Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing Characters

The narrator and protagonist, a famous actor and alcoholic who survives a perforated bowel, aspiration pneumonia, ECMO, and a fourteen-day coma. He is haunted by childhood abandonment and the fear that he is not enough, and he uses alcohol, pills, fame, and comedy to try to fill the hole inside him.

Arc: He moves from a lonely child and desperate young actor into global fame, then through repeated addiction, rehab, relapse, and recovery work; by the end he speaks of gratitude, amends, helping other alcoholics, and moving forward with curiosity rather than fear.

• Suzanne Perry (née Langford) — his mother
• John Bennett Perry — his father
• Keith Morrison — his stepfather
• Erin — his best friend
• Jamie Tarses — his girlfriend and caregiver
• Julia Roberts — his girlfriend he later breaks up with
• Bruce Willis — his co-star and friend
• Chandler Bing — the Friends character he played
• Jennifer Aniston — Friends co-star
• Marta Kauffman — Friends creator and parental figure

Matthew's mother, who wins Miss Canadian University Snow Queen and meets John Perry at the 1967 pageant. She later works as press secretary for Pierre Trudeau, becomes a national news anchor, is fired over a beauty-pageant remark, marries Keith Morrison, and has Caitlin and Emily.

Arc: She is often away while raising Matthew and is a source of longing for him, but she remains devoted; she later tells Matthew she is proud of him after reading his movie.

• John Bennett Perry — her first husband
• Matthew Perry — her son
• Keith Morrison — her husband
• Caitlin — her daughter
• Emily — her daughter
• Pierre Trudeau — her employer
• Warren Langford — her father

Matthew's father, a working musician with the Serendipity Singers and later an actor and functional drinker. He meets Suzanne at the pageant, abandons infant Matthew at the Canadian border, and later supports Matthew's acting.

Arc: He later quits drinking after a walk, helps Matthew get to Marina del Rey, and is described as having saved Matthew's life multiple times.

• Suzanne Perry (née Langford) — his first wife
• Matthew Perry — his son
• Warren Langford — his father-in-law
• Debbie (stepmother) — his wife
• Maria — his daughter

Suzanne's husband and Matthew's stepfather, described as devoted to Suzanne and as her protector. He tells Matty that things Matty took issue with never happened and appears at Matthew's bedside with Suzanne.

Arc: No major change is described; he remains a protective stepfather figure.

• Suzanne Perry (née Langford) — his wife
• Matthew Perry — his stepson
• Emily — child in his family with Suzanne

Matthew's best friend, who pulled the night shift for five months in the hospital after his coma; his last words to her before losing consciousness were 'Don't leave me.' She accompanies him to medical appointments, agrees to quit smoking with him, and is in his house at the end.

Arc: She remains a constant, life-saving presence; Matthew says he intends never to find out what he would do without her.

• Matthew Perry — his best friend and caregiver

NBC producer helping develop Friends Like Us who later dates Matthew for several years; she drives him to the hospital when pancreatitis hits and stays every night for thirty days. She tells him 'It looks like you're disappearing,' prompting him to call for help.

Arc: She moves from professional ally and girlfriend to caregiver and truth-teller, then is broken up with after Matthew's rehab.

• Matthew Perry — her boyfriend and patient
• Dan McDermott — her then-husband

Actress and Oscar winner who conducts a fax courtship with Matthew, dates him, and guest-stars on Friends; she plays football in the snow and drives him up a mountain on New Year's Eve. Matthew later breaks up with her because he feels he is not enough.

Arc: Their romance begins through flirtatious faxes and ends through Matthew's fear of not being enough; she wins an Oscar while he is in rehab.

• Matthew Perry — her boyfriend she later breaks up with
• Benjamin Bratt — her boyfriend at the time

Actor who co-stars with Matthew in The Whole Nine Yards and becomes a drinking friend; he meets Matthew at Ago, teaches a bartender a three-second pour, installs a disco ball in Club Z, and hosts Matthew in Turks and Caicos. He can party and then stop, unlike Matthew, and does a guest spot on Friends after losing a bet.

