Ross Geller was at the heart of most storylines on Friends, and while all six characters shared the spotlight and the responsibility of being the 'main' stars, it really did feel like Ross and Rachel were the guiding lights of the show.
However, while he may have been an open book through the majority of the ten seasons, there are still a few unanswered questions that we'd like to know the answers to. Today, we're going to run through some of those queries as we aim to detail the best and the worst of the man who perfected the term "pivot".
Why He Slept With Xerox Girl
We’d heard rumors about the Xerox girl from Chandler and Joey in the early stages of Friends, but none of us could’ve ever imagined that it would be Ross who slept with her.
While Ross may have thought Rachel was up to no good with Mark at the exact point he decided to kiss Chloe, this was still a really, really bizarre move for a guy who always felt like a really nice chap. He can say that they were on a break all he likes because while that may have been logistically true, it was still a morally wrong thing to do.
Not Accepting Full Responsibility
Not long after Ross and Rachel broke up for the first time, it appeared as if they’d been able to settle their differences. However, after finally reading her incredibly long letter and realizing that she wanted him to take full responsibility for their break-up, Ross’ ego just wouldn’t let her get away with that.
Instead of having the happily ever after both of them had been craving, they wound up ‘splitting up’ for the second time in a matter of weeks, and this time, it would be a while before they were able to reconcile their differences.
Divorce Teasing
Ross has had to go through the process of getting a divorce with three different women: Carol, Emily, and Rachel. Despite the fact that two of those two instances were very serious incidents that seemed to seriously hamper his personal life for quite some time, the gang always found it funny to mock him relentlessly about it.
Ross took it on the chin nine times out of ten, but it always felt like the kind of banter that just wasn’t needed. If anything, he should be applauded for having three different women to fall in love with him that deeply.
Mocking Phoebe
When Phoebe believes her mother lives on in the spirit of a cat, many of her closest friends rally around her and decide to go along with the idea – that is, apart from Ross.
Instead of encouraging her, he decided to be a realist and pretty much break down why this idea simply wasn’t feasible. It was a real cheap shot, and thankfully, Phoebe put him in his place and reminded him that it wasn’t his job to try and tell her how to live her life. It was a simple moment, but it was needed.
Not Enough Ben
While we saw Ben on a few separate occasions during Friends after he’d been born, as the years went on, his appearances were few and far between. Ross obviously cared deeply about his son, and nobody would ever choose to question that, but the manner in which he prioritized his friends never sat too well with us.
Perhaps if we’d had a few spin-off episodes in which we got to see their relationship develop further, this wouldn’t be as much of an issue. Sure, he wasn’t the most interesting kid in the world, but he was important to Ross’ story.
How He Tolerated Susan
Susan met Carol, began a relationship with her while she was still married to Ross and then proceeded to be incredibly mean to Ross for pretty much all ten seasons. She had absolutely no right to be as ‘stand-offish’ as she was, and yet, her behavior never appeared to change or alter.
Whenever Ross was hoping to have a nice moment with his son or perhaps Carol, it always felt like Susan was waiting around the next corner to ruin it. For some reason, more fans didn’t pick up on this.
Struggles With Joey & Rachel
The initial shock of seeing his friend Joey kissing his former girlfriend Rachel must’ve been a difficult pill to swallow for Ross, but it’s not like he hadn’t been prepared – after all, not long before that, Joey confessed to Ross that he had feelings for her.
Then, he gets incredibly drunk and makes a fool of himself in front of them both, in addition to his new partner Charlie. Instead of being happy about his own new relationship, he couldn’t get over what he seemingly believed to be a betrayal of some kind.
The Geller Cup
The Geller Cup went to the winner of the Geller Bowl, with both Ross and Monica competing for the right to win the trophy every single year. Yet despite Ross being an incredibly intelligent guy, who was also pretty creative, he couldn’t create a trophy that looked nicer than the one we saw on the show.
Of course, the prestige of winning the championship is all that really matters, and some will say they found it to be particularly endearing, but we’re not convinced enough to buy into that idea.
Ugly Naked Guy
Ross is clearly desperate to win over the affections of Ugly Naked Guy, all for the purpose of getting his apartment once he moves out of it. The fans don’t know just what kind of lengths he’ll go to in order to gain the upper hand – until Ross makes the bizarre decision to enjoy an evening of hanging out with UNG with both of them being naked.
This can be described as a difficult time in Ross’ character arc, but that still doesn’t really justify his desperate actions at this moment.
Not Noticing Gunther’s Crush
Gunther has a real issue with Ross from the moment he discovers that Ross and Rachel are an item. Despite that, Ross never seems to clock the fact that Gunther is clearly in love with her. It takes until the very last episode for Ross to discover the ‘shocking’ truth, even though it’s obviously the reason Gunther hates him.
In another world, we can picture them having intellectual conversations over a puzzle and a cup of tea. Perhaps they could even have their own sitcom where they constantly bicker but eventually make up.