12 non-Christmas episodes for the rest of us
By Sundi Rose
Friends: “The One with the Holiday Armadillo”
Ross always tried so hard, with little to no success, bless him. In this classic TV episode, Ross tries to talk to his son, Ben about Hanukah, but winds up wearing a disturbing armadillo costume and probably scarring him for life.
It’s easy to forget that Ross has an older child with first wife-turned lesbian, Carol, because we rarely see him. When Ben does turn up, he’s usually just a plot device meant to push a particular plot forward. In this case, Ross gets to spend the holiday with Ben, but starts feeling a little insecure about how much little Ben relates to his Jewish half, so he decides to make it a little interesting with a costume. Of course, that close to the holidays, all the appropriate outfits are taken, so Ross turns up in the only one left, an armadillo.
He proceeds to tell Ben the story of the lights and oil, but his bit loses its excitement with Chandler bursts in dressed as Santa. Even a Scrooge like me prefers Santa to an armadillo. Just look at that thing — totally unsettling.
“The One With The Holiday Armadillo” is the tenth episode of the seventh season, and you can watch it on Netflix.