“ I KNOW! ” —A phrase Monica often says.



Monica E. Geller is a fictional character on the popular U.S. television sitcom Friends (1994–2004), played by Courteney Cox. Monica was known as the "Mother Hen" of the group and her Greenwich Village apartment was one of the group's main gathering places.

Contents show]

Background

Early Life

Monica was born April 22, 1969. Monica is Ross' younger sister, and the daughter of Jack and Judy Geller. Monica, like the rest of her family, is Jewish. She had a slightly difficult childhood from Ross, characterized by the bickering which took place between her and her brother (some culminating in memorable events such as the Geller Cup, which took place every Thanksgiving). She also had, and still has, a difficult relationship with her parents (especially with her mother) who unconsciously favors Ross over her on various occasions and usually cares about him more than Monica. (Her father did try to fix this by giving her his Porsche in "The One Where Rosita Dies").

High school was a difficult time for Monica, who gained a substantial amount of weight and peaked at 255 pounds. She had few friends; her best friend being Rachel Greene. For prom, she even had a date: Roy Gublik. Her first kiss, however, was (by accident) with her brother, Ross.[9] She met Chandler Bing at her parents' house on Thanksgiving 1987. She initially had a crush on him (and even became a chef because he told her that he liked her macaroni and cheese) until she overheard him referring to her as Ross' "fat sister." The shock was so great for her that she became determined to lose all her extra weight by the next time he would see her. She accomplished this goal by Thanksgiving 1988.[10] She unintentionally got back at him by dropping a knife and severing one of his toes during a failed attempt to get him naked and seduce him.

After college, Monica pursued a life in New York as a chef at Iridium. She also lived with Phoebe Buffay, across the hall from Chandler. Phoebe later moved out because she was worried that their friendship would suffer due to Monica's obsessive tidiness. She had a crush on Joey Tribbiani when he first moved in with Chandler, although he repelled her by stripping naked in her apartment when she offered some lemonade the day they met.[11]

Personality

This section is (partially) copied from Wikipedia. There may be an updated version available.

While she is kind, caring and friendly, Monica is perhaps most notorious for her obsessive cleanliness (classifying places by cleanliness, where 'Monica-clean' is even cleaner than 'Health-Department-clean'[12]). She is also known to talk abnormally loudly (such as in "The One With The Apothecary Table") and for her bossiness and unnatural organizational skills (such as "The One On The Last Night"). Phoebe and Rachel also call her high-maintenance.[13] Aside from being a neat-freak, Monica can also be bossy and somewhat competitive, hating to lose in competitions.

Cleanliness and Orderliness

"Neat Freak" Monica is comically obsessive about the state of her apartment. She loves cleaning, describing a dry-cleaning establishment as her Disneyland. This personality trait becomes progressively exaggerated as the series progresses. Examples of this tendency include:

In "The One With The Embryos", we learn that she organizes towels into 11 categories, including "everyday use", "fancy", "guest", and "fancy guest". Later, boxes can be seen with other categories, "kitchen", "old", and "beach". This leaves 4 of the 11 categories unknown to the audience.

According to Rachel, she cleans the toilet 17 times a day (even if someone is using it).

She labels everything, from dishes to photographs. She even numbers the mugs in her kitchen so that if one of them goes missing, she will know which one is missing.

She tries acting like a kook. She pretends that she doesn't care that she has left her shoes in the living room, only to be rendered unable to sleep because she's left to wonder if she should go out and get them.

She becomes anxious when Rachel moves the green ottoman while cleaning the apartment. Chandler says to Rachel, "Thank God you didn't try to fan out the magazines. I mean, she'll scratch your eyes right out."

She has admitted to purchasing car-cleaning supplies because there was a dirty car parked out front of the building. She washed it, and six others. [14]

When Monica tries to force Rachel to go to the eye doctor, Rachel knocks over a box of cereal in an attempt to distract Monica. Monica pretends that she isn't bothered by this, only to turn around and whine to Chandler about it before she leaves with Rachel. (Chandler agrees to clean up the mess.) [15]

On Rachel's last night in the apartment, she fails to pack when she is supposed to. She defends herself by claiming that packing her belongings is a gift for Monica. Monica is happy to hear this, and she even apologizes for not getting Rachel a gift.

She is obsessive to the point that she cleans her cleaning supplies, using a Dustbuster to remove dirt from a vacuum cleaner and wishing there was a smaller vacuum to clean the Dustbuster.

When Phoebe says they can't meet because she is "cleaning and organizing" her apartment before Monica "forgets" and goes to Phoebe's apartment with her label maker.

After her birthday party, Rachel offers to help Monica clean up. Monica replies, "Are you kidding? You had your party. Now I'll have mine!" [16]

When she finds out that Phoebe has brought rats to Rachel's birthday party, Monica is rendered shell-shocked and she mutters to herself, "So this is what a stroke feels like."

When Rachel tells Phoebe about her kiss with Gavin, Monica asks how she didn't see it when it was on her balcony. Phoebe replies, "It was after the party. You were probably ironing the wrapping paper." Monica looks offended, but then replies, "Oh, yeah," reminiscing happily. [17]

Chandler cleans the apartment as a surprise for Monica. Ross sees him doing this and says that Monica will kill Chandler if everything is not back in exactly the same place. Monica returns home after a hard day at work and notices that the apartment is different, even though it appears the same.

Monica discovers that none of Chandler's CDs are in the right cases when he states, "If I can't find the right case, I just put it in the nearest one." Monica responds nervously, "Okay. No need to panic. Deep breaths, everyone. I'll just have to spend some time putting them back in the right cases."

In "The One With The Stain", Monica comes home to find that the apartment has been cleaned... but not by Chandler. Monica asks, "Oh, no. Was I cleaning in my sleep again?" Chandler replies, "I got a maid." Monica nervously says, "I hope that by 'maid', you mean 'mistress.' 'Cause if some other woman was here cleaning, then --" Chandler tells her, "Honey, I know you don't like to relinquish control." Monica argues, " 'Relinquish' is just a fancy word for 'lose'!" When she becomes anxious about the maid, she tells Chandler, "Usually when I'm this anxious, I clean!"

In "The One With Rachel's Other Sister", Rachel and her sister, Amy, have a fight. Rachel accidentally breaks a plate from Monica's and Chandler's wedding china, causing Monica to nearly faint.

In "The One Where Ross Is Fine", Monica and Chandler are given a binder about adoption, which is perfectly neat and organized. Monica whispers to Chandler, "I think I just had a tiny orgasm." She also forces Chandler wash his hands before he touches the binder because, "It's so pretty and white."

When Monica and Chandler discuss having a baby, Monica panics that the baby's stuff will take up so much space that there will be no room for the "ribbon drawer," causing her to scream, "Where will all the ribbons go?!" Chandler suggests they make a baby right now before Monica changes her mind, and Monica says she might have to fake it because she's, "a little shook up."

One of the reasons why Monica is able to keep such a clean apartment is because she has a secret closet full of junk. She is deeply ashamed of this, calling herself "sick." She will not allow Chandler to put anything in the closet because he might mess it up. [18]

When Chandler is searching for a job, Monica spends "eight hours with [her] label maker," organizing a file system in which she has researched and written about tons of different job fields. Chandler ends up picking the first one and apologizes for all her wasted hard work, to which Monica replies that it was immensely fun and she doesn't mind at all.

At one point, Monica is excited about organizing all the photos. She shows Rachel a prototype: a picture of her old dog at her birthday party. Monica says she can find the picture under "birthdays," "dogs," or "dead." When Monica asks Rachel to pass her the box of organized photos and Rachel accidentally spills them, Monica freaks out.

While dating Monica, Richard makes the bed as a surprise for his girlfriend. Monica remakes it, explaining that the label should be on the other side and going into detail about the other mistakes.

When Ross dates a girl with an unbelievably messy apartment and finally breaks it off with her, Monica shows up at her door with a bucket full of soap suds and a broom. She asks the woman if she can clean her apartment, saying she won't be able to sleep if the woman doesn't let her clean it. When the door is slammed in her face, Monica decides to clean the door frame instead.

In "The One With The Two Parties", Monica hosts Rachel's birthday party and has everyone write down their most embarrassing memory. She repeatedly reminds everyone to put the covers back on the markers, or they'll dry up.

Competitiveness

Monica is highly competitive, allegedly throwing a plate in a fit of rage during a game of Pictionary and claiming "rules help control the fun!"

When Joey and Ross were casually tossing a ball back and forth, Monica joined in and threw the ball too hard at Ross to which he exclaimed, "Monica, stop throwing the ball so hard! We're on the same team." Sometimes, however, she takes her competitive nature too far. One dramatic example of this was when Monica impulsively gambled her and Rachel's apartment during a trivia game created by Ross. When she and Rachel then lost the final question, they were forced to swap apartments with Chandler and Joey. However, they won their apartment back several months later by agreeing to kiss for one minute.

Monica also demonstrates athletic prowess, which, coupled with her competitive streak, makes her formidable, especially in foosball. During the group's trip to Barbados, Monica became obsessed with beating Phoebe's boyfriend, Mike, at table tennis, and the two became engaged in a marathon match, lasting hours. Sometimes, however, Monica becomes too rough. While attempting to give Chandler a sensuous massage, she hurts him to the point of his crying out. Later during the episode she becomes very upset that she "loses" at giving massages until Chandler says, "You give the worlds best worst massages," which immensely cheers her up.[19] Moreover, she held firm in an arm wrestle against Chandler.[20] Also, in their youth, Monica broke Ross' nose when a game of touch football turned ugly in an attempt to win the "Geller Cup." The cup was thrown into a nearby lake. What Ross didn't know was that Monica jumped into the lake to retrieve it.[21] In the series finale, while trying to rescue the birds Joey bought, she managed to destroy the foosball table, without using tools for most of the process.

Monica's competitiveness could stem from her constant attempts to make her parents proud of her, and for her to be praised, as opposed to living in Ross' shadow all the time. It could also stem from her childhood and teenage insecurities, particularly as her best friend, Rachel, was a popular school diva with several boyfriends, whereas Monica was obese and relatively unliked.

Bossiness

Monica is notoriously bossy, and she is often referred to as such by her friends. Her controlling behavior is best seen in her relationship with Chandler, where she frequently wins the upper hand in their disputes. After becoming a couple, Chandler asks, "So I really don't get to win [arguments] anymore?" Monica replies, "How often did you ever really win, anyway?"

Chandler has notably won a dispute with Monica. After finding that her parents have squandered her wedding fund, Monica turns to Chandler for help. He reveals that he has a considerable amount of money, and he is outraged when Monica wants to spend the entire fortune on the wedding. Chandler refuses, and Monica later apologizes.[22]

The following are more examples of Monica's controlling behavior:

When she becomes Phoebe's wedding planner, she drives Phoebe insane by barking orders military style. She ruins the rehearsal dinner by rushing Phoebe through her speech and making sure everything is spotlessly perfect, even if no one likes it. Phoebe becomes fed up and fires Monica in front of everyone.

