I mentioned earlier this season that one of the highlights has been the introduction of parents to The Other Way universe. We’ve already met Tim and Ariela’s mothers, but they’re back in “Fight or Flight?†to make it incredibly clear that they were right about everything! When Ariela’s mom went to meet Biniyam, she said Ari wouldn’t like being home late at night alone. She said Ari would get jealous. Janice knows her daughter. Cut to a few months later and Ari is going through Biniyam’s phone and terrorizing his sister until midnight.
Of course, I feel sympathy for Ari as a new mom, but she can’t say any of this was a surprise. She went to Biniyam’s club and watched him play a woman’s butt like a pair of bongos. She has to trust her husband, even if she thinks he’s stupid. Ari has an odd way of treating Biniyam like a child, but as far as 90 Day Fiancé husbands go, he’s doing great. He got an apartment. He has a job. He’s providing for his family. Ari sat across from her mom and said she supported Biniyam pursuing his music career, and now she’s realizing her mom was right: It’s not actually fun to date a SoundCloud rapper and raise a child.
It also seems like Biniyam is only playing dumb to keep Ari from arguing with him. He knew he had to work the night her parents arrived, but probably didn’t want to fight about something he couldn’t change. Ari still views their entire relationship as a battle, and it seems like he’s just trying to disengage. Maybe she should’ve listened to Janice, because she was waving all of these red flags around months ago. I also think Ari is going to be surprised when her parents side with Biniyam more than she thought they would.
I thought Tim’s mother, Robin, was far more optimistic about their relationship when Tim left than Melyza’s parents were when we met them. But now that we know the truth behind Melyza and Robin’s relationship, it’s hard to see any love between Tim and Melyza. Melyza just seems more and more hypocritical, and it’s clear they can’t move on from the past. Robin didn’t say anything about Tim and Melyza’s relationship that Melyza’s own parents didn’t say when they found out Tim cheated: If this relationship isn’t working, it might be best for them both to move on. Of course, it was wrong for Robin to call the police, and it’s fair that Melyza wouldn’t feel comfortable staying with them, but Robin didn’t seem to take issue with that. In fact, she seemed to agree that it was for the best. The only real tension came from Robin expressing a sentiment nearly everyone watching agrees with: Tim and Melyza need to break up.
They really almost tricked us into thinking Brittany and Yazan were done, didn’t they? I was ready to give this episode five stars if Brittany had stuck to her absolutely narcissistic Girls’ Trip–focused breakup and had just ghosted Yazan. It was harsh and maybe a little sociopathic to abandon Yazan at the airport, but it seemed like it was enough to finally break the spell she had over Yazan. Surely, this would be enough for him to understand that Brittany does not care about him! Even Brittany’s friend showed more concern for Yazan after hearing about his car accident. She asked if he was okay, and I realized Brittany had never even asked.
Brittany can say she loves Yazan and has just had her guard up, but that doesn’t explain her lack of basic human decency. She calls Yazan a mommy’s boy, but he gave up his entire family to be with her. She’s completely disconnected not only from Yazan’s reality, but reality in general. I understand that Brittany is an American, and she’s going to do what she wants, but even her friend had the sense to respect another country’s religion and culture. Brittany tries to make it sound like it’s Yazan controlling her when he brings this up, but she finally realized it’s more than that. I also don’t think her friend appreciated being put in harm’s way with Brittany’s sassy remarks, and now she’s getting in a car with a drunk and volatile Brittany and Yazan, who hates drunk Brittany. This train wreck isn’t particularly entertaining to watch.
Without Kenny and Armando around, Sumit and Jenny and Deavan and Jihoon are tasked with proving love still exists on 90 Day Fiancé: The Other Way this week. Sumit and Jenny are stuck in quarantine together, which is, of course, a dream for these absolutely disgusting lovebirds. I think all Jenny has ever wanted was the ability to lock Sumit in a room with her. I do worry about Jenny’s safety in the pandemic, but Sumit obviously plans on keeping her safe. I’m kind of happy they got this time together to be gross and in love before Sumit’s family ruins everything.
I’m happy Deavan and Jihoon have each other during this difficult time. Jihoon can be childish, but it looks like he really stepped up to take care of things after she suffered her miscarriage. It also felt really special that Jihoon’s mom took time to support Deavan personally. Jihoon’s mom hasn’t been nice to Deavan at all, but I think she’s starting to accept their relationship. This loss has brought them all closer together and that should hopefully help when Deavan’s mother comes back next week. Elicia did not leave on good terms with Jihoon and his family. Jihoon’s parents have done a great job letting them have space, but Elicia still expects Jihoon to prove himself to her. Sadly, I think Deavan will join her mom in the pile-on rather than stand by her husband.
Sadly, “Fight or Flight?†did not convince me love is real, but it did convince me breaking up can be the right thing to do. Kenny and Armando are back next week though, so let’s not give up yet.