Arc: He remains a Hollywood friend and contrast to Matthew's uncontrollable addiction.

• Matthew Perry — his co-star and friend
• David Willis — his brother
• Kevin Pollak — his co-star

Friends co-star and old acquaintance who declined Matthew's date years earlier and offered friendship. She confronts him about drinking in his trailer, saying 'We can smell it,' and later says she has been mad before hugging him after his coma.

Arc: She moves from friendly co-star to a loving confrontational presence during his addiction.

• Matthew Perry — her co-star and old acquaintance
• Courteney Cox — her co-star
• Lisa Kudrow — her co-star
• Matt LeBlanc — her co-star
• David Schwimmer — her co-star

Friends co-star who at the first cast lunch says there are no stars and it is an ensemble show, urging the cast to really work and get to know each other. With Jennifer she has a Lifecycle exercise bike installed backstage for Matthew.

Arc: No major personal change is described; she remains an ensemble leader and supportive co-star.

• Matthew Perry — her co-star
• Jennifer Aniston — her co-star
• Lisa Kudrow — her co-star
• Matt LeBlanc — her co-star
• David Schwimmer — her co-star

Friends co-star described by Matthew as gorgeous, hilarious, and incredibly smart. She had originally been cast as Roz on Frasier but was fired during rehearsal by Jimmy Burrows.

Arc: No major change is described; she remains part of the Friends ensemble.

• Matthew Perry — her co-star
• Jimmy Burrows — director who fired her from Frasier

Friends co-star who arrives first every day and worries his character is not believable; after an exchange with Courteney he finds Joey as a lovable, dumb puppy. He sometimes asks Matthew for line readings, nudges him awake before a line, and cries at the final wrap.

Arc: No major change is described beyond finding his character and supporting Matthew on set.

• Matthew Perry — his co-star who helped him with line readings
• Courteney Cox — his co-star
• Marta Kauffman — creator who nixed his brown leather pants

Friends co-star who is funny, warm, smart, and creative right away. He proposes the cast negotiate contracts as a team for equal pay, an idea credited with bringing the cast $50 million.

Arc: No major change is described; he remains a generous ensemble member.

• Matthew Perry — his co-star

Friends creator and parental figure to the cast; she hears Matthew read as Chandler, nixes Matt LeBlanc's brown leather pants, and advises Matthew to send Julia Roberts flowers. She tells Matthew they need him back and production must start in two weeks, and his father later warns her about how they treat him.

Arc: No major change is described; she remains a creator and authority figure.

• Matthew Perry — creator and parental figure
• David Crane — co-creator
• Matt LeBlanc — creator who nixed his leather pants
• Julia Roberts — actress offered a Friends episode

Friends creator and parental figure to the cast; he tells Matthew they need him back and production must start in two weeks. Matthew's father later calls him and Marta to warn them about how they are treating Matthew.

Arc: No major change is described; he remains a creator and authority figure.

• Matthew Perry — creator and parental figure
• Marta Kauffman — co-creator

Friends creator and executive producer; the cast almost instantly felt he was a parental figure. After Matthew's rehab summer he opens the first table read by asking if anyone wants to talk about their summer vacations.

Arc: No major change is described; he remains a creator and parental figure.

• Matthew Perry — creator and parental figure

Director who takes the cast to Monica's apartment set and tells them just to talk; he later flies them to Vegas, gives them $100 each, and warns fame will change their lives. He had earlier fired Lisa Kudrow from Frasier during rehearsal.

Arc: No major change is described; he remains a director and mentor figure.

• Matthew Perry — his director
• Lisa Kudrow — director who fired her from Frasier

Mini-Rat Pack friend called the fastest comic mind Matthew has ever seen; he is the hot pilot actor who reads Best Friends and Friends Like Us with Matthew and Hank and chooses Best Friends. He stops speaking to Matthew for two years because he cannot handle Matthew getting rich and famous from Chandler, then apologizes.

