90 Day Round Up (B90 Episodes 15&16; SL Episodes 7&8

On Before the 90 Days:

Birkan learns new info from Michael.

Elise freaks out at a bar.

Lisa and Daniel meet with the uncle and the high priest and there's also a baby goat.

Forrest and Sheena have the sex.

Emma gets stood up by Mohammed and gets a cold goodbye from Zied.

Rick finds out yet more things to complain about and gets grilled about having babies. We learn a lot more about Trisha's past.

On the Single Life:

Sophie meets Pedro's mom and sister and things go horribly wrong.

Vanya and Tony visit Vanya's cousin in Maine and things go horribily wrong.

Mother Debbie tries to convince Cortney to give Colt another chance and things go horribly wrong*

*but actually things go right because Cortney knows her WORTH.

Natalie comes to Michigan and meets Uncle Marco and Gino treats her to a coney dog for coming all this way.

Kim meets with Larry's family and spills the beans about another sibling, and things go much better than expected.

Book Club corner: 

For my next readalong, I've chosen Rock Hard by Nalini Singh. Here's the link to the author's website so you can choose your store: https://nalinisingh.com/books/rock-kiss-series/rock-hard/

Also: I have a new novella now out called Undressed: How I Fell for My One-Night Stand. You can order it! https://books2read.com/u/mZGDE5

For more happily ever afters, join me on Storygraph!

https://app.thestorygraph.com/profile/90daybookclub

Thanks for listening and please click 5 stars on your listening platform.

