Mike and Natalie’s chronic inability to communicate or get along was worse than ever.
Andrei has gotten in good with Chuck, but as Libby’s siblings find out about it, Andrei ends up with a face full of cake.
It’s moving day for Brandon and Julia, but Betty and Gibbs are hoping that they — and their descendants — will never excape the farm.
Jovi and Yara head to Miami for a date, but they have different ideas about what their lives as parents should look like.
Asuelu visits his mother and sister to ask them to please not cause unnecessary drama with Kalani or her family, for once.
Mike Youngquist and Natalie Mordovtseva Natalie notes that she and Mike are not getting along, which is a recurring problem that has defined their relationship even before they were married.
So Natalie is meeting up with her friend According to Natalie, she has met up with her friend Juliana in Seattle. What is said later suggests that there’s more to this, but we’ll get to that in a moment. Juliana is her friend from Russia, so they share a language (despite being from different countries) and have bonded.
Natalie explains their latest beef Mike resented that she totally ghosted him on the day of her surgery. He wanted to be there for her, but she didn’t just decline — she didn’t even tell him that she was having the surgery without him, or why.
Juliana has some good advice Communication has always been a huge problem for Mike and Natalie, and not only because of the language barrier. Sometimes, one of them will simply refuse to speak to the other, or to answer a question, changing a topic or flying off of the handle or just sitting there silently.
The language barrier is only part of it But it does occur to Natalie that, without it, she could have an easier time explaining precisely how she’s feeling and why.
She also feels like Mike manipulates her Now, “gaslighting” comes up in this conversation, but what they’re describing — Mike denying that his mom ever called Natalie a “hooker” — is not gaslighting. Mike doesn’t believe that his mom said this. If Mike was there, heard his mom call her this derogatory term for a sex worker, and then pretended that he had not in order to make Natalie doubt her own memories, that would be gaslighting. But this particular argument, about what Trish did or did not call her, has not gone away.
Natalie makes a very odd elephant analogy Speaking of some horrifying cruelty towards circus elephants, she basically says that Mike is still accustomed to listening to his mother even when he shouldn’t.
He also just won’t admit that there are real problems After some good moments of the two walking downtown, Mike and Natalie discuss her concerns — namely, that he will minimize and ignore their problems (at least, her concerns) as he has done in the past.
Yep, it comes up in the confessional Natalie resents that no one (including the majority of fans) seems to believe her. It’s true that she has a questionable track record with accusations (remember when she accused Mike of having an affair with his married friend, even though it didn’t make sense?), but it still hurts.
An unhappy Mike stands up Natalie is so unhappy that Mike doesn’t believe her — and honestly, if this were their only issue, we’d say that they should work through it and move on. But this is just one sticking point of so many.
Mike has an idea Natalie hasn’t actually spoken to Mike’s mom, Trish, since they left Oklahoma. That was like a month and a half ago. Why doesn’t she ask Trish directly what she said?
So Mike gets Natalie’s phone Natalie calls Trish, but she does not initially ask her directly about the alleged name-calling.
Trish does tell her why she doesn’t like her Trish finds how Natalie treats Mike to be appalling. Now, as with everything about these two, nobody’s completely right or wrong — because Trish then says that Natalie takes what Mike does for granted, but there are fair questions about what Mike does for Natalie (food and shelter are kind of the minimum for your spouse, you know?) but Trish’s statement about how Natalie treats Mike is also pretty fair.
FINALLY, Natalie brings up the “hooker” thing Trish categorically denies saying that or anything of the sort. Natalie has not once, on camera, described the alleged context of that … unless she has, and it was edited out. You never can tell.
Trish has bigger concerns She doesn’t think that Natalie genuinely loves Mike, because she’s not acting like it.
After the call, there’s more An increasingly agitated Mike discussed Christmas — their first Christmas together as a couple. Mike gave her gifts, and Natalie went to her friend Juliana’s house, stayed there, and gave her presents to that family. That sounds impossible … but Natalie admits that it’s true.
WTF?!?! Mike says that no matter what language barriers or communication issues are at play, that’s just not how a spouse behaves.
The big reveal Mike shares that, in the three weeks since that big regifting, they have only spent one night together. Natalie has been basically living with her friend Juliana. So that “visit” with Juliana in Seattle was meant to make us think that things were more normal than they are.
Natalie tries to explain But she also has “a room there,” which is a huge thing for a married woman who has been spending the night away from home for three weeks.
So … why are they still married? Mike feels like Natalie has nothing nice to say about her. She can’t explain why she loves him or why she married him, and he feels like he’s the only one who took his marriage vows seriously.
He’s done! Mike removes his mic and thanks production and leaves, having gotten very worked up after admitting on camera how far his marriage has fallen. We all knew that Natalie had left the house back in December, but until now, we didn’t know this much.
Awkward If Natalie had much more to say after that, we won’t know until next week, possibly until the Tell All or Bares All.
