her artificial limb into a fireplace.

Chandler and Joey are both attracted to Chloe (Angela Featherstone), the girl who works at the copy center. Phoebe dates an East European diplomat whose interpreter accompanies them everywhere to translate. To gain some privacy, Phoebe fixes up Monica with the interpreter. She soon regrets it after the interpreter wants to spend all his time talking to Monica.

Rachel calls Ross the next morning saying she wants to get back together. Ross rushes Chloe out of his apartment before Rachel arrives, then frantically runs around trying to cover up the trail leading to his and Chloe's tryst. Rachel discovers the truth from Gunther, and she and Ross have a huge fight as the other four friends listen in from Monica's bedroom.

The aftermath of Ross and Rachel's breakup leaves the group in a state of stress, as the other friends are trying to keep them all intact without alienating the former couple. Rachel understandably does not invite Ross on a weekend ski trip with the rest of the group, but less rationally refuses to contact him even after her car breaks down and they have no other way to get out of the snowy back-country road they are stuck on.

One of Monica's customers, Pete Becker (Jon Favreau), who wants to date Monica, leaves her a $20,000 tip that she considers to be a joke, but he turns out to be a billionaire. Monica reluctantly agrees to a date with Pete, who takes her out for pizza--in Italy. Phoebe is shocked when her 18-year-old brother becomes engaged to his former teacher, Alice (Debra Jo Rupp), a woman more than twice his age.

Rachel has a date with Mark, her first since splitting with Ross, but soon finds she is unready for a new relationship. This leaves Ross devastated, and he plans to break them apart but Chandler convinces him to accept the fact that Rachel has "moved on". Joey develops a crush on Kate (Dina Meyer), his costar in his new play.

Rachel regrets arranging a date for Chandler and her boss, Joanna. Joey's interest in Kate intensifies after they sleep together, but her relationship with the play's director complicates matters. Monica's aunt dies, leaving her a beautiful antique dollhouse. Monica invites Phoebe, who never had a dollhouse, to help her set it up, but gets upset with Phoebe's creative embellishments.

Pete offers Monica the head chef job at a new restaurant he just bought, but she suspects he is using it to woo her. When he insists he is over her and has met someone else, Phoebe correctly surmises he is lying. While Pete and Monica inspect the restaurant, Monica realizes Pete's true motive, then surprisingly discovers she has genuine feelings for him.

Rachel dates Tommy (Ben Stiller), an aggressive bully who terrorizes anyone crossing him. When only Ross observes his bad behavior, everyone else claims he is just jealous over Rachel, but Tommy eventually cannot hide his true self and the group finally sees Tommy's true character when he screams at the chick and the duck.

Afflicted with a mysterious skin condition on his back, Ross seeks advice from Phoebe's herbalist (Kevin McDonald). Unable to choose between dating a hunky fireman or a smart kindergarten teacher, Phoebe attempts to date both, though neither is entirely what she believes them to be. Monica thinks Pete wants to break up after he says they "need to talk" when he returns from Atlanta.

Monica tries to support Pete's UFC dreams, but after his brutal losses, she says she cannot stay if he continues, then breaks up with him after he refuses to quit. Chandler has a problem when his new boss keeps slapping his butt in a friendly but inappropriate manner but at the end he lets his new boss slap his butt after feeling left out.

Chandler tries proving to Monica that he is "boyfriend material". The gang goes to Montauk for the weekend, but their borrowed beach house is filled with sand after a storm. Phoebe meets the woman, also named Phoebe, who knew her parents. She suspects the elder Phoebe knows more than she is telling, so she breaks into her house looking for information about her father.