S05E18 · EP 115
season 5 · 1999-04-08
The One Where Rachel Smokes
written by Michael Curtis · directed by Todd Holland · 21.88M viewers · image Friends Wiki (CC BY-SA)

Episode DNA

21 scenes · 3 threads
cheerful 18%awkward 15%rivalry 10%tense 8%social rule violation 7%scheme 6%coincidence 6%obsession 4%betrayal 4%absurd 3%

Story threads over runtime

click a block to open the scene
0:005:0010:0015:0020:00
A · Rachel's smoking dilemma
B · Cups and ice party
C · Joey and Ben's audition
01

Every scene

21 scenes · our breakdown
1 · Central Perk · act1Card trick and Ben news

Ross announces Ben's soup commercial audition, making Joey envious.

00:02–02:03coincidence · rivalry
2 · Central Perk · act1Rachel's first day at work

Rachel leaves for her first day at Ralph Lauren, refusing to steal shirts.

02:03–02:58social_rule_violation
3 · Central Perk · act1Planning Rachel's surprise party

Monica and Phoebe plan a surprise party for Rachel a month early.

02:58–03:06scheme
4 · Central Perk · act1Joey wants to audition as dad

Joey decides to audition as Ben's dad in the soup commercial.

03:06–03:52rivalry · coincidence
5 · Casting office · act1Joey and Ben at the audition

Joey gets an audition but faces competition from a famous child actor.

03:52–04:51rivalry · coincidence
6 ▸ 04:51
6 · Ralph Lauren office · act1Rachel's first day at work

Rachel meets her boss Kim and colleague Nancy, who smoke.

04:51–05:54social_rule_violation
7 ▸ 05:54
7 · Central Perk · act1Rachel worries about smoking breaks

Rachel fears missing out on decisions made during cigarette breaks.

05:54–06:49social_rule_violation · scheme
8 ▸ 06:49
8 · Central Perk · act1Monica assigns cups and ice

Monica gives Phoebe the task of handling cups and ice for the party.

06:49–07:53petty_grievance · scheme
9 · Central Perk · act1Ben and Joey get callbacks

Ben and Joey both get callbacks for the commercial.

07:53–08:31rivalry · coincidence
10 · Outside Ralph Lauren · act1Rachel tries smoking

Rachel joins her colleagues outside and tries smoking to bond.

08:31–09:40lie · social_rule_violation
11 · Casting office · act1Callback lineup announced

The director pairs Joey with a different child actor, not Ben.

09:40–10:54rivalry · coincidence
12 · Monica and Rachel's apartment · act2Phoebe's cup obsession

Phoebe brings many cups and vows to make Monica regret her decision.

10:54–12:02obsession · petty_grievance
13 · Monica and Rachel's apartment · act2Joey wants Ben to step aside

Joey tries to convince Ross to make Ben drop out of the audition.

12:02–13:19rivalry · scheme
14 ▸ 13:19
14 · Monica and Rachel's apartment · act2Rachel admits to smoking

Rachel confesses to her friends that she smoked at work.

13:19–14:30confession · social_rule_violation
15 · Ralph Lauren office · act2Rachel tries to quit smoking

Rachel convinces her colleagues to quit smoking together.

14:30–15:34scheme · social_rule_violation
16 · Casting office · act2Joey messes up the audition

Joey flubs his line during the callback audition.

15:34–17:58humiliation · rivalry
17 · Outside Ralph Lauren · act2Rachel catches colleagues smoking

Rachel finds Kim and Nancy smoking again and is threatened with firing.

17:58–18:44betrayal · threat
18 ▸ 18:44
18 · Monica and Rachel's apartment · act2Phoebe's cup and ice party

Phoebe decorates the apartment with cups and provides various ice types.

18:44–19:32obsession · petty_grievance
19 · Monica and Rachel's apartment · act2Surprise party for Rachel

Rachel arrives to a surprise party, but it's clearly for her birthday.

19:32–20:38scheme · coincidence
20 · Monica and Rachel's apartment · act3Joey consoles himself after audition

Ross tells Joey he sabotaged himself for Ben's sake.

20:38–22:07confession · comeuppance
21 · Ralph Lauren office · act3Rachel misses Paris trip

Rachel learns Kim is taking Nancy to Paris instead of her.

22:07–22:11betrayal · social_rule_violation
03

Same DNA

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Episode facts

Wikipedia · Wikidata
Aired
1999-04-08
Overall
#115
Writers
Michael Curtis
Director
Todd Holland
Viewers
21.88M (US)
Pace
125 words/min · 84 questions

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In this episode

RG
Ross Geller232 episodes · drives 707 scenes
CB
Chandler Bing232 episodes · drives 527 scenes
JT
Joey Tribbiani232 episodes · drives 536 scenes
PB
Phoebe Buffay232 episodes · drives 425 scenes
RG
Rachel Greene232 episodes · drives 552 scenes
MG
Monica Geller232 episodes · drives 572 scenes
BG
Ben Geller36 episodes
K
KimJoanna Gleason4 episodes · drives 1 scenes