Friends (The One with the Bullies,

S2 EP21)
- The bullies make their unpleasant presence clear by claiming seats as taken
when Ross and Chandler arrive.

- The bullies provoke Chandler by taking his hat. Ross tries to ease the tension
and help Chandler by diffusing the situation and taking his hat back.

- There will be a power shift between the ‘heroes/protagonists’ Ross and Chandler
and the ‘villains/antagonists’, the bullies. Only one of the two groups will assert
their dominance towards one another eventually.

- The hat being stolen symbolises an act of ‘war’. The couch symbolises the power
shift (“we were here first!” vs. “this is OUR couch…”) The café is the ‘battlefield.’

- Joey acts as the ‘knight in shining armour’, offering to help Ross and Chandler
stand up to the bullies. Ross gains a surge of confidence and wants to get his
revenge on the bullies.

- Ross and Chandler stands up to the bullies, and the four engage into a brawl as
the decider. “Taking it outside” = fighting.

- In a change of events, they put their rivalry aside work together, chase down and
fight two robbers who took their belongings unbeknownst to them.

- Back at the café, the ‘war’ is ended and they become civil.

Activity 2
1. Chandler and Ross accept to ‘take it outside’ twice, but only go through with their
actions in Scene 11 & 12 as they back down and choose to avoid trouble in
Scene 5. It was only at the end of the dispute that the two gained a surge of
confidence to stand up for themselves.
2. Chandler and Ross wanted to avoid fighting over the ownership of a coffee shop
couch, as well as losing the fight (and their masculinity & confidence). This made
them not want to return to the coffee shop after another confrontation in Scene 5.