Even though Raymond is obviously the star and central character of Everybody Loves Raymond, his brother Robert also occupies quite a lot of attention. Almost as much of a man-child as Ray, Robert has done quite a few things in the course of the series that don’t show him in a very good light.
As endearing and sensible as he can be, sometimes, he also shows a darker part of his character that is, quite honestly, not very likable and not very sensible.
He Moved in With His Parents
It’s always a bad idea to move back in with your parents after you’ve lived on your own. Both parties have their own way of doing things and their own way of life, and moving back in almost always means that one party will have to subordinate their needs to the other. Needless to say, Robert ends up having to put his own needs under that of his parents, and no one ends up happy.
He Left the Police Force
Say what you will about Robert, but he’s actually pretty devoted—at least at first—to being a police officer. Unfortunately, at one point he decides to leave the police force because of an attack of the nerves. It’s another one of those instances where Robert gets inside his own head, letting his hangups get the better of him so that he’s not able to reach his full potential and do the thing that he clearly loves doing.
He Let His Parents Move Back In
One would think that, having had his fill of living with his parents, Robert would be reluctant to have them all under the same roof again. Unfortunately, after he and his wife buy their home, they end up letting Frank and Marie move back in after they—unsurprisingly—get kicked out of their retirement community.
It’s a recipe for disaster and a sign that Robert has a very hard time figuring out what is best for himself and acting accordingly.
He Could Never Manage His Money
It’s unsurprising that Robert, having spent so much time living with his parents, wouldn’t have learned the types of skills that most adults need in order to succeed in the outside world. For Robert, this includes not being able to take good care of his money. For a man who has worked so long and consistently for the police department, you can’t help but wonder exactly what he’s spending that money on and why he can’t seem to get his act together.
His Enjoyment of Ray’s Misfortunes
Robert’s Date Everybody Loves Raymond
One of the most enduring conflicts of Everybody Loves Raymond is the tension between Robert and his younger brother, Ray. Due to the perceived—and, frankly, real—favoritism that Marie has for Ray, Robert has a bad tendency to take an inordinate amount of pleasure in his brother’s misfortunes. While you can’t really blame him for being a little bitter about the way that his mother overlooks him, it’s not entirely fair that he takes such obvious pleasure in Ray’s misfortunes.
Braying at Funerals—Enough Said
What, in fact, can you say about a grown man who literally brays at funerals? Well, if you can think of something it would have to be directed at Robert who, for some reason, seems to have developed this unfortunate tic. It’s another sign that Robert is very unwilling or unable to control his emotions and his body and that he, therefore, tends to subordinate other people’s needs—such as being able to mourn in decorum at a funeral—to his own desires.
His Habit of Touching his Food to His Chin
Lots of people have little habits and tics that they pick up throughout their lives, and, in Robert’s case, it is touching his food to his chin before eating it. While this might not seem bad on the surface, it’s ultimately revealed that he does it because he saw Marie doing it to Ray’s chin as a baby and started mimicking the activity out of jealousy.
Once again, Robert is so jealous of his brother that he literally modifies his physical behaviors to compensate.
Not Being Open with His Feeling
Throughout the series, Robert consistently shows that he’s either unable or unwilling to be open about his feelings. Rather than sitting down with his family and telling them how he feels about them, he instead relies on being passive-aggressive and, sometimes, downright cruel. While obviously his behavior is very funny, it’s also true that it shows that, deep down, Robert isn’t nearly as nice or as good of a person as he likes to pretend to be to the outside world.
Not Being Able to Commit to Amy
One of the ongoing plotlines around Robert revolves around his on-again-off-again relationship with Debra’s friend Amy. While one can probably sympathize with Robert’s unwillingness to jump into marriage again considering the failure of his first marriage, we can’t help but think it would have been kinder to Amy—and probably better for Robert’s emotional and mental well-being—if he’d just committed to her and been done with it rather than see-sawing back and forth.
He’s Unable (or Unwilling) to Stand Up To Marie
And, finally, we come to the worst thing that Robert ever did. That has to be his failure to truly stand up for Marie. While he does have rare moments when he tells her how it is and asserts his independence, for the most part, Robert, like his brother Ray, simply cannot bring himself to stand up to Marie—or Frank, for that matter. You can’t help but think that a lot of his troubles could have been prevented if he’d just summoned up the fortitude to assert himself.
