90 Day Fiance: Happily Ever After? Season 6 continues!
On Episode 7, a Potthast family meeting backfired spectacularly.
Angela got some bad news — well, bad news for her, great news for anyone who will ever be around her.
Brandon and Julia received an important envelope, but it wasn’t quite what was expected.
Jovi and Yara braced for yet another painful goodbye.
A near miss with death totally changed the nature of Kalani and Asuelu’s marriage.
Thanksgiving was one of the most awkward family moments yet for Mike, Natalie, and Trish.
And Tiffany fessed up, telling her dad everything about Ronald’s history.
Elizabeth Potthast and Andrei Castravet
Andrei goes full soap opera villain with his plan to manipulate Chuck into giving him exactly what he wants — to keep him employed but not having to work with his siblings-in-law.
He meets with Chuck
There, he explains that this is hard, but that if he doesn’t keep this job, he might not get his green card and could be deported. If he’s deported, Andrei threatens, Libby and their daughter would come back to Moldova with him — and you know, he’s probably right about that.
His scheme works
Chuck is terrified of losing his daughter and grandchild to Moldova, and not only wants to fix things — he wants Andrei to work with him instead of with the other members of the family.
Chuck summons everyone to the marina
He has chartered a yacht. Meanwhile, we have some grim foreshadowing of the unresolved issues between Libby and her sister, Becky. Becky was fairly supportive until Andrei became a threat to her work.
Chuck has a plan
He wants the whole family to drive up together on a massive RV for a family reunion in Maryland. He says this on a chartered yacht. He probably chose this venue because it was easier and safer to gather on a boat than with this many people in person, but WOW the financial realities and how they contrast with other stars on this show are hard to miss.
Charlie says his usual line
It’s kind of like super formulaic police procedurals where every detective always has the same role in solving the case, but instead of going “here’s a weird, esoteric fact about clowns” or whatever, Charlie’s line every episode is just “Andrei is taking advantage of dad!” We get it, dude. When Libby challenges him, asking HOW he’s taking advantage of him, Charlie asks: “How is he NOT?” A fair question with a fair answer.
Elizabeth feels attacked
She will later insist that an attack against her husband is an attack against her, which sure is a choice on her part, but for now she’s asking why everyone has a beef with Andrei. Perhaps she should watch previous seasons for her answers.
Becky nails it
She accurately describes Andrei as “a manipulator,” which is … true. We saw that on this episode.
This sets off Libby
She and Becky get into each other’s faces and it becomes a physical altercation before the two are separated (Jenn heroically jumps between them to calm things down)
OH NO
Then Libby lunges at Becky. It’s ugly, it’s a mess, and it’s the opposite of what this Rich People Yacht Conversation was supposed to accomplish.
Chuck’s day is ruined
He says as much, and also adamantly affirms that the family business will not and must not be the downfall of their actual family.
Angela Deem and Michael Ilesanmi
Angela returns to see her future facelift surgeon, Dr. David Saadat. But that surgery will be further in the future than Angela had imagined.
It’s been postponed, and Angela should know why
Dr. Saadat tells Angela that she must wait four weeks until she can have surgery because she has been constantly and unapologetically smoking despite the health risks, and he is not willing to have her die on his operating table just because she’s some sort of feral tobacco-goblin (okay that’s not how he phrased it, but still).
Angela can’t lie or “charm” her way out of this
Angela often tries to solve problems with her transparently fake smile, outright lies, what passes for “charm” from her, and also with verbal abuse and screaming.
He will nicotine test her
So no, Angela won’t be able to just bat her eyelashes and lie her way out of quitting smoking. She also has to sign a contract in which she agrees to pay Dr. Sardaat if the surgery must be canceled due to Angela failing her nicotine test or refusing to take it. Smart.
Almost immediately …
We see Angela smoking again in the car. It doesn’t matter if this was on the way home or if it was filmed another day and just added in to make it look like she’s smoking on the way home. It’s been annoying for years to watch Angela smoke around other people — it’s often unclear if she fully appreciates that other people have their own feelings and comforts and might not want to be around that. But it’s clear that her addiction is even more severe than people first assumed.
Angela also has something else on her mind
Michael has not been in as much contact lately. She is feeling rejected and unsupported by her husband, who is opposed to the plastic surgeries.
Angela resolves that she doesn’t need a man
Many fans have been hoping that they would divorce, given that they fear what life would be like for Michael if he were married to Angela in person for an extended period of time. But longtime viewers know that Angela being angry doesn’t necessarily mean a breakup.
Meanwhile, in Nigeria
Michael is helping to crush yams and chats with his Aunt Lydia (yes, she thinks that women should obey their husbands, but her name is Lydia and she is his aunt, so this isn’t just a Handmaid’s Tale reference) about Angela planning yet another surgery. He’s opposed … and the money is a sticking point for him.
