It’s been six days since Deavan, her two children, and Elicia landed in South Korea and Jihoon has made nearly every mistake a new husband could make. At this point, I have to agree with Elicia: There is no hope for Jihoon. Deavan may want to give their relationship a shot for their kid, but even she knows she can’t forgive him. It’s not that Jihoon made a huge mistake, but even casual viewers of 90 Day Fiancé know Drascilla is a bit of a wild child. When Jihoon’s family came to America last season, even they couldn’t handle how much Drascilla ran around.
So if Jihoon thought he could put her down in the middle of a dark street, he really must not know his stepdaughter that well, and that’s the problem. Elicia is right, this is just a game to Jihoon. He says he wants family, but that’s just what he’s supposed to say. His actions make his priorities clear. Deavan can’t even ignore it now. She isn’t moved even a little bit by his tears or desperate pleas. She keeps telling Jihoon she’s giving him another chance, but it’s obvious she’s mentally checked out of the relationship. She is ready to be a whole single mother.
It’s Deavan’s mom, Elicia, who deserves the all-star spotlight this episode, though. Elicia brings the dramatics to “The Parent Trap,†from the way she screeches “scraping my granddaughter off the pavement†to her complete denial of Jihoon’s apology. Deavan still refuses to be this straightforward with Jihoon, so it’s good someone is willing to lay it all out for him. Jihoon will be fine. He has his overbearing mother to keep him safe.
Jihoon’s mother may not be the scariest parent on this season of The Other Way. Sumit’s brother made it sound like their parents were ready to talk to Jenny and Sumit, but Jenny made it very clear this episode that she has no interest in talking to them. Of course, that would’ve made for great television, but there is still the risk that Sumit’s parents could try to kidnap him. Jenny looks like she wants to cry at the thought of even talking to his parents, so it’s probably for the best that she doesn’t join him.
I am one of the few people who genuinely believes in Jenny and Sumit’s relationship. I have to believe these two kids wouldn’t go through hand-mixing paint and potential parental kidnappings if it wasn’t true love. We may not understand why Jenny and Sumit are in love. Their families may not understand what it is. Their friends might not get it. But… they really do make each other happy. At this point, neither one of them has anything to gain by staying in the relationship, so it must be love.
In fact, Sumit and Jenny might be one of the greatest love stories ever told in the 90 Day Fiancé universe. As much as I was rooting for Kenny and Armando, the cracks in their relationship are starting to show. Kenny has centered their marriage around himself so much, it barely feels like Armando has room to exist in their relationship. Kenny wants Armando to tell his family because it would make Kenny feel good, not Armando. Armando is so deeply in the closet he gets physically ill when he even thinks about telling his parents they’re engaged. If Kenny is going to push this, it’s clear this relationship isn’t about them as a team. Kenny might be more into the idea of getting married than the long term responsibilities that come with it.
At this point, I’m not even sure Ariela and Biniyam ever loved each other. It seems pretty clear they had a fun vacation tryst and decided to turn that temporary lust into a full-time relationship. It’s just, usually, when you love someone and want to marry them, you ask basic questions like: What’s your religion? Do you want me to convert? How do you want to raise our child together when it comes to our faith? Ari and Biniyam have done a great job preparing for the birth, but they haven’t had basic discussions about who they are? Biniyam says he doesn’t want to fight about religion, but guess what? They need to fight about religion!
Ariela has only shared like, two personality traits since being on the show: she gets jealous and being Jewish is important to her. But somehow, this thought never crossed their minds? I think Biniyam’s family is right to be worried. It’s scary that Ariela is just realizing she might not be the right person for Biniyam when she’s eight months pregnant. Ariela said she didn’t want to take her kid back to America if things got tough, but it seems more likely that will be the outcome.
And then there’s Brittany and Yazan, who don’t even deserve mention among the couples on the show who actually love each other. I guess it’s good Brittany was successful in getting more time from Yazan’s parents, but it just made me more frustrated for them. They truly want Yazan to be happy and they’re willing to compromise around their beliefs so Yazan can try to be with Brittany. I’d feel great about it if they knew Brittany was married, but she knows she’s still hiding a secret from them. I also can’t imagine Yazan or his family will be happy with her hiding this from them.
Yazan is also still hiding things from Brittany and isn’t a great translator. I don’t think he explained to Brittany that she has to convert by the time her father comes or she’s going back home. It seems pretty clear Brittany has no real desire to convert, so what’s the point of putting Yazan’s family through all of this? Sure, she might be willing to dress up for a night, but she’s being ignorant if she doesn’t realize this has to be permanent in order for them to get married.
No Tim and Melyza this episode, but I honestly didn’t miss them! Yazan and Brittany may still be disappointing, but Kenny and Armando, Ariela and Biniyam, and Deavan and Jihoon are more than carrying this season. We might be 12 episodes into the season, but “The Parent Trap†finally brings some action to the season’s more stable couples.