Why Ross Is the Worst "Friend"

As Friends fans, we all have our favorite character. Maybe we love Phoebe for her quirks or Chandler for his quips. Maybe we love Rachel for her fashion sense or Joey for his appetite. Maybe we love Monica because of her talent or we feel bad that she has those parents.

Ross isn't completely terrible. After all, he’s intelligent, attractive, and financially stable. Arguably, the Ross/Rachel dynamic is what kept the show running. There are some reasons to like Ross, but that doesn’t mean he beats the other five.

He’s Not Husband-of-the-Year

His divorce with Carol was legitimate: she loved someone else. For a time, he was justified in his envy and turbulent emotions. However, the jealousy ruined his relationship with Rachel and it poisoned other romantic and familial relationships. Despite his intelligence—and psychotherapy as a child—Ross makes no effort to seek help in coping with his feelings of betrayal and envy.

The numerous divorces became a joke in the popular show, but his divorces to Carol, Emily, and Rachel were not the only disastrous relationships in his life. Mona dumps him because of his lies and neglect. He dumps Julie for Rachel. He invites a random woman into his apartment to make Rachel jealous. He has a brief relationship with Rachel’s sister, dates a student, and kisses Joey’s ex-girlfriend before talking to Joey about his feelings.

When you really consider his romantic relationships, he's a little slimy.

Nor the World’s Greatest Dad

His relationship with Ben starts strong. He even asks Monica to show infant Ben a picture of Ross’ face while he's away, so Ben doesn’t forget him. Ben appears throughout the first several seasons and we assume that Ross spends time with him off-screen. However, the audience doesn’t see Ben after Emma’s birth.

Speaking of Emma... When Ross and Rachel split (again), Rachel is the primary caregiver of the baby. Ross is certainly involved with the child, but not as involved as her mother. And when Rachel decides to leave the country, she plans to leave Emma with her mother for a week—rather than Ross—before Emma joins her in Paris. Ross doesn’t even entertain the idea of moving with her.

Unless he has a lot of time with his children off-screen, his parenting technique is sub-par at best.

Nor Best Big Brother

It is well-known that Monica is treated terribly by her parents, especially her mother. Although Ross assures Monica that she is not as bad as her mother claims, he rarely defends Monica to either parent. After he tells his father that Monica believes her parents love Ross more than her, his father gives Monica his Porsche. Ross is incredibly offended by this reconciliation attempt and his jealousy becomes evident, once again.

When he’s dating Rachel, we learn that Monica hated him when they were kids because he constantly got his way and made her life difficult. He broke her toys and a prank with her bicycle ended with Monica suffering from a concussion. Even as an adult, he doesn’t appreciate her sacrifices and shares her childhood secrets with her parents.

As a sibling, he's selfish, not protective.

Not Even Best Paleontologist

He loses his job at the museum due to angry outbursts and taking advantage of his coworkers. His published work is often criticized by his peers. As a professor, he dates a student, and one of his lectures attempts to convince his students that he had the idea for the movie Jurassic Park. It's not exactly A+ teaching.

In the decade that we watch him, his greatest professional achievement is giving the key lecture at a conference. How does he earn this great accolade? He lies to the judge.

He’s certainly not a front-runner for awards for his scientific contributions.

Conclusion

None of the Friends characters are prefect, but Ross’ flaws are obvious and unnerving. Of all the main characters, he is the one least deserving of your love, admiration, or favoritism.