Friends inaugurates its second season as Rachel (
Jennifer Aniston) digests the news that Ross (
David Schwimmer) has a crush on her -- only to spot Ross with his new girlfriend, Julie (
Lauren Tom). Forced to choose between the two women in his life, Ross goes with Rachel, and not long afterward the couple consummate their romance -- smack dab in the museum where Ross works. Meanwhile, Ross' lesbian ex-wife, Carol (Jane Sibbett), who has recently given birth to son Ben, "marries" her female lover, (Jessica Hecht). In other affairs of the heart, Phoebe (
Lisa Kudrow) is reunited with her husband, Duncan (
Steve Zahn), a gay Canadian who'd wed her to get a green card (needless to say, the marriage is quickly dispensed with); and Ross' sister, Monica (Courteney Cox), begins dating an old family friend, Dr. Richard Burke (
Tom Selleck). In a similar medical vein, Joey (
Matt LeBlanc) thinks he's finally got his big showbiz break when he is cast as Dr. Drake Ramoray on the daytime drama
Days of Our Lives; alas, just as he has gotten used to his affluent new lifestyle, "Dr. Ramoray" is abruptly killed off. Joey also moves out of his apartment, whereupon his roommate, Chandler (
Matthew Perry), takes in a new tenant, a truly bizarre character named Eddie (
Adam Goldberg), who when Joey moves back in, steadfastly refuses to go away.
Friends wrapped up its sophomore season as the third highest-rated program on American TV, outflanked only by
ER and
Seinfeld. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide