90 Day Fiance: The Other Way continues with Season 3, Episode 4.
This time, we saw some tender reunions … but trouble brewing beneath the surface.
First up, we saw the aftermath of Evelin’s revelation. Her sisters are angry, and they hate Corey more now.
Ellie is in San Andres and is bracing herself to go to the ruins of Providencia to look for Victor.
With other options worn out (except for the obvious one), Jenny pushes Sumit to finally get his passport.
Kenneth has made progress with Armando’s family, but Armando is afraid to announce the wedding plans.
Steven and Alina are reunited in Turkey, but suspicions and being on different pages about things make things tricky.
Leandro is leaving. We know how Biniyam feels, but Ariela has a lot to think about.
Corey Rathgeber and Evelin Villegas
In the immediate aftermath of telling her sisters that she’s married, Evelin can feel the anger and disappointment radiating off of Lesly and Lipsy.
Why have a secret wedding?
Corey’s visa was about to expire, she shared, and they were in a good place in their relationship at the time, so … she decided to marry him.
There’s even footage
They married on June 11, 2019. That is about when her and Corey’s story was first airing on our screens. It was before so many things, very likely including the filming of the Tell All.
They were sworn to secrecy
Evelin explained that they had to keep it quiet because her family is extremely anti-divorce. (Ecuador is about 75% Catholic with another 17% of the population being some form of Christian as well, and according to polls, the remaining 8% is simply not religious … so you can see how that level of opposition to divorce might exist in her family)
So by keeping it quiet, she kept her options open
She wasn’t quite ready to marry Corey, despite loving him. If worst came to worst, she could then divorce him as quietly as she married him and no one would have been the wiser.
W. T. F.
Lesly and Lipsy are left processing this information, as they feel betrayed. She’s their sister and she didn’t tell them this. This would have been a year and a half — at least — of marriage without telling them.
Then they do the math …
That means that, as we here at THG speculated, Corey was very much married (and had been for more than half a year) to Evelin before he cheated on her in Peru with Jenny.
Yep
Evelin’s sisters are struggling to understand why she now wants to double down on her marriage to him with a public wedding.
Prank time!
They meet up to eat with Corey and Evelin, their first time doing so since learning the news. Lesly has decided to haze Corey.
Corey just ate bull dong
It’s not a very mature prank, but then, freaking out about it wouldn’t be very mature, either. Corey describes the taste as mostly sort of fatty and buttery, so it sounds like it leaves something to be desired.
It’s no secret why they pulled this
Lesly and Lipsy are mad, and they put him on notice — “break” or no, they were married when he was with Jenny, so they don’t think that this can ever be forgiven. They’re there to support Evelin, not him.
And it won’t happen again … right?
Of course, there’s more that Corey hasn’t told her about his time in Peru, and he’s very much afraid that telling her will change everything for the worse.
Ellie Rose and Victor McLean
In San Andrews, Ellie has arrived the night before and gotten one night of sleep. Bracing herself for the cold water of the shower is symbolic in some ways — she has heard that Victor is alive but has not yet heard from him directly in the wake of Providencia being devastated by Hurricane Iota’s Category 5 destruction.
Good news!
Ellie does not have to wait any longer to hear from Victor. Even before she can leave the hotel, she hears from Victor, who is in San Andres.
He just arrived
As Ellie predicted, he was not able to escape ahead of the storm, so he has only just now gotten to San Andres where he can actually communicate with her — and, soon, see her.
Reunited!
This is our first time seeing them together on screen. While Ellie’s revelation about Victor’s domestic violence history on Episode 2 makes it difficult (okay, impossible) to cheer for them or for any part of this storyline, their happiness is palpable.
It was a scary situation
Victor was at his sister’s. He and the rest of the family huddled under the kitchen sink. (For those of you who don’t live in hurricane country, bathrooms and anywhere else with plumbing are often recommended when seeking shelter because the plumbing adds more stability in a storm than the wood of which most houses are constructed.
There were countless deaths
Victor tells Ellie that it is estimated that thousands died in the storm, and the devastation of the island — and his home — will be difficult to bear.