Arc: He moves from close friend to estranged friend to returning apologetic friend.

• Matthew Perry — his close friend
• Hank Azaria — friend and mini-Rat Pack member
• David Pressman — friend and mini-Rat Pack member
• Valerie Bertinelli — co-star and love interest on Sydney

Mini-Rat Pack friend who meets Matthew at sixteen while auditioning for a CBS pilot; he becomes wealthy voicing a Simpsons character and auditions twice for Joey on Friends Like Us, passed over both times. He later plays Phoebe's romantic interest and wins an Emmy.

Arc: No major change is described; he remains a friend and fellow actor.

• Matthew Perry — his friend
• David Pressman — friend and mini-Rat Pack member
• Craig Bierko — friend and mini-Rat Pack member

Mini-Rat Pack friend described as loving outrageous public stunts; he shares a bed with Matthew on the Vegas trip and introduces Matthew to Laura at a Dodgers game. He remains part of the group.

Arc: No major change is described; he remains a friend.

• Matthew Perry — his friend
• Hank Azaria — friend and mini-Rat Pack member
• Craig Bierko — friend and mini-Rat Pack member
• Laura — his girlfriend's sister

Matthew's girlfriend who presses him about why he wants to wait, leads him to bed, hears his confession about impotence and fear of abandonment, and calmly promises it will not happen again. They date again while Friends is at its peak; Matthew ends it out of old fear and later apologizes.

Arc: She helps Matthew through shame and first sex, then becomes one of the women he later apologizes to for leaving out of fear.

• Matthew Perry — her boyfriend

Matthew's co-star in A Night in the Life of Jimmy Reardon, where they drink beer, shoot pool, and become firm friends. The notes record that he died on Halloween 1993 in front of the Viper Room.

Arc: No change is described; he remains an early friend and loss.

• Matthew Perry — co-star and firm friend

Director who sees Matthew performing at the 101 Coffee Shop, leaves him a napkin note, and casts him as Fred Roberts in A Night in the Life of Jimmy Reardon. He gives Matthew an early film role.

Arc: No major change is described; he remains an early director who champions Matthew.

• Matthew Perry — director who casts him

Matthew's friend and one of the Murray brothers; with Brian he drinks beer and wine with fourteen-year-old Matthew in his backyard and gets sick. He later visits Matthew in the hospital with Brian.

Arc: No major change is described; he remains a longtime friend.

• Matthew Perry — his friend
• Brian Murray — his brother

Matthew's friend and one of the Murray brothers; with Chris he drinks beer and wine with fourteen-year-old Matthew in his backyard and gets sick. He later visits Matthew in the hospital with Chris.

Arc: No major change is described; he remains a longtime friend.

• Matthew Perry — his friend
• Chris Murray — his brother

Matthew's girlfriend at the time of the magic show and later a friend for life; her alcohol-free apartment triggers his first obsessive craving for a drink. She is also his recent ex-girlfriend before his solo trip to Mexico.

Arc: She remains a friend and a marker of Matthew's early recognition of his cravings.

• Matthew Perry — his girlfriend and later friend

Co-star in Sydney, where she plays a private eye and Matthew plays her fast-talking brother; she and Matthew make out at her house while Eddie is passed out, then the next day she acts as if nothing happened. The text says she is in a troubled marriage and enjoys the attention.

Arc: No major change is described; she remains an unavailable object of Matthew's obsession.

• Matthew Perry — co-star and object of his obsession
• Eddie Van Halen — her husband
• Craig Bierko — co-star and her love interest on Sydney

Valerie Bertinelli's husband, who drinks heavily and passes out at his house while Matthew is there with Valerie. He is also a source of jealousy for Matthew as a famous musician.

Arc: No change is described; he remains part of the unavailable-woman episode.