Monica and Phoebe co-ordinate Rachel's surprise birthday party. Monica takes charge of everything except cups and ice, for which she gives Phoebe responsibility. To pay Monica back, Phoebe surprises her by bringing hundreds of plastic cups (which she even decorates with) and various types of ice, including crushed, cubed, and dry mystical. [23]

While Monica and Phoebe are living together, Monica apologizes to Phoebe for leaving lipstick on the phone. When Phoebe tells her that she didn't, Monica replies, "Oh. Well, then it must have been you."[11]

Series arc

In the first episode, Rachel goes to Monica after leaving Barry at the altar. Rachel decides, more or less

without any consultation with Monica, to move in with her. During the season, Monica and Rachel once again become best friends and Monica helps her get independent and not use her father's money anymore, even making her cut all of her credit cards and get a job in Central Perk. Monica also hosts Thanksgiving for the first time that year and she tries to make all her friends happy by making everything they asked her to. Unfortunately, when they leave the apartment and forget the keys, everything gets destroyed and Monica breaks down crying. In "The One With The Fake Monica", when Monica's credit card is stolen, she, along with Phoebe and Rachel, decides to catch the thief, but Monica begins a friendship with her in attempt to make her life more interesting, but the pretender gets put in jail. In the pre-ultimate episode, while waiting for Ross' child to be born with the rest of the gang, she reveals her strong desire to have a child and shows jealousy of a woman that birthed twins. Later in the episode Ben Geller, her nephew is born and she is incredibly happy, saying to him that she'll "always have candy."

The season doesn't start very well for Monica. Ross is dating Julie, not knowing that Rachel has fallen for him. Monica becomes friends with Julie for Ross' sake, which causes problems between her and jealous Rachel. She begs Phoebe to give her a haircut to make her hair look like Demi Moore's, but Phoebe messes it all up by confusing Demi Moore with Dudley Moore and making her hair look ridiculous. Monica also loses her job and she remains single for quite some time. When the gang watches the videotape where Monica and Rachel are getting ready for the prom, they see that Ross intended to take Rachel to their high-school prom when Rachel's date, Chip Matthews didn't turn up, she feels proud and is very pleased to see her brother and best friend start a romantic relationship. When she caters a party for a friend of her father, Richard Burke, she falls in love with him. This is the start of a long-term relationship, with a lot of troubles: They had to face revealing their relationship to Monica's parents, who don't like the idea of them dating because of the age difference.[24] Richard bonds with Joey and Chandler, which interferes with his quality time with Monica. The problem is solved when it's revealed that they see him as a father-figure.[25] Monica also reluctantly takes a job at Moondance Diner, where she has to wear a blonde wig, roller skates and massive fake breasts. In the season finale, Richard admits that he doesn't see kids in their future because he dislikes the idea of his life 'just beginning' when their children go to college since he would be an old man. Monica, who wants to have children, breaks up with him. Later, she describes getting over him as one of the hardest things she ever had to do.[26]

It is at the Moondance Diner that Monica meets Julio, a waiter, who loves to write poems. Julio writes a poem about an empty vase, and Phoebe tells her that it's a poem about how Monica's an empty vase. She confronts him about this and Julio admits that the poem is about the vapidity of American women in general, and Monica dumps him because of his offensive poem, sending a barbershop quartet to the restaurant to diss him. When Rachel and Ross break up, Monica becomes very distraught.[27] She (along with Phoebe, Joey and Chandler) also finds herself caught in the crossfire when the bitter exes constantly bicker. Monica meets Pete Becker, a man who made billions from designing a widely-used software (which is, according to Chandler, used by "every office in the world"). Pete courts her, but Monica insists that she is not attracted to him. He wins her over, and they have their first date in Italy for pizza. She still does not have feelings for him.

Later, he offers her the head chef position at a restaurant he has bought. Monica won't take the job because she thinks he still has feelings for her and doesn't want to hurt him. Pete kisses her when she tries to leave, and Monica finally becomes attracted to him. They date for a couple of months until Pete's obsession with becoming the next Ultimate Fighting Champion leads Monica to call it off, because she likes him too much to watch him get hurt.[28] When Monica becomes despondent due to being single once more, Chandler offers to be her boyfriend ... which she finds laughable. While on vacation in Montauk, where Phoebe tries to find out more about her parents, Chandler tries to convince her to tell her why she's so opposed to him being her boyfriend and he also attempts to help her to realize that he would make a good boyfriend, but Monica tells him that he's not "boyfriend material, he's Chandler".

When Monica has to visit the eye doctor, she gets a surprise: Timothy Burke, the son of Richard, works at his father's practice. They become attracted to each other and decide to date, even if her friends were giving her a hard time and making jokes, but she shuts them up reminding everyone how bad they've screwed up in their relationships, saying that Ross married a lesbian, Rachel left Barry at the alter, Phoebe fell in love with a gay ice dancer, Joey threw his girlfriend's wooden leg in the fire and Chandler kissed Joey's girlfriend . When she invites him to celebrate Thanksgiving together, they break up because it's too weird for them both after they share a kiss that reminds Monica of kissing Richard. When Monica writes a terrible restaurant review, the owner tracks her down and confronts her. After she shows him how to cook, she is offered the job of head chef. She decides to take the job and is instantly hated by the staff because she is replacing their relative. Monica hires Joey for the sole purpose of firing him in front of his co-workers so she will come across as someone they shouldn't mess with. The plan works, and the staff decides to treat Monica with respect. In an escalated contest between Monica, Rachel, Joey and Chandler, Monica bets the apartment. Rachel and Monica lose the contest thanks to not knowing what Chandler's job is, and they are forced to switch apartments with Joey. Monica tries to make the best of the situation by typing out the carpets and refinishing the hardwood floors underneath to make the apartment nicer for her and Rachel, but it is later revealed that she is sleeping in a ball on the floor in Chandler's former room, due to the fact that it's too small for her bed. A few months later, Monica and Rachel win their old apartment back by sharing a one-minute kiss in front of Joey and Chandler.

