Near the conclusion, Joel (Rob Morrow) and Herb (David Margulies) discuss Joel's sister in a matter-of-fact manner as if she did exist. This is the only mention of Joel's having any siblings in the entire series. In Russian Flu (1990), when others mistake his fiancee Elaine (Jessica Lundy) for his sister, Joel corrects them and flatly denies he has a sister, and not just in his dream sequence. either.