The One With the Chicken Pox

Thursday, 9 May 1996

Phoebe catches chicken pox just as her submariner boyfriend Ryan arrives for two weeks, Joey takes a temp job at Chandler's office and plays it as a character, and Monica frets that Richard has no neurotic habits of his own.

What happens

• Phoebe tells the others that Ryan, a Navy boyfriend who surfaces every couple of years, is coming to New York for two whole weeks.
• Ross reports that Ben has chicken pox, and Phoebe, the only one who has never had it, spots a red bump on her arm.
• Monica admits to Richard that she remakes the bed so the tag and the flower blossoms sit correctly, and Richard tells her he loves her more for it.
• Chandler offers Joey an entry-level processing job at his office and tells him to play the part like a role.
• Ryan admits he has never had chicken pox either, then decides the spots are not going to keep him away and kisses Phoebe.
• Joey builds his processor character a whole family, giving Joseph a wife named Karen and two daughters.
• Joey, staying in character as Joseph, takes Mr. Douglas's side against Chandler, and Chandler loses the extra time he had asked for on the systems report.
• Monica duct-tapes oven mitts onto Phoebe's and Ryan's hands to stop the pair scratching themselves into scars.
• Chandler tells Joey he is letting both him and Joseph go, and Joey agrees to look for other work.
• Richard wakes Monica to tell her he must sleep on the west side of the bed so the ocean stays where he grew up with it, which delights her.