In the season finale, Monica becomes depressed at Ross and Emily's rehearsal dinner. For one thing, Ross is getting married for a second time while Monica doesn't even have a boyfriend. Not only that, but her mother chips away at Monica's ego by suggesting that she'll never get married. Finally, a stranger at the rehearsal dinner mistakes Monica for Ross' mother. Deciding that a night of meaningless sex will make her feel better, Monica goes into Joey and Chandler's room searching for Joey, but finds Chandler instead, which is later revealed in "TOW The Truth About London". [29] When Chandler attempts to console her, telling her he thinks she is the most beautiful woman he's seen, Monica throws herself at him and spends the night with him. The next day, things are quite awkward between them. When they meet up at the wedding, they agree that sleeping together was a stupid thing to do. But this is not enough to keep them from agreeing to meet up again.

Chandler and Monica agree that they won't have sex again once they get back to New York, but decide there's no reason they can't keep doing it as long as they're in London. But every time they try to find a place to be together, they are interrupted. Upon their return to New York, they initially agree to stick to their "not in New York" rule. Moments after Chandler leaves her apartment, Monica starts to follow after him. She stops just before reaching the door, only to have Chandler re-enter her apartment and say, "I'm still on London time. Does that count?" Monica enthusiastically agrees that it counts, and they kiss. [10]

Chandler and Monica decide to hide their relationship from the others just so that nothing can go wrong, but eventually everyone finds out. Joey is the first to discover the relationship, and he is also the only one to actually figure it out without either hearing them or seeing them together. When Chandler and Monica return from a disastrous weekend get-away, they both tell Joey that they saw Donald Trump waiting for an elevator. The hotel calls and leaves a message for Chandler, announcing that they found an eyelash curler in his room. When Monica mentions that she lost her eyelash curler, Joey puts the evidence together and realizes that Monica and Chandler are involved. The couple drags him into a bedroom and beg him to keep their secret, which he agrees to. Rachel finds out about the relationship when she overhears a kind of sexual conversation between Monica and Chandler on the phone. Phoebe, who is standing in Ugly Naked Guy's apartment, discovers their relationship when she looks through the window in the living room and, wanting to greet Monica and Chandler, accidentally sees them having sex and freaks out. Rachel and Phoebe decide to mess with Monica and Chandler to expose their relationship and to pay them back for keeping it a secret, resulting in an escalating game of chicken where Phoebe and Chandler pretend they want to sleep with each other and hope that the other will back out first. When things get as far as a kiss, Chandler breaks and tells Phoebe he can't have sex with her because he's in love with Monica. Monica hears this and tells him that she loves him, too.

Ross finds out when he's showing his boss, Donald, his new apartment ... which just happens to be the place where Ugly Naked Guy used to live. He also looks through the same window Phoebe did, and, even thought a minute before he assured his boss that he doesn't have any anger issues anymore, when he sees them kissing, he starts yelling and immediately storms off to go and confront them. Chandler tells him that they are "not just messing around, and that he loves her". Monica and Chandler decide to take a trip to Vegas to celebrate their anniversary. This doesn't go really well at first: Phoebe accidentally lets it slip that Monica had lunch with Richard Burke, which makes Chandler jealous. Chandler and Monica make up and start gambling in the casino. They make the ultimate bet: If Monica throws a hard eight, they'll get married. When Monica throws a hard eight, they start making plans to get married. They steal a blue sweatshirt from the hotel gift shop so that Monica will have something new, borrowed, and blue before they go to a wedding chapel. They are waiting their turn to go in and get married when they see a very drunk Ross and Rachel stumbling out of the chapel.

Instead of getting married, Chandler and Monica decide to move in with each other. Their decision forces Rachel to move out of the apartment and to live with Phoebe. The couple argue about what they should do with the spare bedroom: Chandler wants to turn it into a game room, while Monica wants to turn it into a guest room and Monica's idea wins. Things become tense during Thanksgiving dinner, due to the fact that Monica's parents (who don't know that Monica and Chandler are dating) don't like Chandler. Chandler's plan is to be very charming and to make them like him, then tell them that he is dating Monica and that he is living with her. He sucks up to the Gellers, unfortunately not with much success, like asking Monica's dad is it "snowing outside" when clearing dandruff off his coat, saying that her mom's blouse is very "tight". It's revealed that they think he's "stoned again", which leaves Chandler very confused. Ross finally admits that he was the one who was smoking pot and that he falsely accused Chandler to protect himself, and to this day he never told his parents the truth, and that's why they don't like him. Monica makes Ross tell them the truth, which leads to Ross and Monica spilling each other's secrets they hid from their parents. Shocked by this, The Gellers take a liking to Chandler and thank him for standing by Ross during his "drug problems" and for "taking on Monica as well."

Chandler wants to propose to Monica during a romantic dinner, but the evening is ruined by Richard Burke coming into the restaurant and sitting next to them. Things become worse when Chandler says that he doesn't want to get married at all, wanting to throw Monica off the track so his marriage proposal will be a surprise. Monica doesn't take this very well. Richard shows up at the restaurant where Monica works and declares his love for her, saying that he wants to marry her. Monica becomes conflicted, torn between the two men who love her. Her confusion is ended when Joey tells her about Chandler's plans, and she accepts Chandler's proposal.

Monica and Chandler start to prepare for their wedding, which causes all kinds of problems:

Monica's parents have spent her wedding fund on the beach house. Monica attempts to convince Chandler to use his savings to pay for her dream wedding, which is something he initially refuses to do. The problem is resolved when Chandler tells Monica about his dreams for them, and Monica realizes that she doesn't want a wedding. Instead, she wants the same thing Chandler does: a marriage.