Drop me a message at authorabbyknox@gmail.com

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:06

The 90 Day Book Club is meant for entertainment purposes only. It contains adult language. Hello and welcome to the 90 Day Book Club. I am your host. My name is Jen. I write romance for my day job. This week I'm doing a roundup episode of Before the 90 Days and the Single Life. At the end of the show, we'll scrub our brains a little bit with a chat about books. I'm gonna start with Before the 90 Days season 8, episode 15, May Day, May Day, and episode 16, Mile High Club. I like to start with Laura in Beercon. As a romance writer, and I know she is also a romance reader. I find her a fascinating character. Sometimes, sometimes, people try to engineer their life around what they read in a romance book because maybe they've been mistreated in relationships. More innocently, maybe their life is boring and they want to spice things up a little bit. In the most delusional and I will say wrongheaded sense, sometimes we involve other people in our wish to be a romance main character, and that could potentially hurt other people. And in the case of Laura, could potentially humiliate our friends on internet on TV. Michael has arrived in Assemble. He's at the Airbnb hanging out with Birkan. And Birkan is talking to him about violence. Remember last time Birkan made that incredibly off-putting dig about Michael's face, about his birth defect, which he has talked about early in the season. So Birkan says, You came all the way to Turkey. Michael says, Yeah, I thought I'd check in to see how she's doing. Birkan says, She's happy. Michael says, Okay, good. He has a very Midwestern way about him. He's very cheerful. Finally, Laura brings the tea and sits down next to Birkan, smiling, oblivious. Michael says, I have a gift for you. Now, of course, because I'm me, I zoomed in. It's a copy, the book that he brings her. He brings her a romance book, of course. It's book two in the series, the ruinous love trilogy, as you recall, our my first book club. Read along was Butcher and Blackbird, book one. Book two, Leather and Lark by Bryn Weaver. Interesting. So she likes violence too. But I see now where Laura is fascinated by these dark, mysterious characters. And these are very dark, very mysterious characters in these books. Michael also brings her some packing cubes. Laura says, I'm so surprised. Birkan says, I'm not surprised. Mutters under his breath. She says, That's so sweet of you. You're so thoughtful. Birkan says, I'm here too, you know, your boyfriend. And Laura says, He just brought me a gift. Birkan says, Yeah, I love that gift. He's being very uh snotty and sarcastic, but I honestly don't blame him too much. In her talking head, Laura says, This feels real awkward, and Birkan is being ridiculous and cold to Michael. Birkan actually decides to stop being a little brat and says, if you want, I could show you around the city. In his talking head, Birkan says that he had to be a jerk so that Michael knows the boundaries. He says, This is my strategy to get information from him, to get to know him and his motive. And when I do, he says, I'll be the motherfucker who stops it. Wow. Um, so as he holds the door as they're leaving the apartment for Michael and Laura, he has the weirdest, creepiest smile on his face. Uh, the hero shot of them, the three of them standing side by side, and then Birkan shuffling them around so he gets to stand next to Laura. They're so serious about it, but it is so it plays so funny. Um, later, Michael's checking into his hotel, and Birkon is talking to Laura in the car, and he says to her, I love keeping my enemies close. I don't believe they're bullshit. In her talking head, Laura says, Birkan's acting like a tough guy. She says, I need Michael to approve of a relationship, and Birkhan's making it difficult. My thought, I do think Birkan really does fancy himself as a tough guy. Or possibly more unsettlingly, he has actually spent time with dangerous people, which makes me a little scared for Laura. Later at a cafe, Bjerkon apologizes to Michael for acting like a bastard, his words. So Michael says, tell me more about your debt. Can you imagine just saying to someone, tell me more about your$50,000 in debt? Uh so Bjerkon says, I had three places, like this cafe. Then Corona hit. He says, Corona, not COVID. Odd. Corona hit and he lost everything. He says, I could not handle it because I had no connections. I sold everything and still had$50,000 in debt. And Michael says, so not gambling debt. Bjergon says, no. The only way gambling's the only way for me to make money. I am not an idiot. I know the system, when to play and when to withdraw. My thought is if you think that you're a professional gambler, then maybe you would have put a dent into$50,000 worth of debt. I don't know, but maybe the gambling is just helping him survive his day-to-day life. In Michael's talking head, he says gambling doesn't work as an income. Gambling is hard to come by in Turkey, but it's so prevalent in the United States. All he needs is a car in the US to go up to the casino up the road. He's talking about in Washington State, um, to spend the money. And I don't want to speak ill of a man that Laura likes, but I don't, I don't see it. Yeah, none of us see it working, Michael. Um, at one point, Michael explains Laura gets up at 4 a.m. He says she loves to work out at 4 a.m. and it's done wonders for her. She goes kayak, kayaking, play playing pickleball with him at night. This is the when he says 4 a.m. workout has done wonders for her, and she agrees. Uh this feels like the dynamic of a personal trainer. And Michael's using the language of a personal trainer. Is that how they met? Did she meet him a year and a half ago? By the way, when they said they were friends, they were best friends. Didn't you think that he was her best friend for like years and years? Weren't you surprised when they're going when they're shooting pool and he says we met a year and a half ago? I found that odd that they'd only known each other for a year and a half, and I'm kind of wondering if he's her personal trainer. I don't know, I'm just guessing. Michael says to Birkon, the recommendation is you marry your best friend. But Biercon says, Okay, then if you guys are best friends, why are you aren't you in love with each other? And they both just stare at him like they're shocked. Come on. It is the most obvious question here. Michael says, I don't have an answer for that. And Laura's talking head, she says, I don't know how to respond because there's more to my history with Michael than what I have told Biercon. Okay. But then Biercon says, Two people, no answers, but you should know that I will fight and nothing will fuck up this relationship. You should know that. So later he goes out to shoot pool with Michael. And Laura says, I wish I could go. Because she wants to control the conversation. Biercon says, No, not gonna happen. You talk to Michael alone, and now it's my turn. Uh, you know, I'm not a fan of Biercon, but um I like that he's kind of taking initiative in this dynamic here. Um, so when they're playing pool, Michael says, I had time to think yesterday. He said, Laura, after what Laura had told me about you, I was concerned that you were a deadbeat. Once again, it's wild to just come out with these kinds of statements right out the gate when you're just meeting someone. Birkon says to Michael, if you don't, if you want her, go for it. Michael says, if I was in love with her, I would have made a move. Birkan says, but you did, apparently, according to Laura. Michael says, she would not be here with you if I had made a move. Birkon still doesn't understand. He says, You blew it. And Michael says, No, she made a move on me. One that you do not misunderstand. And I said, I cannot reciprocate. Birkon is processing all this, and he says, She made a move. Michael said, long before she met you. I said no. And I continue to say no. The opportunity was there, and I chose not to take it. Now, I have a thought here. Did we not see Michael crying in the first couple of episodes when Laura was trying to give him the opportunity to be with her? And we all thought Michael just didn't have it in him to reciprocate, even though he was in love with her. This is the narrative that they set up for us, and now they're trying to sell tell us that none of that was true, that none of that was what we thought it was. Birkan says to Michael, she never mentioned this before. That is the real problem. The problem is not you, it's her. Birkan says, I don't believe Laura anymore. The trust is broken. He says, There's one secret and there will be more. He says, This is more than a lie. It is intentional deception. Isn't that what a lie is, though? Um, he says that she kept it from me, and I don't know if there's going to be a future. Moving on to Josh and Elise. Oh man, buckle up. So we open with Elise freaking out because she woke up and Josh is gone. And the place is a mess. So last night things did not go great. Elise met Josh's friends. She told everyone she's suspicious of him living with his friend Nat. Insists that men and women can't just be friends, the whole bit. So now it's the next morning. She's freaking out. Should she be concerned? Yes, because Josh did not leave a text. No note, no nothing. Didn't tell her he had some work things to do in the morning. Apparently said nothing about it. Is Elise overreacting? Also, yes. His clothes are still there though. He didn't move out. He had not moved out or anything. So here's what you do, Elise. From one anxiety girl to another. Stop making up stories without all the information. Don't fill in the gaps with stories because the stories are always way more outlandish than the most simple explanation. And also, 99 out of 100 times, the stories that you use to fill in the gaps of information are lies. And the truth is, the dummy had to run some errands for work and didn't bother to tell you because he's still mad about last night. Here's what you do. If the clothes are bothering you, you pile up Chris's clothes and put them in his room. You pile up Josh's clothes and put him in a hamper or in a basket or on the couch or wherever he's sleeping. This is a shared living space, so you have to draw a line in the sand. Get their items out of your of the common living area. That's all. Second, don't send an accusing text asking if he's out having fun at Nat's house. Say, hey, not sure where you are. I'm gonna go out for a Jews and then go to the beach. And then go. Go to the beach, treat yourself to lunch. I always want to say to these people, particularly people who are alone in these foreign countries, while their significant other is at work or running errands or whatever, just not communicating, or they're not getting along. Go enjoy yourself, walk around, see things, go shopping, go eat something, go to a museum, go for a walk. A walk does so much good for your anxiety. She doesn't do that though right away. Instead, she says, Hope you're having fun at Nats. And then he replies by hearting her text because he's being a smart ass. I mean, of course, uh that's what I would do too if I'm being accused of cheating. But anyway, the next part is so wild. She's crying, saying she wants to go home. And then we hear the door click open and click shut. Josh walked in, saw her crying, and yeeted the F out of there. And hid in the stairwell, like a true champion. This might be the most telling thing about his personal personality ever. Like how a person handles a woman's tears or anyone's tears. Josh, I'm gonna nope out. Bye. And of course, he's caught and says, I thought you needed space. I can't do an Australian accent, I'm sorry. And they sweep everything under