Wine and Friends Season 1, Epsiode 5

In this episode of Wine and Friends, the host introduces the wine pairing for the day and provides information about the wine, Da Vostromina. It is an aromatic white wine grape variety that is best in cooler climates. The wine has a natural sweetness and flavors of lychee, roses, and passion fruit. Da Vostromina pairs well with spicy foods. The host then opens the wine and describes its taste. Afterward, the host discusses the episode of Friends titled "The One with the East German Laundry Detergent." Ross pretends his laundry room is infested with rats to spend time with Rachel at the laundromat. Joey asks Monica to pretend to be his girlfriend, and Chandler struggles to break up with his girlfriend. The host shares interesting facts about the day the episode aired, as well as the history of East Germany and its merger with West Germany. The episode concludes with a summary of the plot and a discussion about the opening scene at Central Perk. Hi, hi, hi, hi, hi, hi, hi, hi, and welcome to episode 5 of Wine and Friends. I am your host, Katie, and if you've been with me since episode 1, welcome back. If this is your first time here, welcome. I am so excited to be back here with you guys to dive deep into the world of wine and deep dive into our favorite friends. This podcast is called Wine and Friends because each week we pair a new wine with an episode of the show Friends. And if you have any recommendations of a wine you would like to see paired with an episode of the show, please head over to the Instagram page at Wine and Friends Pod or the Facebook page at Wine and Friends and leave a comment on this week's wine pairing post with your recommendation of a wine for an upcoming episode. Also, feel free to let me know if you would like that wine paired with a specific episode and I'll make sure to grab your recommendation and give you a shout out on the show. Okay, so let's get to the wine pairing for today's episode. The title of today's Friends episode is the one with the East German laundry detergent. I am glad they kept it short. Anyway, so today we are drinking the 2021 Leonard Krosch Estate da Vostromina. Okay, guys, so I am not going to lie, I have never ever even heard of this wine before, which is a little embarrassing, but hey, you know, I'm, that's why I really like doing this show because I'm getting to try new wines, learn new things about wines I've never heard about, and I fucking love it. So I'm actually really stoked to try this wine because it does sound really fucking delicious. So this information came from Wikipedia and a few other wine websites. Da Vostromina is an aromatic wine grape variety used in white wines and which performs best in cooler climates. Da Vostromina is a variety with a pink to red skin color, which makes it a white wine grape as opposed to the blue to black skinned varieties commonly referred to as red wine grapes. This variety has high natural sugar and the wines are white and usually off dry with a flamboyant bouquet of lychees. So da Vostromina and lychees actually share the same aroma compounds. So I thought that was pretty cool. Dry da Vostromina may also have aromas of roses, passion fruit, and floral notes. And it's not uncommon to notice some spritz, basically like fine bubbles on the inside of the glass. So da Vostromina is like the grown up version of Moscato. It is very aromatic and a very intense grape with a wide range of styles. Most of the wines smell sweet thanks to its tropical fruit and floral notes. However, many wines are dry and actually have little to no sugar. So da Vostromina is most famously produced in Germany, obviously based on that name, and France, but it's also successfully grown in other countries around the world. But what ties them all together is the wine's telltale aromatic lift, the unforgettable spice, think ginger and lemongrass, and the impressive ability to pair that wine with foods that tend to give many other wines a difficult time. I believe they're talking mainly about like super spicy things or like pad thai, something like, you know, things like that that have like curry or like something super spicy that a lot of other wines wouldn't pair very well with. So this particular wine is marked by a golden hue signaling its richness. And this particular da Vostromina offers aromas of yellow peach, dried apricot, and again that lychee with notes of rose petal and potpourri in the nose. The wine has a soft texture and medium body and remains bright, lively, and balanced with just a touch of residual sweetness and acidity in the finish. So this sounds like it's going to be really, really good. So today we do have a twist off bottle top, no pop today, but we will have a snap crackle instead. Okay, so let's go ahead and open this wine. So I did just put lotion on my hands like a fucking idiot, so hopefully I'll be able to open this. Here goes. Ooh. Cheers. Okay. Wow. Yeah, this wine smells really, really good. I think if you guys are like me and like trying new wines, I would definitely recommend going out and if it's in your area, trying this wine. It's really good. It has, it's very medium bodied, so not too super light, not too heavy. It's got that, it's right in the middle. It's not too acidic, it's not too sweet. It is a little bit sweet with that like lychee and like apricot sort of flavor, but I mean this is a really, really mellow fucking delicious wine. I love it. Okay, so let's get to the show. All right, so the one with the East German laundry detergent is the fifth episode of the first season of Friends. It premiered on October 20th, 1994 and I've got a couple of interesting facts about this day back in 94. Like did you know on October 20th, 1994 in Coleman, Michigan, a meteorite broke through the roof of a house? I definitely have never heard about that and that would be fucking wild. If something falling from space crashed through your roof, so hopefully everyone was okay. But yeah, so the Green Bay Packers beat the Minnesota Vikings 13 to 10. The astrological sign for someone who's born on October 20th is a Libra and the Chinese Zodiac for October 20th, 1994 is the dog. Libra is an air sign represented by the scales, which are interestingly enough, the only inanimate object of the Zodiac. So this is an association that supposedly reflects Libra's fixation on balance and harmony. Libra is obsessed with symmetry and strives to create equilibrium in all areas of life. Now I am not a Libra, I am a Virgo, but this whole balance and harmony thing, that's like right up