Some viewers might have found him slightly irritating at times, but there’s no doubt that Ross Geller is one of Friends’ greatest characters. His relationship with Rachel Greene is the most important plot from the show, and he is involved in countless major moments throughout the series.
With several weddings, births, and one major break (or were they?) there is a lot going on in Ross’ life during the series. More happens to Ross than any other member of the group, and because of that he certainly goes through plenty of changes during the show. While some of his alterations are huge and others aren’t, there’s no doubt that he grows as a person. Here are the 10 biggest changes that Ross goes through during Friends.
He Experiments
Something that is clear about Ross Geller is that he’s not scared to experiment. Throughout the series, he does several things outside of his comfort zone in order to shake things up in his life and stay young, which is something that few people in the group do.
During Friends, Ross ends up trying out a spray tan and teeth whitening, as well as trying out some leather pants. None of them tends to work out in the way that Ross hopes, but there’s no doubt that he is willing to try things.
His Work Life
Something that changes for Ross throughout the series is his working life. He really builds a fantastic career for himself throughout the show, eventually landing his dream job of being able to teach other people as a professor, which he does very well.
While Ross is never out of work throughout the show, being one of the group members who is always stable financially, he certainly grows his own career. This is shown when he gets the chance to go to Barbados to give a keynote speech.
His Hair
This is a physical appearance that changes countless times throughout the series. While he never gets a classic haircut that had a cultural impact like Rachel did, things do certainly improve for him throughout the series in terms of his haircut.
At the start of the show, Ross tends to go very crazy with the amount of wax that he puts in, which leads to his hair looking quite wild at times. Thankfully, he tends to relax on that over the course of the show.
Mental Struggles
Unfortunately, not everything about Ross Geller changes for the better throughout Friends, with one issue clearly being his mental health. There are a lot of issues that take place for Ross that impact his mental health from his three failed marriages to problems at work, things don’t always run smoothly.
It’s not always easy for Ross at times, and you can see the stress and issues really start to build up and impact him. Ross ends up taking pills for rage during the show, proving just how bad the situation gets, and while he manages to stay upbeat, it is something that affects him.
He Gets Married In London
When we first meet Ross in Friends, he is going through a difficult period of his life. Having just been divorced from his pregnant ex-wife who is a lesbian, it knocks his confidence. However, he works hard to find love again, and it seems in Emily that he manages to do that.
The pair move quite fast with things and end up engaged, with a date set and a wedding takes place in England. This leads to Ross getting married for the second time in his life, but of course, it doesn’t last as he says Rachel’s name at the altar.
He Gets Married In Las Vegas
The international wedding wasn’t enough for Ross, so he added another to his Bingo collection, by getting married (while drunk,) in Las Vegas. This time, he manages to say the right name, mainly because that name is Rachel and it is the person he has always loved.
Of course, this is another marriage that doesn’t work, mainly because they weren’t even in a relationship in the build-up to this moment. It was simply a drunken mistake and a moment of madness that did go on to cause major issues in regards to getting divorced.
His Kindness
Something that is clear throughout Friends is that Ross is a very kind person. He is constantly thinking about others and is always there to lend help whether that be financially or just through talking and listening, which is an underrated trait of his.
He shows his kindness when he purchases a bike for Phoebe, or when he gets her tickets to go see Sting, despite her best efforts. He also always helps out his sister when he gets the chance and spends tons of time taking fake wedding photos with Chandler to try and help him out after the wedding.
Anger Issues
As we mentioned earlier, not all of Ross Geller’s changes were massively positive. Sadly, he did begin to really develop some anger issues throughout the series, as he became more frustrated over simple things, often snapping and losing his cool at times.
This is most clear when he screams at his boss at work over a sandwich when ends up resulting in him needing some time off. He consistently snaps at people and it’s something he gets worse at during the series.
He Has Two Children
At the start of Friends, we know that Ross is going to become a father, as Carol is pregnant and they enjoy having a baby boy, Ben. This changes Ross’ life for obvious reasons as he now has someone to be responsible for, and he is a great father.
Later on in the series, Ross gains another child, a daughter. He has Emma with Rachel, his one true love despite the fact that they weren’t together in a relationship when she was conceived or when she gave birth, but it was another big change for him nonetheless.
He Finally Gets His Lobster
Throughout all of Ross Geller’s adult life, he has wanted to be in a relationship with Rachel Greene. While he does eventually get that, his own behavior ends it. It then seems like they will never end up together, with Rachel moving to Paris, but he continues to believe and does everything he can to get her off the plane.
Of course, because she’s his lobster, Rachel gets off the plane and the two of them end the series together, as a couple. It’s the number one change that he wants to happen from the first episode and in the last one, they get to be together.