the rug enough to go get surfing lessons at Bondi Beach. And of course, Elise looks incredible in a wetsuit. She kind of looks like a Bond girl, except that she also sucks at surfing and screams all the way through the entire process. And there's something I love Elise, you know I love Elise, but there's something weirdly satisfying, overtly satisfying, let's be honest, about a hot girl who gets a hot girl pass for everything she does who sucks at something. I'm not saying I could surf. And I hope I wouldn't scream through the entire thing and scare away all the fishies, but it was satisfying to see that anyway. I'm surprised she lives in Miami, never tried surfing before. Is that weird? Do people surf in Miami? I don't know. Also, who doesn't know what Schnitzel is? I I don't know. I feel like Lee should know. But anyway, they order chicken burgers and she's amused that they call ketchup tomato when they're ordering a sandwich. I think that was kind of funny too. She says in her talking head, I'm happy to be having a chill night at the beach. This is what I want my Saturday nights to be like instead of going out to the bars. So they're chatting over their little chicken burger picnic, and it's really, really windy. Is there like sand blowing? It looks like they're kind of sitting up somewhere away from the sand. I don't know. But Josh seems sincere and he says, I wish you could stay longer. I guess she has eight more days on her trip. She says, I don't believe either. He asks her, What's on her mind? She says, I believe you have an amazing heart, but there's so many question marks. The living situation, the job situation. Josh has clearly been through some hard times. He says, It's been a year to forget for me. My son moved away. Remember, he has like an 11 or 12-year-old son, and apparently his ex-wife moved away. And he said he doesn't see him as often. He says, I admit to re the reaction to all that was rebellious. In Josh is talking ahead, he explains that his son moved about an hour and a half away by plane. Josh spiraled, and to take his mind off of it, he's been going out a lot. But he says lately he's been working on himself. Elise says, I went on a wild streak too. I needed that to realize what I wanted. And then it gets so windy that her hair is just everywhere. So they have to go finish talking in the car. Elise explains her family went through the ringer with her ex and his financial abuse. She says, all of this that you're doing makes me feel you're unstable, like lying to me about living with Nat. And Josh is starting to get offended. Understandably, he says, You think I'm leeching. She says, I don't know if you're going to be using me for money. And he says, Well, why would I when I'm using Nat? Josh gets really sarcastic when he's feeling defensive, and it's very biting and it really sets her off. Um, but the next day, Josh meets Chris at the beach to work out. Elise is back at the apartment, um, telling producers that they slept in different rooms. So then she finally decides to take a walk by herself. She goes to it looks like a juice bar and orders the Mile High, hence the name of this episode, Mile High Club. She says, his life is unstable and that scares me to death. And she tells us the story about the man she met when she was 19. She said, I loved him so much. I moved to Florida with him. And then one morning, we don't know really know the timeline, but very sadly, one morning she woke up and he had passed away. She says, from struggles I had no idea about. We don't know what that means. But she says, it broke me. So scary. My forever was gone. It made me not be able to trust anyone ever again. So she sits down and calls her parents, Beth and Woody. Love Beth. I love Woody. Uh, Woody calls her pumpkin and it's cute. She tells her parents she's worried about Josh's finances. She says, I caught him in a few lies about his living situation. And she explains about the gnat thing. Woody says it's a little early to say that he's been lying to you. You don't know all the facts, which is surprising because didn't we see Woody tell her to watch out for red flags and run the first sign of a gold digger? Although I really do not see Josh as being a gold digger. I think he's just fallen on hard times. She's having a hard time understanding that, but we'll get to that later. Woody tells her to slow her role, discover more, and judge less, which that is actually good advice. I think they know their daughter very well. Beth says he's afraid you're gonna interrogate him and accuse him of things. Um, at the beach, Josh is talking to Chris and says, Some of the things that she says cut me deep. She's worried I'm gonna take advantage of her. He says it's emasculating. He feels like a punching bag. And Chris is like, yeah, pretty much like, dude, it's a deal breaker. And Josh just says it makes me angry. She's attacking my integrity and refusing to believe me no matter what I say. Here's my thought. Elise does not understand how or why people make the choices they do when they fall on hard times. Her focus is on money. Josh has not asked her for a dime. And so I think her behavior is really ugly right now. Later on, things are still tense, and he asked her to go for a walk on the beach. I'm gonna break up the tension here with a sidebar about birds. Um, they showed this b roll on the street, and I had to look up this bird, this white bird with like a long curved black beak. My 12 year old has informed me on the show Bluey. They're called bin chickens. But it's an Australian white ibis. I guess they pick through the trash on the streets. So like pigeons, but Australian kind. And then I went down this other rabbit hole. A bird hole, if you will, about urban bird watching in Sydney. Oh my gosh. There's so many horrifying animals in Australia, but nobody told me about the birds. The Nanking Kestrel, you guys, it looks like a tiny little angel, but it's a raptor. The brush turkey is a nightmare. Imagine this demonic red face scratching up your garden, but doesn't even have like the big plumage of an American turkey. So, okay, and now I have to talk about the most beautiful thing I've ever seen in my entire life. It's called the name is actually superb fairy wren. Oh my goodness. Nobody's ever mentioned this sweet baby angel bird. It looks like a black capped chickadee, which we have here in North Carolina, which are cutest, sweetest little things you've ever seen. Except this is in Australia. So instead of being black and white, the males are black and iridescent blue. I need to move on. I also need to go to Australia and see a superb blue fairy wren. Anyways, so when Josh is talking ahead, he says, I know I've fallen for her, but I don't want to be in a relationship where I have to explain myself 400 times. Neither do we, Josh. So at the beach, she says, Have you given me a reason to trust you? And he says, Let me earn that trust. I can fend for myself. I can be a partner for you without having to lean on friends. She's standing there, not really giving him anything. And he says, If you're not going to let me prove it to you, you're not going to trust me. It's not going to work out. The wind is blowing, the waves are crashing on the rocks. It's very cinematic. Finally, she says, Okay. She says, I'm sorry. I do poke and prod. It's a character defect. But she says, Words are great. I fell for words, but I want to get married. I want to have kids. And it scares me because I do like you. And I'm paraphrasing here. Josh says, essentially, I don't want you to feel like I've pulled you into something and you've settled for something who someone who's useless, but I'm crazy about you. This is interesting in Josh's talking head. He says, a relationship should be built on mutual respect and not on this toxic take down mentality that she's doing. I don't think he's necessarily broken trust by living with a female friend. He's broken a little bit of trust by not telling her the truth, but I think he didn't tell her the truth because he knew how she would react, which is exactly how she's reacting. Here's the thing: there's nothing wrong with relying on your friends when things are going bad in your life. Did he make poor choices? Most definitely. He might be an overgrown frat boy, but also Elise is looking for red flags, which her dad told her to do. In Chris's talking head, he says, She's definitely looking for problems. Things have been up and down. A perfect little toxic relationship. Short-term fun, long-term, I don't know. It sums it up, doesn't it? So Elise shows up to Chris's, I mean, to Josh's office and sits in his desk in this professional office setting in her bikini, well, string bikini, just like a barely there macro may see-through skirt, because of course she does. I mean, it's a marina, but still. I mean, this is a yachting industry. Don't have it made me uncomfortable. Josh picks her up in one of those company boats and takes her out on the water. And she's being cautious and asking, making sure that he has permission to take this boat out. Because she says he had a joy ride, crashed the boat, and had to pay$20,000. But now I'm asking, was it really a joy ride? I'm starting to not trust her narrative on things. And we finally get Josh's version of events. He says, Nat and a few friends have these other friends who were interested in becoming clients. On the way back to the dock, he clipped some rocks, but the boat's fixed now and it's paid off. He thought it was worse at first. He thought it was 20,000, I guess, but it turned out to be a couple of thousand to fix it. Um, he said, before Elise got here, I sold a share in a yacht, and that commission went to cover the damages. Okay, I believe that story. That explains why he wasn't fired, because he was actually not joyriding. He was taking people who are potential clients out on a boat ride. That seems legit to me. Was he a dummy for running into the rocks? Yes. It's understandable that he would got a ride-up and had to pay for that. And um, but Elise is not happy that Nat was on the boat. You didn't have to tell her that, Josh. Josh says, I don't want to have to keep telling you the same thing, like defending himself with his relationship with Nat. He says, Let's hang out, just the three of us, and you can put your mind at ease. Mm-hmm. So in her talking head, Elise is like, of course she was on the boat. Did she also pay for the damages? But he just told you that his commission covered the damages. I don't see it as Nat controlling him financially. I see it as a friend helping a friend. So they meet up with Nat at the bar, and Elise is wearing another underboob exposing dress with a completely baref, like almost her entire sternum is showing. But then it has this cowl neckline that wraps around and trails down the back like a scarf. I hate it so much. Like, okay, so all the parts that are covered and the parts that are exposed would it is the opposite of everything that makes me comfortable. I don't like a cowl neckline. But a cowl neckline making me uncomfortable and scridchy scratching my back at the same time with having my underboob exposed. I I hate all of it. It looks so uncomfortable to me. Um, but I am concerned that in her talking head, Elise says that Josh has been getting texts all night long from Nat. Now, my question is, is that normal? Or is he confiding in Nat because he's worried about Elise? Either way, don't be confiding in your female friends about your relationship. That to me is worse than giving you a place to stay because the confiding when you're hurting about your relationship is where emotions come to play. Try to tell me Nat is not trolling Elise by wearing a simple, modest black dress with her shoulders and titties completely covered up. I feel like Nat did that on