They can't take a good engagement picture because Chandler always looks weird. This problem is solved when he is replaced by Joey.

They can't find a decent minister for the wedding, which leads to Joey agreeing to become officiated so he can marry them.

Monica finds the dress of her dreams, but another bride-to-be wants the same dress. The other bride books The Swing Kings for her wedding reception, and she is only willing to let Chandler and Monica have the band for their reception if Monica gives up her dress. The problem is resolved when Monica puts Chandler's dream ahead of her own, exchanging her dream dress for Chandler's dream band.

The wedding itself is a bit problematic as well:

Chandler's parents can't get along.

Chandler panics when he hears someone refer to him and Monica as "The Bings," triggering his fear of marriage and causing him to go into hiding.

Phoebe finds a pregnancy test in the garbage in Monica's bathroom, assuming that Monica is pregnant, making Chandler, who overhears this, run away again.

Joey is stuck at the set of the movie he's shooting, and he almost misses out on his chance to perform the ceremony.

Monica and Chandler are finally married, and Monica gets out of control as she unwraps all the wedding presents without Chandler. While Rachel's pregnancy has just begun, Monica is very excited to learn that her brother is the father of her best friend's child (Meaning she will be a blood-related aunt to the child). When going to the honeymoon, the couple that's always in the line before them, Greg and Jenny, gets their seats in the first class while Monica and Chandler get nothing, and also almost get the honeymoon suite before them. Later Monica stresses about the fact that they gave her and Chandler a fake phone number. (It turns out that Greg and Jenny gave them an outdated number.) While Rachel is at the end of her pregnancy, Monica and Phoebe bet on when the baby will be born. Monica always bets that it will be very soon, losing lots of money to Phoebe. Ross and Rachel join in on the bet, and Monica loses to them as well. While Rachel is in labor, Monica and Chandler decide they want to have a child and try to make one in a janitor's closet. Rachel finally gives birth to her and Ross' baby Emma and Monica is very pleased with her newborn niece.

Monica and Chandler decide to have babies, but Chandler accidentally takes a job in Tulsa (he fell asleep in a meeting). This restricts their time for trying, but Chandler only needs to stay in Tulsa for 4 days a week. Monica almost goes with him, but she accepts her dream job in New York, meaning she stays in New York while Chandler is living in two cities. The two manage, but after being forced to stay away at Christmas and New Years Eve, Chandler quits and moves back. After trying for the year, they decide to visit a fertility clinic. Heartbroken over the fact that the chances of them conceiving a child are slim to none, they discuss their options.

Having decided to adopt a child, Monica and Chandler meet Erica. In the final episode, Erica gives birth to twins: a boy and a girl. Monica and Chandler name the boy baby Jack, after Monica's father, and they name the girl baby Erica, after the girl who gives birth to their children. Wanting to provide their children with the ideal family life, Chandler and Monica move into a house in Westchester. In the last episode, Monica is very happy to see her brother, Ross and best friend, Rachel, get back together.

Friendships

Rachel is considered one of Monica's best friends. They have been friends since they were 6. In their high school years, it is revealed that Rachel was a popular cheerleader with a string of boyfriends, while Monica was her less attractive and overweight best friend. They lost contact for a number of years, but became close again when Rachel left Barry Farber before their wedding and went looking for Monica. Monica eventually offered to let Rachel stay at her apartment, and she chose to move in with Monica. It is revealed that Monica didn't expect to become close friends with Rachel again: During a flashback episode,[11] set in 1993, Monica and Rachel have a chance encounter that results in Monica remarking: "Ten bucks says I'll never see that woman again in my life."

During the period that they lived together, Rachel is revealed to be an exceptionally good roommate. As Monica tells Phoebe, Rachel has sweet little quirks, such as folding back the pages in catalogues of things she thinks Monica would like. She also leaves messages on the mirror when Monica takes a shower and lets Monica borrow her hundred-plus pairs of boots. Monica grows very concerned when she overhears Rachel and Ross furiously arguing after she discovers that he slept with another woman, and cries when she hears an emotional Rachel break up with a devastated Ross. Their relationship grew even stronger as the series went on, especially when Rachel gives birth to Emma as the child's father is her brother Ross.

Monica meets Joey in the hallway, as he is leaving Chandler's apartment after discussing the possibilities of becoming his new roommate. Monica takes a liking to Joey, but loses interest when he strips naked in her apartment after assuming that she wants to have sex with him. In Season 7 episode "The One With The Truth About London", Phoebe reveals that Monica was looking for Joey instead of Chandler on the night that she and Chandler slept together. In season 1, Monica states that Joey, "has a nice butt, just not a great butt," while flicking through a pack of cards at Central Perk.

Family

Ross Geller (1969-present)

Ross is Monica's brother, and he is a year older than her. They had some of the same friends in high school, like Rachel.

Although they have become quite affectionate towards each other, a great deal of competition which existed between them as children has found its way into their adult lives. When they were children, Ross often played older-brother pranks on Monica which were too much for her. Although she has since forgiven him, they often fall back into childish brother/sister arguments. In many episodes, Ross and Monica resort to an odd childhood gesture whereby they knock their fists together with their thumbs pointing outward (as an alternative to "the finger"), a habit which Rachel, Chandler, Joey and Phoebe have picked up. Ross has also said growing up with Monica, "If you didn't eat fast, you didn't eat!"

As adults, although occasionally they act like immature kids towards each other, Ross is one of Monica's best friends. Ross is the typical overprotective brother. When he finds out that Chandler and Monica are getting married, he tells Chandler that he will kick his ass if he (Chandler) ever hurts Monica. This is so out-of-character for the mild, wimpy Ross that Chandler can't take him seriously.

