Our take
Only lightly festive, but the holiday card at its centre gives it a very December kind of panic. A nervous boyfriend talking himself into a deeper commitment than he meant is one of the funniest relationship scenes in the late run, and Robert Carlock's script is tight. Bonnie Somerville's Mona is a likeable straight woman to it all, and the card is a perfect December prop.
What happens
Ross and Mona had their picture taken together at the Rockefeller Center, and Mona now wants to send it out as a joint holiday card. Ross panics: they have only been dating for a couple of months, and a shared card feels like a giant commitment. He tries to have a grown-up talk about where the relationship is going, says every wrong thing, and somehow finishes the conversation by giving Mona a key to his apartment. Rachel begins to look at Joey in a new light. Chandler's boss, Doug, is going through a divorce and wants company, and to spare Monica a dinner with him Chandler pretends that he and his wife have split up too, which drags him into far more nights out than he bargained for. Each story is a small step towards a bigger change, set in the weeks when Christmas cards are going out.
Can the kids watch it?
Frequent sex references and adult relationship humour; the BBFC rated it 12, so best for 12 and over.