The One with Unagi

"**The One with Unagi**"
"The One with Unagi"
Friends episode
Episode no.	Season 6; Episode 17
Directed by	Gary Halvorson
Written by	Story by: Zachary Rosenblatt; Teleplay by: Adam Chase;
Production code	225568
Original air date	February 24, 2000
Guest appearances
	Louis Mandylor as Carl; James Michael Tyler as Gunther; Jill Matson as the Receptionist; Ron Recasner as the Doctor; Mongo Brownlee as the Instructor;
Episode chronology
← Previous; "The One That Could Have Been"	Next →; "The One Where Ross Dates a Student"
	Friends season 6
	List of episodes

"The One with Unagi" is the seventeenth episode of Friends' sixth season. It first aired on the NBC network in the United States on February 24, 2000.

Plot

When Joey is struggling to make ends meet by working at Central Perk, Ross suggests some alternative form of employment, and Joey looks into medical studies at the local hospital. He finds one that pays $2,000 for identical twins, and hires a fake twin, Carl, at an audition. Carl is even dumber than Joey, and the ruse fails miserably.

Chandler panics when he remembers that he and Monica have agreed to hand-craft Valentine's Day gifts for each other this year, two weeks later than planned because Monica was working on Valentine's Day. After Phoebe offers him a bunny rabbit composed of Rachel's socks, Chandler fails miserably at making his own gifts. He ends up grabbing a cassette tape to stand in for a homemade mix tape. Monica, who also forgot, gives him Phoebe's sock-bunny and then launches into a furious campaign of please-forgive-me sex and homemade meals. Chandler, happy with the attention, does not correct her misconception, but his deception becomes clear when Monica actually plays the cassette tape—a homemade mix tape from Chandler's ex-girlfriend Janice for his birthday. Although she is angry, he pleads for another chance. She tries to get past it with another slow dance, but a few more seconds of Janice's voice is enough for her to storm into their bedroom alone.

Rachel and Phoebe take a women's self-defense class together; Rachel feels confident about her mastery of the topic, which Ross scoffs at. Ross claims to have years of karate lessons to master the true essence of self-defense: "unagi", which Ross claims is "a state of total awareness", but Rachel, Chandler, and even the vegetarian Phoebe correctly point out that unagi is actually just eel. Ross sets up a number of "scary" ambushes on Rachel and Phoebe to prove they have not reached an "unagi"-infused state of mind, only for them to undermine his efforts with much stronger ambushes. Ross goes to their instructor to ask how to fight them off, but he explains it out of context, making him look like a psychopath who enjoys assaulting women, especially his ex-wife. Later, Ross sees the backs of two blonde-haired women near Central Perk, thinking they are Rachel and Phoebe and attacks them from behind, only to be attacked back. As he is running away from them, he pauses for a second to see Rachel and Phoebe staring at him from a window in Central Perk, and flees in fear from the unknown women.

Reception

"The One with the Unagi" received critical acclaim and is regarded as one of the series' best episodes. Purple Clover chose the episode as one of the 20 funniest episodes of Friends.^[1] Radio Times chose "The One with the Unagi" as the best Friends episode.^[2] They called it one of the show's funniest moments.^[3] GamesRadar+ ranked it the show's 19th best episode.^[4] Cosmopolitan included "The One with Unagi" on their list of "The 17 Very Funniest 'Friends' Episodes You Need to Marathon".^[5] Thought Catalog included it on their list of "10 Episodes That Prove Ross Geller Is the Most Underrated Character on Friends".^[6] BuzzFeed placed "The One with Unagi" on their list of the 15 funniest Friends episodes.^[7] Parade wrote that it was the best episode from season 6, and that its key quote was "Ah … salmon skin roll" which is said by Rachel.^[8]

