Ross needs everyone dressed and out the door for a museum banquet, but the entire episode dissolves into compounding disasters inside Monica and Rachel's apartment. Joey steals Chandler's chair, triggering an escalating feud that ends with Joey wearing every item of clothing Chandler owns. Monica unravels over a voicemail from her ex Richard, spiraling through a series of increasingly ill-advised decisions that end with her accidentally recording herself as his outgoing message. Ross snaps at Rachel over her outfit, and she responds by changing into sweatpants and refusing to go.

This episode is a textbook bottle episode — one location, real time, no cutaways — and shows how the show builds comedy through escalation rather than plot. Each character's disaster runs on its own internal logic: Joey and Chandler's fight is pure pettiness taken  ...