The One Where Mr Heckles Is Murdered

We see a change from the usual storyline of ‘Friends’ in this episode as our heroes murder their downstairs neighbour. If not at a homicide then there’s definitely an argument for a manslaughter charge. The deceased, Mr Heckles, in a bizarre chain of events then leaves all his belongings to his assassins upstairs, in what may be the first dramatisation of ‘Stockholm Syndrome’ on television. Chandler sees similarities with Mr Heckles while sorting through his belongings and begins to wonder what his own future will hold. The episode begins with Chandler announcing he has broken up with a girl he was seeing due to her nostrils being too big, hr cities other superficial and judgemental reasons as to why he is unable to find a suitable mate. It’s the 90’s so I’m OK with this misogyny. Joey reveals that he had once kissed someone he thought to be a woman who actually had an Adam’s Apple and seems to get through this revelation relevantly unscathed. If this was one of my friends the backlash would have lasted the full 22 minutes – murder prevented. Mr Heckles comes up to Monica and Rachel’s apartment complaining about the noise and then starts banging on his roof with his broom when the noise doesn’t stop, this results in a series of banging between the two apartments resulting in Mr Heckles demise. Cause of death: murder by human induced earthquake. The group then meet with their building supervisor, the police and other emergency services outside Mr Heckles’ apartment, having had time to get their story straight they plea innocence. Queue lots of nervous faces after learning he died with a broom in his hand. Mr Heckle’s lawyer tells Monica and Rachel everything has been left to them and they need to get his things in order. Chandlers quarter life crisis continues, while going through Mr Heckles’ belongings, he realises the two of them are not so different; they were both voted class clown, both band geeks and both really judgemental about women. Chandler secretly begins to worry if the friends will also kill him. Could they be any more alike? Seeing himself becoming alone and miserable like Mr Heckles he reaches out to old girlfriend, Janice. That’s where the similarities end – even Mr Heckles wouldn’t have called Janice. With Chandler feeling like he’s turning into Mr Heckles, Ross and Phoebe discuss evolution with Ross providing one of the most boring show and tell items of all time: a ‘briefcase of facts’ containing a 200 million year old fossils. Did he sign any of the relevant paperwork to take the fossils out of the museum or even get permission to do it? I highly doubt it. While in Mr Heckles’ apartment after calling it a bunch of crap and binning most of his belongings, Rachel decides to steal one of Mr Heckles’ shellfish lamps for her own apartment, much to Monica’s disgust. Already in the butchering mood, when she sees the lamp in her apartment she promptly destroys it and pleas innocence for the second time in one day. Murder, Stockholm Syndrome, misogyny, police blunders, conspiracy, larceny, evolution is this an early 90s sitcom or a Netflix special? Is this not the exact plot of ‘Making a Murderer’? Joey is Brendan Dassey and Matthew Perry these days looks like Steven Avery. No doubt Gunther will take the heat for the murder. At the end of the episode, Chandler, is a new man, having agreed to go on a date with someone he previously deemed to have too big of a head. He marks this new stage of his life in Mr Heckles’ apartment, having already ransacked the place for anything of value, breaking anything they didn’t like and binning the rest of his belongings he makes a futile attempt to reach out to the deceased: “We’ll try to keep it down, Mr Heckles.” Bit late for that. Tell it to the judge. Your sentence – marrying Monica Geller.

The raid of Mr Heckles apartment