my alley. Like I am here for it. So Tom Petty and Snoop Dogg were both born on October 20th, though obviously not in 1994. I mean can you imagine if Snoop Dogg was only 29 years old? That would mean that he was putting out music when he was like five or something. But spoiler alert, he is actually 52. And then finally, Burt Lancaster, I'm from Pennsylvania, it's Lancaster. But anyway, he died on October 20th, 1994, and he was an actor for 45 years. The American Film Institute ranks him as number 19 in the greatest male stars of classic Hollywood cinema. He continued acting into his late 70s, until a stroke in 1990 forced him to retire. And then four years later, unfortunately, he did die from a heart attack. So his final film role was in the Oscar-nominated Field of Dreams, and he was 80 years old when he died. So it is really funny because we, or at least me, I tend to think there was so much stuff going on like with history and when you're thinking back about like time in general. But when you have to find things that have happened or that are like attention-grabbing from week to week, it can be pretty hard. I mean, I guess it's just like, you know, life, life can just be pretty basic on the day-to-day, but it's like, I know that I've had some pretty significant things that have happened in my life. Like if I was trying to tell somebody about my past or my history, but these are things that happened over like a long span of years. So if somebody was asking me every seven days, like, oh, what happened this week? What happened this week? I would kind of be like, not a whole lot. So it is a little challenging to try to find things that hopefully you guys are finding interesting or things that you may have not known or sort of forgotten about or whatever on a week-to-week basis as, you know, we're putting out this show. But yeah, so I mean, it is definitely a challenge, but, you know, I'm up for it. So the title of this episode refers to the German Democratic Republic, commonly known as East Germany. So again, the title is the one with the East German laundry detergent. And East Germany was the communist state that existed from 1949. However, in 1990, four years prior to this episode, East Germany ceased to exist as it was unified with the Federal Republic of Germany or West Germany under the latter's flag. So maybe because of this, in the actual episode, you'll hear Ross refer to the detergent as German laundry detergent as opposed to East German. But then my question is, why did they include East Germany in the title of this episode, like East German? Why didn't they just say, call the episode the one with the German laundry detergent? Because East Germany wasn't even like an entity at this time. It had been four years since the merge of East Germany and West Germany under one title, Germany. So that is really interesting. And if anybody knows why the fuck they called it the East German laundry detergent, like, get at me because I would be really interested to know. Okay, so our summary of this episode comes from IMDB this week. And that says, eager to spend time with Rachel, Ross pretends that his laundry room is rat infested so he can join her at the laundromat. Meanwhile, Joey has Monica pose as his girlfriend and Chandler struggles to break up with his girlfriend. So our cold open is the entire gang down at Central Perk and as seems to be the recurring theme, they are having a discussion where the guys and girls seem to be divided. We start the dialogue with Monica telling the guys to let it go. It's not that big a deal. And Ross says, not that big a deal. It's amazing. And we find out here that the guys are fascinated by women being able to unhook their bra and pull it out the sleeve of their shirts. Insert eye roll here. Like, yeah, it would appear, it would appear men, at least these three men are easily amused or should I say fascinated. So Ross continues that this action tops them all. He says there is nothing a guy can do that even comes close. He looks to Joey and Chandler for support in his theory, but Rachel immediately interrupts with, oh, come on, you guys can pee standing up. To which Chandler replies, we can? Okay, I'm trying that. Now, don't get me wrong. Being able to pee standing up would be fucking great. However, and I'm sure ladies, you can back me up here if you've ever, you know, had a little trash panda moment. If you have been out at a bar past midnight or bar starts bars closing down, you start walking home or to a car and realize you have to pee like immediately. We girls can and will do what we got to do in an alley, behind a bush, wherever the most inconspicuous option presents itself. So we may not be able to pee standing up, but like not all is lost. We still, we still got this, like we could, we could still, you know, get shit done. So Joey continues the debate by telling everyone that it blows his mind that women can see breasts anytime they want. The girls are all shaking their heads and I am also shaking my head, like, okay, I digress. My girl Phoebe takes a little darker turn when she says, you know what I don't get? How guys can be so, do so many mean things and not even care. So we take, we take a little pause as everyone lets that statement sink in and Ross brings us back to reality by saying very matter of factly, multiple orgasms and everyone agrees with him as we cut to the theme song. Now listen, I hate to break it to the group, our group of friends here and especially Ross, but that is definitely not a women exclusive thing. Like if you know, you know. So when we come back, we are back in Central Perk and Chandler is announcing to everyone that it's Saturday night, the big night, date night, Saturday night, Saturday night. And Joey says, no plans, huh? Chandler says, another one. Though Ross points out here that Chandler should have a plan that breaking up with Janice and as the conversation unfolds, we find out that Chandler hates breaking up with someone, which is so sweet, but also if you got to do it, you just got to get it done. Dragging out a breakup or not even getting to the breakup is how people end up in relationships where they're miserable, which we all know is never good. And I'm not saying that there's not a way to do it, like a better way to handle it. But I mean, just putting off what you really want or need to spare someone else's feelings never turns out good. So at the end of Chandler venting about not wanting to break up, he says, she's sitting there having no idea what's happening and then there's that awkward moment when you