Jack & Judy Geller (1969-present)

Although their parents favor Ross over Monica, it's their mother who tends to be more critical of Monica. Judy often finds flaws in Monica's apartment (such as dirty places or objects); refuses to answer her calls; and discredits her altogether as her daughter, referring to Ross as her only means to have grandchildren.

Some notable examples of Monica feeling neglected by her family include the following:

Her parents do not want her to make the toast at their 35th wedding anniversary party. Monica makes the toast, which does not go well at all. Ross makes it up to Jack and Judy with an impromptu toast, which makes people cry. [30]

Her old bedroom room was turned into a gym by her parents [31]

Her parents confess that they spent her wedding fund to purchase a beach house when she was 23, despite the fact that they were supposed to close the fund by the time she was 30. [22]

Her old mementos are destroyed by a flood in her parents' garage because the boxes they are stored in have been used to block the water. Ross' belongings, on the other hand, have remained in perfect condition. To make up for this, Jack gives Monica his Porsche 911, to Ross' indignation. [32]

Her mother does not meet her for lunch with the excuse that she is out of town. This claim is proven to be a lie when Judy is able to babysit Emma for Ross and Rachel.[33]

Monica has always been close to her father because of her mother's neglect. It's Jack who visits Monica to check on her when she breaks up with Richard.[34] He is also the one who tells her to ignore her mother's cynical comments, adding how proud he is of her independence.[35] He often refers to her as his "Little Harmonica." It might have been this closeness with her father that inspires Monica and Chandler to name their son Jack. (By Jewish tradition, she is not supposed to do this).

Romances

Since the first season, Monica has wanted to settle down.[36] Her desire for kids is so strong that she even considers a sperm donor.[37]

In Season 2, Monica becomes involved in a long-term relationship with Richard, a friend of her father. Richard, her eye doctor, is 21 years older than she is.[38] The relationship is ended by Monica because of a conflict of interest: Her desire to have children clashes with Richard's desire to avoid having any more, as he already has an adult son and a daughter. In "The One Where Monica And Richard Are Just Friends", Monica and Richard run into each other at a video rental store and decide to have a "friends with benefits" relationship, which doesn't last long. In "The One With The Proposal, Part 1" and "The One With The Proposal, Part 2", Richard confesses his undying love for Monica and reveals that he has changed his mind about having children with her. Although briefly conflicted, Monica decides to marry Chandler.

Chandler Bing (1998-Present)

Main article: Monica and Chandler

Their actual relationship starts when Monica becomes depressed at the rehearsal dinner for Ross and Emily's wedding: her brother is getting married for the second time while she doesn't even have a boyfriend, her mother keeps making cracks suggesting she'll never get married and some drunk guy thought she was Ross' mother ("The One With Ross' Wedding, Part 2"). She decides that maybe a night of meaningless sex will make her feel better and goes looking for Joey. He isn't there, but Chandler is, and when Chandler attempts to console her, telling her he thought she was the most beautiful woman in the room that night, that she was the most beautiful woman in most rooms, Monica throws herself at him and they end up spending the night together. The next day, initially things are quite awkward between them. When they meet up at the wedding they say that sleeping together was a stupid thing to do, but that's not enough to keep them from agreeing to meet up again that night. Although they go on to and have the longest romantic relationship between two of the friends throughout the series, it's not clear at this point how much of their relationship is based on genuine feelings and how much is just about sex. However, in "The One With The Truth About London", Chandler refers to the first night he and Monica spent together as the most romantic night of his life, so it seems likely that Chandler, at least, already had romantic feelings for Monica by the time their first night together was over.

They try to keep their relationship secret from their other friends but they all eventually found out. Joey finds out when he realizes that the two took a trip together ("The One With The Kips"). Rachel overhears a telephone conversation between the two containing sexual innuendo ("The One With All The Resolutions"), although Monica denies this when she is confronted by Rachel ("The One With Chandler's Work Laugh"). Phoebe finds out about Monica and Chandler when she and Rachel go with Ross to check out Ugly Naked Guy's apartment and, looking through the window towards Monica's apartment, she sees the two of them having sex together. Ross finds out the same way in the last scene of the same episode. ("The One Where Everybody Finds Out")

When they all go to Vegas, they're on a winning streak at the craps table when Chandler tells Monica that, if she rolls another hard eight, they should take it as a sign and get married that night. One of the dice comes up with the four and the other rolls off the table. When they go looking for it, they see it could be either a four or a five, but they agree that it's a four and decide to get married. They go to a nearby wedding chapel and are waiting to get married when a very drunk and married Rachel and Ross emerge from the wedding chapel ("The One In Vegas, Part 2"). Seeing Rachel and Ross wedding disturbs both Monica and Chandler, and they start to think they're moving too fast. They each want to back out on the Vegas wedding, but neither of them wants to disappoint the other, so they decide they're going to leave it up to fate. However, even though they keep getting signs telling them they should get married, they decide they aren't ready yet, but they decide they want to live together instead ("The One After Vegas").