Jenny Slatten and Sumit Singh
We catch up with Jenny and Slatten after they have learned that a missionary visa is not a wink-and-a-nudge loophole that Sumit thought that it would be, so they need to try something else. Also, Jenny is doing laundry outdoors, which is … absolutely the last place that many of us would want to put a laundry machine, but we’re sure that it’s their best option.
Sumit needs to prepare for any eventuality
Jenny’s visa extension application could be denied at any time, so if she has to go somewhere else, Sumit should be ready to go with her. He’ll need his passport … which his former father-in-law allegedly stole from him, claiming that it’s “missing” after initially promising to return it after the divorce.
Sumit goes in to get a new one
It takes some nudging from Jenny, which does uncomfortably remind us all that of Jenny and Sumit’s age gap. Sumit is told that he will get a new passport in about one month. But a passport is just a short-term thing to have — what Sumit really needs is to just marry Jenny like he promised.
Sumit speaks to his friends
He tells him that he feels trapped because he doesn’t want to lose Jenny or his parents, but if he marries Jenny in order to not lose her, his (awful) parents will cut him out of their lives because they don’t approve. His friends encourage him, and it’s actually nice to see that there are people in Sumit’s life aside from Jenny who want him to be happy.
Kenneth Niedermeier and Armando Rubio
En route to see Armando’s parents with Cassidy and Hannah in the back seat, Armando admits that the last time that he spoke to his mother about marrying Kenny, she suggested a “small” wedding. Armando is picturing a guest list of over 100 for the nuptials. His mom is picturing basically no guests.
Hugs all around
Due to Armando moving farther away from them instead of being their neighbor, his parents haven’t seen him as much, and his father gives him a warm hug. He also hugs Hannah, his precious granddaughter, and he hugs Cassidy, Kenneth’s daughter.
He also hugs Kenneth
This is a mark of tremendous progress in their relationship and in terms of Armando’s family accepting him for who he is. While there is no excuse for how Armando was treated when he first came out or when he told them about Kenneth, it’s at least nice to see them coming around.
Dinner goes so well!
Everybody eats together and has a good time.
Too well, actually
There is a nonverbal but nonetheless palpable conversation between Kenneth and Armando. The plan was that Armando would tell his family at dinner that he and Kenneth are making wedding plans … but he doesn’t say a thing.
He’s just not ready
With the dinner going so well, Armando is afraid of seeing things get worse and receiving a negative reaction if he shares what should be happy news. That’s … soul-crushing to hear. It’s hard for Kenneth, it’s hard for Armando, and it’s not good for their relationship, either.
Steven Johnston and Alina
Steven takes a series of flights to get from Utah to Turkey where he is meeting up with Alina.
Steven still finds time to goof off on layover
Steven’s general lack of impulse-control and his odd behavior is funny to watch, but when I take a moment to imagine if I were his traveling companion and saw him start to play the airport piano … well, I hope that Alina is more of a fun person than I am, because I would just walk somewhere else.
Meanwhile, in Russia
Alina’s young-looking mom and young-looking grandmother are anxious about their actually-young daughter/granddaughter leaving for another country. She has never done that before. Also she’s 20, which is just too young to get married. Also she’s only seen Steven in person for two weeks.
What now?
They’re also concerned about her living arrangements in Turkey during her 90 days there. Steven wants them to live separately until they’re married.
He’s Mormon, you see
One can understand why someone might want to have sex only after specific relationship milestones are reached, and some religions include rules or guidelines about this. What’s odd, to many viewers and perhaps to Alina’s family, is Steven acting as if living together will inevitably lead to sex. What Alina and her family don’t know is that he’s had sex before … and given his general lack of impulse control, may genuinely be uncertain if he can abide by the rules of his faith.
Alina has her own concerns, but doesn’t share them with her family
Among other things, she wonders if Steven will take the bait of her test — flirty messages sent to him by her friend, Masha.
Reunited!
These two have one of the sweetest reunions that we have ever witnessed on this franchise. For better or for worse, they really do care about each other.
So what’s the plan?
They’ll spend the first night in an apartment together, but Steven will take the couch. Alina has never left home before, while Steven traveled a lot during his time as a missionary.