Elizabeth Potthast and Mike Youngquist Libby explains how they were the only ones to use the RV to return home after the reunion — everyone else opted to just fly home. You can’t really blame them, right? An RV is a luxury compared to a tent or a small car but a cramped nightmare compared to a few hours of transit and then being in the comfort of your own home. Plus, you know, people weren’t getting along, and without cameras filming them on the return trip, what’s the point of fighting? Unmonetized fighting doesn’t serve any of them.
But there’s good news Chuck has purchased a property that needs to be fixed up and sold, and the idea is that he’ll use this as a teaching tool for Andrei since Andrei isn’t working so well with the Potthast siblings.
Hey Andrei, could you summarize the Potthast family dynamic real quick? All joking aside, the basic idea is that Chuck bought it (and will be a profit participant), Andrei will be in charge of actually flipping it.
Libby will be the designer Andrei of course cannot resist saying that this is for some reason her job due to gender.
Elizabeth just makes a face If Andrei is trying to make a joke, he should be reminded that jokes are supposed to be funny. If he’s not joking, then he should stop being a misogynist. Libby needs to think about herself and their daughter and the absolute s–t that comes out of her husband’s mouth.
Chuck is excited for this to happen He feels like his relationship with Andrei has never been better, and he’s so optimistic about this project. He seems to be hoping that the family spat will settle down once Andrei proves himself.
Libby shares the news with her sisters Becky and Jenn are there, and all of their kids test out the bouncy castles for the upcoming birthday party. There, she shares the plan that Chuck has for Andrei and the new house.
Andrei vowed to be on his best behavior for the party Of course, he for some reason starts cutting the cake way too early. It’s unclear if it’s a cultural misunderstanding (but surely he’s been to birthday parties before) or what, but you don’t cut the birthday cake before singing Happy Birthday at a children’s party.
Andrei thinks that he’s being bullied? Reminding someone to not mutilate a cake before it’s actually time to cut it isn’t a power play.
Then, more conflict Chuck defends Andrei but wants to hear what Jenn and Becky have to say
It’s the same thing that they’ve been saying all along They feel that Andrei is getting special treatment and taking money out of their pockets because they have very notably been cut out of this particular deal.
Andrei quickly rushes to “defend” Chuck As usual, he is way too aggressive and has no diplomacy whatsoever.
But speaking of pie … Jenn throws her cake (close enough) at Andrei, splatting him in the shoulder and neck.
You KNOW we made a GIF (Image Credit: TLC) Here it is. Not the best moment, but worth seeing.
Anyway, Andrei and Libby flipped out Jenn left, her job — causing drama on a reality show — done and done well.
Angela Deem and Michael Ilesanmi Michael is hanging out with some friends, labeled “the goofballs.” These are people with whom Angela does not want him associating. One can only guess that it’s because a classic tactic for abusers is to insist that their victim be isolated from support systems.
Michael starts talking about boobs Honestly, the producers who got him to start talking about this did a great job, because Michael talks about nursing and “playing with” his mother’s breasts as a child, which is just … not something that most people discuss or even remember.
He remembers because he was NINE Worldwide, many people stop nursing before a child turns two, but some cultures consider it normal to continue past that. But NINE? Outside of Game of Thrones, no, you’re not going to see that happening very much, with good reason. Honestly this could explain some things about Michael.
By the way, it’s not a cultural thing We don’t just mean nursing until age nine, but nursing in general. In many places, babies are exclusively breastfed for many months before they can begin to eat solid foods. In Nigeria, the exclusive breastfeeding rate is below one in five.
Michael’s friends have some suggestions The goofballs advise him to push Angela to use her new body to “tote” a baby, even recommending that he go ahead and send sperm to the US so that she can get a head start on pregnancy.
But producing the sperm sample could be an issue Michael does not masturbate, he explains, which is nearly as eyebrow-raising as his childhood spent latched to his mother’s breast. According to him, it’s widespread in Nigeria (because people live there, and that’s true of any place where people live), but as a Christian, he feels that this is against his religion. This from the guy who once accepted oral sex as payment for a ride home?
He calls Angela Things are better than they were, but Michael’s expectations of a pregnancy haven’t gotten any more reasonable … and Angela is still toxic and verbally abusive.
She puts him on blast She’s angry with him for associating with his friends, she’s also angry with him for suggesting that they try to make a baby. But, to appease him, she does agree to have a (remote, in her case) visit to a fertility clinic, just to see.
She’ll video chat with Michael during it That will be … interesting. And considering how much of their bathtime fun we were forced to see on Episode 12, there’s no telling how much of this they might try to show us.
Brandon Gibbs and Julia Trubkina Brandon is packing up his bedroom with *some* help from Julia as they prepare to move in to their new apartment! YES!
That’s the spirit, Julia! No more bizarre Gibbs family rules. No more dirty animals or farm labor. No more sharing a roof with a controlling narcissist. Just Julia and Brandon, like it should have been the whole time.