purpose. As much as I'm rooting for Elise in general as a person, I feel like this is something I would do too. Like I would completely cover up and wear just something cozy and pretty. I don't know. I don't know. Am I being misogynist in some way? But I'd 100% wear what Nat is wearing. And I'm a little pissed at Elise for not even complimenting her about it. Am I turning a corner on Elise? Because I'm really sort of siding with Nat here. Elise says, What you been doing? She says, Oh, I had to go out by a few things. I got this nice dress, and she touches her shoulder, like indicating this thing I'm wearing right now. This is what I bought today. Elise sort of gives it the once over, not disapproving with her eyes, but sort of purses her lips, and you can see her making the silent mental decision not to say she likes it one way or the other. Elise just says, feels like everybody in Sydney just wears black. That's all she has to say. I think Nat is giving her a chance. I think she's asking her questions and being friendly. Elise says, Josh and I have been talking a lot. There's so much to digest. Nat is listening, as Elise goes on to say she feels very uncomfortable about this connection that Josh has with Nat. She says, Every single time I see him on the phone, he's talking to you. She says, You're together all the time, even then out of the boat crash. Nat says, Yes, so what's the problem? And she's being very calm. But Elise says, You're emotionally tied. And Nat says, I wouldn't want to be best friends with someone if I wasn't emotionally tied to them. So here, Elise changes her tactic because she cannot argue with that. So she says, It's not just emotions. I'm scared he's so close financially with you. We can see Nat getting upset at this point. And she looks at Josh, who is shifting around uncomfortably. Elise says, So how does it work? Nat squints at her and says, What do you mean? Elise says, He lives there. He doesn't pay rent. You help him. Josh is now staring off into space, disassociating. Nat says, Yeah, I've loaned money. And Elise is just blink, blink, blink. Nat says, He's paid me back. I don't know what you want me to say. And then she goes, When people talk about money, it's really icky. I think it's gross. And Elise, once again, she can't argue with the fact that all this money talk is gross. It is. But then she says, I think it's weird. I don't want a guy I'm dating to be supported by another girl. So why the F am I here? Is this just sexual? You have an emotional relationship with a woman and she's helping you financially. Josh finally steps in and says, Stop saying she's helping you financially. Nat's upset now, but still being very calm, says, if you say that one more time, I'm gonna lose my shit. Josh says, We've both said that that is not the case, but she is helping. He is staying at her place. I think the problem here, I think, is Elise won't let it go. And she wants to like forensically audit everyone's accounts in this matter, and it's making everyone uncomfortable. Understandably so. So Elise turns to Josh and says, What is your game plan? When I leave, where will you go? And Josh says, Well, I'll probably go back to her place, but it's short term. Elise just sort of doesn't really let him explain any further. I don't want to think about my man living with another girl. It's weird. Do you want me to ask every single person in this bar? And then Josh says, No, it would be embarrassing for you. Oh, dude, you said the magic word, Elise is activated. Elise doesn't give a shit. Elise is not embarrassed about anything. This woman at Mexico Banghouse, Hun for Love, told everybody on day one that she'd been to that resort before and done anal for the first time there. She doesn't care. And then she kicks off as he says, she stands up and shouts in the bar, hey guys, am I crazy or is my man getting financially supported crazy? She gets a lot of agreement from the people around the bar. But I would say it's because you're acting crazy in a bar. Now, is Elise being inappropriate? Yes. Do I agree with the way she's behaving? No. But is it excellent TV? Yes. This is what she's here for. Nat says she's a psycho and toxic AF. Good luck. She leaves. And this is probably her neighborhood bar, so she may go here a lot for all we know. And she's embarrassed. I mean, I honestly would be too. I wouldn't put up with Elise's behavior. Josh chases Nat down and asks if she's okay. And Elise calls him out on that. In his talking head, Josh says he's embarrassed and confused. He says, I felt like I was falling in love with her. But F that, I'm done. Elise doesn't want Josh borrowing money from her. And she also doesn't want him taking advantage of her. Okay, great. But if your man is on hard times and you don't want him borrowing from you, but then you also don't want him borrowing money from his friends, especially not female friends. I think the problem here, Elise has no idea what it's like to be poor. I don't think she knows. I mean, she's had trauma, she's had tragedy in her life. She suffers from anxiety, she's been mistreated by men, she lost the love of her life, but financially, I don't think she's ever hit rock bottom. Not even when her identity was supposedly stolen. So I just feel like how the whole attitude of how dare you get help from your friends who happen to be female is way out of line and way out of touch. That's just my personal thought. Let's move on to Daniel and Lisa. How much time have they actually spent together getting to know each other? And not being like gearing up and getting ready to talk to somebody supposedly in charge. We don't we we never really see them doing any real talking, like real getting to know each other. I mean, none of none of this is real, but you know what I mean? I also don't know why Uncle Modesta scares her so much. Um, she's already fidgeting and covering her mouth and barely able to pull herself together as he walks up. So they meet at the park to tell him the whole truth, everything she's been hiding. That she's not been married twice, she's been married five times. Technically, she's still legally married to a woman, and she hasn't been with anything, anyone but women for the last 21 years. It's a lot. So Lisa keeps trying to interject, and but this is telling her it's not time for you to talk. He says, Why am I hearing about this now? This is an abomination, his words. Lisa says, No, I just didn't tell you about my past. My culture is my culture. I can't change my past. I am willing to do what it takes to be with Daniel. He said, he tells her again she's an abomination. She's just sobbing. He says, Because of this, the marriage will be over. And now she starts hyperventilating, and no one's buying it, especially not Uncle. He says, Why is she crying? When she cries, it makes me more angry. She's pretending to get more sympathy from me. That's another offense. Now I withdraw my approval of the blessing. Do you always shed crocodile tears? It's interesting that the other night she was all fuck Daniel if he doesn't approve of who I am. But when it comes down to losing Daniel and losing a blessing, she will compromise her identity completely. He says in his talking head, I have affection for Daniel, so I will go ask advice of the elders and the chief priests. So later we find out that Uncle talked to the chief priests and they have to go see the chief priest in person. But first they have to buy a goat in two yams. They're at the um Mococo market to see the shrine, to go to the guy at the shrine. She actually had to put on a new dress, and it actually looks really cute. New headdress. It's sort of blue and bright orange. It's got all these layers in the headdress. She looks good in this outfit. And someone at the breakfast buffet at the hotel asks her if she's a princess, which I thought was very, very sweet. Now they don't slaughter the goat, they get a goat to feed the tribe with milk. But it's a baby goat. I guess they'll breed the goat later and then it will produce milk. I don't know. Why the yams? I don't know. Oh, Daniel says it's what the ancestors demanded. And he picks up one of the yams and he jokes with Lisa. This one is as big as me, right? They're not at all what we think of in America. And now I understand why Usman loved to talk about his Yeah. I'd hope never to hear Usman talking about his yam in my head ever again, but here we are. Um, so Lisa's kind of a champion negotiator with Juna's money. I'm just gonna keep saying it. The way I hate to haggle, I can't even tell you. I couldn't do it. I could not do what she just did. So then they make their way to the high priest. Let me tell you, if I didn't know about already, this is where I would absolutely just no get me out of here. They go into this back alley or this rickety wood planks. And I understand, like, this is this is a different place. This is extreme poverty. But I would have to draw the line here because that floor is not gonna hold this voluptuous body of mine. I will fall through the floor and die. But anyway, they find the priest in this tiny little cubby hole. He is already shouting, tell me why you're here. In her talking head, Lisa says, I'm scared, shitless. This is like no priest I've ever seen. A baby goat sounds terrified for the record, and I hate it. So the priest throws these puka shells around and he's chanting. They do a little in the moment interview with the priest. His name is Uche John Waba. I I'm sorry if I'm not saying it correctly. He says, in Africa, any woman who committed abomination, his words, required a cleansing with the gods directing us. It is just a mouthpiece. I am just a mouthpiece of a gods. You know what for a mouthpiece, you sir, get pretty lippy with the gods. I remember you from the first time we saw you, and you were shouting at the gods. I am not deaf, speak up. He's just screaming at them and Ibo, do the tradition. I don't doing what, I'm not sure. Giving you money, I guess. I I don't do good with the rickety floors, and I'd definitely be yeeting myself out of there with the screaming. Absolutely not. So Diana puts money in the basket, and the priest says, Too little, give with your heart. This is quickly becoming a memory of religious tithing as a child. Good lord. So Lisa says, Give him all of what's in your pocket. Five minutes ago, she was negotiating in the marketplace. But anyway, so they finished with the ceremony. In her talking head, Lisa says, This is voodoo magic shit. The priest asks her, After this cleansing today, will you mess it up again? She says, No. And he says, if you do, the ancestors will ancestors will come after you. So they take off this wrap off the goat that signifies that she's clean. She says, Am I clean? He says, You are cleansed from today. Leave the ceremony. It is over. Exit facing front. They have to sort of like shuffle backwards out the door. So now I guess they can go ahead and get married. And they kiss once they're outside. And it's Daniel is not into it. Do you remember when he picked her up from the airport? He was totally eating her face. I thought he was going to swallow her tongue, and now she's kissing him now that they have the blessing, and he is not into it. His eyes are open, you guys. I'm just gonna spend a minute on Emma. Um she goes to Casablanca to meet Muhammad at a restaurant. Makeup is looking extra heavy. In the car, she said. This is a really weird turn of events. She says, I know he's nearby, so I'm getting butterflies. I happen to have my engagement ring Muhammad gave me last year. I'm not sure what I'm gonna do with it. She puts it on. She says, There's a part of me deep down that thought maybe I would see him and be able to give it back or get some closure. It's bringing back old feelings. And it feels nice to have it on.