Alina is … very fearful
Between her paranoia that she’ll be in the next Taken movie and her family’s anxieties that Steven and other Mormons traffic in human organs, it sounds like she comes from a family that is very fearful and perhaps believes things about the world that are inaccurate.
Okay, they ARE cute together
Should they be getting married after only knowing each other for two weeks? No. Should Alina be getting married at all until she’s as old as Steven is now? Also no. Does Steven’s desire to convert Alina and have her baptised seem like a recipe for disaster? Yes. But that doesn’t mean that they aren’t cute together.
Steven no
We have to include that he referred to sex as “Skoodilypoop” because it is incomprehensively absurd. I’m a native English speaker and I’ve never heard anything of the sort in my life. Alina handled it well, at least.
Romance!
Steven and Alina do some Mormon bible study on their first night together, which … is not really what she was hoping for.
No cuddles?
Steven and Alina clearly need to communicate, even if it means Steven telling her that if he cuddles her he will forget all about his religion’s rules and just want to bone. Honestly is generally a good idea.
The next day …
They awkwardly figure out how to navigate living in the same space without anybody’s whole dick hanging out. It’s easy to see why Alina is turning her young life upside down to be with Steven, though.
Oh no, the clownery
Steven impulsively dives into a pool wearing most of his clothes and then emerges. Alina finds the awkwardness charming … a little … but it does feel like something more fun to recall about, like, a weekend fling you had on vacation than about your actual husband, which is her plan. If you’re wondering “how do I take him places without him doing something that makes me cringe?” it might not be a good idea.
They check out the hostel where Steven wanted to stay
He promises Alina that he won’t stay there if she doesn’t want him to. Well, guess what — she doesn’t want him to. So it looks like she’ll get her wish and he’ll live with her while they’re in Turkey.
Ariela Weinberg and Biniyam Shibre
Ariela goes out for coffee with Leandro as he prepares to leave Ethiopia and return home. She admits to him that she didn’t realize how much she needed this closure before he arrived, while he says that he knew that it was truly over when she told him that she was dating Biniyam.
They wouldn’t have worked out anyway
Initially, Ariela and Leandro were on the same page about not wanting kids. When Ariela turned 25, she explains, she had a change of heart. Now she’s living that life.
Ariela claims that she’s happy where she is
Leandro isn’t convinced. She clearly left so much behind. And, as he notes, she was homesick — by definition, that means that she’s not home. Leandro is a wise man.
Ariela loves Biniyam … but
He has shown so many times that he doesn’t really know how to be a partner. Going hours or days without being in contact with her, acting as if her views of things are ridiculous … that’s just not acceptable. She hopes that he can learn, but can he?
Before Leandro leaves
They celebrate Buhe, an Ethiopian Orthodox holiday. It’s admittedly a little odd to see Ariela, a Jewish woman, expected to participate in a holiday celebrating Jesus, but she goes above and beyond to embrace her husband’s culture and religion, and this is yet another example.
Biniyam’s family wants to understand Leandro
Wish asks him to talk about himself, and honestly, Leandro has only nice things to say about Wish as he explains her behavior to the camera.
He and Ariela make sense as best friends
He explains to Wish that the idea of an ex visiting an ex or even staying together for a while (as she did in Jersey, as he is doing in Ethiopia) might be odd in Argentina, too, but he doesn’t care about societal expectations — which makes Wish comment that she gets why he and Ariela get along so well.
Wish is very different with Ariela, however
Repeatedly, Wish and Mimi have expressed a fear that Ariela will take Avi and return to the United States, leaving Biniyam once again without his child (whom Wish calls “his flesh”). Ariela has emphasized that she’s not going to do that. The way that Wish keeps asking … one almost wonders if there is a desire to drive her away so that they can find a different woman for Biniyam AND paint Ariela as the “bad guy.” Either that or there’s just something that we’re missing.
Leandro leaves
Biniyam is not subtle about his happiness, saying that he is now “free.” Apparently, Ariela and Leandro being two people who get along well was threatening to Biniyam, but it’s not clear if it occurred to him that he could just be nicer to his fiancee and more considerate and they could build a similar rapport.
They do love each other, though
Ariela hopes that Biniyam can change. For what it’s worth, we do, too.