• Valerie Bertinelli — his wife
• Matthew Perry — object of the narrator's jealousy

Matthew's co-star in Almost Heroes; Perry says Farley's addictions plus his own meant they barely finished the film. Farley dies during this period.

Arc: No change is described; his death marks a dark period for Matthew.

• Matthew Perry — his co-star
• Christopher Guest — his director

Director of Almost Heroes; Perry recalls being in the woods talking to him while trying to hide vomiting. He directs the film during Matthew's hidden addiction.

Arc: No major change is described; he remains a director in Matthew's addiction period.

• Matthew Perry — his director
• Chris Farley — his co-star

Co-star with Matthew in Fools Rush In; she suggests they just spoon a little bit and proposes looking out at the future in a love scene. She tries her best to collaborate on scenes.

Arc: No major change is described; she remains a collaborative co-star.

• Matthew Perry — her co-star
• Andy Tennant — her director

Director of Fools Rush In; he tells Matthew he does not have to do funny things because he is interesting enough to watch, and accepts a line pitched by Andrew Hill Newman. He draws a less comic performance from Matthew.

Arc: No major change is described; he remains a director who pushes Matthew toward sincerity.

• Matthew Perry — his director
• Salma Hayek — his co-star
• Andrew Hill Newman — friend who visits the set

Friend who visits Matthew on the Fools Rush In set and comes up with the line 'You are everything I never knew that I always wanted.' He contributes to the film's romantic dialogue.

Arc: No major change is described; he remains a friend and brief creative contributor.

• Matthew Perry — his friend
• Andy Tennant — director who accepts his line

Talk-show host on whose show Matthew appears; Matthew shakes hands with him, performs a long Gilligan's Island story, and gets Dave to crack a few times while hiding his fear. He is part of Matthew's early fame period.

Arc: No major change is described; he remains a talk-show host in Matthew's fame story.

• Matthew Perry — guest on his show

Met Matthew in Williamstown and made out with him in a broom cupboard at a party; they were both unknown enough that it did not reach the tabloids. She is a brief romantic acquaintance.

Arc: No major change is described; she remains a brief early acquaintance.

• Matthew Perry — brief make-out acquaintance

A woman Matthew dated and jettisoned; she later calls him to announce she has had a baby girl named Clover. Matthew pulls over on the Pacific Coast Highway and sobs, realizing he has wasted life on brief pleasure.

Arc: She remains a friend and triggers Matthew's realization about avoiding intimacy.

• Matthew Perry — woman he dated and later friend

A waitress at Red who sits and chats with Matthew, reveals her name, and becomes his girlfriend after drunken parties. By the time he goes to Montreal, they are mostly on the outs.

Arc: No major change is described; she remains a girlfriend during Matthew's drinking period.

• Matthew Perry — her boyfriend

Director who dines with Matthew and David Willis at Citrus and tells Matthew he is their guy; he directs The Whole Nine Yards and lets Matthew call him Sammy on set. He participates in writers'-room-like discussions with Matthew, Bruce, and Kevin.

Arc: No major change is described; he remains a director and collaborator.

• Matthew Perry — director who casts him
• David Willis — producer at the dinner
• Bruce Willis — his co-worker
• Kevin Pollak — his co-worker

One of the producers of The Whole Nine Yards who dines with Matthew and Jonathan Lynn; the text notes he is Bruce Willis's brother and got the hair. He is part of the film's production team.

Arc: No major change is described; he remains a producer in the film.

• Bruce Willis — his brother
• Matthew Perry — producer on his film
• Jonathan Lynn — producer at the dinner

Co-star in The Whole Nine Yards who plays Janni Gogolak and delivers the line 'He shouldn't be able to breathe the air' with an increasingly long pause. Matthew laughs so much that Kevin has to do his coverage in a different room.

Arc: No major change is described; he remains a co-star in Matthew's film comedy period.