hand her the note. And this sounds like it's something that Chandler has done. Like is he speaking from experience and he's actually broken up with someone by writing it on a note? I mean, for me, I would just be like, are you fucking kidding me? Like a note? Anyway, so Joey then asks Chandler why he has to break up with her and he tells Chandler to be a man, just not calling. And I'm like, should I be surprised that Joey ends things by ghosting someone? I don't think I should be. But this 90s version of ghosting is so hilariously awful. But it definitely soothes the soul, at least mine somewhat, to know that ghosting has been around, I mean, probably forever. It just feels a bit more brutal in today's, like, era of everyone being so connected all the time with your phone in your hand 24-7. It just feels like back in the 90s, if you were going to ghost someone, it would probably take, like, longer for them to realize. Because, okay, you called someone, left a, like, message on their machine, and then they didn't call you back. But, like, that would take at least a couple days, you know, where you're like, oh, okay, did they get the message? Are they just purposefully not calling me back? But, like, anymore, it's like, if you're ghosted, you can pick up on that pretty fucking quick. So, we are back to our friends who never ghost, you know, because they are there for us, and we are there for them. So, Phoebe tells Chandler that she will do the breakup thing with him because she is planning on dumping the man she was seeing as well. And that is such a Phoebe thing to do. It's so sweet, and she is such a good friend. So, Rachel comes over and asks the friends if they want anything else, and she's sort of tapping her pencil on her, you know, notepad. And Ross tries to ask her for something that the coffee shop had, something that was, like, nutty and cakey and chocolate. And Rachel just, she's not having it. So, Phoebe asks her, why so scrunchy? And Rachel tells everyone that her father has offered to buy her a Mercedes convertible. And there is one condition. The condition is that she moves home. So, it seems that her father is still being completely unsupportive of his daughter wanting to be independent and start figuring shit out for herself. And as we're in the middle of this scene, a beautiful woman in a red dress walks in, says hi to Joey on her way to the coffee counter, and Joey realizes it's his ex, Angela. So, Joey starts to have this back and forth with himself about whether he should go talk to her or not. And this is the first time we see Joey feeling or acting insecure or not confident. You know, he's always got his little Rico Suave, the lines with the ladies. And, you know, he's always dating someone or sleeping with multiple women. So, it's very, very, like, different to see him almost in kind of like a Chandler or Ross persona where he sees this woman and he's, like, out of his element. But in the research I was doing for this episode, it looks like Angela is actually Angela Del Vecchio, we find out when Joey is dating Kathy, we find out that Angela was Joey's girlfriend for three years prior to our pilot episode. So, that does actually make a lot of sense. You know, we don't really see Joey get too invested in romantic relationships very much throughout the 10, you know, seasons of this show. But it would make sense that if he were to see a girlfriend of his that he had been dating for three years, that, yeah, he might just be a little bit uncomfortable and not really know how to act around her. So, he does end up going over and talking to her. And while they begin chatting, we cut over to Ross asking Rachel if she has anything planned for the night. She tells him that she's got a big night planned with Monica at Laundro-Rama, Laundro-Rama. I don't know how to fucking pronounce that, guys. So, Ross tells her that in a freakish coincidence, he is also going to be doing laundry that night. And he asks Rachel if he can join Monica and her at the laundromat. And she says, don't you have a laundry room in your building? Like, it's so clear here that Ross is just trying to hang out with Rachel wherever she is going to be and making excuses to see her, which is so cute. But she is just not really picking up on it at this moment. So, Ross tells Rachel that, yes, he does have a laundry room in his building, but there is a rat problem. Apparently, they're attracted to the dryer sheets. And they're going in fine, but they're coming out all fluffy. And this is so ridiculous, but equally funny. Like, so adorable. Because it looks to me that when he tells her that ridiculously unbelievable story, she starts to understand that it might be that he just wants to spend time with her. So, he's coming up with, like, a bullshit excuse. So, they agreed to do laundry around 7-ish. And we cut back to Joey and Angela. Joey is trying to get Angela back, but it's not working because she tells him she's with a guy named Bob now. And Bob is great. He's smart. He's sophisticated. And he has a real job. Then she cuts Joe real deep next by telling him that he goes on, like, three auditions a month and calls himself an actor. But he seems unfazed and continues trying to win her over. But she tells him he said he just wanted to be friends. So, guess what? We're just friends. Joey says, fine, fine. And in a move that looks like he's just trying to save face, he asks Angela if the four of them can go out to dinner. And in this move, he decides to bring Monica into this mess by telling Angela that she is his girlfriend. However, as we find out, he didn't even share this piece of information with Monica at all. He didn't even tell her. They agree to go to dinner that night. And as the scene flash cuts, we hear Joey telling Monica that this guy is perfect for her. Now, he sells this to Monica by telling her that Bob is Angela's brother. He's smart, sophisticated, and he has a real job. I go on three auditions and call myself an actor. But Bob is... And in that moment, Monica interrupts by saying, oh, God, help us. Ugly naked guy is laying kitchen tile. I mean, yeah, that would be, like, fucking gross. But this is so funny because if you've seen the show, and I know you've seen the show, if you remember, Ross moves into Ugly Naked Guy's apartment in season five. And we see the view into this apartment from the girls' apartment many times. And you can't see the kitchen. You can't see the kitchen. You can only from the girls' apartment looking over into what is currently Ugly Naked Guy's apartment. You would only be able to see the living room. And then once we see Ross having moved into that apartment, moving around that apartment, there is a door that separates the living room from the kitchen. So you would never be able to see unless he is laying kitchen tile in his living room. But oh, well, it's friends. So it works. We'll let it go. So they both look out the window. And then Joe dives right back into trying to convince Monica to come out on the date. He says he made a mistake by breaking up with Angela. And if Monica comes out on this date with him and meets Angela's quote unquote brother, maybe that will help Joey win Angela back. And based on the face that Monica makes, it would appear that she's been convinced by Joey's pleading to go on this date. So we crossfade and we are in what appears to be Ross's room, bedroom. He is on the phone with Monica. And once he hangs up, he tells Chandler that it looks like Monica is going to be busy that night. So that means it's going to be just him and Rachel doing laundry. Also, can I just say that Ross has some fucking interesting, aka weird stuff in his bedroom? I mean, I get the little like stuffed dinosaurs and all that like paleontology stuff. But he, why does he have a random violin just nailed to the wall? Like, did he play violin? We don't know. Is this a famous person's violin? Does he just love violins that much that he put an actual violin on his wall? It's just hanging out there. Like who? Anyway, I put some weird shit on my walls over the years, but never, never a violin. But I digress again. And in this conversation, Chandler points out to Ross that if it's just Ross and Rachel going to do laundry, this is a date to which I have to ask, is it? Let's recap real quick. At first, it was just going to be Monica and Rachel. Ross made up a little lie that gave him a reason to join them doing laundry. Then Monica failed. So even though the two of them are ending up alone together, I would not consider this a date. And let's be honest, if a man ever accompanied me to the laundromat and tried to pass it off as a date, there probably wouldn't be any more dates with that man. And like, don't get me wrong, guys. I'm very easy to please. It doesn't take a lot, you know? Like, bring me a bottle of wine, call that a date. I don't know. Like, some takeout out of it. But doing laundry, okay. That's, I mean, yeah. So Ross seems equally as surprised by Chandler's announcement. And he starts asking, should I shave again? Pick up some wine? What? Yes. Ding, ding, ding. Exactly. Now, I retract my previous statement. There is an addendum. If someone is going to come to the laundromat to do laundry with me, but they bring a bottle of wine for us to drink whilst our laundry is being laundered, I would consider that a date. It's not a great, not a great one. But a date nonetheless. So in this moment, our good buddy Chandler points out that Ross may not want to bring his dirty undies to the laundromat. Like, where we do our, like, we're doing laundry. He's like, you know, this is going to be the first time she sees your underwear. And do you want it to be dirty? I mean, okay. I don't, I don't even know what to say about that, really. So Chandler also starts talking shit about Ross and his fabric softener. To which I say, fuck you. Fuck you, guy. If any woman had or has a problem with a man that used Snuggles fabric softener, I think that's what it was called. The one with that cute little, like, puffy teddy bear stuffed animal thing. If any woman has a problem with that, she must be like a sociopath or something. But Ross seems to agree that Chandler may have a point and says he'll pick something else up. And I mean, one guess, guys. What do you think he picks up? So that scene ends and we fade into our quote-unquote date. I use this term very loosely with Joey and Monica. Yes, their quote-unquote date. Because Joey still hasn't told Monica the truth about the date. So she still thinks that the man that is going to show up wants to be on a date with her. Which, as we all know, couldn't be further from the truth since he is actually dating Angela. I'm like, in what world does Joey think this is going to work out? But we will get there. And I'm sure you guys aren't going to be shocked to hear it don't work out. Like, it doesn't. That's okay, though. This is what I love about this fucking show. So Joey and Monica are sitting at the bar waiting for the other two to show up. And Monica is asking Joey about her date. She says, tell me about this, Bob. Is he tall? Short? To which Joey replies, yep. And Monica is about to start freaking out because she is just realizing now that Joey has never actually met Bob. And as she's about to rip into him, Angela and Bob walk in. And once she sees him, she has no more complaints. So we flash cut to Chandler and Phoebe at Central Perk. And Chandler is peering out the window. I mean, he is, like, peering. And he asks Phoebe, where are they? And you can tell he is just a little ball of anxious energy right now. And a couple seconds later, Chandler's soon-to-be ex walks in. And we meet for the first, but definitely not the last time, Janice. Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha- Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha- broken up with her boyfriend, given him a hug, and peacefully sent him on his way. So Chandler is stalling so bad with Janice that he manages to order them both drinks. As soon as his comes, which is an espresso in a tiny espresso cup, he downs it like a shot of whiskey. And then he tells Janice he's going to get another one and asks her if she wants more latte, which he literally just placed in her hands. And she tells him, no, I'm still working on this one. And then again, we hear ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha- walking up to the counter to get more coffee. He starts to give Phoebe some shit about how quickly and seemingly easily her breakup went down. And then we crossfade from Central Perk to Lingerama. Lon- Lingerama. Take your pick. So, Rachel is prepping to put her clothes in the washing machine, and even though this is her first time doing laundry, I mean, she's got the laundromat law down. She put her laundry basket on top of the machine she wanted and is going to get change from the change machine. But as they see, while Rachel is getting her change, a woman swoops in behind her and tries to take her machine. I also have to go to the laundromat where I live because my building is so old, like, literally over a hundred fucking years old, and there is no way we could