I feel like Ross Geller is perpetually at the bottom of the favorites list when it comes to the six Friends. I’m not going to pretend he’s not a good person or he has his good moments. But his bad moments are awful and cringey. As we’ve been watching Friends again (not like we ever stop watching it) I’ve taken note of some of his worst moments. Maybe they’re the same as your list.
Obnoxious call with Julie
So right after he’s come back from China and started dating Julie, we see Ross being mushy on the phone with her. That would be bad enough, but he starts to do it in front of Rachel… literally in her face. That would be bad enough if it were just anyone being annoyingly mushy. But if I were Ross, I’d have never done something so ridiculous in front of a girl I’d liked. The only thing I can think is that he’s going over the top to prove to himself he’s over Rachel… but still.
Phoebe and Evolution
In the episode when Mr. Heckles dies, Phoebe claims she doesn’t believe in evolution which drives Ross crazy. He spends the next several days trying to logic his way into believing in evolution. As if anyone has changed their major viewpoints that way. It’s like arguing with a stranger on the internet; it’s going nowhere. And in the end, Phoebe makes a good point, that as a scientist Ross ought to open his mind to possibilities. It’s not even about evolution anymore; it’s about being open-minded. The world could use more Phoebe in it.
“We were on a break”
Every time the discussion is posed “Were they on a break?” I struggle. I’ve written about this before, but it doesn’t matter if they were on a break. If they weren’t on a break, as Rachel claims, then Ross was cheating on her. Straightforward. If they were on a break, as Ross argued for seven years, then Ross was severely insensitive. Even Rachel points out sarcastically during their argument that he found a great way to mourn the end of their relationship.
Sandy the Manny
Now we get into the ones that really bug me. When Emma is born and Rachel goes back to work, she and Ross need to find a nanny to take care of their child. There are a few truly awful candidates, but then they find Sandy, who is perfectly qualified and Emma takes to him right away. But because Ross has his skewed ideals of masculinity, he ends up firing Sandy. In many ways, I feel like my personality is similar to Sandy, so when Ross makes his homophobic comment that Sandy must be gay or that his emotions make him less manly, I get defensive for the nanny.
Crush on his cousin
During one episode, shortly before Monica and Chandler get married, Ross and Monica’s cousin Cassie visits. She’s a beautiful girl and we know how Chandler gets around beautiful women (she is 100% his type) so it’s natural that she took him by surprise. Also, it’s very natural that Monica would feel uncomfortable with how her future husband was looking at her cousin. As if that weren’t bad enough, when she goes to stay with Ross, he realizes how good she looks and spends the rest of the episode fighting off feelings for his cousin. Gross! My wife and I don’t often skip episodes of our shows, but we definitely skip all the scenes with Ross and Cassie.
Agree or disagree? Is Ross the worst or no? This isn’t even my full list of awful Ross moments These are just the ones I narrowed it down to. All the same, his idiocy won’t stop me from enjoying Friends over and over again.
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