References

^ Clark, Champ (July 23, 2018). "From Phoebe's out-of-control wedding to the one that taught you what to do if a Victoria's Secret model offers you gum". PurpleClover.com. Retrieved September 3, 2019.
^ "The 15 funniest Friends episodes on Netflix, ranked". Radio Times.
^ "What are the most iconic Friends moments – and which episodes do they appear in?". Radio Times.
^ "The 25 best Friends episodes you WILL rewatch again and again and..." GamesRadar.com. 2018-02-25.
^ "The 17 Very Funniest 'Friends' Episodes You Need to Marathon". Cosmopolitan. January 1, 2015.
^ "10 Episodes That Prove Ross Geller Is The Most Underrated Character On Friends". thoughtcatalog.com. October 28, 2014.
^ Wieselman, Jarett. "The 15 Funniest "Friends" Episodes". BuzzFeed.
^ Nguyen, Vi-An (May 5, 2014). "10th Anniversary of the Friends Finale! The Best Episode from Each of the 10 Seasons". Parade.

[1] Clark, Champ (July 23, 2018). "From Phoebe's out-of-control wedding to the one that taught you what to do if a Victoria's Secret model offers you gum". PurpleClover.com. Retrieved September 3, 2019.

[2] "The 15 funniest Friends episodes on Netflix, ranked". Radio Times.

[3] "What are the most iconic Friends moments – and which episodes do they appear in?". Radio Times.

[4] "The 25 best Friends episodes you WILL rewatch again and again and..." GamesRadar.com. 2018-02-25.

[5] "The 17 Very Funniest 'Friends' Episodes You Need to Marathon". Cosmopolitan. January 1, 2015.

[6] "10 Episodes That Prove Ross Geller Is The Most Underrated Character On Friends". thoughtcatalog.com. October 28, 2014.

[7] Wieselman, Jarett. "The 15 Funniest "Friends" Episodes". BuzzFeed.

[8] Nguyen, Vi-An (May 5, 2014). "10th Anniversary of the Friends Finale! The Best Episode from Each of the 10 Seasons". Parade.

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v t e Friends episodes
Season 1	"The Pilot" "The One with the Sonogram at the End" "The One with the Thumb" "The One with George Stephanopoulos" "The One with the Blackout" "The One with the Monkey" "The One Where the Monkey Gets Away" "The One with the Fake Monica" "The One Where Rachel Finds Out"
Season 2	"The One with Ross's New Girlfriend" "The One with Russ" "The One with the Lesbian Wedding" "The One After the Superbowl" "The One with the Prom Video" "The One Where Dr. Ramoray Dies" "The One with Barry and Mindy's Wedding"
Season 3	"The One with the Princess Leia Fantasy" "The One Where No One's Ready" "The One with the Flashback" "The One with the Football" "The One with the Morning After" "The One at the Beach"
Season 4	"The One with the Jellyfish" "The One with the Cat" "The One with the Embryos" "The One with Ross's Wedding"
Season 5	"The One After Ross Says Rachel" "The One Hundredth" "The One with All the Thanksgivings" "The One Where Everybody Finds Out" "The One with the Girl Who Hits Joey" "The One with the Cop" "The One Where Rachel Smokes" "The One Where Ross Can't Flirt" "The One with the Ride-Along" "The One with Joey's Big Break" "The One in Vegas"
Season 6	"The One After Vegas" "The One Where Ross Got High" "The One with the Apothecary Table" "The One with Unagi" "The One with the Proposal"
Season 7	"The One with Monica's Thunder" "The One with All the Candy" "The One with All the Cheesecakes" "The One Where They're Up All Night" "The One with Ross and Monica's Cousin" "The One with Monica and Chandler's Wedding"
Season 8	"The One After 'I Do'" "The One with Rachel's Date" "The One with the Halloween Party" "The One with the Rumor" "The One Where Rachel Has a Baby"
Season 9	"The One Where No One Proposes" "The One with Ross's Inappropriate Song" "The One with Rachel's Other Sister" "The One in Barbados"
Season 10	"The One After Joey and Rachel Kiss" "The One Where Ross Is Fine" "The One with Ross's Tan" "The One with the Birth Mother" "The One with Phoebe's Wedding" "The Last One"
Specials	Friends: The Reunion