The Dark Monica Theory That Changes Everything About Friends

Each of the core six characters on "Friends" have specific personality traits that make them stand out from the rest. Chandler Bing (Matthew Perry) is hilariously sarcastic, Joey Tribbiani (Matt LeBlanc) is a food-loving ladies' man, Ross Geller (David Schwimmer) is an awkward paleontologist, Phoebe Buffay (Lisa Kudrow) is eccentric and endearingly ditzy, Rachel Green (Jennifer Aniston) is career-driven in the fashion industry, and Monica Geller (Courteney Cox) is a talented chef with a cleaning obsession.

In the case of Monica, her never-ending mission to have everything spotless, organized, and perfectly planned out is the subject of many episodes. For example, when Phoebe and Rachel's apartment catches on fire in Season 6, they battle over who gets to temporarily stay with laidback Joey. Rachel wins that fight and Phoebe is forced to stay with Monica, who forbids her guest from eating cookies in bed and making "crummies."

While her efforts to ensure everything remains "Monica clean" are funny thanks to Cox's hyperactive delivery, some "Friends" fans think there may be a dark explanation behind the character's obsessive cleaning habits.

Throughout the 10 seasons of "Friends," viewers receive regular reminders that Monica lost a ton of weight since her teen years. Following a slew of flashback moments, which show a much larger version of Monica, it's revealed that her drastic transformation was spurred by Chandler insulting her size at a Geller family Thanksgiving.

However, several fans believe that Monica's weight loss may have resulted in some new issues. On Reddit, u/Theluckygal pointed out how, in flashback scenes that depict Monica at her old weight, she's never shown cleaning or organizing anything. "Maybe at fat camp she was experimented for a drug that helped her lose weight but it messed up her hormones that resulted in OCD (google hormones+ocd) & infertility," they said. 

While some commenters on the thread agreed, others like u/JH4227 provided a simplified theory that Monica just has an addictive personality. They said, "Basically, she traded one addiction/compulsion for another. No experimental drugs necessarily required."

It should be noted that these theories are all pure speculation based on the observations of these fans, but for those looking to dig deep into the psychology of the characters on "Friends," it's certainly something to think about.