Scene Discussion is a bi-weekly feature that breaks down specific scenes from movies or television shows. Sometimes in depth, sometimes not so much.  

       Having a holiday themed episode on a sitcom isn’t out of the ordinary, but having consistent episodes is. Friends is one of the few that always achieved these sorts of episodes with ease. With Chandler in a Box, The One with the Football, or Rachel’s terrible trifle with beef, FriendsThanksgiving episodes are basically a holiday tradition. 

       The video above shows a clip of the season 5 episode “The One with All the Thanksgivings.” In it, if for some reason you can’t watch it, Monica (Courtney Cox) tries to cheer up Chandler (Matthew Perry) by putting a turkey onto her head, something that Joey (Matt LeBlanc) did way back in the day to try and scare Chandler. After Chandler is amused, he tells Monica that he loves her, she freaks out, he freaks out, and then Joey walks in and gets scared by Monica’s big turkey head.
       This scene is arguably one of the most famous of the Friends scenes still talked about. I’d like to think that maybe it’s remembered because this is when Chandler reveals to Monica that he loves her, but it’s definitely remembered because of Monica’s visual gags while she has a turkey on her head. It is bizarre to think that this is when Chandler tells Monica about his affection because Chandler has never been one to commit to a relationship long enough to feel such things, let alone discuss them. But the scene isn’t remembered for this, it’s remembered because of Monica’s turkey head. 
       Courtney Cox’s Monica always made a joke better when she had a visual gag. This is shown when she proceeds to put the little hat on her turkey head, then the large sunglasses, then eventually dances with the turkey head still on her (I wonder how many times I’ve said “turkey head” now). Monica has shown her boyfriend that she truly cares for him so much that she’s willing to look like an idiot in front of him. That’s the joke. Monica does not care about what she’s doing. This isn’t Joey putting the turkey head on himself to try and scare Chandler, we’re laughing at that because he’s being Joey and therefore an idiot. Monica does it for the joke that we as the audience fall in love with, and Chandler speaks it for us.

“I love you.”

Happy Thanksgiving from Based on Nothing.