Ep 14. The One With The Secret Closet

The One With The Secret Closet is the fourteenth episode of the eighth season of Friends. The episode begins with Joey pondering the whereabouts of Chandler's inexplicably missing sneakers. Chandler's been coming home from work in his dress shoes unbeknownst to him which has been messing with Joey's head since he's convinced they're being hidden in the apartment somewhere. He's not too pleased when he's told by Chandler what's been really going on. At the coffee-house, Chandler tells the group that every year at his office, they have a "Secret Santa" gift exchange, and every year, he always gets another intern who cannot afford to buy their own gift. As a result, Chandler always gives the person he gets a great gift, despite the fact they don't spend much on him, and he's had to return the favor to other people who buy him gifts. This year, Chandler's boss suggested they switch it up a bit and play a game of "Secret Santa" the evil way, which causes everyone to get competitive for "the best" gift after a $20 budget-capped gift exchange. Chandler gets really excited as he pulls out Monica's name out of a hat and decides to really go to town on getting her the best gift this year.

Meanwhile, Phoebe has a new boyfriend named Jake who seems merely perfect. He's sweet, kind, caring, and he never gets mad at his girlfriends. Rachel wants to find out what his flaw is, quite convinced that there must be one. She invites him over to their apartment where she tries to figure out what he is good at, but her time with Jake only leaves her even more convinced that there is something awry with him.

Back in the apartment, Monica tells Chandler to relax about his office party, and that the point is to have a good time and not get all worked up. Ross interrupts, and announces that he's hired a student to help him out with his classes who he's taken quite the liking to. It's then revealed that Ross used to do the same thing in high school as a teacher's assistant, and he was involved with his prof as they had this secret closet where they would often make out in. Chandler, preoccupied with his own things at this point, doesn't pay too much attention to Ross's story.

Monica takes Ross aside and, after making him promise to keep it a secret, tells him that she found some old journals of hers with some steamy revelations about her and Ross's night together. He doesn't believe her, but she shows him the evidence, and they both agree to hide the fact from Rachel as it would prove explosive and lead to a lot of heartache.

Things come to a head at Chandler's office party, where the Secret Santa gift exchange is underway. When everybody else is receiving their gifts, Chandler becomes visibly upset after passing on all of his attempted gift endeavors for Monica. He is paranoid that she will discover that he had her name and that he fell short on his gift. When his turn arrives, he can barely keep in the happy tears as he opens his gift from his own Secret Santa… who we only learn is the seemingly forgotten Phoebe who slips her hand into her famous Santa hat when she finds out that the gift is from "some guy at work." Upon discovering the beautiful present inside the box, he is thrilled, excited, and very thankful. The excitement and his paranoia, however, take hold of Chandler as he asks Rachel if Monica liked her gift, and, really, hers was just okay. Rachel reassures him, however, that Monica loved the glove. Chandler, however, still suspicious of Rachel, gets her alone and one by one goes over that he doesn't believe that Monica only got gloves from her.

Meanwhile, the young student Ross has hired has become overwhelmed with how much he likes his professor and teacher and is convinced that she likes him too. In a rather uncomfortable scene between the two of them in the closet that used to be Ross's kissing space with his former prof, Ross becomes convinced that he hasn't been seeing this situation clearly and is about to walk in and confront them. Right before the moment, however, he sees his reflection in a mirror and quickly diverts, which leads to the Assistant kissing him passionately. Ross, shocked, flees the room in a hurry.

Towards the end of the episode, Chandler walks in on Monica and Rachel opening their presents and sees the expensive gift of china that Monica received from "her Secret Santa." Monica picks up on his attitude and confronts him about it, but he manages to get out of that as well. Monica, however, does notice a different attitude in Chandler and puts it down to it being a really nice gift he got and Chandler accepting it for what it really was, which leads Monica to realize, with a flushed face, that she loves Chandler for just being himself.