SPEAKER_01 44:29

Hmm. Hmm.

SPEAKER_00 44:31

But anyway, she gets she makes it to this beautiful restaurant by the ocean. But she texts Mohammed when she arrives at the restaurant. She's waiting and waiting and waiting and waiting. And then she sees a man walking sort of away from the restaurant. She says, Oh, that looks just like him. But then they blur out his face. And she look sort of looks disappointed, like it's probably not him. But I kind of wonder if it was him. Girl, just forget this man. The cappuccino looks delicious. Enjoy your time. But he's not replying to her texts or phone calls. She has no protective case on her phone, which really bothers me. For some reason. Finally, she gets a text that says, Leave me alone. I have a fiance. I don't want to see you anymore. I don't want to hear from you anymore. So that was strange since he had asked her to meet up. But Emma just proceeds to have an absolute shit fit. She stands up and she's walking down I guess like a boardwalk kind of thing towards the beach, yelling and cussing all the way down the street to the pier. People are looking at her, and she's just going on and on. I'm so done with these pieces of shit, men, waste my money. And she says, How did Mohammed get engaged? I am still single, and Mohammed is engaged. In what world? I wish her luck with all the money she's giving to him because that's what he did to me. Fuck Syed, fuck Mohammed, fuck men. There are so many people staring at her as she's walking down the beach. And then she sort of calms down and she gets emotional. By the way, I'm not buying any of it, but she says, someone's gonna love me and appreciate the person that I am. Fuck this ring and everything it represents because I don't need it anymore. And she throws it into the ocean. She doesn't even get close to the water. It lands in like a centimeter of water. And all I can think about is Job from Arrested Development, who is supposed to mail a letter and instead tosses it into the ocean. It keeps flying back in his face. But I wished for it a little bit. Anyway, sometime later, she's leaving for the airport in Marrakesh. And she gets another text from Mohammed who says, Are you serious? You came to Morocco for someone else. I'm not your plan B. So my question is, did he get a fiance or is he mad that he was her plan B? I don't know. But Emma says, Before I leave Morocco, there's one last thing I need to do. Why? Why with this scene with Ziad? It was so pointless. And he is confused as we are when she shows up. He's trying very, very hard to look cool in his sunglasses. Making her meet him on the side of the busy highway while he's sitting on his motorcycle is just chef's kiss. Not even taking a minute to grab a coffee with her. Which I would not either, because this meeting is pointless and stupid. But he's gracious enough. He says, I wish you a good road, and that's all I have to say. She says, You don't want to say sorry for anything? He says, Me. She says, I think we both have things to apologize for. He says, What do you want right now? The best part here is her dabbing her eyes, trying to garner sympathy, and it's not working. It's just a lot of okay, bye, have a nice life. Yep, that's all. Okay, bye. Okay, goodbye. Oh, later she says, I was expecting him to care a little bit more, but why? But why? She says in her talking head, I know somewhere in the world my person does exist who's happy to be with me. My thoughts. No one is gonna be happy with Emma until she works on herself a little bit and takes off a 900-pound wig, gets a make under, reclaims her forehead. Moving on to Forrest and Sheena. Um, so it's a day after visiting with an immigration lawyer where they receive the bad news that his income does not qualify him to apply for a visa. So they've decided to de-stress at the beaches at Batangas. Batanga? Force is leaving in a few days, so they want some more time alone. They're making crazy sex jokes in the car about jellyfish, jelly, tight fit. It's a lot, and I just immediately cringe on behalf of the driver. I'm so sorry. They get to the room, and there's towels folded in the shape of a flower and rose petals everywhere, and she thanks him for setting this up. And all these men just keep taking the credit for the rose petals. It bothers me, you guys. Sheena is so funny when uh they're in the room together, and he's she says, I have to go freshen up and get into my lingerie. Uh so in Forrest Talking Aid, he says, before he met Sheena, he thought sex was something for other people, but not for him. Which makes me kind of sad. But you know what? As much as I'm learning about him outside of what we're shown on the show, I still believe these two were definitely made for each other. Um she comes out of the bathroom in a cute little teddy, and and he's on the bed, stretched out, still in his clothes with a condom in his mouth. I feel like she still has her bra on under that teddy, but you know what? I you know, it's it would probably be way too see-through for for uh TLC. Whoever's filming this, give them a raise. There's they they they film way longer than they need to. Mercifully, they eventually cut to the next morning, and it's like angelic choral music. Forrest says, I'm just glad we didn't break the bed. Uh, in his talking head, he says, last night was great, way better than I thought. Me and my hand, we're gonna have to break up. I didn't need to hear that either. Sheena's just happy. That's all we need to know. We don't need to hear about how Forrest thought it was sloppy. We don't need to hear about how she climbed on top. In their shared talking head, Sheena totally denies the fact that she took charge. Okay, listen, I don't care about anyone's sexual history for the record. I don't care if she's a virgin, if they were both virgins or not before they got together. Of course, I was raised in a very conservative community where the notion was you had to be a virgin when you get married, especially the women. And now, of course, I've totally changed my thinking on that. But I do think, tell me I'm wrong, if this is Sheena's first time and she's already hopping up there and doing cowgirl position, it might not be her first time. I don't know. And I don't care. I'm just saying, why are we putting so much pressure on these two to be virgins? Why are they putting so much pressure on themselves to stay virgins? But I think we know the answer to that because as we know from some of the tweets and comments that have surfaced on the internet from Forrest that he does, in fact, sadly, devalue women because of their sexual history. From 2024, this comment from him has surfaced under a post about hentai. If you don't know what hentai is, I'm I'm not gonna get into it. You can uh figure that out for yourself. His comment is men don't like dealing with real women or look at them after knowing everyone saw their gross goods that have been used. This is something Forrest said in 2024. And this is also after the photos surface that are supposedly from 2023, where he and Sheena are already together. So if this timeline is correct and not the timeline that TLC is showing us, it contradicts everything we're seeing on the show. She was with him when he wrote that trash, and that means she was definitely not a virgin when they filmed 90-day fiance, but is this just the morning after banter? They're react reenacting the morning after banter from when they met before. I don't care. I don't like, I just don't like being lied to. And also I'm nosy. But he says the connection that they had after the sex was even better than the sex itself. He says, last night you became my wife. See, this is the kind of thing that makes me want to root for them, but dang, social media really makes you change your opinions about people. We were never meant to know people's inner thoughts. I don't know if it's good that some of these things have come to light or what. But he's worried about talking to Molly about their idea of him staying in the Philippines. He says it's gonna be like a hurricane hitting a typhoon. For sure. Let's move on to Stig and Aviva. So they flash back to Aviva saying goodbye to Aunt Spring. And Spring hugs her and says, Be careful and don't be stupid out here. Hmm, too late. In Aviva's talking head, she says she's decided to believe Stig is telling the truth about his whole explanation about the supposed uh side chick that Aunt Spring and her other niece brought to light. But Stig says, hey babe. Well, they're at the beach together, and Stig says, Hey babe, I want you to know I'm grateful you're here in Belize. I'm grateful you're staying by my side through everything. And he says, Aviva, I want you to know that I love you. I fell, I feel like I fell in love on this trip. And as we know, Aviva's been waiting for him to say, I love you. Okay, so they go on a little romantic getaway to Saint to San Ignacio. It's on the west side of Belize in the rainforest, and this looks beautiful. So they take an excursion to the village to um sort of immerse in Mayan culture, and they sign up for a Mayan cooking class, which looks so fun. Um, so there's this woman, the teacher Timo Timotea shows in the stone where they grind the corn to make the masa. And then we get this scene with Aviva grinding the corn in the stone and Stig standing behind her helping her grind it. And of course, he's like grinding on her like we're in a romance novel, and they the editors even slow it down. Like we're watching the Belizean version of that scene from Ghost. You know what I'm talking about. The other worker there is just watching them with his very judgy face, and uh I I'm judging them too. Why are you doing this in front of the oboilas? The obuilas did nothing to deserve this. But anyway, Timotea later shows them how to press out the dough and cook it on the clay. It's the learning channel. It looks delicious with roasted chicken and rice. But then they're eating with massa all over Aviva's hands and on her face, and steak has masa in his hair, and I hate watching these people, especially Aviva, with her greasy hair and masa all everywhere. She makes me crazy. I just want confirmation that she has showered on this