Jamie Kaler

Ross must decide whether to continue dating a girl he must travel two-and-a-half hours to see. Chandler sets Rachel up with a coworker who misunderstands her intentions. Monica is being treated poorly by her new coworkers so she hires Joey just so she can fire him and show who's the boss. And Phoebe tries to write the perfect holiday song.

The gang tries to help Ted when the perfect girl is finally available, and Marshall takes action when he finds a letter written by his younger self.

Doug's bowling team prepares for a tournament, while Carrie agrees to babysit Mr. Kaplan's son, in hopes of furthering her career. But when Doug throws out a mercy flirt and Carrie runs into an awkward set of hands, all goes downhill.

Bill Norwood (recurring guest star PAT FINN) is so upset with Mike for poaching his plumber at a reduced rate that their friendship could be at risk. Meanwhile, after having a fun mother-daughter picnic, Frankie is crushed when Sue – who usually tells her everything – won't divulge who the mystery guy is that she has a crush on; and Brick convinces Axl to let him hang out with him at college over the weekend – not to visit the library but to have some fun and par-tay!

When Monk stops by his local firehouse to have his smoke detectors inspected, a fire breaks out in a nearby home, calling away the fire company and leaving Monk alone with a retired fireman named Rusty. Soon thereafter, an unidentified man enters the firehouse. Rusty confronts the intruder, who hits Rusty over the head with a shovel. When Monk responds, the intruder throws solvent into Monk's eyes and makes his escape, leaving Rusty dead and Monk blind.