A year later, Chandler decides he's ready to propose to Monica and The takes her out to her favorite restaurant for a romantic evening. However, the evening does go as planned; Richard shows up and is seated at the next table. When they get home, still not engaged, but first Phoebe and then Rachel ask to see Monica's hand, Chandler is upset believing his surprise has been ruined. Joey convinces him Going Doing, that all he needs to do is take a couple of days convincing her that he's nowhere near ready to get married, then it will still be a surprise when he actually does propose. His plan goes off a little too well, and things get even more out of hand when. Richard shows up and tells Monica he still loves her and wants to marry her. Monica is very upset about how unfair it is, saying that "fair" would have been if Richard had wanted to marry her back when she was still in love with him, or if Chandler wanted to marry her now. Meanwhile, Chandler frantically looks for Monica, worried that he'd gone too far in pretending he didn't want to get married and that he might have ruined everything. When he returns to their apartment that evening Joey had already explained everything to Monica, and she was there waiting for Chandler with hundreds of candles burning all over the room. Monica gets down on one knee and tries to propose, but she starts crying so much she can't finish it, so Chandler gets down on one knee as well and asks her to marry him. ("[The One With The Proposal, Part 2]]")

In Season 7, the two planned how their wedding was supposed to be but unfortunately, her parents already spent her money for buying the beach house. ("The One With Rachel's Book") Chandler has saved exactly the amount they need for Monica's dream wedding but Chandler doesn't want to spend all of his savings on one day. Because Monica wants the perfect wedding, Chandler is willing to spend all the money they have. But Monica decides that she wants a future and not spend their security on the wedding. Chandler's attempt to bond with his future Father-In-Law during a close sauna encounter backfires ("The One With Phoebe's Cookies"). Monica's mom decided to get their wedding announced in the newspaper but Chandler was not photogenic and after numerous failed attempts, the couple realizes that he can't take a good picture with Monica, and uses Joey to sit in for Chandler ("The One With The Engagement Picture"). Joey decided that he would officiate their wedding and gets his minister's certificate on the internet. Monica tells the story of how she and Chandler got together. Chandler finds out that Monica wanted to sleep with Joey when she knocked on the door in London, but Chandler was the only one there. Chandler is really upset and doesn't want Joey to do the wedding. Joey talks to him about how Chandler and Monica are meant for each other and nothing could take that away and Chandler is happy to let Joey do the wedding. ("The One With The Truth About London").

With four weeks left before the wedding, Chandler and Monica are faced with the issue of their wedding vows. With each person dealing with their own problems in writing the vows, they turn to memories of past events to help them. In the end, the only real problem is who will be saying the vows first. ("The One With The Vows").

Ross makes everybody burst into laughter by threatening Chandler physically if he ever hurts his little sister. Chandler and Monica have their rehearsal dinner and after seeing his sexy celebrity mother and drag-queen dad, Chandler suddenly freaks out thinking about becoming "Mr. and Mrs. Bing." He freaks out more when he hears the new answering machine message Monica recorded, so he writes a vague apology note and runs. Ross finds it and goes looking for Chandler while Phoebe and Rachel attempt to divert Monica, who is too wedding-high to notice soon anyway. Rachel and Phoebe find a positive pregnancy test in Chandler's bathroom wastebasket. ("The One With Monica And Chandler's Wedding, Part 1"). Ross and Phoebe find Chandler in his office. He explains that the reason he was hiding was because he was panicking about becoming "the Bings". Ross gets Chandler to face things one at a time and he feels better. Later smoking in the hall, Chandler overhears the girls about Monica's Is Not pregnancy test, and instead of freaking out he gets her a present and decides a baby isn't too scary. After the ceremony, Monica denies having taken a pregnancy test, Rachel seems to know more. ("The One With Monica And Chandler's Wedding, Part 2")

In the Season 8 finale, Monica decides that she and Chandler have a baby ("The One Where Rachel Has A Baby, Part 2"), but it later turns out they are infertile.

In one important episode, Chandler learned that he would have to spend Christmas without Monica and the Friends or else be fired from his job. He comes to feel empathy for the employees underneath him who are clearly depressed because they want to be spending Christmas with their families and tells them all to go home. After a female colleague named Wendy decides to stay behind to help him, Monica calls Chandler to wish him a Merry Christmas, and when he makes the mistake of mentioning that Wendy has stayed behind to help him, Chandler ends up inadvertently making it clear that he isn't attracted to Wendy, and assures Monica nothing will happen between them. When Wendy then hits on him, Chandler politely rejects her, saying he's a happily married man and nothing can happen between them because what he has with his wife is great. Wendy responds by asking him why he's spending Christmas with her instead of with his wife if what he has with his wife is so great. Realizing Wendy is right, Chandler decides he's had enough and quits his job before returning home to spend Christmas with Monica and the rest of the Friends, much to their delight. After a year of trying to conceive, Monica and Chandler are still unsuccessful. They go get fertility tests and find out that due to Chandler's low sperm count and Monica's inhospitable environment, that they will most likely not conceive children on their own. Saddened by this, Monica and Chandler resolve to find another way to have kids. ("The One With The Fertility Test"). With surrogacy rejected as Monica had always dreamed of carrying her own child, and donors ruled out because Monica didn't want to carry a baby that wasn't Chandler's, they decided to adopt.

In "The One With The Late Thanksgiving" Monica and Chandler receive a call from the adoption agency saying that they were chosen by a pregnant woman in Ohio, to parent her child, Erica. Although there was initially some confusion during the adoption process - Erica had confused Chandler and Monica's file with a couple who was a doctor and a reverend respectively - Chandler eventually convinced Monica to admit the truth, subsequently winning Erica over despite the lie by convincing her that they had only lied because Monica so desperately wanted a child.

In the series finale, Erica gives birth, but she didn't know that she is actually pregnant with twins, she had misinterpreted the reference to two heartbeats as referring to her heart and the baby's. Chandler and Monica subsequently name the boy Jack Geller-Bing (after Monica's father) and the girl Erica Geller-Bing, after her birth mother.

