After a sports-induced hiatus, 90 Day Fiance: The Other Way is back with Season 4, Episode 3.
It’s finally time to meet Debbie, who has the franchise’s most colossal age gap to date with her fiance.
Daniele and Yohan deal with the aftermath of last week. Isabel prepares for Gabriel’s arrival.
Rishi is keeping something from Jen and something else from his family. Kris and Jeymi meet for the first time.
And Nicole ignores her mixed feelings. She flies out to Egypt to reunite with Mahmoud. Things get awkward almost immediately. Check it out for yourself, below!
Debbie and Oussama
Finally, on Episode 3, we meet Debbie. She is from Sugar Hill, Georgia. She has a wild mane of hair and a larger-than-life personality. Our first glimpse of her is of her in a massive craft store warehouse. Just a tip: if production invites you to show off the things that highlight your personality, there’s at least a 50% chance that they want to make you look goofy.
But Debbie knows that she is, as she puts it, “eccentric”
She shares her life story. Her childhood did not have a great deal of structure, owing to her mother’s mental health struggles. This left Debbie growing up to be a very naive young woman. She married a man, had a son named Julian, but that marriage only lasted for a couple of years. She later remarried and had a daughter, and that marriage lasted more than two decades. But, she discovered, he was a womanizer and a cheater.
Debbie had a dark period after that divorce
She spent years at home. Having sworn off men. However, it’s not like her life was on pause during that time. Debbie has her passions.
Debbie is an artist. She makes jewelry
Her skill with painting is genuinely impressive, but it also absolutely highlights her eccentricities. It is also how she came to know Oussama.
Oussama is also an artist, Debbie shares
He is an artist and a poet and he lives in Morocco. The two of them began talking on social media and appraising each other’s art. Apparently, this led to sparks flying. One day, Debbie decided to fly out to meet him, even though she knew that he was clearly younger.
Debbie hadn’t realized HOW much younger he was
Oussama is 43 years younger than she is. Despite appearances, he is 24 years old. Eventually, he asked her to come to Morocco permanently and marry him despite her only having visited a couple of times. Debbie had moments when she considered ending things, because he is substantially younger than her children. But she’s clearly crazy about him. Take that as you will.
You know who’s not on board? The people who love Debbie the most
Thus far, we have only met Julian. He is very leery of Oussama and his intentions. He fears that someone is using his mother, possibly for money. Allegedly, there’s been nothing financial to the relationship yet, but Julian wonders if Oussama is looking for a big score. This is a 24-year-old man who claims to want to marry a woman nearly three times his age. Julian vows to find out what the real story is.
Daniele Gates and Yohan Geronimo
It’s the day after the two of them visited Lord Of The Flies Meats or whatever Yohan is calling his butcher shop. Daniele knows that she hurt Yohan’s feelings with her reaction. But she admits that she would not have been able to disguise her disgust and alarm, even if she had tried. It’s not just about hygiene, however. How long will Yohan keep trying to make this unprofitable business work?
Maybe they’ll see in a few months?
But, for now, Yohan is not willing to give up his dream. Right now, he controls his own business. He’s not eager to throw in the towel. And Daniele’s doubts clearly sting — even if her concerns are entirely reasonable.
They look at apartments that will meet Daniele’s standard of living
One place that they visit is $2,000 a month — in USD — which would be steep but sadly normal in America. Daniele tentatively asks Yohan if he would be able to contribute to the rent, but she already knows the answer. He does, too. Yohan almost seems surprised that she asked.
His possible monthly contribution to the rent would come out to just under $90
That is … just not a meaningful contribution. That is a couple of delivery dinners for two, at least in the US. But Daniele does not want to be in a one-sided, codependent relationship. She has done this before.
Daniele is looking for “balance” in the relationship
She asks Yohan about cooking and helping with housework since she will be their primary breadwinner. He balks at this. First, he notes that he works outdoors while she is already at home, but that is not how working from home works. She’ll be working. Then, he brings up gender roles — saying that both men and women work, but that his culture expects women to do housework.
That is not going to fly
Daniele tells him that, given their situation, he is functionally her “wife” when it comes to finances and the roles that they play. It’s maybe not the most sensitive way to lay that out, but the sexism in what Yohan is saying does make it understandable.
Gabriel Paboga and Isabel Posada
In Colombia, Isabel meets up with her friends, Samuel and Mateo. Sam specifically is how she met Gabe. Isabel notes that she has a lot of gay friends, and that she’s able to have these very real, honest, unfiltered conversations with them that she can’t really have with other people in her life.
