Top 10 Reasons Monica Geller Is Underrated

Monica spends most of the series working as a professional cook or chef in some capacity, and yet she also cooks for her friends in her spare time. She probably doesn’t always want to come home after a long day of dicing, boiling and frying to do the exact same thing all over again, but she does it anyway. Even when her buddies make ridiculous and over-the-top requests for Thanksgiving dinner (or heaven forbid, show up late), she tolerates it all, and always does it again the next year.

If you were a parent, you’d probably want a kid just like Monica: responsible, organized, and always looking out for others. And yet, Judy Geller only seems able to see Monica’s flaws rather than her many attributes. From the very first season, we see that the interactions between mother and daughter are strained, with Judy seeming critical of nearly everything Monica does. Both of the Geller parents seem to unabashedly favor Ross, and even ruin all of Monica’s childhood mementos in a flood in order to save Ross’s. Yikes... Monica is basically a saint for the way she reacts to her mom.

You’d think that based on how their parents treated them differently, Monica and Ross would have a whole lot of sibling rivalry. And while it’s not like they’re NEVER competitive with one another, that rivalry always seems secondary to the love that they clearly have for one another. Monica supports Ross through many of the ups and downs of his relationships over the years, and the two of them show time and time again how siblings can manage to be close friends as adults. Also...have you seen the routine?

Monica is someone who knows what she wants, and isn’t afraid to get serious about achieving her goals. But she is also sensitive enough to understand when to stop pushing and consider what others might need. In her relationship with Chandler, she does an excellent job of working around his commitment issues, even though we know from the start how eager she is to settle down and have babies. She’s also considerate when it comes to her friends, organizing events for them and giving thoughtful gifts. She’s even generous when it comes to strangers, like the time she makes candy for the entire building.

Monica doesn’t get nearly enough credit that in the ‘90s she is a female chef in a field that is traditionally dominated by men. She works her way up the career ladder, starting in some rough positions at the bottom, and by the end of the series is extremely successful as a head chef at a high-end restaurant. She also doesn’t take any handouts from anyone, including when Pete gives her a $20,000 tip in order to get a date. She also isn’t interested when he offers to pay for her to have a restaurant of her own.

Writing complex and realistic female characters can be tricky. Many writers for both TV and movies have certainly gotten it wrong over the years. But with Monica, the show’s creators give us a character who is unapologetic about her interest in having kids one day, loves to cook and bake, and takes on a motherly role in the friend group. But she is also competitive, athletic and occasionally ruthless when it comes to getting what she wants. She’s far from fitting into an archetypical role, and that’s one of the reasons we love her so much.

Some of Monica’s qualities can get a bit…irksome. She can be very intense when she gets passionate about something, whether it’s figuring out what a mysterious light switch does or beating the boys in a trivia quiz game. She’s also so dedicated to cleanliness that she not only keeps her own home spotless, but will even clean for a stranger if the situation calls for it. But although not all of these traits may be seen as positive ones, she embraces them all wholeheartedly and never tries to be anyone but herself.

Chandler’s job is one of the show’s punch lines. None of his friends seem to know what he does for a living, and he talks incessantly about how unfulfilling it is. Finally, in the show’s ninth season, he decides to pursue something that he’s actually interested in, and quits his job to do it. He ends up interning in the advertising industry, but this means that Monica is, for a time, the primary breadwinner in their relationship. Despite the fact that she wants their timeline to move along more quickly, she always prioritizes helping Chandler to find a job he truly loves.

Early in the series, when Monica is dating Richard, she realizes that they have a serious incompatibility, because he already has grown children, but she knows she eventually wants kids. He says he’ll go through it again if it means he can be with her, but she makes the difficult decision that they should break up, because she doesn’t want to force him to do something like that. Later, when she and Chandler start to talk about marriage, she realizes that Chandler might be afraid of committing to her, and she beats him to the punch by starting to propose to him before he can do it himself.

Monica and Rachel were close friends as teenagers, but over the years they drifted apart and went their separate ways, with Monica living in the city and Rachel following a more conventional path towards marrying a wealthy man. When Rachel runs out on her wedding though, she goes to Monica for help, who didn’t even get an invite to the big day. Regardless, Monica lets Rachel move in with her, which kicks off the action of the show. In the pilot episode Monica delivers some of her signature honesty when she delivers this instantly iconic line.