Ross devours Monica’s kiwi pie and suffers a severe allergic reaction. Despite his aversion to injections, Monica rushes him to the hospital, leaving Chandler and Joey in charge of baby Ben. The duo exploit Ben’s cuteness to charm women but accidentally leave him on a bus, sparking a frantic search to retrieve him. Meanwhile, a skilled guitarist replaces Phoebe at Central Perk, triggering her jealousy and causing Rachel to feel guilty.
Did you know?!
• This is the first performance of “Smelly Cat”.
• The woman who is singing in Central Perk is Chrissie Hynde, singer and guitar player of the band The Pretenders.
• Lea Thompson crosses over in her role from Caroline in the City (1995). The same night this episode aired, David Schwimmer appeared as Ross on The Single Guy (1995) and Matthew Perry appeared as Chandler on Caroline in the City (1995).
• The second and final appearance of Terry, the owner of Central Perk
• Phoebe and Rachel are only seen at Central Perk and do not share any scenes with the rest of the gang.
• First time we learn that Ross is allergic to Lobster. This is later confirmed at dinner with Rachel’s father in season 3 episode 7 “The One with the Race Car Bed.”
• Chandler and Joey can’t tell the Bens apart, notably because they are twins and both play Ben. Thankfully by random chance they did indeed bring the right baby home as at the beginning and the end of the episode Ben is wearing the clown shirt
• This is the first time that Phoebe appears with her second guitar (of three) in the series. This time it is a relatively inexpensive Yamaha model, a clear step down from her guitar in season one, a Martin D-18. No reason is made for the switch, though since Phoebe doesn’t make a lot of money she may have sold the Martin to pay bills.
• Leaving a baby on a bus is child endangerment so Ben would have been turned over to child services instead of the port authority lost and found.
• Giovanni Ribisi makes an appearance as a guy who accidentally gives a condom to Phoebe, who was playing her guitar on the street. He later returns to play her long-lost brother Frank. Some fans suspect that it may be Frank, but this has not been (and likely never will be) authoritatively confirmed.
• Phoebe talks to the new singer Stephanie (Chrissie Hynde) about guitars and asks her if she knows certain chords. In another episode she tries to teach Joey how to play she claims she doesn’t know the names of the chords and has made up names for them based on what her hand looks like when she makes them.
• Ross says he hopes Ben has a little sister. Later on in the series, Ross has a daughter with Rachel named Emma. So, Ben does eventually get a little sister.
• This is the first appearance of Phoebe’s brother (Giovanni Ribisi), although he plays a stranger who accidentally drops a condom into her guitar case while she is busking in front of Central Perk. However, as Frank states he has never been to New York, and when they officially meet they don’t recognize each other, this may simply be a separate character.
• Joey reveals he has “7 Catholic Sisters”.
• The doctor who enters the emergency room to give Ross his injection for the allergic reaction is the same doctor from Seinfeld who delivers the news of Susan’s passing.