• Matthew Perry — his co-star
• Bruce Willis — his co-star
• Jonathan Lynn — his co-worker

Matthew's long-suffering assistant, called to pick up his new detox medication; she takes hours to complete the errand while the men wait. She is a minor but recurring support figure.

Arc: No major change is described; she remains his assistant during detox.

• Matthew Perry — his assistant

Writer of Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip who runs a tight ship and rejects all of Mr. Perry's comedic ideas. He gives Matthew a dramatic role after The Whole Ten Yards is a disaster.

Arc: No major change is described; he remains a writer and authority on set.

• Matthew Perry — writer of Studio 60 and his employer

Rehab counselor at Cirque Lodge in Utah who accuses Matty of liking the drama and chaos of his addiction. He asks how Matty can have fun at Cirque yet be so troubled by the real world.

Arc: No major change is described; he remains a counselor who challenges Matty.

• Matthew Perry — his counselor in rehab

Matthew's sponsor for ten years and best friend; he starts a sober living company, takes Matthew's $500,000 investment, and moves to Arizona without telling him after Perry House fails. Their friendship ends and Matthew uses again.

Arc: He moves from trusted sponsor and partner to estranged figure after the business collapse.

• Matthew Perry — his sponsee, best friend, and business partner

Matthew's girlfriend after they meet at a Dodgers game and a Ping-Pong night; she later breaks up with him after his drug use. Seven years later she accepts his amends, is married to Jordon, and leaves his dinner with Jordon.

Arc: She moves from girlfriend to ex to friend after amends.

• Matthew Perry — her boyfriend and later friend
• Rome — friend she met at AA
• Jordon — her husband
• David Pressman — his girlfriend's sister

A woman Matthew meets at AA and dates while also dating Laura; after he chooses Laura, she screams at him for two hours in the parking lot of Barney's Beanery. She later walks into Laura's house with a key, accepts Matthew's amends, and lives with Eric.

Arc: She moves from romantic rival to friend after amends.

• Matthew Perry — man she dates and later confronts, then friend
• Laura — friend she met at AA
• Eric — partner she lives with

At a dinner party she punches Matthew in the shoulder but misses and hits him in the side of the face. She is a brief date in an interlude.

Arc: No major change is described; she remains a brief dating anecdote.

• Matthew Perry — woman he is set up on a date with

At a charity ball he tells Matthew he is a big fan; the next day Matthew's tennis serve hits him in the testicles, and medics take him to the hospital. Matthew calls him a hero.

Arc: No major change is described; he remains a comic hero in a humiliating anecdote.

• Matthew Perry — his hero whom he accidentally injures

Matthew's co-star on Serving Sara; the text says she was pissed off and never got to do another movie. She appears during Matthew's impaired filming period.

Arc: No major change is described; she remains a co-star in that troubled production.

• Matthew Perry — his co-star in Serving Sara

At a Hollywood function he tells Perry a story about Saint Peter asking everyone entering heaven whether they have scars. The story helps Perry think of his own scars as proof of survival.

Arc: No major change is described; he remains a fellow actor who offers a healing anecdote.

• Matthew Perry — fellow actor at a Hollywood function

Hypnotist Matthew sees to quit smoking; Kerry meets him for three sessions, uses scare tactics about smoking, and claims withdrawal should be only slight discomfort for the first two days. Matthew leaves a nonsmoker but later relapses after dental pain.

Arc: No major change is described; he remains a hypnotist in Matthew's smoking-recovery struggle.

• Matthew Perry — his hypnosis client

Matthew's manager since 1992, who has waited patiently while Matthew dug himself out of whichever hole he was in. He calls Matthew at the end of the book.

Arc: No major change is described; he remains a long-suffering manager.

• Matthew Perry — his manager since 1992

Matthew's current AA sponsor, named as someone who has talked him down often. He appears only in Matthew's thoughts in the final chapter.

Arc: No major change is described; he remains a sponsor figure.