Brandon is acting almost glum Moving is an emotional process, especially for adults moving out of their houses after being told for all of their lives that they can’t be trusted to make any decisions, and anything that they try to do will inevitably fail. Brandon is fighting a irrational attachment to his parents and their home AND decades of living under their thumb, so it’s not like a magic switch was flipped that makes him ready for this big change, even if it’s long overdue and absolutely a good thing.
MALICE Betty and Ron pepper in some guilt to Brandon about how their new farmhand (whom they’ll actually have to pay) can only work five days a week (you know, like a job) and not on weekends. Brandon, his mother’s emotional apron strings still wrapped tightly around his neck, offers to help out, but they say that they’d be fine with just being visited. Betty and Ron also talk about how they hope that the two will one day move back to the farm and even inherit it, and can pass it on to their children and their grandchildren, like a generational curse.
Julia is wiser than that (TLC) She mimes counting money, meaning that she would rather sell the farm and use the profits to buy a nice house where she and Brandon could live comfortably without the grueling, thankless labor that comes with farm life. Betty and Ron can do all of the farming that they like, but Julia wants no part of it.
Ron and Betty have their own ideas Happy for now with the idea of Brandon coming to visit them for dinner on Sundays (surely not EVERY week, right? Right??), they seem to suggest that they’re open to the possibility of Brandon’s marriage falling apart and him coming running home to them.
On moving day, Brandon has other things on his mind Look, if you’ve been sharing a house with your (very controlling) geriatric parents, before and after getting married, the reality of not having to be quiet while having sex — for that matter, of not needing to wear clothes all of the time — can be very appealing.
Moving in! Betty is there, visibly unhappy, but not really helping, but you know what? That’s fine. Brandon and Julia are moving in. They have a lot of work ahead of them, including some decisions (like the table that they disagree about where to place), but that’s no big deal.
Ron and Betty say goodbye Betty is visibly getting worked up to cry. Were it not for how she has treated Brandon all of his life and Julia for the past year-ish of hers, you’d feel sorry for her.
Jovi Dufren and Yara Zaya Jovi and Yara are planning to go on a vacation. Mylah is a newborn, so she’ll come with them on their trip to Miami. Gwen, the best mother-in-law that this show has ever seen (or at least a strong contender for the title) will accompany them and provide some childcare while they go on dates. Aside from the horror of going on a trip like this for fun during a pandemic, this sounds like a sweet family trip.
Yara explains her misgivings She wants to be there to take care of her baby. This is a normal, healthy instinct. If she struggles to send Mylah to preschool or kindergarten, okay, that’s a problem, but she’s a four-month-old rainbow baby. Yara isn’t being unreasonable here.
She can laugh at herself a bit Jovi, who is not having an easy time transitioning from party guy to fatherhood, jokes that Yara has skipped being a mom and is living like a grandma — which cracks up Yara.
They fly out together This was months before the vaccine rollout and … we get it, reality TV pushes people to do things that they normally wouldn’t, but it’s weird to watch people fly to Miami for fun when you haven’t sat down in a restaurant since a couple of weeks after they got married.
Yara looks SO good She always does, but it’s a great dress for their date. And it would be a great dress for anything.
Romance! Being the parent of a newborn means grabbing sleep where you can get it, even if that means spending 20 minutes in an unplanned nap on the way to your date.
It’s beautiful Yara also appreciates how clean Miami looks when compared to New Orleans.
They have a great time! But … Yara is ready to pack it in sooner than Jovi is. She’s not up for partying all night like they used to be, and she wants to check on Mylah.
Yara has embraced her new role and the lifestyle that comes with it She feels like Jovi is hoping to keep his old lifestyle. That’s understandable! He was having fun. But you can live life however you want to OR you can have kids. You can’t do both — not if you’re a good parent. That doesn’t mean that Jovi can’t have fun anymore, but he might need to learn that there are different kinds of fun.
Date’s over You can tell that Jovi is disappointed. But, as someone who refuses to go out to lunch while dogsitting for a friend, I get where Yara’s coming from.
Kalani Faagata and Asuelu Pulaa Asuelu’s mother, Lesina, and sister, Tammy, are in town, so he goes to visit them as a prelude to their inevitable explosive family fight that we all know is coming. Just … not yet.
Tammy made some threats in the past She threatened to “beat up” multiple people, including Kolini, Asuelu’s sister-in-law. She also lunged at Kalani as if to attack her.
Asuelu wants peace He wants them to not cause any drama, and notes that Kalani’s family is worried that Tammy might try to make good on her threats. (For the record, Low isn’t worried, as he notes that many people make better choices when they’re at “hand distance” than they do from miles away)
Lesina wants them to forgive and forget She wants life to be a Hallmark movie, where people forget all of their problems because of Christmas.
As for Tammy … She’s not making any real promises if anyone gets on her nerves.