Monica introduces her new boyfriend Alan to the group, only to find everyone falls harder for him than she ever did. Meanwhile, Chandler relapses into smoking while coaching Joey for a role, and Phoebe gets caught in an escalating bank error that ends with a severed thumb in a soda can and seven thousand dollars in compensation.

The episode establishes how the friend group can become its own obstacle — crowding out Monica's judgment in her own relationship, and forcing Chandler's secret into the open only when he deflects with everyone else's flaws. The Alan reversal reframes who was really being evaluated all along.

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