Rachel may very well be Ross’ lobster, but that doesn’t mean that they were actually perfect for each other. Sure, they became the nation’s sweethearts and people really wanted to see them end up together, but the road to Rachel getting off the plane was a very bumpy one. Countless times throughout Friends, Ross Geller is far less than a perfect boyfriend, or just a friend for that matter. While they do break up several times throughout the show, they never do split up for good, despite the fact that there are several moments on the show when it would have been warranted.
Whether it’s because of something that Ross says or does, there are many moments when he deserves to be set to one side and left by Rachel. Here are 10 reasons she should have dumped him for good.
Not Supportive
The key to any relationship is supporting each other, regardless of their chosen career paths. That isn’t something that Ross actually does with Rachel when she is desperately working hard to progress in her career in fashion, despite the fact she is supposedly his dream girl.
When Rachel attended a seminar, Ross insisted on going simply so she wouldn’t go with Mark. However, he then chose to sleep and snore all the way through it. Despite the fact she sat through his boring lectures with him. The selfishness should have sent alarm bells ringing for Rachel at this stage.
Won’t Get A Divorce
The decision for Ross and Rachel to marry each other is a wild one and certainly one that they end up regretting with a hangover. While it was a fun moment for them in Las Vegas, while they were drunk getting married was never a wise idea for them.
This was made clear afterwards when they were trying to settle how to end that. Rachel clearly wanted to be divorced, but Ross didn’t want a third divorce of his life, and the fact that he took so long to make this happen should have shown to Rachel he might not be trusted.
Planning Their Future
There’s nothing like having your entire future with a woman planned out early in your relationship to scare off the other person. Well, that’s what it should have done to Rachel when Ross mapped out their future just six weeks into their relationship.
When she was scared to hold Ben, he told her that they’d have two kids and then move to Scarsdale. She did panic about the entire thing, which she was right to do as they hadn’t even said “I love you,” at this point, so perhaps she should have been questioning her decision at this early stage.
Not Reading The Letter
When Ross and Rachel got back together at the start of season four, it seemed like they might be able to make a real go of things. However, Ross clearly didn’t seem to have learnt anything from his previous mistakes when he failed to read the letter that Rachel had written.
While it was a long read (18 pages, FRONT AND BACK), she had poured her heart into writing it. When you think about how much Ross claimed to love Rachel, reading 18 pages really shouldn’t have been too hard for him. But instead, he fell asleep and then lied and claimed he read it, not just once but twice!
Just A Waitress
Ah, the list. At the time, this seemed like a good idea for Ross as he is someone who needs to break things down. Therefore, making a list of the pros and cons between Julie and Rachel seems like a good idea, until Rachel ended up seeing it.
While Julie’s con was that “She’s not Rachel,” might have been sweet, his cons for Rachel were upsetting. Claiming she was spoiled, ditsy, and ultimately, “just a waitress,” wasn’t exactly the nicest thing for Ross to do. It’s clear from this point that he doesn’t have full respect for her, but Rachel didn’t allow this to get in their way.
Stopped Being Her Friend
This moment didn’t take place while they were in a relationship, but it should have signified something to Rachel. When Ross was engaged to Emily, she clearly didn’t want Rachel to be part of their lives, to the point where Ross was actually going to stop being her friend.
This was one of the conditions for Emily to consider staying with Ross after he said Rachel’s name on their wedding day. While it’s not too unreasonable from Emily’s perspective considering the circumstances, it does show how easily he was prepared to just let Rachel go out of his life.
Not Letting Her Chase A Dream
Again, this moment wasn’t technically while they were together, although it was clear at the very end of Friends they had feelings for each other. When Rachel got her dream job in Paris, it was obviously very sad that she’d have to leave, but the group understood and accepted one day she’d be back.
Apart from Ross. He did everything he could to trap her, from getting her old job back to being a bit of a jerk around them because of his feelings. In the end, Rachel’s love for him won out, but couldn’t he just have allowed her to follow her dream, potentially following her with their daughter? After all, he didn’t seem to see Ben much anyway, so they could have worked something out, rather than showing no care about Rachel’s work-life…again.
Ross Dated Her Sister
Firstly, this was all just very weird, as why would someone ever do this in reality, but, its Friends, so you let that slide. However, surely at this point, it would be fairly normal for Rachel to potentially question them being together at any point romantically in the future.
After all, Ross dated her sister and while they weren’t exactly the closest of siblings like Ross and Monica, it would surely still be very weird and awkward at points? This would have been a good point for Rachel to draw a line under their time romantically together, just sticking as friends.
His Jealousy
Earlier we mentioned how Ross didn’t support Rachel in her work, and this was never more clear than when he became insanely jealous of her working with Mark. The pair were work colleagues, and Rachel had to spend time with him, but Ross didn’t deal with it well.
Instead, he bombarded her office with cards, flowers, and even a barbershop quartet stopped in to sing about him supporting her (which he wasn’t). The constant obsession and lack of trust should have been a breaking point for Rachel because Ross clearly didn’t believe she wasn’t cheating on him.
They Were On A Break
There’s never going to be a bigger reason for Rachel to have dumped Ross for good than when he cheated on her. Whether you sit on Ross’ side that they were on a break or not, it was clear at this moment the heartbreak that this caused Rachel.
In most walks of life, this would have stopped them from even being friends again, let alone dating each other. While she does break things off, for a very long time at this stage, it really should have been the moment that Rachel ended things for good between them.
