The 15 Worst Things Ross From “Friends” Ever Did

David Schwimmer is one of the best comedic actors of his generation. He’s a huge reason why “Friends” was such a worldwide success, and more often than not his line deliveries and expressions had me rolling with laughter.

… Ross Geller, on the other hand, is one of the most problematic sitcom characters I’ve ever seen. He’s funny, sure, but it’s a mystery as to why these people shared their lives with this maniac for as long as they did. Here are my picks for the top fifteen worst things Ross did on “Friends”. I probably could’ve made a top one hundred if I didn’t have a day job.

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15 – Not Letting Phoebe Believe Her Mother Is A Cat

The whole “Phoebe thinks her mum is a cat” plotline is weird and out of place, but even so Ross still acts like a dick about the whole thing.

A logical person knows a ghost can’t possess a cat (or that ghosts aren’t real in the first place) but a good friend should’ve comforted her all the same. Basically, Ross was being too standoffish from the start.

14 – Dumping Bonnie After She Went Bald

Would I have done the same? Probably, but in the context of the show Ross comes across as quite shallow and vain.

Bonnie seemed like a good gal, and that hair would grow back eventually … so why dump her hours after she did a brave thing and shaved her head?

This would rank much higher on the “Worst Things Rachel Green Did” list. The fact this is only fourteenth place on Ross’s goes to show how often he overstepped the line in this show.

13 – Co-Founding The “I Hate Rachel Green” Club

I don’t really blame Ross for having an irrational vendetta against Rachel in high school, on account of him being young and spurned. Starting a whole club about it, however, is a bit weird.

That club wouldn’t have made this list if it had stopped there … but Ross and Will started that horrible rumour about Rachel which even spread to other schools. That’s an extremely unkind and short-sighted thing to do.

12 – Not Wanting Ben To Play With A Doll

“Friends” is a show that aired in the 90’s and 00’s, so obviously some of its plotlines will have aged worse than others. One of these plotlines is Ross’s fragile masculinity.

There’s a few times in the show where he oversteps his bounds (including one further down on this list …), but not letting Ben play with a doll he likes is just sad, egotistical parenting.

11 – Downplaying Rachel’s Career

This entry could’ve placed anywhere on this list, as it’s quite vague and it’s arguably Ross’s most toxic trait. He never gave Rachel the time of day when it came to her career aspirations – something that affected their relationship from Season 2 all the way to Season 10.

One of the “cons” on his list about Rachel was the fact that she’s “Just a waitress”. In the series finale, he doesn’t want her to go to Paris and realise her dreams. In his mind, I think, he wants to be the bread-winner of the relationship – a sexist and antiquated ideology.

10 – Fake Outing Chandler On Their School Alumni Website

Look .. I never said the problematic things Ross did on the show couldn’t be funny.

Chandler and Ross’s battle on the alumni website made for one of the best episodes of Season 9. Was it a douche move from Ross to have Chandler fake out himself as gay? Probably, but despite it being a little homophobic I was still laughing my head off.

9 – Saying “Rachel” At The Altar

This one is more of an honest mistake than some of the character flaws elsewhere in this list, but it was still a mistake that affected a lot of people. In essence, saying “Rachel” at the altar made a lot of people’s lives hell.

Poor Emily had to bear the brunt of it all. Her big day was ruined and all the money spent on the ceremony went down the drain. Everyone who flew out to London also had their money wasted.

It was probably for the best in the end, however, as Ross and Emily weren’t a good pair.

8 – Shunning A Male Nanny

Not letting Ben play with a doll was a poor bit of parenting, but Ross not comprehending that a nanny could be male actively affected someone’s livelihood.

Due to Ross’s blatant sexism and fragile masculinity, a male nanny was discriminated against getting a job. These days, Ross could’ve been sued to high heaven.

7 – Making A Secret Sex Tape Of Him And Rachel

Like saying “Rachel” at the altar, this one could be chalked down to a mistake again. If Ross had immediately destroyed the accidental sex tape I wouldn’t have mentioned it on this list … but he didn’t.

He saved the tape and “intended to destroy it later”, and even used it as leverage in the argument against Rachel. That’s just the kind of guy he is.

6 – Kissing A Semi-Conscious “Rachel” (Who Was Actually Monica)

Everyone can agree that Ross kissing Monica at a house party was weird and uncomfortable and a mistake by all parties. What I can’t forgive, however, was his original intention.

He claims to have gone in to kiss a passed-out Rachel’s forehead (a little weird to begin with) before he “just so happened” to kiss her on the lips. If he hadn’t dated a student, I’d say this was the most rapey thing he ever did.

5 – Kissing Charlie

A lot of Ross’s worst moments are to do with his relationships, but this one is primiarly due to him being an awful friend.

Ross had been lusting after Charlie for many episodes by this point, and he didn’t even wait for five minutes after Charlie and Joey had broken up before making his move. If there’s a bro code, Ross shattered it.

4 – Trying To Kiss His Cousin

That’s three kissing faux-pas in a row. Way to go Ross, you pervert!

Look, I get it. Denise Richards is one of the hottest women I’ve ever seen. But she’s your cousin! Have you no shame?

3 – Not Getting The Annulment

We’ve made it, ladies and gentlemen – these worst three Ross missteps in the series proved just how terrible of a person he is. I’d even go as far as saying these make him irredeemable.

Ross gets drunkenly married to Rachel in Vegas, and both parties agree to annul the marriage … or so everyone thought. Ross decides it would be prudent to lie and pretend to have gotten the annulment.

I know it pained him to be known as the guy who got three divorces, but this was a step too far. He lied to Rachel and tricked her into maintaining a legally binding contract. I’m pretty sure he should’ve gone to prison for this.

2 – Dating A Student

By this point in the series, Ross was well in his thirties. Elizabeth, on the other hand, couldn’t have been much older than eighteen. People get cancelled over far less these days.

Ross should’ve been a responsible teacher – a responsible adult – and rejected Elizabeth’s advances. He wasn’t exactly in short supply of female prospects his age. His friendship circle should’ve abandonned him for this kind of noncing.

1 – Cheating On Rachel

Were Ross and Rachel on a break? It’s a question that has plagued even the wisest of philosophers, but my position is clear nonetheless – Ross was out of his goddamn mind if he thought sleeping with the Xerox girl wasn’t a big deal.

The whole saga started with Ross being a very untrusting boyfriend by not allowing Rachel to be left alone with Mark (another of their toxic relationship traits on full display), and then Ross sleeps with someone else after an argument. They weren’t broken up by any means, just in a sort of cool-down period.

Basically, Ross is a cheater in my books. Rachel was well within her rights to break up with him over this, and Ross should’ve done more to apologise. Oh, and they should’ve never spoken to each other again. And Ross should’ve been outcast from the friendship group.

Did I mention that Ross is a terrible person? Have I made that clear yet?

Aaaand that’s my list! You can check out some of my latest blog posts below: