’90 Day Fiancé’: A Cruel Homecoming as the Couples Face Reality (RECAP)

[Warning: The below contains MAJOR spoilers for Season 8, Episode 7 of 90 Day Fiancé].

As couples settle into life in America, some realize their relationships are not meant to be. From Amira being forced back to France and Brandon blaming Julia for his own laziness to Natalie accusing Mike of being “low class,” these unrequited hearts are emptier than Rebecca’s furniture-less apartment. Let’s dive in!

Home Alone: Lost at the Farm

After weeks sneaking in their risqué rendezvouses, Brandon and Julia are now home alone on the farm. (When Brandon’s parents are away, he comes out to play.) This includes skinny dipping in their hot tub. “You so bad boy!” Julia coos as Brandon cannonballs.

Of course, all the fun must come to an end the next morning when Brandon’s parents return. Brandon calls their overnight adventures a “preview” to what married life will be like.

Brandon’s mother Betty quickly scolds them for not properly covering the hot tub and leaving the water “cloudy.” She also encourages them to only use the Jacuzzi while nude.

“It might seem like mixed signals — separate rooms but naked in the hot tub,” Betty explains to the camera. “But the residue from the dryer sheets or the soap on your clothes, it really screws up the water and the p.h. so literally I end up having to drain the hot tub and that gets really old really fast.” (Have they not heard of swimsuits?) Apparently, the hot tub is also “used for therapy, not entertainment.” She also implies they should not have sex in the water.

Once again, Julia urges Brandon to speak up. “He needs to be more strong,” Julia confesses. “He needs to change his life.[Betty] looks at him and sees a little, little boy. He needs to start to take care of me.”

Clean Slate

Rebecca and Zied arrive at her apartment and can’t wait to get intimate. The only problem? They don’t have a bed frame or real mattress. Rebecca explains that she needs to rent a truck to move all of their bedroom furniture, but Zied reassures her all’s fine.

He repeats his catchphrase (“It’s soooo amazing”) but Rebecca believes that Zied isn’t acting like himself. Zied just wants to go to sleep after his long flight, and Rebecca privately stresses that he might be second-guessing his decision to move to the U.S.

“I am willing to do everything in my power to make sure he’s happy and doesn’t regret coming here,” Rebecca says to the camera. “I need to know that I’m not making another mistake like I did before, so the 90 days is going to mean everything to me.”

My Precious

Natalie has been in Washington for a month, yet she still hasn’t acclimated to her American life. She also doesn’t have her engagement ring back from Michael. So, naturally, Natalie searches their house for a jewelry box. She’s obsessed with this ring! Instead of asking her fiancé, she revels in her self-described “insecure and uncomfortable” state. Eventually Natalie finds a safe, and she hopes the ring is inside as a symbol that he still loves her.

Foreign Concepts

Back in New Orleans, it seems nosy Sarah’s plan worked: Yara confronts Jovi via text about his relationships with strippers. While Jovi promises that it’s all in the past, Yara is skeptical. She meets up with Jovi’s mother and aunt for coffee, and his aunt worries about Jovi being “with a foreigner,” but Yara tells the camera that she doesn’t care whether Jovi’s family likes her or not. Yara explains that she plans on tying the knot in Las Vegas, but Jovi’s mother won’t let her own ideas go.

“It’s in our Cajun nature. You get married, you get the family together, you have food and drinks and fun, and I really need to do that for my son,” Jovi’s mom explains. “Let’s call it a gathering instead of a reception for a wedding.”

Jovi’s aunt asks if Yara has previously been married or engaged. Yara apparently was engaged, but broke it off. “It happened. It’s life. That’s it,” Yara summarizes. It seems Yara’s free spirit— not her nationality — might be what’s really foreign to the women in Jovi’s family.

Plane and Simple

Andrew seems to be punishing himself for Amira’s detainment. He succumbs to a Fyre Festival-esque dinner, complete with sweaty mustard packs in an empty cafeteria.

