90 Day Fiance: Happily Ever After? Season 6, Episode 12 showed couples who were just not on the same page.
First, cultural differences saw Yara, Jovi, and Jovi’s family clash at a Ukrainian Christmas dinner.
To the horror of many viewers, Angela and Michael reconnect after their “breakup” … and even have a bathtub date.
Andrei and Libby’s peaceful family reunion was short-lived after Becky caused problems on purpose.
Asuelu warns Kalani’s entire family about the bad news: his sister, who has physically threatened them, is coming to visit.
Mike and Natalie try to talk out the tension that has followed since her surgery.
And Tiffany explains to a confused Ronald why his impulsive, financially reckless choices have her worried about their future.
Jovi Dufren and Yara Zaya
Jovi arrives home with the groceries that Yara ordered, but he is really unsure of some of them. Caviar is famously gross, and there’s a jar of herring which is … a niche food, to put it politely.
But Yara is insistent upon having a traditional spread
They’re having Ukrainian Christmas. While most Christians celebrate Christmas on December 25 in Roman tradition — the day of Dies Natalis Solis Invicti in pre-Christian Rome — in Ukraine, it is celebrated twelve days later, on January 6. Jovi wasn’t there for the December date, so Yara’s making food and his family will arrive soon.
It’s not just “Ms. Gwen” coming to visit, either
Jovi’s cousin Claire, and Jovi’s cousin-in-law Chris, are also there. Claire is actually Mylah’s godmother and they were among the first people whom Yara met upon arriving in the US … which is a great reminder that there’s so much that we don’t see.
Jovi’s dramatic lifestyle changes do not go unnoticed
They note that Jovi, before having kids, was the guy to go out, party, and drink very often, and that the time of day when he now goes to bed is closer to when he used to wake up for the day before. (Gotta say, that’s totally reasonable — just as it’s reasonable to change all of that when you have a kid)
The Ukrainian dishes are not well-received
Though there was likely some prompting for food opinions by production, the guests are not enthused about some of the food.
“Why would people eat this?”
Caviar is also supposed to be a rich people food in America, but … it just doesn’t taste good. Like, famously, it’s awful. There are countless videos of people pranking each other by letting them try caviar.
Yara feels defensive
Whether prompted by producers or not, the food that she prepared — the food that comes from her heritage — is being insulted. She doesn’t love that.
For the record
If we look at the spread of food, we can see that there are way more dishes than we heard anyone comment on. It seems very likely that many of them received more positive comments, and that these were merely edited out to make the food seem “stranger” and to make it seem like a tenser meal than it was. This is a dinner that went on for hours, after all.
Mylah’s sleeping arrangements come up
Gwen is clearly already aware, but Mylah sleeps in bed with Yara and, now that he’s back, with Yara and Jovi. Keep in mind that she’s not even half a year old at this point. Yara explains that making the trip to and from her crib multiple times in the night to feed, change, or comfort her is a lot for someone who was, for four months, living like a single parent of a newborn.
The clock strikes six
Yara notes the time. It’s time to begin preparing Mylah (who is a newborn) for bed, as routine is very good for developing babies. However, given the size of the apartment and the shared bed, this means that she wants the guests to depart. They’ve enjoyed hours of conversation and dinner but Yara is done. Jovi tells her that she’ll have to be the “bad guy” if that’s what she wants, because he’s not going to do it, and he thinks that it’s rude.
Awkward …
Yara does ask them to leave so that she can put Mylah to bed. It’s awkward. It’s a huge cultural difference, too, as Yara explains — she’s accustomed to guests worried about appearing rude by overstaying. In many parts of the United States, guests can appear rude by leaving too soon. This should have been talked about in advance by all parties involved, obviously.
Later, Jovi complains to the camera
He laments how Yara used to be fun and want to stay out late, but now she doesn’t. Well … Yara’s a mom now, so it’s not clear why he’d expect that she’d still want to party until dawn.
Yara does agree to one thing: getting Mylah a crib
They go to New Orleans to buy a crib for Mylah, and there, Jovi takes things a step further, suggesting that he and Yara go on a trip together for a few days while his mom watches Mylah. Yara is very uncomfortable with leaving their (what, 4-month-old?) baby anywhere for days, and tells Jovi as much. It looks like she’s going to do things his way, however. (During a pandemic?? Before the vaccine rollout??)
Overall, Jovi needs to adjust
His carefree life didn’t end because he got married, but of course his lifestyle has to change because he is now a parent. If you don’t want anyone telling you that you can’t party all of the time, there’s a simple solution: don’t have kids. Jovi and Yara had a baby, and they need to work together to be Mylah’s parents.
Angela Deem and Michael Ilesanmi
A couple of weeks after Angela blew up at Michael and declared that their relationship was over, they’re back to talking.
It’s a three-way call including Angela’s psychic, Tracey
Tracey tells Michael that she gets the sense that a lot of Michael’s side of the relationship is a focus upon material things. She’s … dropping hints that she thinks that he’s a scammer, it seems.
Michael is ready to move on
He emphasizes that he forgives Angela … which of course sets her off.
“YOU forgive ME?!”
Angela, whose vicious verbal and emotional abuse has led to multiple fan campaigns to get her fired from the franchise despite her polarizing popularity, doesn’t think that she’s done anything wrong (part of her pathology, really) and doesn’t think that she needs forgiveness. She wants to focus on Michael not being supportive of her during her recovery.
Later, they try to patch things up
Angela, who has previously complained about Michael not calling her or being supportive (but has also blocked Michael before), asks Michael why in the hell he’s calling her. However, they talk things through with some ups and downs. Clearly, this conversation is just a prelude to to next one.