trip. Uh, so she makes a comment that comment she's so hungry while they're eating the chicken. And he Stig comments pregnancy cravings. She says it's possible. And he says, When is your period? She says it's super irregular, but usually around this time. Girl, you might want to get that checked. He asks her if she wants to take a test. And she says, How would you feel if it's positive? And he says, excited. So they decide to pick up a test on the way back to the room. In the B-roll, they're showing more delicious street chicken, and I'm so hungry. Anyway, they go back to the resort. It's Cassia Hill Resort, and I looked it up, and it's pretty sweet and looks affordable. It's not like super crazy luxury, but you know what? It looks nice and fun. And no, I'm not getting paid for this. Anyway, so at the resort, she takes a pregnancy test, and this whole scene is so infuriating. He asks if she wants help with the test. She says, No, she can do it alone. Which she doesn't need help peeing on a stick, first of all. He says, How long does it take? And she says, I don't know, it's all in Spanish. Girl, what? You know that thing has pictures. They all have picture diagrams. They're all the same. You know she's taken one before. I'm positive a girl her age has taken a pregnancy test before. Especially somebody who's so comfortable with raw dogging it. In their shared talking head, they're talking about girls versus boys, whether they want to have a girl or a boat. I hate these conversations, but he says he's scared to have a daughter because he doesn't want to have to kill anybody. I hate this toxic daddy shit when it comes to baby girls. I hate it. But, anyways, so he's waiting for her to take the test. He's sort of slouching on the bed, looking super nervous. Uh, dude can put on a brave face, but there is no way this man wants to have a baby. I can't believe they're filming her peeing on the toilet. Yeah, I can I can believe it. What am I saying? So she walks out of the bathroom carrying the pea stick. And he reads, Cinco minutos, five minutes. Like she couldn't figure out cinco minutos means five minutes. Ugh. But there's these two that are they're sitting around holding the pea stick and like waving it around. You have to leave it on a flat surface and don't touch it for five minutes. You dum-dums are gonna get a false negative. False negatives are very common. You're very unlikely to get a false positive because if it picks up the hormone, you got the preg hormone. Anyway, they get one line, probably a false positive. I mean, after that speech. No, it's probably a false negative, which is very common. She's disappointed. This is just it uh it's mind-boggling, but she's disappointed. She says, I thought it would be the perfect end to the trip. I don't know when I'm gonna see you next. I thought I'd have more motivation to move. She thought having a baby would motivate her to move. She says, I'm worried when I leave, he's gonna go back to his old partying ways. And there it is. She thinks a baby will lock things down. That seems clear to me now, and it's so messed up and wrong and sad to put that on a child. So on the last day of the trip, they go to the Mayan ruins, and it does look so freaking cool. He says this place is very spiritual for him, so he wants to share it with her. Where are all the rest of the people? Also, I want them to have a tour guide because she Aviva doesn't have a clue what any of this stuff means. And I also wish they had actually climbed, they talked about climbing to the top, and then I wish they had actually climbed to the top before what happens next. It would have been really cool. But it says, instead, like he suggests they climb to the top and they start to climb, but then he it's a fake out. He says, wait a minute, wait a minute. And he proposes to her at the bottom, takes out a ring, says, I want to be with you for the rest of my life. So, baby, will you marry me? Blah, blah, blah. It's the most basic, boring proposal I've ever seen in my life. He does legit look emotional. I'll say that. Of course, she says yes, but it's weird in her talking head. She holds up her hand showing the ring and says, I'm engaged to stick the artist. How cool is that? Ha ha ha. With her nervous giggle and like no excitement on her face. She doesn't seem over the top thrilled at all. Like she seems happy. And in the scene, she seems happy, but it doesn't seem like. You know what? It seems like they've already done this all before and they're just refilming it. I don't know. I don't know. Moving on to Rick and Trisha. So it's first thing in the morning, and Rick is knocking on the wood on the um bunk bed below where Trisha's sleeping. And of already he wakes up with complaints. Some wood dust fell into my eye after pounding my giant fist on the bunk bed. She asks how he slept. He says, A little hot. So he needs a shower and he just trots outside wearing nothing but a towel. And of course, there's women outside right outside the door laughing at him. Um, the water is cold because it comes from a well underground. But he's just being a freaking baby about it. Later, she has him help prepare the greens for lunch. And he asks questions about it and finds out it's the cassava leaves that they had on the street. And he says, Ew, those bitter ones. And then she shushes him because he's being incredibly rude. So dad comes up, asks to talk to Trisha alone for a minute. So she leaves him to help prepare the leaves for lunch. And you sort of, I was watching, you sort of pinch them to get the spines out of the leaves, like you do with kale or collards. But they look much smaller and tender than kale or collards. And they're pounding them with these giant mallets. The learning channel. So anyway, she talks to dad, who wants to know the status of Rick's decision about kids. He says, What will your future look like, sweetheart? He needs a serious certain decision before Rick goes home. And Trisha says, Not having children would hurt me, but I love him and he loves me. So convincing him to have children is the only thing I can do. The dad says, My question is, what if he says he doesn't want children? And Trisha says, Are you asking me to choose between you and Rick? And her dad says, Yes, I have no middle ground on this. I keep having to remind myself that this woman is only 25 when I'm constantly astonished that she has not left his whiny ass, whiny, cheating ass by the side of the road. But anyway, later on, Rick's helping haul water from the river, and they show him how to do it by balancing a long beam across his shoulders, like milkmaid style, and he gets it. But then he carries then he fills the jugs with water and then insists on carrying them on one shoulder. Because I guess he doesn't care about his spine. As long as he doesn't look like a milkmaid, right? That's probably what's going through his head. Uh later he's helping Trisha with the laundry. And he is just now learning that she's never washed her clothes in a machine. Even in Antena Nariva, she has to hand wash her clothes. The number of things this man does not know about her with all the months that they've supposedly been talking. And you know this because this big needy baby cannot go five minutes without talking to her, because if she ghosts him or gives him one-word answers for more than a day, he has to fly off to Colombia to put it in somebody else. So, you know, they they must talk all the time. And this the number of things he doesn't know about her is astounding. But it tracks, it tracks because he's not really interested in her as a human being. But she says, Remember when you called me bougie? I do. We all remember. And he says he guess he he guess he needs to take that back now that he knows she washes her clothes by hand. What a big man. I'm so mad he didn't buy her a swimsuit at the mall. What an ass. Anyway, Trisha warns him he should not take long time to decide about babies because her dad is not gonna let it go. And then we get this absolutely devastating story about her past. She says she wants the mother-child relationship that she never had. So when Trisha was one year old, her parents broke up and her mom found another man, but she had to leave her baby behind. She says, in my culture, if the woman decides to marry another man, she can't touch the baby or see the baby unless her new husband buys animals and sacrifices them. She didn't do it because her new husband, I guess, didn't accept that practice. But she went with him anyway. And she left Trisha behind. Rick comes over and he's very awkwardly trying to comfort her. And she's just trying to talk about all this, and he's up in her face. And she says, How can you leave a baby? It's cute. Oh. But I just want to say, when you when someone is doing this, when they're telling you this trauma, you don't get up in their face. Just sit next to them and listen. But this is just me being picky because I'm going to pick apart everything Rick does. In his talking head, Rick says, Trish is trying to fill a void. And I don't want to take that away. But at the same time, I'm not prepared financially to have a child. I mean, he should have decided this on day one, the first time she ever said, I want to have children, knowing that she's 25. It should have ended it right there, but no, he's selfish. And he needed himself a Malagasy queen, according to him. So next up is the last day in the village. Rick still has not made his mind up about kids. He says, I think the best solution is for Trisha to ask her dad again for more time. He seems like a nice guy, and maybe they can ease up a little bit. So Trisha and Rick go shopping in the market for some squash for dinner. They bring the squash back. Dad and uncle ask to speak to the two of them together, and they sit down and drink rum and make small talk. That rum looked good. So the dad is there to ask what is his final decision on having kids. And Rick says, I want to respect your dad. Because Trish is translating. So he says, I want to respect your dad, but I'm not prepared to make a decision. Dad and uncle are not happy with this answer. She tells Rick that if he doesn't give him an answer they