ever have a laundry room. And I can definitely tell you that what this woman tries to do is like a cardinal sin in laundromat law. I get- I get so weird about that shit. Like, people are bringing their own personal clothes that cover their bodies to, like, a communal place and getting their clothes clean. So, like, you gotta be real careful whose shit you touch in that- in that laundry room. I mean, and what this woman did is just not cool. Not cool at all. So, Rachel notices that the woman has just moved her laundry basket from the top of the machine she claimed, and she comes over and tries to stick up for herself, telling the woman that she was kind of using that machine, to which Miss Attitude replies, yeah, well, now you're kind of not. And Rachel tells her that she put her basket on top, but it looks like this lawless laundromat outlaw has made up her own rules. She tells Rachel that she doesn't see any suds, no suds, no save. Okay. So poor Rachel. Like, you can tell she went into this like, hey, bitch, like, don't take my fucking laundry machine. But now she's, like, questioning herself. So she starts to walk off with her basket, and, I mean, I can't tell if she is actually believing this woman and her no suds, no save rule, or if she just doesn't want to get into a confrontation. But either way, just as she starts to walk away, Ross comes into the laundromat, and he asks Rachel what's going on. She explains that this awful woman took her machine, and even though her basket was on top of the machine, no suds, no save. So Ross seems confused and pissed that this woman was clearly trying to pull one over on Rachel. He walks over to her and tells her that that machine was his friend's, and he knows that she knows The rule isn't actually no suds, no save, but when someone has their basket on the machine, it ain't yours. She tries to spare him down for one really long second, but then she concedes and begins to pull her laundry out of the machine. Like, yeah. And also, yay. I mean, victory for Ross and Rachel at laundromat. Whatever. I don't know why I have such a hard time with that word. Anyway, they begin talking to Rachel. Oh, they begin talking as Rachel starts to put her clothes in the machine. And we find out here that, like, when she says she's never done laundry before, I mean, she has really never done laundry before. In her 24 years of being on this earth, she had never done her own laundry. So she's throwing everything into one washer. And you can tell, I mean, it's all the colors, and including her whites. And Ross asks her if she needs laundry detergent. And we see that there is not a single snuggle to be found. Instead, he has picked up a huge box. That's right, a box. Of what I can only imagine is industrial-grade laundry detergent. Rachel asks him what it is, and he tells her it's Oberweiss. Oberweiss, it's new, it's German, it's extra tough. Okay, so fun fact, Oberweiss means ultra white in English, but also she is using it for her colors. So how are you using an ultra white laundry detergent, but using it for your colors? I've got so many questions this episode, guys. I mean, not like it should be surprising, right? But she starts laughing, and Ross points out what I mentioned earlier. He asks Rachel if she's going to separate her clothes, to which she replies, like, oh, no, am I supposed to use one machine for shirts and another machine for pants? And as someone who has been doing laundry since I was a fucking little girl, like five or six years old, I'm not even kidding, this makes me die a little inside. But Ross explains to her how to separate the whites from the colors and the delicates. So, you know, you've got, like, your three categories, I guess. So Rachel holds up a pair of underwear and says, these are white cotton panties. Would they go with the whites or with the delicates? Which is a valid question, but seeing a pair of Rachel's underwear has Ross losing his shit a little bit, and he tells her that would be a judgment call while looking so uncomfortable and awkward. But the funny thing about this is, whether or not Ross brought his dirty laundry, I mean his dirty underwear, to the laundromat, clearly Rachel is showing him a pair of her dirty white cotton underwears. Like, I just don't get it. I just don't get it. So we crosscut to Joey and Monica on their weird pseudo date, and Monica asks Angela and Bob where they grew up because, remember, she still thinks they're siblings, but their answers to that question are very different. I forget the details. I think one grew up in New York and the other grew up in Chicago or something. So it's like, and that's not completely unbelievable. Like, if they were, you know, step-siblings or their parents got divorced and one went with the mother and one went with the father or whatever. But, yeah, it's just in this moment when they answer that question like that, you can sort of see Joey's quote-unquote master plan starting to unravel here. So we fade out, and this must have been a specific commercial break spot because we pick up, like, right back from that, we pick up again in the restaurant on the date. Joey is talking to Bob at the bar, and they're talking about Angela. Joey points out that he really misses that nibbly little noise that Angela makes when she eats, like a happy little squirrel or a weasel. Bob says he never really noticed it, but Joey tells him, yeah, listen, listen for it. So we see in an upcoming scene Angela making this absolutely atrocious noise when she is eating, and I'm pretty sure Joey pointed this out because it must not have bothered him, like, that much, but it is absolutely a relationship-ending way to eat for me if anybody ever fucking ate like this woman eats. I would be like, I'm sorry, we got it. This is not going to work for me because it's just, it's so gross. It's so gross. But anyway, let's continue with our current scene, and I will step down off my soapbox. So Bob tells Joey that Monica is great too, but Joey is just laying more groundwork for the Angela-Bob breakup by telling Bob that Monica is just too much for him in bed, and because of this, it's not going to last. So we flash cut into the women's bathroom where Monica and Angela are talking about Bob. Monica says that it's so nice to meet a man with an emotional age above, oh, you know, around eight, and I mean, girl, you are so right. Wouldn't that be fucking nice? No shade to the men out there, you know, but sometimes, and I have recently, recently noticed this with a coworker of mine, but that is neither here nor