Ever watch someone be right and wrong at the same time?
Lydia accurately describes Angela as “very selfish,” but in her mind, it’s because Angela — a grandmother — should be using the money so that she and Michael can have a baby together. It’s not clear if that will actually ever happen.
Brandon Gibbs and Julia Trubkina
Brandon and Julia received a letter that has been hyped up for like two weeks now. It’s from immigration and it’s for Julia.
Let’s look!
Seated on the porch with Betty and Ron Gibbs, they open it. It’s not a green card, but a work visa that will also allow Julia to travel.
A what?
Betty and Ron aren’t sure what to make of it but reason that if “Brandon says it’s good,” it must be a good thing.
Hooray!
At this point, Brandon and Julia have been married for only about half a year, so this has been long-awaited.
Julia is SO ready for this
This is what she has wanted ASAP — permission to work a normal job that does not involve livestock or mud or food or droppings or any other nightmare barnyard nonsense that she never really signed up for when she fell in love with Brandon.
She’s ready to move out
The two can move to Richmond — a compromise between Brandon’s lack of desire to move out and Julia’s desire to live in a larger city. With Brandon’s income and with Julia also pulling in an income, that should be doable.
However …
Betty says that they should celebrate this news with a new wedding celebration, this time with family.
Please no
It’s only been months since they married. It wasn’t ideal — it was a COVID wedding — but this just isn’t on the agenda for the actual married couple. Julia says that if they have a second wedding, it should be in Russia where HER family and friends can be part of it. She also suspects that Betty wants to use something like that to keep them on the farm longer, which Brandon labels a “Julia Conspiracy Theory.”
Meanwhile …
We get a cute, low-drama look at Julia’s first foray into pumpkin-carving. It’s a cultural experience, as Julia is discovering which things that she’s seen in films were real vs which things were not. (School lockers are real, for example)
Julia carved a bat!
However, Brandon showed her the wrong way to empty the pumpkin? You cut a hole in the top to give the pumpkin a lid first. It makes the candle insertion easier, it makes extracting the goop easier, and it frees up your creativity to carve as narrowly as you like in front. But this is probably how Betty and Ron taught him to do it, and Betty makes lasagna by putting whole slices of tomato it in, so … consider the source.
Jovi Dufren and Yara Zaya
Jovi is about to head off on another work trip. Best case scenario, he will be gone for weeks. There is also a chance that he will be gone longer — as he has previously seen work trips extended due to COVID-19 concerns.
This is painful for both of them
For Yara, it’s about being a parent alone without his help or emotional support. Remember, they’ve only been married for a matter of months at this point. Jovi will miss her — and Mylah. He also worries about missing out on milestones and coming back a stranger to Mylah, which isn’t an unreasonable possibility. Several weeks are a lifetime to a baby.
Yara won’t be completely alone
Gwen, easily one of the best in-laws to ever appear on this franchise, has shown up to help and is prepared to help Yara. There is a possible hurricane heading for New Orleans, and because that is totally outside of Yara’s wheelhouse, Jovi will feel safer with her and with Mylah staying with Gwen while that happens — and hopefully longer while he’s gone.
She helps them load up the pickup
Yara is adorably concerned that not everything will be safe in the back of the truck. Pickups are foreign concepts for many people (honestly, even in parts of the US) so that is understandable.
Gwen reminds them that she’s there to help
Gwen herself went through some single motherhood and knows what Yara is going through. She also tells the camera that she understands that there are cultural issues at play and also that she and Yara are still getting to know each other.
Goodbyes are so hard
Yara tears up as they embrace goodbye. This isn’t going to be easy for either of them.
Kalani Faagata and Asuelu Pulaa
Kalani is driving with her husband and kids, and there’s immediately a different vibe from their previous episodes.
How is Asuelu doing?
He admits that he is feeling afraid to drive a car. He was in a serious car accident.
Yikes
This could have been a lot worse, but the car is totaled and and Asuelu is clearly rattled by the experience.
Worse, Kalani says that this changed everything
The fear in Asuelu’s voice and the way that his near brush with a serious injury (or death) made Kalani feel made her reevaluate her feelings about divorcing him.
She gets very emotional about it
We’re not sure that “I don’t want the father of my children to literally die” is necessarily the same thing as “our marriage is totally worth all of the misery that it’s bringing to my life,” but it’s Kalani’s life to live however she chooses.
Asuelu claims that this was a wakeup call for him, too
Of course, Asuelu has “realized” that he needs to improve his behavior before. It would be great if it sticks this time!
