’90 Day Fiancé: The Other Way’: The Calm Before the Storm (RECAP)

[Warning: The below contains MAJOR spoilers for 90 Day Fiancé: The Other Way Season 3, Episode 2, “Testing Trust.”]

Storms are brewing on 90 Day Fiancé: The Other Way — and we’re not just talking about Hurricane Iota.

While one couple might have found a way to be together without getting married, another could split before he can even pop the question, due to a secret he’s hiding. Meanwhile, two couples are starting to plan their weddings, and getting on the same page about some things is easier said than done.

Read on for all the drama as Season 3 continues.

Jenny and Sumit

Remember how the premiere ended with Jenny ready to return to the U.S. and never come back to India? Well, that’s where we pick up with the couple, and fortunately for them, it turns out there was a glitch and her visa extension was approved. But that doesn’t change the fact that Sumit still won’t marry her. “Did you ever intend to marry me? Ever?” Jenny asks.

With marriage out as a permanent solution for her to stay in India, they go to see an immigration lawyer to find out their options. He asks if she’s ready to give up her American citizenship. That’s a firm no. She’s left with one technical option: ISKCON (International Society of Krishna Consciousness) and a missionary visa. She’s not a religious person, so she finds that to be pretty far out there, but if it’ll keep her in India, she agrees to think about it.

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Ariela and Biniyam

Ariela could not be more excited to see her best friend (and ex-husband) Leandro, now that he’s getting out of quarantine, but her fiancé Biniyam can’t help but notice that she’s wearing a skirt and heels and happened to choose that day to get her nails done. And he definitely reads into the fact that she’s not wearing her ring (and wonders if she’s ashamed since it’s cheap). It was an honest mistake, she insists, and he goes home to retrieve it.

Ariela knows that Biniyam isn’t comfortable with this visit, but she thinks that he’ll understand her and Leandro’s relationship is over once he sees them together. (Does it help that at one point she suggests that Leandro come live with them? No.) Instead, as Leandro settles into the guest bedroom, Biniyam worries the exes will rekindle their love.

It gets worse when Leandro takes out the gifts he bought and items Ariela requested, including bras she can’t get in Ethiopia. His girlfriend picked them out, he assures the couple (and we’re pretty sure this is the first time his girlfriend has been mentioned in these two episodes). To Biniyam, it’s still inappropriate. And it doesn’t help when Ariela gets emotional about leaving Leandro to travel the world.

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Steven and Alina

There are only three days before Steven and Alina are leaving Salt Lake City, Utah, and Russia behind to move to Turkey together when we catch up with both of them. When he picks up his last paycheck, his boss expresses his concerns about Steven abandoning everything for a relationship that might not work out. But Steven thinks the “investment” is worth it because she’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

Meanwhile, Alina’s mother, Anna, is still worried about her daughter moving to be with someone she’s only known in person a week. “He’s still a stranger to me,” Anna says. She also doesn’t like that he’s Mormon (“they do dark things”). And to her surprise, Alina plans to say yes if he proposes. She trusts him, she insists.

But should she? As we learn, he’s been talking to and hanging out with female friends too much for Alina’s comfort and he asked for her permission to date other girls. (Alina’s friends suggest she hire someone to try to seduce him as a test.) Then, the day before the move, Steven surprises Alina when he tells her he’s gotten them separate apartments in Turkey (hers is a bit nicer). He’s worried he’ll be tempted to have sex, and not only is chastity necessary if she wants to be baptized in his church, but the bishop might also frown upon cohabitation before marriage. So what will her reaction be when he (eventually) tells her he’s not a virgin even though they said they’d save themselves for marriage?

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Corey and Evelin

Now that her family knows they have a wedding date, it’s time for Corey and Evelin to actually plan the ceremony. The only problem? The cost. Even though she never dreamed about her wedding, she still wants to have the best everything and something that will make her friends jealous. He, on the other hand, was hoping she’d help with some of the costs. “It’s not how it works here,” she laughs. “The man pays for the wedding.” But when he gets a look at the average prices, he’s definitely not laughing; his brother got married in the U.S. for significantly cheaper, he argues. He doesn’t know how he’s going to pay for the wedding.

Kenneth and Armando

Also planning their wedding are Kenneth and Armando, and the latter puts together a vision board with his daughter, Hannah. The first point of contention is the guest list. Armando has at least 100 people to invite (family, friends, people in the neighborhood), while Kenneth had been looking at 50-100 as the total number. (Speaking of Armando’s relatives, he doesn’t even know if his mom told his dad he’s engaged; his family wasn’t supportive when he came out.)

They meet with a wedding planner, Hugo, and his assistant, Carlos, and Armando says he feels comfortable working with them because they’re both gay and can offer some insight. Have they had problems with vendors, bakers, and venues that don’t want to cater to same-sex couples? Yes, Carlos admits, but they haven’t run into any issues they haven’t been able to solve.

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Ellie and Victor

The countdown to Ellie’s move to Providencia with Victor and Hurricane Iota causing mass destruction to the island continues (four days). And so it’s time for her to tell the rest of her friends — Kelly, Scott, and John — what only Hiromi knows so far: this isn’t just a vacation, and Ellie’s back with Victor after he cheated on her.  What if there’s another woman? She’d walk away. However, as they remind her, she’s selling everything, including her business. Her friends aren’t so sure, but she thinks she can trust him, despite the past. They also don’t like how much money she’s putting into the house he’s building them, but Ellie argues she wants a quality bathroom and will be living there.

Hiromi asks if she’s done a background check on him, and when Ellie says she hasn’t, Kelly asks if it’s because she’s worried about what she’ll find. Ellie claims she’s not, considering he told her about a domestic violence charge for an incident between him and his daughter’s mother. (He walked in on his ex-girlfriend and another guy in bed together, and Ellie has spoken with his ex. They have a good relationship now.)

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Ellie blames that conversation with her friends for a dream she has about the other woman Victor was with being pregnant, and she calls him, looking for him to reassure her. She’s long gone, he promises. He loves her, and people make mistakes. That doesn’t mean they won’t talk about it once she gets there, she says. The more immediate concern is the tropical storm becoming a hurricane in the next few hours; he’s securing everything in their house then evacuating. She tells him to stay safe.

90 Day Fiancé: The Other Way, Sundays, 8/7c, TLC (pre-premiere Fridays, discovery+)