The One With the Invitation

Thursday, 23 April 1998

Ross and Emily address their wedding invitations while Emily makes clear she would rather Rachel not be there, and Rachel, once the invitations arrive, decides she cannot watch Ross get married.

What happens

• Chandler and Joey decide that everyone else is doing something with their lives and resolve to climb Mount Everest.
• Phoebe tells them the climb costs a fortune and would kill them, so Chandler and Joey give up and stay where they are.
• Ross and Emily address their wedding invitations at his apartment, and Ross tells Emily he has included one for Rachel.
• Emily says she would not want an old lover of hers at the wedding, and Ross, offered the choice, tells Emily to invite whoever she wants.
• In a clip from an earlier season, Rachel praises Ross for taking the blame for their breakup, and Ross erupts that they were on a break.
• The invitations arrive, and Monica, Joey and Phoebe open theirs and admire the London wedding.
• Phoebe learns that a woman in her third trimester cannot fly, which means she will miss the wedding entirely.
• The others try to hide their invitations when Rachel walks in, and Rachel finds one and insists she is happy for Ross.
• Monica asks Rachel to come to London, and Rachel agrees only to think about it.
• Rachel tells Monica she is not going, offering excuses about staying with Phoebe before breaking down.