“I feel powerless right now,” Andrew wallows, while Amira spends 48 hours presumably at the Mexico City airport. “I feel like Amira might blame me for this. I really don’t want this to impact our relationship going forward.”

Back in his hotel room, Andrew sees that Amira is online. She tells Andrew that she’s flying to Amsterdam after spending the night at the Immigration Detention Center. “I never made it to the hotel, never made it outside the airport,” Amira texts. “They took my phone away from me right away.”

Andrew asks whether Amira wants to discuss her traumatic experience, but she says it’s still too fresh in her mind while she’s on the plane.

Fed Up

Brandon’s parents Ron and Betty are annoyed that Brandon has become more lackadaisical about his farm duties. “I’m getting very angry about this,” Ron admits to the camera as he feeds the animals. Meanwhile, Brandon gives his “princess” Julia tea in bed as his parents stew outside.

Trust Issues

Tarik and Hazel explore Virginia Beach in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic. It’s March 2020, and Hazel says that it’s a “weird time” to move to the U.S. Tarik and Hazel are the only ones wearing masks when they go outside for lunch, and Hazel explains that everyone in the Philippines has been wearing them so she feels more comfortable with one.

Tarik knows he has to tell Hazel about his communication with their shared ex-girlfriend Minty, but he hopes to wait as long as possible. Hazel admires “all the sexy girls” at the beach while they wait for lunch. Hazel’s parents are extremely religious, and she was scared to come out as bisexual while living with them. “In America, I want to have a girlfriend with my relationship with Tarik,” Hazel tells the camera.

However, she does spot a message from Minty that worried her. Tarik pushes for them to find a Thai woman to round out their throuple, but Hazel is still reeling from the breakup with Minty. “I felt left out and I was jealous because I was worried if he liked her too much,” Hazel recounts.

Tarik pushes Hazel to be more open-minded, but she quickly confronts him about still messaging Minty. “I was going to tell you,” Tarik says. He explains that he only reached out to see if Minty was doing well during the pandemic. “I just didn’t think it would be a huge deal. … It ain’t going to be no more, so you don’t have to worry about it.”

Later, Tarik addresses the camera: “I don’t have a problem with Hazel looking through anything, but it is concerning that she thought she had to do that.”

Mama’s Boy

Rebecca has to leave for work on Zied’s first day in the U.S. At the apartment, Zied molds his hair with gel, dons a luxe striped sweater, and makes coffee before calling his mother…which apparently is what he promised to do every morning.

His mother immediately starts to question why Rebecca doesn’t have furniture yet, after guilting Zied for calling later than she expected. What Zied see as motherly empathy is actually a controlling mother-in-law for Rebecca to deal with. Sounds fun! Forget Brandon and Betty, this is the real Mama’s Boy spinoff.

Back & Forth

Speaking of nagging moms, Betty and Ron invite Brandon and Julia to speak on the porch. Both parents rock back and forth while yelling at Brandon for “absolutely not doing anything.” Ron turns to Julia to have her see their side of things. Julia begins to explain that she hates mornings. It seems the only animal she can relate to is Garfield.

“I’ve got to get you guys on board with helping us. You’re not taking things seriously,” Ron tells them.

Brandon, being the stand-up gentleman that he is, immediately blames his bride-to-be. He claims that when he brings Julia tea in the morning, she grabs him and won’t let him leave to work. Is this the farming version of feminine wiles?

“No matter what I do, somebody is going to yell at me,” Brandon feigns naiveté in a confessional. Julia excuses herself from the awkward conversation, while Ron forbids his son from bringing her tea again.

Later Julia goes into Brandon’s room to speak with him directly. Brandon doubles down on the blame. “When you’re not here, I manage to get things done,” Brandon reprimands her.”You don’t need to stay nights with me, you don’t need to stay mornings with me…when do we have time together?” Julia asks. “We have the rest of our lives after we’re married,” Brandon bargains.

He confesses later that he knew this was going to happen: “I was always worried that adding Julia to the farm would ruin the dynamic of this family and it kind of has.”

