The Pilot (Friends) - Plot

Plot

Monica (Courteney Cox) is teased by her friends Joey and Chandler (Matt LeBlanc and Matthew Perry) in the Central Perk coffee house about a date she is going on later in the evening. Her brother, Ross (David Schwimmer), is upset that his lesbian ex-wife has moved in with her partner. While the group talk, an old friend of Monica's, Rachel Green (Jennifer Aniston), runs into the coffee house wearing a wedding dress. Rachel explains that she left her fiancé at the altar, and had no one else in the city to turn to. The group leaves for Monica's apartment, where Rachel tells her father that she does not need his financial assistance, and will be staying with Monica. Monica's date arrives, and Rachel assures her that she will be fine by herself. Ross, Chandler and Joey assemble Ross' new furniture in his apartment, where the others encourage him to start dating again. At dinner with Paul, Monica learns he has been impotent since he divorced his wife, and takes pity on him.

The next morning at Monica's apartment, Rachel is inspired by Chandler and Joey to get a job, and Paul leaves after spending the night with Monica. At the coffee house, Monica is further mocked by Joey and Chandler after she learns that Paul's supposed impotence was a ruse to get her to have sex with him. Rachel notifies the others that she has failed 12 job interviews, but is happy with the boots she bought with her father's money. The group tells her that in order to be independent, she needs to stop using her dad's credit cards. Phoebe (Lisa Kudrow) tries to find common ground by comparing Rachel's situation to the time of her mother's suicide. That evening, Ross tells Rachel that he had a crush on her in high school. Rachel reveals that she knew this, and agrees to go out on a date with him some time. In the tag scene, Rachel offers the group coffee refills, having found a job at Central Perk.