Asuelu plans a romantic getaway
They do disagree a little over the logistics. Kalani is still breastfeeding her boys, so she’ll need to bring them if she’s away for a few days … and also her mom to provide childcare. That’s not really much of a getaway, but they resolve to not repeat past mistakes.
Mike Youngquist and Natalie Mordotseva
Mike, Trish, and Natalie are unloading and stacking firewood. Understandably, Natalie is unfamiliar with the task, because this was filmed in 2020 and not in 1820. Mike is playful with his mother while she stacks firewood, while Natalie at times seems to be off in her own little world, trying to turn stacking the firewood into an exercise routine.
Natalie is not having a good time
She feels like Trish continues to insult and needle her at every turn. The latest being when Trish suggests that Natalie could help with a similar chore at Mike’s house.
Natalie is preparing a dish for Thanksgiving
In the process, it becomes clear how significant the language gap is for her at times. The problem is made worse by an apparent lack of problem-solving skills by everyone in the house. Most people would whip out a phone and show the relevant foods to someone instead of just talking about foods by color.
Natalie is making Borscht
As the name implies, the key ingredient is beets (hard pass from me), but it’s otherwise a neat cultural addition to the Thanksgiving layout. (By the way, maybe it was editing not showing us the whole picture, but it was the smallest Thanksgiving food selection that I have ever seen)
Mike gets frisky
Whether cultural/language differences are at play, it’s never a good thing to hear one person have to remind another to not grope them. Natalie has her issues but she still has bodily autonomy. It’s hard to know how literally to take this because some people are very playful about saying “staaaahp” and we don’t know how serious Natalie was being, but … not a great moment for Mike, who was then banished to go check on the grill.
Disaster
Natalie insists to Mike that Trish called her a “hooker.” It’s not clear if she means the literal word or simply that Trish implied that she was a sex worker. Mike is quick to tell her that she obviously misunderstood what Trish said, but Natalie is insistent.
It’s possible that everyone is the bad guy, here
If Trish called Natalie a sex worker, that’s bad — both for using sex workers as an insult and for trying to insult her daughter-in-law. Mike is the bad guy for not listening to his wife when she tells him that something happened. Natalie is the bad guy for seeming to dismiss sex workers as having bad values and not being respectable as she distances herself from them. It’s all bad.
WHAT is with the giggling?
More than once, Natalie giggles very strangely, even at the table, and it’s unclear if she’s laughing because she’s nervous or to cover up how little she understands of what’s being said or if she’s laughing because she’s having some kind of breakdown.
Tiffany Franco and Ronald Smith
Tiffany has told her father everything about Ronald’s criminal history and his gambling addiction. She wants to be totally honest with him if he’s going to cosign Ronald’s visa application.
But he has worries
Tiffany’s DILF — sorry, her DAD — Carlos openly worries that his son-in-law might fall back into old habits. That is the question.
Ultimately, he decides to go through with it
He didn’t have this “picture-perfect” family and he hopes that his daughter can have that. It’s very sweet!
That means that the next obstacle is the interview
Ronald has a lot of things going his way. As Carlos says, Ronald needs to not self-sabotage at this point.
Unfortunately …
At a meeting with an immigration attorney, Ronald is given a practice run of an interview and, as Tiffany puts it, is bombing it. Cavalier responses dismissing his history of arrests and addictions are just not going to impress anyone at the embassy.
Tiffany is there for all of that
Ronald needs to take this seriously … why doesn’t he seem to be?
Tiffany is more nervous than she was before
She worries that Ronald is relaxed about this because he believes that if he fails it, Tiffany and Daniel and Carley will just move to South Africa to be with him. That’s not going to happen, so Tiffany is very worried.
Next Time …
Angela says that she’s going to try hypnosis to get her to stop smoking, and is filmed smoking her “last” cigarette.
Betty and Ron betray Brandon and Julia
At what is supposed to be a family gathering to toast Ronald’s 70th birthday (WHY would they do this during a pandemic anyway?), they reveal a nasty surprise — that this is intended to be a second wedding celebration, the one that neither Brandon nor Julia accepted.
Jenn plays peacemaker
Libby shows up to her sister’s house, and Becky shows up too. The goal is for them to make peace after their yacht brawl. Can it happen?
South Africa’s borders reopened
Tiffany knows that Ronald is expecting her to come visit him for the holidays (late 2020), and she has mixed feelings. Her mom correctly reminds her that she has to make up her mind because once Ronald is here, he’ll be part of her life for good.
Natalie wants to leave, NOW
Natalie is sulking in the car and demands to leave, and Trish doesn’t know why but offers an apology. Natalie angrily tells Trish that she doesn’t understand her “jokes” and while viewers don’t know what she means, neither does anyone else. Genuinely, it is anyone’s guess who the “bad guy” is here.