Hopeless Romantic

Amira lands in Europe after three days in a Mexican detainment center. She spends the night in a hotel, asking for a minute before getting in front of the cameras. Amira bursts into tears. Apparently no officials told her why she was detained.

“First of all, I never wanted to go to Mexico,” Amira starts. “Andrew was telling me things to push me to do it, like saying he always does things for me, but I don’t do anything for him. … He said if I don’t want to see him, I don’t love him.”

She explains that she was in a shared space akin to a prison cells, without blankets. “Nobody deserves to go through that,” Amira cries. “I had no dignity. They just want us to feel like we’re nothing. … I want to move on but will Andrew understand that?”

Homesick Already

Zied and Rebecca start unpacking. Rebecca got them matching dolls, and Zied gifts her a trademark “amazing” bracelet from Tunisia.

He’s only been in the U.S. for a day, but already Zied asks Rebecca if in the fall he can go back to Tunisia to see his family. Rebecca explains that because of the visa process, it will be about a year before he can go back.

“I don’t know if he understands how this works and the level of commitment it will take,” Rebecca stresses. “I want to feel like Zied is ready to be my husband and build a life here with me. As homesick as he is, if Zied isn’t happy here, I don’t know if this marriage will even happen.”

‘I Try!’

The following morning, Brandon is ready to work at 7 a.m. Julia also is awake for their “fresh slate” day. While Betty is still short with them both, Julia repeats that she is trying to make it work for them.

“She tries to show me who’s boss,” Julia accurately tells the camera about Betty.

Brandon helps his father with the hay bales. Ron takes the opportunity to show Brandon that the farm will all be his one day, much to Brandon’s dismay.

Baby On the Way?

Jovi has already been gone for three weeks. Yara has been trying to stay busy in New Orleans while waiting for him to get back. She’s been going to the gym every day, but recently stopped because she felt sick. Yara opens up that she’s even been getting depressed.

Yara FaceTimes a friend in the Ukraine and lists her symptoms, which sound very similar to an early pregnancy. This frightens Yara but her friend urges her to get an at-home test. “There’s no way I can be pregnant. I’ve been here for a short time, and with Jovi just for two weeks. We’ve been careful,” Yara explains. “I cannot even be thinking about having a baby right now. I’m not ready yet. I don’t even know if I want to get married and live here!”

The Ring Is Gone

Natalie stokes the flames of the fireplace, starring into the fiery abyss with a determined grimace. Mike returns home from work to find Natalie in a foul mood, per usual. Natalie holds Mike to their meatless diet and Mike suggests stir fry. Natalie yells that it’s fried food, even though it’s not. Mike dodges a kiss from her.

Mike pops a beer after his long day at work, and Natalie nags about that as well. “When you’re losing kilos, then we’ll talk,” Natalie jabs.

“She says some things that are just hurtful,” Mike admits to the camera. “It just feels like it’s a battle.”

Natalie tells Mike that she spent the day looking for her engagement ring, and guesses that it’s in the safe. Mike confesses that he sold it because she didn’t want it.

“I feel like we don’t have respect for each other,” Natalie opens up. She thinks she’s being punished for the mistake of throwing the ring back at him, but let’s be real: Natalie is just mean. She asks Mike if he’s ever taken an I.Q. test, and proceeds to flaunt her “high score” of 110.

She then asks whether Mike has ever been to a museum. He lists the Louvre, but Natalie scoffs that she took him there and he’s just “low class.”

Mike goes up and lightly touches Natalie’s shoulder, which causes her to scream that he’s drunk off of half a beer and for him not to touch her. “Oh my god I’m scared of you. Low-class drunk man,” Natalie mutters. They continue to argue over dinner and Mike tells a producer that they’re not in a position to resume their engagement.

Previews

Next week, Stephanie and Ryan reunite in Belize, and Amira tries to figure out how to proceed with Andrew. Plus, Natalie meets Mike’s mother, and Yara takes a pregnancy test. See you next Sunday!

90 Day Fiancé, Sundays, 8/7c, TLC