After leaving her fiancé, Barry, at the altar, Rachel finds herself in Central Perk Café, soaking wet in her wedding dress, looking for her old friend Monica. Rachel ends up moving into Monica's New York apartment. Chandler and Joey, who live across the hall from Monica, console Ross after his wife Carol, has just left him for a woman. Monica, a chef, falls for "Paul the Wine Guy" only to be crushed that their night of passion was merely a one-night stand. The gang urge Rachel to be more independent by cutting up her father's credit cards. Rachel, who has never worked before, is offered a waitress job at Central Perk. Ross has had a crush on Rachel since high school, and intends to ask her out one day.

Carol tells Ross that she is pregnant with his child. When Ross attends the sonogram appointment, he is stunned to learn that Carol and her partner, Susan, want to give the baby their last names, but not his. When Rachel returns her engagement ring to Barry, she expects him to be heartbroken, but learns he went on their cancelled honeymoon with her maid-of-honor, Mindy. Monica stresses over her and Ross' parents coming for dinner, knowing her mother will fawn over Ross and criticize her. Guest Starring: Christina Pickles as Judy Geller with Anita Barone as Carol, Jessica Hecht as Susan, Mitchell Whitfield as Barry, and Elliott Gould as Jack Geller

Chandler and Phoebe decide to break up with their partners, Janice (Maggie Wheeler) and Tony, respectively, at the same time. Phoebe's break-up goes well, but Chandler has a harder time, requiring Phoebe's help. Ross and Rachel do laundry together, though Rachel has never done it before. While at the laundromat, Ross encourages Rachel to stand up to a pushy woman (Camille Saviola), earning him a platonic kiss from Rachel. Joey wants to date his ex-girlfriend Angela who is now seeing a man named Bob, so he arranges a double-date with Monica and the couple, telling Monica that Angela and Bob are siblings. Monica, who thinks Joey is setting her up with Bob, gets a rude awakening after seeing the "siblings" behaving 'inappropriately.' Monica then confronts Joey who tell her that he wanted to get Angela back. He says that Bob was into Monica and then get back to dinner and Monica flirting with Bob and Joey flirting with Angela. Later in the episode they excitedly cheer about breaking the couple apart.

• In addition to Lisa Kudrow appearing as Ursula, Leila Kenzle and Helen Hunt guest star as Fran Devanow and Jamie Buchman from Mad About You.

• A repeat of Seinfeld originally aired between both parts of this two-part episode.^[19]

Rachel and Barry secretly see each other, even though he is now engaged to Mindy, who asks Rachel to be her maid of honor. When Mindy says she and Barry had an affair while Rachel was engaged to Barry, Rachel finally confesses to Mindy that she has been sleeping with Barry; the two women confront him, though Mindy still wants to marry Barry. Meanwhile, Chandler goes nuts when a woman he likes does not return his phone calls, later realizing there was a mix-up. The friends become annoyed after discovering someone across the street is spying on them.

• First appearance of the "Rachel" haircut.

Carol is in the hospital about to give birth, prompting Monica to think about having a baby. While Carol is in labor, Ross and Susan bicker over who gets to assist her more and about what to name the baby. Phoebe drags them into a small room to settle their differences but they get locked in. Rachel flirts with an OB/GYN who suffers burnout from seeing female anatomy every day. Joey assists a single expectant mother (played by Leah Remini) in labor. Ross and Susan settle their differences and propose naming the new baby boy, Ben, derived from a janitor's uniform. Carol likes the name.