Richard Burke

Dr. Richard Burke first appeared on Friends during the episode of "The One Where Ross and Rachel... You Know". Richard Burke was for a long period of time married to Barbara and together they had two children, Michelle and Timothy Burke. At some point, he also met and became good friends with Jack and Judy Geller. The reason for Richard and Barbara's divorce is never revealed. He is also the grandfather of his daughter's son, Henry. In Season 2, Monica becomes involved in a long-term relationship with him. He is her eye doctor, and is 21 years older than she is.[34] Richard and Monica are in love for a long time until The One with Barry and Mindy's wedding. When Monica asks about the future. Richard sees themselves in Paris, a happy couple without kids. Monica, however, is keen on having children of her own, but doesn't pursue the subject as she fears it would become uncomfortable. At Barry and Mindy's wedding, she and Richard tackle the subject again; however, neither of them has shifted position from before. While dancing, Richard offers to have kids with Monica if he has to. This, unfortunately, is not good enough for Monica, as she wants to have a baby with someone who wants to, and not just has to, have children. Her desire to have children clashes with Richard's desire to avoid having any more, as he already has an adult son and a daughter. The two break up. In "The One Where Monica And Richard Are Just Friends", Monica and Richard run into each other at a video rental store and decide to have a "friends with benefits" relationship, which doesn't last long. In "The One With The Proposal, Part 1" and "The One With The Proposal, Part 2," Richard confesses his undying love for Monica and reveals that he has changed his mind about having children with her. Although briefly conflicted, Monica decides to marry Chandler.

Pete Becker

Pete Becker is a millionaire who invented Moss 865 and manages a large computer corporation. Monica meets him at the Moondance Diner, where she is a waitress and he is a customer. Although she wants to stop seeing Peter because she's not physically attracted to him, they share a kiss that makes her change her mind. When he takes part in the Ultimate Fighting Champion tournament, a feat which he fails abysmally to achieve, Monica breaks up with him because she can't stand seeing him getting beaten up.

Ethan

Monica is in a relationship with Young Ethan in the first season of Friends. Telling Monica that he is a college senior and Monica telling him she's 22 even though she is 26. Ethan later reveals to Monica he is a virgin. Then they have sex when Monica says that she is 26 and Ethan says he is actually a high-school senior. Monica then breaks up because loving someone so young is icky.

Career

Originally, Monica is a poorly paid chef at a restaurant called Iridium. After accepting a promotion at a restaurant called Café des Artistes, she is fired for accepting a gift from a food distributor.[39]

She remains unemployed for a while. During this time, Monica works for an unnamed food company that hires her to come up with recipes and make them, using substitute food products. One such product is Mockolate, a chocolate substitute that never takes off due to its repulsive flavor and the fact that it causes painful urination.[40] At one point, she buys shares in the stock market using the few savings left in her bank account ($127), despite not knowing anything about how it works. She buys shares from companies only because of their names, not knowing what the companies do or how successful they are.

After her stocks fail, she takes an embarrassing job at a 1950s-themed restaurant called the Moondance Diner. At this time, Monica reveals that she worked at the famous Cafe des Artistes when she said, "I was a sous-chef at Cafe des Artistes. How can I take a job where I have to make something called Laverne and Curly Fries?" At the Moondance, Monica wears a blond wig, roller skates and massive fake breasts. She meets millionaire Pete Becker, one of her boyfriends, at the Moondance. Pete uses his money to open a restaurant and appoints Monica as head chef. After the relationship fails, Monica begins a short-lived catering business with Phoebe after the two work together to feed a party being held by Judy Geller, Phoebe helping Monica stand up for herself and ensure payment.

Monica is eventually hired as head chef at a local restaurant, Allesandro's, after she posts a scathing review of the restaurant and impresses the owner with her own recipes, putting an end to the catering business. At first, her employees dislike her because three of them are the children of the previous head chef, coupled with a fairly vicious review she publishes in a local newspaper about the restaurant. Monica hires Joey as a waiter, solely to fire him, thereby appearing to be a tough boss. It works, as her problems with her employees are reduced.

She leaves Allesandro's when Chandler's firm requires him to relocate to Tulsa, Oklahoma. When she contacts a job-hunter about Tulsa restaurant openings, she receives a job as head chef at Javu, an upscale restaurant in Manhattan.[41]

Age and Birthday

To keep with the line of the series of both Friends and Joey (TV series) being 1 year for each season, Monica's age should have been: 1 (24-25), 2 (25-26), 3 (26-27), 4 (27-28), 5 (28-29), 6 (29-30), 7 (30-31), 8 (31-32), 9 (32-33), 10 (33-34).

Production

When Courteney Cox landed on the cast of Friends, she was asked to play the role of Rachel Greene but she thought she should take the role of Monica Geller instead. Maggie Wheeler also auditioned for the part but ended up playing recurring character Janice Litman Goralnik (née Hosenstein) instead. Actress Jami Gertz was offered and declined the role of Monica before Friends went into production.

The role of Rachel was originally conceived as the oldest of the friends but was changed after Cox was cast. This is ironic because Cox is older than the rest of the Friends actors except Lisa Kudrow, who played Phoebe.

Monica's apartment was one of the main focal points of the series. Many critics of the show began to question how Monica could ever afford the apartment on a chef's salary, so the writers of Friends came up with the explanation that she illegally sublet the apartment from her grandmother, who had moved to Florida. In the series finale, Chandler remarks to his newborn child, "Thanks to rent control, it was a friggin' steal."

Early in the series, the writers were going to have a relationship between Monica and Joey rather than Chandler. This can be picked up on the fact that she had a crush on Joey when he first moves in and is even sneaked in when it's revealed that Monica was looking for Joey on the night of her fateful tryst with Chandler in London.

During the show finale in Season 10, Courteney Cox had to revert to baggy clothing to hide her pregnancy, which would have paradoxically coincided with her trouble getting pregnant and reason to adopt revealed earlier in Season 9. And in Season 10 Monica and Chandler having twins.

Trivia

Photos