there. Like, by a certain age, men just aren't maturing, right? Okay, I just got to, we should, I'm going to let that go. So Angela makes the conversation super weird for Monica when she tells her that Bob is also unbelievable in bed, and Monica seems totally thrown by this comment, I mean, as she should be, seeing how she still thinks Angela and Bob are brother and sister. Like, yeah. So Monica solidifies this by telling Angela that her brother never even told her when he lost his virginity, and Angela, now equally as confused and uncomfortable, says, huh, that's nice, and we end the scene. When we come back, we are finally back with Phoebe and Chandler in Central Perk, and she's giving Chandler a little pep talk to help him break up with Janice. There are a bunch more espresso cups on the coffee table, and it looks like Joey has just had them all, and he is finally able to tell Janice that he doesn't think they should go out anymore. She begins to cry. Chandler looks like he wants to die, and we cross-cut. Back to laundroma. Rachel is telling Ross that she knows it sounds really stupid, but she feels like if she is able to do her laundry on her own, that she'll be able to do anything, and Ross starts to relate by telling her that he felt the same way when he had to make dinner for himself for the first time after Carol left, and right as he starts to get into it, we hear a buzzer, and he says, I'm sorry, that's all the time we have. Next on Ross! And we learn that that buzzer was the washing machine. So, Ross goes to take out the clothes, and it looks like poor Rach accidentally left a red sock in with the white, and of course, we know what that will do, and the entire washer full of white clothes has turned pink, and she is so upset with herself that she even goes so far as to admit that her father must be right. She can't live on her own. She can't even do laundry. And then the washer bandit from earlier walks up behind Rachel and can clearly see that she messed up her whole load of laundry, and she just starts laughing, adding insult to injury as we fade out. When we're back, we see Angela eating in her gross, definitely not cute way. It's so, so gross, guys. And Bob is looking at her like, how the hell did I never realize that this woman eats like a fucking weasel, like Joey said. So, Monica is telling the table a story, and as she's talking, Angela begins to cuddle up to Bob. She's got her arms around him. She's even got her hand inside his shirt, which I'm like, girl, come on. Like, a little decorum here, please. You're in public. But Monica is trying to continue her story, and she seems visibly grossed out by what she's witnessing. She tells Joe that she's got something in her eye and asks him to check it. Check it in the light, please. And the two of them leave the table. Joey is playing dumb, but Monica asks him, hello, were we not sitting at the same table? This is cocktails in Appalachia. And Joey is still trying to gaslight her and play it off like it's no big deal till Monica figures it out for her fucking self. She says, Joey, this is sick. It's disgusting. It's, it's not really true, is it? And Joey finally comes clean to Monica. She is so annoyed that, I mean, she's just about to bail on the whole thing. She's like, you know what? I am fucking out of here. Until Joey entices her to join his little mission to break up Angela and Bob. She reluctantly seems to agree. I mean, she's already put in, like, an hour's worth of time, so I guess, if that's, if that's, if you want a mission, you got a mission. So the very next scene is a shot of her wiping a wine stain off of Bob's shirt. And somehow it seems that these two have managed to divide and conquer. Um, Monica is clearly now on this date with Bob. And Joey is feeding Angela chicken wings and watching her as she eats in such a horrible way, it makes me want to bash my head against the fucking wall. I, I can't, I can't let it go. I can't let it go, you guys, because I don't, I've never seen anybody fucking eat like that. Who would fucking eat like that? I need a drink. So we end that scene, thank fucking Christ, and we're back in Central Perk. Chandler has had many, many more cups of espresso, and he is bouncing off the walls. He's banging on the coffee table, he starts talking to Janice, Janice, Janice, and as he's talking with his hands, he hits her in the face, specifically her eye. She gets up to go fix her contact lens, and Chandler runs over to Phoebe, who is still sitting at the coffee counter. I mean, Chandler is, like, clearly freaking out, probably maybe a little bit because he's about to have a heart attack from all the caffeine he's had, and because he still can't find a way to end things with Janice. So Phoebe decides to step in. She tells Chandler to stay over by the couch, and she walks over to Janice, who is coming out of the bathroom. We can't hear what she's saying, but this is an exact repeat of what just happened with her ex-boyfriend. Phoebe is talking, then she hugs Janice, Janice looks over at Chandler, smiles and puts her hand on her heart and walks out of the coffee shop. Just... And Phoebe says here that it's a gift. You know, she's just, I guess, really good at breaking up with people. So it is worth mentioning here that Janice left all her bags from her shopping trip in the coffee shop when she leaves, and she seemingly never comes back to get them. So, like, I wonder what was in them. How did she not realize that she had just left all her shit in the coffee shop? But maybe she just wanted to get away from that situation and leave Chandler, you know, on his own or whatever. But Chandler is as impressed as I am and tells Phoebe that they should always, always break up together. And she says, Oh, I'd like that. And as we fade out, we come back in and we are back in Laundromat, Laundromat, with Rachel still looking so upset over her marshmallow peep pink clothes. Ross is trying to be super supportive by telling her that she got the clothes clean, and that is the most important part. Ross walks past her pushing the laundry cart and he leaves it behind him as he's walking towards the dryers. Here comes our lawless laundry lady. She is right behind him and she tries to come in and gank his laundry cart. Now, I am from Pennsylvania and the loose definition of gank is just trying to steal somebody's something, whatever. So, she is trying to gank his laundry cart. Rachel sees her and runs over to stop her telling her they had this cart to which our outlaw replies, Yeah, well, I had a 24-inch waist. You lose things. She