Friends, "The One with Mrs. Bing": She's not a regular mom

My review/recap of the January 5, 1995 episode after I practice a Greek play.

We finally get to meet another parent, this time Chandler's mother Nora, played by Morgan Fairchild. Chandler's mom is a successful adult novelist who embarrasses Chandler all the time. She visits Chandler in New York, and the group goes out to dinner. Rachel brings Paolo to dinner which causes Ross to get drunk off of tequila shots. A drunk Ross talks to Nora privately by the bathrooms about the his Paolo-Rachel problem, to which Nora tells him that Paolo will eventually go away. The two then kiss, as Joey walks by and is stunned.

Joey tells Ross that he broke "the code." Ross is confused, so Joey explains that you can't kiss a friends mother. Ross is then forced to tell Chandler what happened, which causes Chandler to become upset at Ross and his mother. Before his mother leaves, Chandler and her make peace, and then Chandler accepts Ross's apology.

The side-plot (which seemed like it took up more time than the main plot) revolved around Monica and Phoebe taking care of a guy in a coma (David Sederholm) they think is cute. They were the reason he was in a coma, as Phoebe forced Monica to whistle at him, which caused him to stop in the middle of the street and get hit by an ambulance. The two of them go to extreme measures to take care of him, and they start competing to see who can take more care of him. When the guy eventually wakes up, Monica and Phoebe are upset that he is nothing like the guy they thought he would be and leave him alone in the hospital.

Funniest parts of the episode:

• Monica and Phoebe coming up with a back-story for the guy in a coma ("He's a lawyer who teaches pottery on the side...and can dance!")
• Ross taking shots and getting drunk at dinner
• Joey trying to convince Ross that his mother was also hot

Sign of the Times: The way Jay Leno looks

This was a better episode than others, even if the side-plot did not contribute to the main plot at all. The side-plot was funny (and was featured enough to theoretically be the main plot). The only downside was that again, not all of the characters had something to do (this time it was Rachel). The main plot gave us more in terms of the overall series' story. We now know about Chandler's mother, that Joey's mother had seven children, and that Rachel likes adult books.