Friends >> Season 2

Phoebe catches chicken pox just as her old flame Ryan arrives in town on leave from the Navy. Even though he hasn't yet had chicken pox, he can't stand to be apart and they both spend the rest of the time trying to not scratch. Joey gets a job at Chandler's office but decides to play it as a role. The character he creates, Joseph, has a wife and kids and ultimately blames Chandler for his own screwup. Monica is upset that Richard doesn't have a "thing": an unexplainable quirk. He eventually comes up with one to ease her mind.

Chandler and Ross run into two bullies at the coffee shop; one of whom steals Chandler's hat. After trying to avoid them, the guys confront the bullies and are ready to fight. When a thief steals their stuff, the bullies join Ross and Chandler in trying to get it back. Monica, down to her last few dollars of savings, plays the stock market based solely on the ticker symbols. After she loses it all she's forced to take a job at a 50s theme restaurant where she'll have to dance and wear "flame retardant boobs." Phoebe makes multiple attempts to go visit her birth father and when she finally does, she finds out he's no longer there. She does meet her half-brother, though.

Creeped out by his bizarre new roommate, Chandler demands he move out. Eddie agrees...but doesn't go. Joey has trouble coming to grips with the death of Dr. Drake Ramoray and the accompanying change in his lifestyle. And a new book on employment for women inspires the female friends to have a "goddess meeting."

Phoebe is discovered by a record producer who wants to make "Smelly Cat" a video. Ross's new relationship with Rachel makes Monica feel like she's living with her brother again...and she hates it. And Joey considers moving back in with Chandler, but Chandler has a new roommate.

Joey buys a big screen TV and two leather recliners with his newfound money. He and Chandler then spend a day refusing to leave the chairs. They even have food delivered to the girls apartment so they don't have to answer the door. Monica has a catering job for a friend of her parents, the attractive Dr. Burke. She ends up kissing him the next day at an un-needed eye exam and though there is a 21-year age difference between them, they begin dating. Ross and Rachel attempt to have their first real date, but Rachel laughs every time they kiss. When they try again the next evening, they are interrupted when Ross is called into the museum. It's too late to go to the restaurant so they have a picnic in the planetarium and end up waking up the next day naked in the display area with a group of Catholic school children looking in.

Rachel and Monica compete for the affections of Jean-Claude Van Damme after meeting him on a movie set. Chandler meets a former schoolmate, a makeup artist, who seems to have the hots for him. An excited Joey gets a role as an extra in the movie and Ross and Marcel go on a whirlwind tour of the city.

It's Christmas time and Monica tries tipping with cookies, rather than cash, with mixed results. Phoebe learns that the guy in the picture frames her grandmother keeps around is not her father and tries to track down her real father. And Chandler and Joey wait too late to shop for presents.

A drunken Rachel is persuaded to call Ross and reveals her feelings for him on his answering machine. And when he finds out, he must make the choice between her and Julie. Meanwhile, Monica finds work as Chandler's personal trainer and Phoebe has a hard time trying to get her boyfriend to have sex with her.

When a sexy woman calls the wrong number, Chandler seeks to make the most of the situation. And income issues divide the friends: the well-off Ross, Chandler and Monica versus the not-so-well-off Phoebe, Rachel and Joey. This all changes, however, when Monica is accused of taking kickbacks and fired.

After Mr. Heckles dies and leaves all his belongings to Monica and Rachel, Chandler discovers eerie similarities between the late eccentric man and his own life. Ross and Phoebe have a dispute over the progression of evolution.

Rachel waits patiently at the airport for Ross, not knowing he is returning with a new girlfriend, Julie. Meanwhile, after giving Joey and Chandler new haircuts, Phoebe is persuaded to cut Monica's hair, but gives her an awful haircut. And Joey learns that his tailor is a very naughty man.