tells Rachel to get out of her way and we can see Ross behind the woman giving Rachel encouragement to not be bullied by her again. Rachel tells her that's their cart. The woman doesn't care. She still wants the cart and they begin to struggle. I mean, literally like push and pull, push and pull over this fucking cart at which point Rachel crawls into the cart. I mean, she gets up and she crawls in it sits down in the cart and tells the woman, All right, listen, Mitzi. So, I guess that is her name, Mitzi. All right, listen, Mitzi. If you want this cart, you're going to have to take me with it. So, now she's sitting in the cart. Mitzi looks at her up at Ross who's got his hands out like, Hey, don't look at me and then pushes the laundry cart with Rachel in it back in the direction of Ross. As she walks away, Rachel squeals in excitement. Ross tells her she's a brand new woman. She says, I wouldn't have been able to do this without you. She pulls her face, his face, down to her because she's still sitting in the cart telling him again, Thank you, thank you. And then she kisses him. Oh, girl, she kissed him. Now, there is some debate whether this was a platonic kiss or not. And I really got to tell you, I don't see it as being a platonic kiss. I have my own issues with Ross and Rachel, you know, coming down the line and we will for sure get to it. But I think in this moment, starting from the very beginning of him making like that ridiculous random excuse to come and do laundry with her up until this moment of everything that's clearly happened and then she kissed him. I think it was like not platonic. I mean, I've never kissed like a guy friend platonically on the lips like that, you know, like in an emotional moment which she clearly was having. So I just, I don't buy it. I don't think it was platonic. But Ross, I mean, Ross is he is clearly shocked by this. He stands up sort of staggering around a little bit looks at Rachel and says, okay, more clothes in the dryer. Turns around to walk back to the dryer, bangs his head on an open dryer door, falls to the floor, jumps back up saying, I'm fine, I'm fine. And we end scene. So this is the first time that we don't have a tag scene instead of the tag where, you know, the storyline is basically over and there's just some random little event happening. We are actually finishing all three of our separate storylines with all of the characters coming back together in Central Perk as the credits are rolling. And I actually really like this because we had three very clearly defined storylines that were happening consecutively with each other at the same time. But, you know, Joey and Monica didn't know what was going on with Ross and Rachel and Ross and Rachel didn't know what had happened with Phoebe and Chandler, you know, and all of those things. So I think it's really cool to sort of pull all of the separate dynamics back together at the end as the credits are rolling and the show is obviously ending. So Rachel and Ross are sitting on the couch and Rachel is holding an ice pack to his head. Phoebe is looking at Rachel's pink clothes and tells her, what a neat idea. All your clothes match. I'm going to do this. Monica and Joey walk in and say hi to their three friends. Phoebe asks them how it went and Monica proudly states, we ripped that couple apart and kept the pieces for ourselves. They are all laughing as Ross says, what a beautiful story. You can tell every word of that is dripping in sarcasm. And I totally agree with him. Like, this is not a good look. It's not a good look at all. Like, I mean, it's life, right? Like, even our friends do shitty things sometimes. But like, this is just, it's not a good look for them. So Rachel asks the friends where Chandler is and Phoebe tells them he needed some time to grieve. And in that split second, we see Chandler running past Central Perk screaming, I'm free! I'm free! Phoebe cheerfully says, that ought to do it. And that, my friends, is Friends Season 1, Episode 5. Now, I really love this episode. I know it's so cringy, the whole Joey and Monica fake date thing. But otherwise, the other two storylines are really so endearing. So I think I'm going to call the theme of this episode, Love and Dating. What to do and definitely what not to do. Now, I am absolutely not an expert on this. I mean, talk to any of my friends and they can probably conjure up a story from my past where I was, A, treated badly, or B, treated someone else kind of badly. And we all know, breaking up is never easy. I mean, we all know this. But I do absolutely believe, like I said, there are better ways to go about it and some really, just, fucking awful ways to handle it. I have absolutely been ghosted by someone I was seeing casually for a couple of weeks. Just fucking ghosted. We were supposed to hang out that night. We, like, confirmed the plans in the afternoon. Then I texted him later on that night when I got home. No response. I was deleted off the socials. Locked on the socials. So I ended up, actually, you guys, I ended up, actually, after this happened, I still had his phone number. So I found him on Venmo and I sent him a, like, money request for, I think it was like $200 or something. And in the note section, I wrote that I was requesting $200 from him for fucking wasting my time. I mean, surprise, not surprise, he didn't pay that. Like, I wasn't even expecting him to pay that. I just wanted him to know, like, yo, motherfucker, like, you blocked me on all this shit. I'll still find a way to let you know what you did, not fucking cool. Just not fucking cool, man. So, but then I have also tried to gently and softly break up with someone that I was dating. You know, I was willing to have the awkwardness You know, I was willing to have the awkward conversation and answer the uncomfortable questions. But as soon as I asserted that I was going to be ending the relationship, he turned right back around and walked out the door. So I was like, okay, you know, I'm trying to be the bigger person here. I'm trying to give you a chance to, you know, like, have some closure. And if your method of closure is completely ignoring feelings and things that need to be discussed, et cetera, et cetera, then, you know, that's on you. That's not on me, my friend. Yeah, so, you know, you can at least try to do things in a mature and respectful way, but I definitely cannot promise you that it will be well received. And then on the flip side of this, when I was much younger, like, learn from your mistakes, guys. I definitely didn't always handle