want, they have to hold her. They can't be together anymore. Next time on before the 90 days, uh, more things we didn't need to know. One of those being Elisa is not getting oral, which is really important to her. Thanks for that. Annalyn and Jovon are back and they're shopping for wedding bands. Of course, Javon's being a cheap idiot. Um, Josh is venting to Chris about how Elise behaved at the bar. Forrest is confronting Molly, and big surprise, Molly is acting crazy and rude to Sheena. BeerCon is telling Laura to shut up as they're arguing about Michael, and it looks like Laura is running to Michael's hotel room. On the single life, episode 7, the art of meddling, and episode 8, the act of being sus. Are the writers actually my 12-year-old? Are the writers actually three Jen Alphas in a trench coat giving us these titles? Anyway, so Sophie and Julia are meeting up with Pedro for a side trip to Santo Domingo for Nicole's party, who's um Pedro's sister. They're staying overnight there. Where is Liz? Did they even tell her? This is so rude. And I don't want to know anything about this trip for Liz. I mean, for Sophie and Julia. Oh, Julia left Liz a message. Nice girls, really nice. Left Liz a message. We're going to go away overnight. Have fun. Pedro tries to prepare Sophie for his sister, Nicole, and his mom, Lydia, who are two terrible people, legendarily terrible people in the canon of 90 day. And he says, the last thing I want for them, the last thing I want is for them to scare Sophie away. Who do you think your sister and mother are, Pedro? Meanwhile, Sophie's asking, what did I get myself into? Girl, have you watched this show at all? Every season, any pick one season with Pedro, and you'll see the horror that is Nicole and Lydia. So they get to the party right away. Nicole is on her ass. You're making my brother suffer. Does Pedro stick up for her? No. Okay, now that everyone is uncomfortable, let's have shots. Oh, wait, no, let's go talk to Lydia. Watch out. She might try to feed your chicken feet. No, it's worse than that. She is immediately rude and insulting. She Lydia literally looks Sophie up and down and says in her talking head, she's a common woman. Nothing special. Nothing in her head. Wow. And then she is she already drunk or is she just doing this for shock value? I don't know if it's because she's aware that Sophie has sort of been keeping her distance a little bit from Pedro, but she says she hasn't tried the Dominican. She's saying she hasn't tried the DR Huevos and Salami, the Palatano. So making sex jokes around food. Pedro is freaking out, saying that's weird. But does he tell his mom to stop acting crazy? No. Later on, Lydia tells Sophie that it's immoral to be dating her son if she's not completely divorced yet. Okay. Later, Nicole and Julia are like awkwardly sexy dancing together. I knew Nicole and Julia would get along because they are both not girls' girls at all. Fight me. Fight me and Julia. I invite it. Anyway. Later, uh, Sophie and Julia are talking, and Nicole walks up and inserts herself into the conversation. And Julia says, I'm going to leave you. See what I said? She's not a girl's girl. If she was, she would have stayed there to defend Sophie because Pedro ain't gonna do it. Nicole immediately gets confrontational and tells her Pedro's in love with her. And she's also saying she's concerned about Sophie not being divorced yet. Bullshit. Sophie at first is calm and respectful and saying this relationship has nothing to do with you. And it's weird that you guys are so invested. She says, I'm close to my mom, and she would not scare a guy away. Okay, here's why I take issue. Sophie. Sophie, we saw your mom call Rob the knob. So don't even start with that. Anyways, they start raising their voices and quickly the whole thing quickly devolves into a full-on housewives shouting and cursing match. Nicole storms off. Sophie calls them all weirdos. Sophie, you need to plan ahead with an iconic line. Like maybe get some help from a publicist about it or something. I don't know. Watch Chantel and take some notes, okay? Because honestly, nothing in this world can top Chantel walking away from Nicole and calling her a slut-ass bitch ass whore. You will not talk to me this way today. Good night. Something along those lines. Later on, Pedro gets an argument with Sophie because he he thinks that she was badmouthing his mom when she said Pedro's fucking mom was drilling me. These two, everyone in this scenario is ridiculous. And I'm actually so happy for Liz that she wasn't here, and I hope she's somewhere with Via, getting uh, you know, getting what's good for her. Anyway, uh the next day, Pedro comes to see Sophie and she's wearing this outfit that I do not understand, this like whole jumper thing and a giant sun hat. I can't take anything seriously, she says, because the way it's perched on her head, she looks like little Debbie. But anyway, he's still mad about the fucking mother comment. And she's trying to explain she wasn't swearing at or about his mother or insulting his mother. She was just cussing in general, and he still doesn't get it. Pedro says uh he's having flashbacks from Chantel being toxic to his family. I'm wheezing. You guys wheezing. Chantal wasn't always great, but holy shit, this man shut down and shut Chantel out all the time, from what I could see. He wasn't very good about working on things with Chantal at all. But anyway, they do apologize. And I am actually proud of Sophie a little bit for speaking up and saying to Pedro that his mom and sister are gonna continue to ruin his relationships because they are so out of line with the way they talk to other women. Moving on to Colt, if you can even believe it. And the universe shouted a collective, oh shit, please, no, no, no, no. But yes, Mother Debbie has come all the way from Canada to quote, save the day. Um save the day? Has she ever saved the day? Has she what has what have we seen on this show where she has saved the day? I I I haven't seen it. Anyway, he says he hasn't seen his mom in six months, but she came down from Canada with her boyfriend. The boy the boyfriend has no clue what's going on. I don't even know why he's here. The Siege Times went in with some comment about Colt's misdeeds happening outside of him being with Courtney. And then Colt actually has to correct him, saying that no, he was sending his quote adult content to Diana in Brazil while he was in Courtney's house with zero shame or hesitation whatsoever. Anyway, Debbie offers to go and talk to Courtney. What is the point of this? Does anybody listening to this think that Debbie could do anything to convince anyone of anything at all? I am so over Debbie. I she could not sell me a box of Girl Scout cookies, and you know I'm gonna buy several boxes of Girl Scout cookies. I don't care who you are. You don't have to be a Girl Scout. I will buy the cookies from you, but probably not from Debbie. Anyway, so good luck. Um, she says I went through something similar a long time ago, so I know how she feels. Excuse me what, Mother Debbie? Was it Colt's dad? Do tell me if this is an apple not falling far from the tree situation. Debbie goes to Fred and Jane's house, and it's the most uncomfortable I have felt in a long time. And I watched I watched Lisa get a cleansing from maybe a very real priest screaming at her with a goat right there screaming in distress. But this was worse. Fred and Jane seem so lovely. They do not need to be subjected to this. What was the point of this? Of course, Courtney flatly rejects Debbie, asking her to give Colt a second chance. Courtney's just like, like, what even is this? Courtney was so nice in her talking head, she felt bad for talking trash about Colt to Debbie, but really she wasn't talking trash. She was very respectful, I thought. And I love how Fred and Jane. Fred says, Jane said he shit in his own nest, and she never swears. I love them. Legends, parental legends of 90 day. Let's move on to Vanya and Tony. Oh, this guy. So Vanya is visiting her sister in Maine. Apparently, she's an aesthetician. So she's touching up her permanent makeup. I do you guys do a permanent makeup? I cannot. I see a lot of people with the permanent eyebrow thing. Is it microbladed? I sound like such an old crone who's been living in the forest. I I don't know. I don't know about these things. I couldn't. I get bored so easily. There's no way I could do the same thing on my eyebrow and my lip all the time. But anyway, so she's touching it up. And as she's doing it, they're talking about Tony and sister, uh, cousin, not sister, cousin is not a fan. She sort of hedges though and says, Don't get me wrong, I like him. He treats you well, but there are some red flags. Um, Vanya confirms this. She said, The other night they went to dinner, and then after he brought her home, he went to a bar by himself and then to a club. So in her talking head, the cousin says, In the past, Vanya's standards have been pretty high, but recently she can do so much better. I'm not sure Tony is that person. So her cousin's name is Sanel Sanela. And Sanela's husband is Marenko. I am so sorry if I'm butchering these names. So they're sitting around the fire at Sanela's house. Vanya and Marenko pull the old, hey, help me get the pile of s'mores ingredients. So let Sanela give Tony the third degree. There's so many s'mores ingredients that uh Marenko cannot carry them on his own. Crackers. You got your gram crackers, you got your chocolate, you got your marshmallows, and then skewers. They both need so much help with all these things. Uh Sanila grills Tony, asks, What are your intentions? Why'd you go to the bar alone? Why were you hanging out with Vanya when you had a girlfriend living in your house? She's there for all of it. Tony denies having a girl living in his house while he was hanging out with Vanya. Uh, Tony has a talking head and he says, I feel betrayed by Vanya because she's been talking about my past. Whatever. Of course, she's gonna talk to her Bessie and her cousins. You gotta talk to the cousins, they'll take care of you. So she comes back from the kitchen with the s'mores ingredients, and Tony pulls