
On their vacation at a beach house, Rachel convinces Bonnie to shave her head again. Ross starts dating Bonnie, a formerly bald friend of Phoebe's, which upsets Rachel.

Ross and Rachel slowly rebuild their friendship, but continue to fight their lingering feelings for each other. After seeing him get beat up badly in two matches, she tells him he has to give it up. Monica prepares for what she thinks is a marriage proposal, but is disappointed when Pete confides in her that he wants to become the Ultimate Fighting Champion. Monica begins a relationship with Pete Becker, a millionaire who has a crush on her. The relationship doesn't last long, as she is given an opportunity on a soap opera in Los Angeles. After her boyfriend/director dumps her following a scathing review of the play, she turns to Joey for support. At first, she doesn't harbor feelings for him, even after sleeping together. Joey develops a crush on Kate Miller, his acting partner in a new play. In the season finale, she learns that the woman she thought was her biological mother actually wasn't and meets her actual birth mother, Phoebe Abbott.

She is upset when he decides to marry one of his high school teachers due to the massive age difference, but eventually has no choice but to accept the relationship. Phoebe, established as having no family except for an identical twin sister, becomes acquainted with her half-brother, Frank Jr. It is so stressful that Chandler, who's having a very hard time dealing with the situation as it reminds him of his parents' divorce, takes up smoking again. The two blame each other for the break-up, putting their friends in the middle of the situation. Rachel quickly regrets her suggestion and the two make up, however she quickly learns that Ross slept with someone else and, devastated, ends their relationship. Ross, upset, goes out and ends up sleeping with the hot girl from the copy shop, Chloe. This leads to a massive argument between them and Rachel tells Ross that she thinks they should take a break, something that she immediately regrets. Rachel attempts to convince him that he's got nothing to worry about and Ross tries to contain his jealousy but to no avail. Ross immediately becomes jealous and suspicious of Mark, convinced that Mark only helped Rachel to get the job so he could steal her from Ross.

During her search she meets Mark Robinson, who helps her to get a job at Bloomingdale's as their employer's second assistant. Ross and Rachel's relationship continues smoothly for a while however Rachel tires of working at Central Perk and wants to finally get a job in the fashion industry. This season took on a significantly greater serialized format.