breakups in the best way possible. Now, without incriminating myself too, too much, let's just say that I have definitely aired dirty laundry, you know, looking for some validation and support from friends on Facebook or whatever the case may be. Broken up with someone, you know, because I had a date with someone else that same night. Just some really not great stuff, you know. But again, I think that we just have to I think that we just have to really try to learn from this shit. Like, to do better and be better to each other. Like, even if that person is just a fucking asshole and they totally deserve whatever they've got coming, I assure you, it never feels nearly as good as you imagine it will when you think to the same level. It's just, you know, and it can be really, really difficult. But I think sometimes the best way to handle it is imagine if what you are about to do happened to someone else that you care about. Would you be like, oh, okay, this is a good way to handle it. You know, that was a responsible and mature reaction. Or would you be like, how could anybody do that to this person I care about? That's horrible. I think if you can sort of just try to take yourself out of the situation and view it objectively as if it were happening to someone again. Like I said, that you care about. If you wouldn't be filled with anger or resentment or whatever towards that person and how they treated the person you love, then I think that gives you sort of a good measure of how your potential or future actions might be seen or taken. And again, like I said, you know, I was trying to do that in this last relationship that I was in and he just wasn't fucking having it. You know, I was really just trying to be like, okay, if someone were to do this to my brother, who, you know, unfortunately is no longer with us, but when he was, if I would have heard about an ex-girlfriend of his treating him badly, I would go to bat for him. So I wanted to make sure that how I was about to handle this breakup, if somebody were to do that to Josh, my brother, I wouldn't feel, you know, that he had been slighted or treated poorly. But even in me trying to respectfully and responsibly handle that situation, the guy I was breaking up with just didn't give a fuck. So at that point, then you have to say, you know what, I respect you enough to understand that I tried to do things in the way that I thought would be best received, but that just wasn't where you were. So okay, you know, let's just let things, let sleeping dogs lie. Let's not even get into it. So yeah, you know. Oh, and this is also like a little double lesson, I guess, because in the same way that there are obviously better and healthier ways to handle breakups, if you happen to run into someone that you have broken up with and they are with someone else, do not, I repeat, do not do what Joey did. I don't think Angela or Bob must have really liked each other that much if they were so easily swayed away from each other in one fucking date. But still, like, don't do this shit and also don't lie to your friend and trick her into breaking up a relationship because you can't respect boundaries. Like, I get it. I get it, you know. You break up with someone and then you may see them a year or two down the road and you're like, you know, is that the one that actually got away? Could I have handled it better? Am I now a different person? Which is fine. All of those things are fine and valid. But if the person you feel like maybe the one that got away is in a relationship with someone else, it is absolutely not excusable to try to break up that current relationship just so you can swoop in and feel like, you know, you're regaining something that you lost. You know, but, and then lastly, new love. Like, oh, we all know it can be so sweet when you find someone that you're actually into and everything they do seems precious and amazing. Even something as mundane as doing laundry seems like a fun event because you get to be with them. Now, TBH, to be honest, I haven't felt that in quite some time. And, I mean, it could be because, yes, yes, I am single. And all the dating apps have been deleted because I just can't, I can't swim in that cesspool anymore, you guys. It was drowning me. It was not a good look. But I still remember that feeling, you know, the butterflies and the excitement and the hopefulness for what may or may not happen. And in this episode, Ross and Rachel are just so fucking cute before shit hits the fan. But let's not ruin it right now. Let's just end on that happy little love bug memory of Ross and Rachel doing laundry, having fun together. And let's all take a second to just remember the butterflies and the excitement and the magic of new love. And speaking of love, I fucking love you guys. Thank you so much for joining me again for season one, episode five of Friends. I mean, we're really starting to get into it, guys. And I am, I'm so stoked to see what we're going to get into next week. It's like, we're finally starting, you're finally starting to see these relationships in their beginning stages. And we, you know, we saw Janice. And we get to see Ross and Rachel and they had their first kiss. And platonic or not, it was still a very precious moment. And I am just, you know, this is the reason why I love this show so much. And I never get sick of it. It never gets old. Because there are so many things that you can sort of, like, see and hope that you can mirror in your own life with your own friends and your own relationships. And then you can also see, like, hey, maybe this isn't the best way to handle things. Maybe there's a better, a better, more responsible, more respectful approach, you know, to handle the complicated shit that happens in life. But anyway, we are, we are having a fucking good time. I cannot, again, I cannot wait to see what we're going to get into next week. I can't wait to meet you guys back here again. So, let's drink wine, watch Friends together, and don't forget, I'll be there for you. Cause you're there for me, too. Bye, guys. Love you. Have a great week. Wine and Friends is an independent podcast written and produced by me, Katie Rowe. If you enjoyed this show, please share it with your friends. It also really helps when you like, rate, subscribe, and review on Spotify or Apple Podcasts or wherever you find podcasts. And follow the show on Instagram at WineAndFriendsPod and on Facebook at WineAndFriends. If you would like to reach out to me, please feel free to email me at WineAndFriendsPod at gmail.com. Cheers, friends.