the old gee golly, I am exhausted because he's pissed and he doesn't want to be around these people anymore. They go inside. Malenko should get an Oscar for his acting ability, says, So you did go too far, he says to Sanila. In her talking head, Banya says, Now might not be a good time to talk to Tony about my celibacy. Um, she's mad. But then she tells us something happened with Tony today that Sanila doesn't even know about. I guess we're not gonna find out till next week. Crap. Okay, we'll talk about Gino and Natalie and then end with Kim and Jamal. So, Gino says as soon as he got on the plane back to Michigan, he knew he made a mistake. So he invited Natalie to visit him in Michigan. AKA production said, Hey Natalie, you want to make some money? Get on a plane to destroy. In her talking head, she says, I may have overreacted. aka T L C convinced me to film some more. Anyway, she says there's something about Gino. You can't stay mad at him very long. Once again, as I always say, come sit by me, I'll teach you how to hold a grudge. I mean, if anybody deserves a grudge, it's Gino. Uh, so they go to the waterfront. I guess that's Lake Huron. You can see Canada on the other side. They play in the fountain, blah blah blah. Gino says, You bring out the playful side of me, and I'm not used to that. She says it's so beautiful by the lakeshore. Meanwhile, we get a shot of Canada on the other side and the beautiful Caesar's Palace in the casinos. Uh, anyway, so Gina says, Gino says, I don't want to speak to any other women anymore. I want to focus on you, and I don't want to risk losing you. Natalie says, I'm shocked, but I'm happy you made the decision. Um, he takes her to get a cone dog in Detroit. Are you fucking serious right now with this Coney dog place? She is graciously gracing you with her presence, and you bring her to uh Coney Dog place with Uncle Marco. I like Uncle Marco, but he he seems like a nice man. But he is also unhinged. He says he asks if they're gonna have kids. They are barely in an exclusive relationship at this point. They are seconds after sorta committing to each other. Anyway, I'm jumping ahead, but Natalie asks Marco if Gina is still in love with his ex, Jasmine. Marco says unequivocally, no. Okay, Marco seems like a giant, nice, genuine man, probably the only one in the family still talking to Gino. And I like it in his talking head, he described Natalie as smart, funny, intelligent. He he he says all the right things. And he gets teary-eyed when he talks about what Gino's been through. He's no angel, Uncle Marco, I hate to tell you. But I I appreciate standing by the family. But it's weird that she's being introduced to a family member seconds after deciding to be exclusive with Gino. I mean, on the other hand, the older folks get a pass when it comes to this like jumping the gun on things. But then it's even crazier because Gino turns her. And says, Would you be open to the idea of kids? She says, That's unhinged. And it is. In their talking heads, she says, that ship has sailed. And Gino says, I don't know if it's all the way sailed. We have options. Why are these 90-day men so delusional about women in their late 40s, early 50s having children? Why? Especially if the women are not thrilled at the idea. Get over yourself. Anyway, Marco says, get that divorce finalized and lock this one up. So we're gonna end with Kim and Jamal. So Kim and Jamal are meeting up with Larry and his a gorgeous family. Brittany, his son, they call him Bean. And little baby Nellie. Well they're meeting with a picnic, they're meeting up with them for a picnic. And the little boy they call Bean calls Jamal Uncle Mall, and Kim is baby Mama Kim. Or no, Mama Kim, I I don't know. They came here all the way from North Carolina. Apparently they visited once before, but they video chat all the time. Kim is getting ready to tell Larry about the fact that he also has a sister that was given up for adoption. Kim is already crying and she hasn't even got out of the car. It would not be surprising to me at all if Jamal decided not to come to this meeting and didn't offer her any support at all, but he's been very supportive and sweet and hyping her up. And I'm glad that their relationship is healing. She has such a nice rapport with Larry and Brittany and the kids. It's very cute. Honestly, right away, they gave me the warm fuzzies. And I know they they're not gonna reject her because of this news. Uh Larry gets talking head and he says, I always knew I was adopted. And then um family members did a DNA test and then they found Kim through his cousins. Kim sitting at the picnic table is about to have a panic attack, and then she just blurts it all out. And she says, Please don't hate me. I tried to tell you before, but I couldn't say it. I feel like all I've done is lie. Larry asks her to explain. She says, Your dad and I got back together, and the same thing happened. She says, I had her, his sister, all by herself. He didn't give me anything. I did everything by myself. And so she ended up giving that baby up for adoption. Larry says, I'm not gonna hate you. You're not a bad person. And Bean, the little boy, says, It's all right. Oh my heart just melted. Kim says, I wasn't the smartest and I made some bad decisions. She says she doesn't know where the sister is at, but she was born a year after Larry. So Larry is the oldest of the three siblings. Uh, in his talking head, Larry says, It's a lot knowing I have two biological siblings, and I'm the oldest of both of them. Um, holding information from me is shocking, but how mad could I be? She's my birth mother. She gave me the opportunity to have a beautiful wife and kids. I will never take that for granted. Larry says to Kim, You do not have to beat yourself up. We move on, we go from here. Brittany gets up and gives her a big hug. I want a Britney hug. I do. I need one. Okay, listen. I'm not going to give any kind of high-minded opinion on what or how Kim handled any of this. I think she's beaten herself up enough about it, and I cannot imagine being in that position. I don't know if I could have done what she did. I don't know if I could have made a better decision. And I also don't know when is the right time to tell your son that he has a brother. I don't know that I could have handled anything better, but I do know that Larry and his family handled everything beautifully. And I'm so happy to hear Jamal says he's proud of his mom in this moment. Everyone is fine, and it's going to be fine. Whether the daughter wants to be found is unknown. Honestly, I don't care about anybody else's opinion about what Kim did. If her daughter doesn't want to be found, I respect that. Um sometime later in this episode, Kim meets up with Larry and Jamal to go on a little nature hike. I like this nature hike. I am falling in love with San Diego. It's not a crazy difficult mountain hike, it's more of a stroll along the coast in the park. I feel like everywhere I've seen in San Diego looks like one big, very pretty park. There's seals on the rocks. I sound crazy. Anyway. Larry and Jamal are super cute together and they do this little foot race like two little boys. And they even run like little boys. It's very silly and cute, and I love them for that. So that's the end of my wrap-up of 90 Day. Just a very quick, super quick little book club corner. I did start reading Rock Hard by Nalini Singh. I started reading it, uh, listening to it while I'm on my morning walks. And so far, it is so good, you guys. The writing is like butter. I don't even know how to explain it. Um, it's a workplace romance, which is kind of my catnip. Um, it's this woman that the main character, the female main character has some trauma, so she's a little bit gun-shy and skittish around men. And this boss kind of is new, and he comes in and he's taking over this failing company, and he takes her under his wing, and he can kind of see right through her. He's like immediately smitten, but he can see right through the fact that she has some trauma around men, and he's really pissed about it. Pissed at other men treating her poorly, not pissed at her, which is also my catnip. He's just basically just paving the way and taking care of everything for her, and I I love that. I love a little bit of a wish fulfillment like this in um in a romance. Um, so if you if you're interested in reading along, um go find it on uh whatever platform you like to read on, or whatever store you like to borrow or purchase from or get it from your library. Um, and if you want to do a read-along, hit me up on Story Graph. Um I like Story Graph for readers who like to track the stuff that they're reading. I like it better than good reads. It's just so much less chaotic and it actually has more info about the books. So you can go on there and read the reviews, but y'all also come find me on Story Graph. Um, it's called my account is 90 Day Book Club. Send me a friend request, I'll find you back, and I'll start a buddy read or read along on there, and you can join if you want. You can share thoughts, ask questions, whatever. Um, and also this week I had a new romance come out. I write very short romance novellas. So when I tell you that I had new books come out, that's why I write short. It's about they're usually about 20,000 words. I try to put one out at least once a month. Um, yeah, so I had one come out this week. It's called Undressed. How I Fell for My One Night Stand. Obviously, it's a one-night stand trope. Female main character is a vacation rental owner, and the male main character is an artist who comes to town and rents with parties immediately, smitten. Um, it's Insta love, good vibes, low stakes. It's uh my editor said it's a joy. She doesn't always say that. Uh, that's about the best endor endorsement I can give you. Um, so if you're interested in that, I will put a link to that in the show notes, and I'll put a link to that to my story graph and also have a link in there if you want to support the show. Um, this episode went way long, and I thank you for hanging in there and listening, and that is all I have for you today. Please take care of yourself, and I will talk to you next week!