Angela …
Angela sprays perfume on herself, does her lipstick, sticks what looks like stems of baby’s breath into her hair, and gets into the tub for a “sexy” bubblebath convo.
Michael tunes in
Surrounded by the illumination of candles, they are having an awkward sexy long-distance chat to reignite their “spark” … with cameras rolling, of course.
Apparently, Michael really likes this?
Michael somewhat bashfully expresses how much he enjoys seeing Angela in the bathtub.
This is his first time seeing her healed, post-op boobs
Michael doesn’t give them a roaring review, but he accepts them at their smaller size. So … that’s something.
Elizabeth Potthast and Andrei Castravet
Having agreed to put family conflicts behind them, Libby and Andrei head to a family gathering for their family reunion.
That only lasts for so long, however
When the topic of childcare comes up, Becky asks Elizabeth how her babysitter is working out.
Libby has a babysitter … a SECRET babysitter
Elizabeth’s babysitter was hired for a few days a week, behind Andrei’s back, because Andrei is a mix of being adorably protective of his daughter while also being a hugely misogynistic weirdo. He thinks that Libby shouldn’t have any trouble working from home and being a parent for their toddler, and adamantly refused to hire help. So Libby did it anyway.
Andrei is not happy
He is visibly unhappy and shocked, feeling that Libby has betrayed him.
They take it outside
In addition to this argument, Andrei also reveals that he thinks that Libby’s sisters are stirring the pot intentionally (they are) in order to make him blow up at the family gathering.
Becky “had no idea” that Libby hadn’t told Andrei yet
Even delivering this line, Becky’s face breaks. Honestly? Love this. It’s her job, as a reality star, to cause problems on purpose, and that’s what she’s doing.
Andrei resolves to make the best of things
He plays foosball with the guys for a while, which is when Chuck tells him that he’s gotten a house that he and Andrei will flip together and then split the profits, so that he can walk Andrei through the process himself (since clearly that’s not working out with Charlie). Of course, soon, the family finds out.
Jenn cannot help but notice how much Andrei talks to Chuck when Chuck is drinking
She feels that Andrei is once again being manipulative, so she confronts him, and it turns into a whole mess. An unhappy Chuck storms off.
Kalani Faagata and Asuelu Pulaa
Kalani is relaxing for a bit while Asuelu tries to wrangle the kids and food prep. It goes … okay, at least. The idea is for Asuelu to demonstrate that he can help with the kids, since he’s also their parent.
Asuelu wants more kids
Despite lacking a uterus with which to birth them himself, he wants more kids — ideally, seven. That’s a lot of children. Even three can be a lot.
Asuelu needed help with that, but he did make food
At the table, he tells Kalani and her mom, Lisa, that he spoke to his mother, Lesina. Lesina will be going back to Samoa soon. She hopes to visit him before that.
Things with his mom are awkward at best, but that’s not all
Tammy — who has expressed no regret for her previous actions — will be driving her down.
She’s not just dropping her off
Tammy will be visiting when Lesina visits, and that could be trouble.
Remember when Tammy threatened Kolini?
Tammy threatened Kalani’s sister, Kolini, and this was after lunging at Kalani, too.
They warn the rest of the family
They all say that it’s okay, but Low, Kalani and Kolini’s dad, explains that he thinks that it was probably all talk because Tammy was on TV at the time. He notes that many people don’t act that way when they’re in “hand-distance.”
Mike Youngquist and Natalie Mordovtseva
Viewers are treated to a glimpse at Mike’s fitness regime, which involves a large tire. Natalie seems to have fully recovered from her nasal surgery … except of course for the fallout from what happened.
Mike brings it up with her
They have both felt this tension following her surgery, but she totally ghosted him that day, and Mike is still unhappy about it. They need to discuss it before they can move on.
Natalie tries to explain
According to her, because they had had an argument the night before, she wanted no contact with him in case they had another dispute, because she wanted to focus upon her health before the surgery and not get stressed out.
Mike says that that’s no way to do things
He tells her that they need to talk through these things and that he was worried about her. He wanted to sit in the waiting room while she went through surgery, just like any other normal spouse would.
Natalie sees a contradiction there
She notes that any time that she tries to bring things up with her, he gets agitated and walks away. That’s a fair point.
Tiffany Franco and Ronald Smith
Last night, they slept on separate beds after their date night ended in Ronald storming off.
They talk things out
Ronald explains that he feels emasculated, though he uses an odd clothing analogy that might make more sense in South Africa than it does here, because Tiffany makes decisions and wants him to change diapers.
Yikes
Weird fixations upon gender roles have sabotaged other relationships, both on and off of this show, but you hate to see it. it’s not their only problem, however.
Ronald has a new job idea and plans to buy a new car
He’s buying a pickup truck (I think that he called it a “backie”) and to buy equipment to become a handyman … here in South Africa … when the plan is for him to move, possibly as soon as a few months from then.
What???
Tiffany does not understand how Ronald’s fantasy is supposed to play out. She’s not moving there, and it feels like he’s in denial about that … and also assuming that his marital visa application will fail.
Ronald feels like he just can’t win
Tiffany talks to him about his reckless spending — suddenly spending hundreds of dollars on Christmas decorations. It’s like he’s more interested in overcompensating and impressing them than he is on actually being responsible with money.
It doesn’t make sense
Tiffany has to tell him that her dad has agreed to co-sponsor his visa, but it’s worrisome to her that Ronald is making erratic choices like this. She also admits to him that she visited a divorce attorney before, just to see what her options were. Ronald is crushed by that, and hopefully understands how serious her concerns are.