• Matthew Perry — his current AA sponsor

Matthew's first girlfriend, remembered as the person who pointed out something was wrong with him and sent him to rehab for the first time. She is part of his origin in recovery.

Arc: No major change is described; she remains an early catalyst for rehab.

• Matthew Perry — his first girlfriend

Matthew's maternal grandfather, who waits at the Canadian border in the cold and receives his infant grandson from John Perry as John drives away. He is the grandfather who takes in the abandoned baby and mother.

Arc: No major change is described; he remains a stable family figure at the abandonment scene.

• Suzanne Perry (née Langford) — his daughter
• Matthew Perry — his grandson
• John Bennett Perry — his son-in-law

Matthew's sister, born as part of Suzanne's new family with Keith; Matthew says he loved her instantly. She is part of the new family that makes Matthew feel more outside.

Arc: No major change is described; she remains a beloved younger sister.

• Matthew Perry — her brother
• Suzanne Perry (née Langford) — her mother

Matthew's sister who arrives as part of Suzanne's new family with Keith; Matthew says he loved her instantly. She is part of the new family that makes Matthew feel more outside.

Arc: No major change is described; she remains a beloved younger sister.

• Matthew Perry — her brother
• Suzanne Perry (née Langford) — her mother
• Keith Morrison — part of her family with Suzanne

Matthew's sister on his father's side; she comes to see him about three weeks into his hospital stay and explains that he was put on a ventilator, vomited into it, got bile and septic matter in his lungs, was put on ECMO, and was in a coma for fourteen days. She grew up to be a mother of two and a psychiatrist.

Arc: No major change is described; she remains a sister who explains his survival.

• Matthew Perry — his sister on his father's side
• John Bennett Perry — her father
• Debbie (stepmother) — her mother

Matthew's youngest sister; she appears in several photos with him, including one on the set of Three to Tango. The notes give no further plot role.

Arc: No change or arc is described.

• Matthew Perry — her brother

Matthew's brother; he appears in a photo with his sisters and Matthew. The notes give no further plot role.

Arc: No change or arc is described.

• Matthew Perry — his brother

Canadian prime minister for whom Suzanne works as press secretary; he is described as charismatic and socially connected. He calls Suzanne while Matthew and his mother are watching Annie Hall.

Arc: No major change is described; he remains a public figure in Matthew's childhood.

• Suzanne Perry (née Langford) — her employer
• Justin Trudeau — his son

Pierre Trudeau's son, whom Matthew beats up as a child; the text jokes that Matthew ended the argument when Justin was put in charge of an army. He is a childhood opponent in Matthew's bad-behavior period.

Arc: No major change is described; he remains a childhood anecdote.

• Pierre Trudeau — his father
• Matthew Perry — childhood opponent

Matthew's teacher, who tells him that if he does not change the way he is, he will never amount to anything. He is an early authority figure who doubts Matthew.

Arc: No major change is described; he remains a discouraging teacher.

• Matthew Perry — his teacher

The school's drama teacher who puts on The Death and Life of Sneaky Fitch and casts Matthew as Rackham. He is later credited with casting Matthew in his very first play.

Arc: No major change is described; he remains the teacher who gives Matthew his first role.

• Matthew Perry — his drama teacher

Director of Anchorman and Step Brothers whom Matthew believes he is calling with a superhero movie pitch; the text says they got along well and that Matthew once pitched him a line for Don't Look Up. He later meets Matthew and hires him for Don't Look Up the following day.

Arc: No major change is described; he remains a director Matthew works with.

• Matthew Perry — director who hires him for Don't Look Up
• Adam McLean — man Matthew mistakes for him

A computer salesman whom Matthew mistakes for director Adam McKay on the phone. He enthusiastically receives Matthew's superhero movie pitch before revealing his identity.

Arc: No major change is described; he remains a case of mistaken identity.