PAUSE
We have to talk about how absolutely excellent the place where they met for drinks is. This decor is amazing. LGBTQ+ culture is so vibrant and its contributions to art are a breath of fresh air. Okay, moving on.
Imagine
Mateo has some suggestions for how Isabel could decorate to welcome Gabriel to Colombia. He’s been before, but he is about to move there. His suggestion of a lingerie rainbow cracked us up.
They remember when Isabel met Gabriel
The two had a pretty instant attraction, as Isabel has discussed in the past. That chance meeting was life-changing. For her and for her kids.
Let’s talk about sex, maybe?
Discussing sex with your partner is a normal part of talking to your friends. Discussing it when your partner has undergone bottom surgery of any kind is complex. Not all trans people undergo bottom surgery (that is, genital surgery), but Isabel has a lot of good things to say about Gabriel. She also has some questions about it. Most of the time, trans people’s genitals are none of anyone’s business (same goes for cis people, really), but it’s your business when you’re sleeping with someone.
Obviously, Isabel’s daughter knows
Sara is 16 years old. The two of them saw Gabriel discussing himself and his transition on social media before he even had a real chance to come out to Isabel. Sara and Miguel both adore Gabe, but Miguel — who is a tween — doesn’t know yet. So they’re planning to tell him. Miguel has good values from growing up with Isabel, so they expect him to react normally. But what about the rest of her family?
Her mom is pretty chill, but ….
While Isabel sounds confident that she can point her mom in the right direction, how will her dad react? Isabel worries that her father might reject Gabriel or even her, or label them “sinners.” So … that is an awkward thing to consider.
Meanwhile, in Florida
Monica drives Gabriel to the airport. She reminds him that the parents of one of his ex-girlfriends refused to acknowledge him at all because he is trans.
Jen Boecher and Rishi Singh
Still at her family’s home, Jen is packing up her things. Her family has a lot of reservations about her plans and this relationship. But they love her and drive her to the airport. Her brother even helps with her luggage. Honestly? Jen is a really sympathetic person so far. We don’t yet know how wise — or otherwise — her big move will end up being. She cannot help but recall that Rishi seemed to take the bait, if only up to a point, when her friend “tested” him. Only time will tell.
She’s in India!
Jen takes a long, long flight — which really drives home the distance that she is moving. She lands in Jaipur and stays in a hotel to rest. In the morning, she will have another 6-hour trip to finally meet up with Rishi. He has an apartment ready for her … but he cannot stay with her. He lives with his family (a lot of his family), and they do not even know about her.
Meanwhile, Rishi is with his family
Obviously, this couple is drawing comparisons to Sumit and Jenny even though a lot of circumstances and personalities are fundamentally different. The kitchen in particular made us think about Sumit’s mother terrorizing Jenny over the state of her own house. Point is, Rishi’s relatives look to him as a sort of man of the house.
But they want to see him married
Rishi’s casual question about his sister’s married life has his mother, Shimla, reminding him of how much she would like to see him with a wife. And it’s not just a cultural expectation for marriage and grandbabies. Shimla doesn’t just want a daughter-in-law; she wants a new housekeeper. It seems that she expects that Rishi will marry, that his new wife will live with them, and that his new wife will run the household by cooking and cleaning as Shimla has.
A what now?
Shimla tells Rishi that a proposal has come in. Tomorrow, she wants him to take five minutes out of his day to meet this potential wife and her family. Rishi is less than enthusiastic about the idea.
Yes, he could fend these off easily
But his family doesn’t know about Jen. When they find out, he’s not sure how they will respond. (Also, we have to ask — why do his relatives think that he’s filming for a reality show? Do they think that it’s about his modeling?)
Kris Foster and Jeymi Noguera
Wearing her dazzling face mask, Kris gazes out of the window excitedly. She is so eager to see Jeymi. The two will finally meet. They are already planning to spend their lives together.
On her way to the airport, Jeymi also feels anxious
Even though they both adore each other online, they don’t know each other yet. Sharing a mutual interest and your life stories is not the same as sharing a bathroom. This will be a major test of their compatibility, and they have just a few days to go before the wedding.
United and it feels so good!
Jeymi and Kris embrace and kiss upon first meeting. After all, they have both uprooted their lives for this. Kris expresses a bit of surprise at Jeymi’s height (she is much shorter, even in heels) but it’s a very cute meeting.
They even get their own couples card!
Now, we mentioned that they both uprooted their lives for this. Jeymi has also moved out of a much smaller home. She picked out the new place, and is nervous that Kris will not like it. Kris needed a functional kitchen and the two of them would need more space.
