In the infamous Friends episode, “The One Where Ross Got High,” Ross has to confess to his parents-in the middle of Thanksgiving dinner-that he smoked pot in high school. After watching this episode for the one-billionth time, it occurred to me that there are actually a good handful of times throughout the ten seasons of Friends where we get the privilege of seeing Ross under the influence. Here are the four times Ross got f—ed up:
1.The One Where Nana Dies Twice
When Ross and Monica”s grandmother passes away, the gang goes to her funeral. Ross walks into an open grave and lands on his back. Ross' mom gives him her pain killers (presumed to be Vicodin or another opiate), and he gets very, very messed up on them.
2.The One With Ross” Sandwich
After his second marriage fails (virtually as soon as it starts), Ross is on edge. At work, someone eats his sandwich and his rage gets out of hand. “That sandwich was the only good thing going on in my life. Someone ate the only thing good going on in my life!” His boss sends him to a psychiatrist who gives him a “tranquilizer,” at which point Ross mellows out so severely that he purchases cotton candy and eats it in a dreamy trance.
3.The One in Vegas (Part 2)
When Ross and Rachel head out to meet the gang in Las Vegas, Ross pranks Rachel by drawing on her face while she sleeps. The pen, of course, won”t wash off, so Rachel refuses to leave the hotel room. To comfort her, Ross lets her drink alcohol from the mini bar, and ends up helping himself to some as well. One thing leads to another and next thing you know they are both blackout drunk. What do you do in Vegas when you”re blackout drunk? Well, lots of stuff, but Ross and Rachel opt for one of the lesser of Vegas evils: marriage.
4. The One Where Ross is Fine
In one of my favorite Friends episodes, Ross is dating a paleontologist named Charlie and, in a bizarre turn of events, Joey is dating Rachel (who Ross dated and has a child with-but if you don”t already know that information I honestly don”t know what to do with you). Ross makes a couple batches of margaritas and drinks most of them himself while drunkenly insisting over and over again that he is fine with Rachel and Joey dating. Poor Ross, who is NOT fine, gets so drunk that he holds a frying pan with his bare hands and then, reportedly, gets naked while dancing to the Chicago soundtrack.
Although Ross is notoriously the straight laced and nerdy of the six friends, he ends up consuming more drugs and alcohol on screen than any of them. This works out well for viewers, as David Schwimmer is hilarious and delightful to watch as a drunk/drug-addled weirdo. But while we were laughing, should we have been worried? Did Ross have a problem? I hope that if there is ever a Friends movie (which there really needs to be), they address this issue and let me know that Ross ends up triumphing over his addictions.