Episode 3: The One With The Thumb !FULL!

The One With The ThumbSeason 1, episode 33rd overall episode of FriendsPhoebe spotting a thumb in her can.Episode InformationAir dateOctober 6, 1994Written byJeff Astrof & Mike SikowitzDirected byJames BurrowsEpisode GuidePreviousThe One With The Sonogram At The EndNextThe One With George Stephanopoulos

Episode 3: The One With the Thumb

Phoebe comes back from an unsuccessful date, which prompts the gang to discuss dating euphemisms. Ross reveals that he did not know his parents hid the fact that his dog had passed away. Monica is reluctant to introduce her new boyfriend, Alan, to her friends because they have mocked all of her previous boyfriends, but to her surprise, after meeting Alan, they tell her that they love him. However, she later realizes that she does not feel a spark between Alan and herself. She asks her friends if they think that he can sometimes be a little "too Alan". The two break up, and Alan mentions that although he enjoyed being with Monica, he was irritated by the rest of her friends.

Joey has a part in a play where he has to smoke, and practices smoking with Chandler, who resumes his old smoking habit, much to the group's irritation. Phoebe becomes very agitated with her bank when they accidentally put an extra $500 in her bank account. Not able to use the money due to guilt, Phoebe informs the bank of this error. She receives a football phone for the inconvenience. However, instead of removing the $500 from her account, they add another $500 to it. She gives the money and the phone away to Lizzy, a homeless acquaintance on the street. Lizzy buys her a can of soda out of gratitude. When Phoebe opens it, she finds a human thumb, so she receives compensation from the soda company of $7,000. The episode ends with Phoebe giving the $7,000 to Chandler if he promises to never smoke again, which he agrees to.

"The One with the Thumb" is the third episode of Friends' first season. It first aired on the NBC network in the United States on October 6, 1994.[1] This episode sees Chandler (Matthew Perry) pick up his old smoking addiction, a habit that the rest of the group finds hard to get him to break. Only Alan (Geoffrey Lower), the new boyfriend of Monica (Courteney Cox), can convince Chandler to drop the habit. The gang falls in love with Alan, but Monica does not see a future with him and the two break up, much to the disappointment of the friends. Meanwhile, Phoebe (Lisa Kudrow) struggles to get rid of all the free money she is receiving, including $7,000 from a soda company when she finds a severed thumb in her drink. She uses the money to pay Chandler to stop smoking.

At the beginning of the episode, Chandler helps Joey rehearse for an audition. The rehearsal calls for Joey to smoke a cigarette, and as Joey is not a smoker and coughs after taking a drag, Chandler, who used to smoke, demonstrates the "proper" smoking technique to Joey. But as he begins to take a few drags, he becomes addicted and picks up his old habit again. Throughout the episode, the gang try to persuade him to quit, which irritates him greatly. He defends himself by saying it is just a flaw of his, and claims that they are being hypocritical, as they all have their own irritating habits (e.g. Monica's snorting, Joey's knuckle-cracking, Phoebe chewing her hair, and Ross's over pronouncing of every word).

Phoebe discovers her bank has accidentally credited her with an extra $500. The gang persuades her to keep the money, but she decides to return it. However, instead of taking back the money, the bank gives her another $500 and a football phone. Not wanting to keep either the money or the phone, she gives both to Lizzy, a homeless woman. Lizzy buys a soda for Phoebe, who, upon opening the can, discovers a severed thumb floating in the soda. The soda company gives Phoebe $7,000.

Monica is afraid to introduce her new boyfriend Alan to the gang for fear of them ridiculing him and driving him away, as they have apparently done in the past with her other dates. Much to her surprise, the gang can find no fault with Alan, and enjoy his company very much. Alan even convinces Chandler to stop smoking in a very brief telephone conversation after repeated failed attempts by the gang. However, Monica does not quite share the gang's enthusiasm for Alan, and decides to break up with him. Ironically, he tells her that he cannot stand the gang. Monica does not tell them about this in order to spare their feelings.

Chandler tries using patches to quit smoking, but gives up at the end of the episode, and announces he is getting cigarettes. Phoebe then offers him the $7,000 in return for not smoking again; Chandler gladly obliges.

Ross: A thumb?Phoebe: I know. I know. I opened it up, and there is was, just floating in there, like this tiny little hitch-hiker.Chandler: Maybe it's a contest, you know, like, "collect all five."

Joey: Don't you have any respect for your body?Ross: Don't you realize what you're doing to yourself?Chandler: I've had it with you guys and your cancer, your emphysema and your heart disease. The bottom line is, smoking is cool, and you know it.

All: (About Chandler smoking) Hey, come on, put it out.Rachel: It's worse than the thumb.Chandler: Hey, this is so unfair.Monica: Why is it unfair?Chandler: So I have a flaw! Big deal! Like Joey's constant knuckle cracking isn't annoying? And Ross with his over pronouncing every single word, and Monica with that snort when she laughs... I mean what the hell is that thing? I accept all those flaws why can't you accept me for this?(Pause)Joey: Does the knuckle cracking bother everybody or just him?Rachel: Well, I would live without it. Joey: Is it like, a little annoying or is it like when Phoebe chews her hair?(Phoebe takes her hair out of her mouth.)Ross: Don't listen to them Pheebs, I think it's endearing.Joey: Oh you do, do you?(Monica snorts loudly.)Ross: There's nothing wrong with speaking correctly.Rachel: Indeed there isn't. (Ross looks at Rachel) I should really be getting back to work.Phoebe: Yeah, otherwise someone might get what they actually ordered.Rachel: Oh, the hair comes out and the gloves come off.(They all start shouting at each other, while Chandler walks away smoking happily.)

Phoebe: (Reading a letter) "Dear Ms. Buffay, Thank you for calling attention to our error. We have credited your account with five hundred dollars. We're sorry for the inconvenience, and hope you'll accept this football phone as our free gift." Do you believe this?! Now I have a thousand dollars, and a football phone!Rachel: What bank is this?

Hathaway's episode is directed by Zach Braff and written by David Weil, who created Amazon's Hunters and came up with the sci-fi anthology idea, exploring the power of human connection through a light sci-fi element. Emphasis on the light.

While the show's confined settings each have a distinct, polished look, the next two 30-minute episodes, starring Anthony Mackie and Helen Mirren respectively, are less exciting -- dropping the pace and hinging more on the power of self-reflection than wacky time travel fun.

In Mackie's case, his character Tom sits in a sleek living room, meditating on his life with what appears to be his identical twin (also played by Mackie). By the end, it's subtly revealed why his counterpart needs the information. Yet to feel that human connection, you actually have to listen to what's being said. In other words, you'd better not have one eye on your phone.

The same goes for Mirren's episode. Her character Peg is a "senior" selected for a space travel study in the not-too-distant future. She sits in a pod traveling through space, with an AI to keep her company. They discuss why she signed up for the study, Peg reflecting on her love life, disappointments and the complex reasons she left it all behind. 041b061a72