Friends wasn’t just about friendships, it was about family, too. Friends that are like family, and literal family, most notably in the form of siblings Ross (David Schwimmer) and Monica (Courteney Cox). They hang out more than most siblings do, especially in their adult lives. It’s kind of cool that they share friends and hang out so much, but as we’ve seen, it tends to get too weird or they get on each other’s nerves, as siblings tend to do. They may have helped each other out and had sweet moments, but Ross and Monica had some particularly cringeworthy moments, 10 of which we’re listing here.
Throwing Each Other Under The Bus
When Monica discovers why her parents don’t like Chandler, she pushes Ross to tell their parents the truth. Ross had smoked pot back in the day and blamed Chandler for it. This leads to a battle between the Geller siblings of throwing each other under the bus by revealing truths about all kinds of things to their parents to make themselves look better than the other. It’s childish and honestly, what could their parents do about it at that point? Ross and Monica are adults, it’s not like they can be grounded anymore. Thus, it renders their insane need to make the other look bad a pointless endeavor.
Monica Sitting In Ross’s Lap
Have you ever noticed this phenomenon? It doesn’t always happen, but in some episodes, Monica is sitting in Ross’s lap. How many siblings willingly sit in each other’s laps? It’s okay to be affectionate with your sibling but there is a line to be drawn, and sitting in laps should be one of them. Not only that, but why are the other friends okay with it? Why does no one else ever say anything? Apparently, it’s their normal, but it’s still cringeworthy.
Wrestling
As kids, it’s normal to roughhouse with your brothers and sisters. Rachel gets more than she bargained for when she witnesses Ross and Monica wrestling. Monica and Ross are incredibly competitive, especially with one another. One can’t be better than the other. So they revert to childhood roughhousing to prove that they can still beat one another, which just makes the whole thing look plain awkward.
Monica’s Legs
When Monica gets a new tan, it’s Ross who takes an interest, which is very troubling. He’s staring at Monica’s tanned legs in a way that no brother should ever look, to the point where even Chandler says to stop staring at Monica’s legs. Chandler’s not wrong, and we’re just as creeped out as he is. If Ross liked Monica’s tan, why didn’t he just ask where she got it to begin with instead of ogling his sister’s legs? That’s just wrong on so many levels.
Accidental Poisoning
When Monica makes kiwi lime pie, it’s a dessert that nearly kills Ross. How could she have forgotten that Ross was allergic to kiwi? Was Monica subconsciously trying to poison her brother? She did take him to the hospital to get the shot he needed and suffered a bone bruise when Ross squeezed her hand too hard, but still. The question of poisoning underlies the matter, and that’s both concerning and cringeworthy.
Discovering Monica Was With Chandler
Ross has only just gotten his new apartment in the building directly across from Monica and Rachel’s when he spots Chandler and Monica making out, on the verge of taking it further. The strange thing is, Ross doesn’t cover his eyes right away and yells at them, though they obviously can’t hear him. Ross then storms over in some kind of overprotective brother bit to beat up Chandler for having a fling with Monica (which is what Ross initially believes). Ross can’t quite get through the locked door, which also looks ridiculous. Not to mention that as soon as Monica and Chandler tell him that what they have is real, Ross’s whole outlook changes from anger to happiness. It’s a little disturbing how quickly Ross’s mood changes here, which makes us think maybe he really did have anger management issues.
Sibling Squabbles
In the early seasons when Rachel and Ross were first together, Ross is over at Monica and Rachel’s apartment frequently. This change in dynamic severely affects all three of them as Ross and Monica are constantly at one another’s throats while Rachel is a bystander that is gradually getting sick of their behavior. Their constant bickering is reminiscent of childhood and teenage sibling squabbles in which everything from bathroom privileges to choosing what to watch on TV turns into a fight, which is not appealing as the siblings are now adults.
The Routine
Monica and Ross have beloved childhood memories of Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve, which is fine. Everyone has treasured memories from their childhood. The thing is, they are a bit too obsessed with it as adults. When they get a chance to dance on the show, they take it to a whole new level when they begin performing “the routine,” something they did years before for a talent show. It may have been cute when they were kids, but as adults, it’s more along the lines of cringeworthy to dance a regimented routine with your sibling. Especially when it’s on TV.
The Shower
When Phoebe’s dollhouse catches on fire, Ross panics. He ultimately decides to extinguish it via shower–while Monica’s taking one. Why didn’t Ross warn Monica that he was trying to douse the fire so she could at least grab a towel first? Why didn’t Monica lock the door? Why didn’t Ross just dump the dollhouse in the sink and extinguish it that way? We’ll never know, but we’re still cringing over the fact that Ross barged in while his sister was taking a shower…and apparently saw Monica in a compromising position with the showerhead.
The Kissing Incident
This one has to be the worst. In a later season, Ross and Monica recall a college party that Monica and Rachel attended while Ross and Chandler were in college, and a case of mistaken identity leads to mild incest in this instance. Ross, thinking Rachel was in his bed, had gone to check on her and intended to kiss her forehead but ended up kissing her lips instead. In the dark, he couldn’t tell that he was actually kissing his sister. Likewise, Monica was unaware of the true identity of her “midnight mystery kisser.” Turns out Monica’s first kiss ever, and Ross’s first kiss with Rachel was a kiss they’d rather forget. Ick.