CUTE
Instead of furniture, which they plan to pick out together (at least, that’s what we gathered from this), Jeymi has filled the home with colorful balloons.
THE PILLOWS
Jeymi clearly has a great sense of humor. And, thus far, it looks like she and Kris share that. Kris does remind her that her narcolepsy can sometimes cause her to kick in her sleep, a warning both for Jeymi and for Jeymi’s sweet little dog, Zoe. Something to keep in mind.
Both ladies undergo a wardrobe change
Once in lingerie, the two share a passionate kiss. And then another. And, eventually, they invite the cameras and producers to leave.
Nicole Sherbiny and Mahmoud Elsherbiny
Preparing for her big move to Egypt, Nicole is packing up her apartment in Los Angeles. Her parents, Harold and Wanda, arrive to help with that. The two admit that they found out that Nicole had married someone … via someone else, who saw it on social media.
Nicole recalls how the wedding went down
She tells viewers about how she and Mahmoud married legally at the department of justice, but then had to have a religious wedding to appease Mahmoud’s family. How did they do that? They crashed someone else’s wedding. It looks like the process involved a microphone and some very skinny Pepsi cans.
Her parents ask if she plans to convert to Islam
Nicole replies that she already has. She adds that it was not a requirement, but that she fell in love with how devoted Muslims seem to be. Also, she admitted that she would want to raise kids in a single-faith household rather than have them grow up with parents of different beliefs. (We have several questions about that)
But Nicole isn’t sure that she made the right call
She tells the camera that there are, she learned to her surprise, a lot of “rules” governing everyday parts of life. Dietary restrictions, clothing restrictions. While the latter are more cultural (thus the wide array of head coverings, from a hijab to a niqab or burka), it is strange that Nicole finds these things surprising. We know that she grew up in a very isolated area, but most public school curriculums should cover Islam in a basic way. Also, Nicole converted without asking about this stuff?
Finally, we meet Mahmoud
He manages a fabric store — the very place where he met Nicole. He has been doing this since he was a teenager. Mahmoud is clearly a hottie, as Nicole pointed out while introducing herself. But fans are wondering if he’ll be one of this season’s villains.
Mahmoud credits God for sending Nicole in his direction
He recalls meeting his wife as a fond memory. It sounds like their breakup (she has not lived in Egypt for more than two months) may have traumatized him. He misses her … but it seems like he struggles to understand why she has left Egypt and him in the past.
There are differences
Mahmoud acknowledges that he and Nicole have entirely different ways of thinking. Only time will tell if he is willing to make accommodations for that. Nicole certainly is.
Mahmoud talks to his older brothers
Both of them are significantly older — on average, about a decade — than he is, so they think of him as part baby brother, part eldest son. He admits that he and Nicole lack “harmony,” which is a great way of saying that they do not get along even though they are married.
Mahmoud makes light of all of Nicole’s concerns
Simply put, he finds her balking at how he wants her to dress to be “ridiculous.” For the record, visitors to Egypt should keep their shoulders covered unless they’re at the beach (just pretend you’re abiding by an oppressive and weird school dress code) but can wear short sleeves and other normal outfits. But this isn’t about Egyptian law and society, but about Mahmoud’s desires for how his wife should dress. Nicole wonders why Mahmoud is “allowed” to dress in certain ways that she cannot. He finds that funny.
His brothers urge him to “educate” her
Of course, we should remember that they know that she has converted to Islam. In many faiths, it is customary to help someone new to a belief system to learn about the practices and history that they have just embraced. But Nicole’s situation is more complex than that.
And she’s off
Still dressed like a suspiciously visible “helpful” background character who turns out to be a fugitive in hiding who reinvented herself and is now the victim of a blackmailer who is preventing her from exposing the murderer on Law & Order, Nicole heads for the airport. Her parents are going to drive her there, then take her car back to their home. Nicole openly has misgivings and admits to ‘freaking out,” but she still takes the flight.
They love each other!
Nicole and Mahmoud hug at the airport. Nothing more than that. Nicole admits that she is unsure about whether it is safe to hug this way. It is, though hugs are somewhat unusual in public in Egypt. Kissing in public, or insulting the Egyptian government on social media, are another matter. A hug at the airport, Mahmoud explains, is normal.
And right away, he starts policing her outfit
Even though Nicole is dressed like what we can only describe as a Fashion Nun, Mahmoud thinks that her outfit is too revealing, and he wants her to button up her jacket. Mahmoud himself is not wearing a jacket at all. Oh boy. This is going to be a long season, isn’t it?