The Real Reason Why Friends' Ross Was So Unlucky in Love
Ross had no one to blame for his failures but himself.
Summary
- Every Friends character has had a few bad relationships.
- In terms of romance, Ross was the unluckiest character on the show.
- His divorce lawyer pointed out the main reason for his bad luck in love.
This September marks thirty years since the first episode of NBC's iconic sitcom Friends aired, changing the television comedy landscape forever. Set in New York City, the show revolved around six people who couldn't be more different, but still managed to be friends.
The NBC sitcom followed the gang in their love lives as they were gradually led to form couples with each other. But even though every Friend character had their fair share of bad romances, Ross seems to have been the unluckiest in love.
A Perpetual Divorcee
At the beginning of Friends, Ross is left by Carol, his first wife and the mother of his son, because she has discovered that she is a lesbian. As hard as this blow is for Ross, he recovers. Then comes his relationship with Rachel, on whom he has had a crush since adolescence, but it ends ugly.
After a series of meaningless affairs, Ross meets Emily Waltham, with whom he falls in love. And the two get married after about a month of dating. However, Ross utters the wrong name at the altar, which sours their relationship and the marriage quickly ends.
Then, while the whole gang is on a trip to Las Vegas, Rachel and Ross get drunk together and accidentally get married. But since they claim they don't love each other, they seek and get a divorce, leaving Ross a three-time divorcee and without a stable relationship for the rest of Friends' ten-season run. But why is he so unlucky?
Flawed Character
Although Ross is a respected scientist and professor of paleontology, he is quite immature and has many problems. He cannot control his emotions and tends to overreact. He is prone to getting attached to people too quickly without getting to know them first. More importantly, he is very jealous and has major trust issues, which always ruins his relationships.
With this in mind, it is no wonder that Ross' every romance fails. He is the main reason for his bad luck. And he is a prime example of the saying that you have to learn to love yourself before you can try to love someone else. In this sense, his divorce lawyer gives him the perfect advice to go to therapy when Ross comes to him for help with his third divorce.
Even though Ross was a very nice guy, his insecurities kept him from being happy. He was a man-child who needed to grow up before he could try to build a relationship with another person. Unfortunately, he never did.