• Matthew Perry — man Matthew mistakes for Adam McKay
• Adam McKay — director Matthew thought he was calling

Filmmaker Matthew believes he meets at the Sunset Marquis, spends the night talking with, and follows to another bar. A friend later reveals the man is actually the maitre d' at Mr. Chow.

Arc: No major change is described; he remains part of a mistaken-identity anecdote.

• Matthew Perry — filmmaker Matthew thinks he is befriending

Fox TV producer and Jamie Tarses's then-husband; he tells her that L.A.X. 2194 is awful and describes its premise. He helps Jamie assess Matthew's availability for Friends Like Us.

Arc: No major change is described; he remains a minor industry figure.

• Jamie Tarses — her then-husband

Co-star in L.A.X. 2194, where he plays an automaton office manager with a weird accent. He appears in Matthew's early pilot work.

Arc: No major change is described; he remains a minor co-star.

• Matthew Perry — his co-star in L.A.X. 2194

John Bennett Perry's wife and Matthew's stepmother; after Dad's bad night on the drink, she asks him, 'Is this the way you want to live your life?' She is part of Matthew's father's household and mother of Maria.

Arc: No major change is described; she remains a stepmother figure.

• John Bennett Perry — her husband
• Matthew Perry — her stepson
• Maria — her daughter

The only other smoker at Matthew's Pennsylvania rehab, who repeatedly forgets whether she has met him and asks if they went to high school together. She is a minor rehab acquaintance.

Arc: No major change is described; she remains a rehab anecdote.

• Matthew Perry — fellow rehab attendee and fellow smoker

Appears on BBC Newsnight to argue that drug taking is a matter of weak morals and that addiction isn't real; Matty and Baroness Meacher challenge him, and Paxman and Meacher laugh at him. The text presents him as pushing right-wing ideology and moral tutting.

Arc: No major change is described; he remains an ideological opponent in a debate.

• Matthew Perry — debate opponent on BBC Newsnight

The Friends character Matthew plays, described as a hider of true pain who makes jokes about everything so people do not have to talk about anything real; he was originally conceived as an observer of other people's lives. In the final apartment scene he places his key on the counter and delivers the last line, 'Sure... Where?'

Arc: No change beyond the final scene; he functions as Matthew's comic mask and final line.

• Matthew Perry — the character he played
• Monica (Friends character) — co-parent of their twins

One of the six Friends characters; in the final apartment scene she places her key on the empty counter first. She is later mentioned as having twins in a stroller with Chandler.

Arc: No change is described; she appears in the final apartment scene.

• Chandler Bing — co-parent of their twins

One of the six Friends characters; he places a key on the counter despite the text saying he really should not have had one, and laughs. He says 'Yeah' and then 'I guess so...' after Phoebe speaks.

Arc: No change is described; he appears in the final apartment scene.

• Chandler Bing — one of the six close friends

One of the six Friends characters; he places his key on the counter as part of the group leaving the apartment. He has no further action in the notes' final scene.

Arc: No change is described; he appears in the final apartment scene.

• Chandler Bing — one of the six close friends

One of the six Friends characters; she places her key on the counter and suggests one last coffee as the friends leave the apartment. She is distinct from Matthew's girlfriend Rachel.

Arc: No change is described; she appears in the final apartment scene.

• Chandler Bing — one of the six close friends

One of the six Friends characters; she places her key on the counter last and says, 'I guess this is it.' She is part of the final ensemble scene.

Arc: No change is described; she appears in the final apartment scene.

• Chandler Bing — one of the six close friends

Named in Chapter 1 as the ex-girlfriend of Matthew's dreams whose leaving haunts him at 4:00 A.M.; in Chapter 7 he walks the Friends stage with his girlfriend Rachel, and the relationship later becomes rocky and ends. The notes connect her to Matthew's fear of abandonment and loss.

Arc: She remains linked to Matthew's longing and fear of being left; no further change is described.

• Matthew Perry — his girlfriend and ex-girlfriend