Warning! The following contains spoilers from the 90 Day Fiancé: Before The 90 Days episode "A Separate Peace." Stream the episode with a Max subscription and read at your own risk!
Just when I thought I knew where things stood between Niles Valentine and Matilda Nti, the latest 90 Day Fiancé: Before The 90 Days episode threw a curveball at me. A shocking reveal in the latest episode has me rethinking whether or not these two are together currently, and if the answer is no, I need to know what happened. It's all on the heels of a decision that feels like a terrible idea, but it's clear there's still a lot of story to tell.
Niles is a breath of fresh air in a season of 90 Day Fiancé plagued by a largely unlikable cast of Americans. All of that said, even he deserves some scrutiny, as his autism diagnosis does not excuse him from failing to tell Matilda he had no intention of marrying her on his trip to Ghana until just days before the planned ceremony. Well, that was the original plan, but it's looking like the situation has changed.
Niles Changed His Mind And Agreed To Do The Wedding After The Knocking Ceremony
In a scene that still has me reeling, Niles decided that in keeping with Ghanaian customs, he should marry Matilda after the Knocking Ceremony. This came after all the work he put in convincing her family to allow him to delay the ceremony until he could return to the United States and save more money. This obviously thrilled Matilda, who told him that in exchange, she would call off the fancy dinner party celebration that she had planned as a means of meeting him halfway in compromise.
Producers Questioned If Niles Was Manipulated Into Changing His Mind, And I Think That's Possible Too
In a confessional segment after the scene, a 90 Day Fiancé producer asked Niles if he felt manipulated into agreeing to move forward with the wedding by his stand-in Ghanaian father, Mr. Arc. I had wondered the exact same thing while watching the previous week and questioned if this all wasn't some kind of elaborate set-up.
Mr. Arc is a personal friend of Matilda's family, and as much as I'd like to trust he's honoring his role to look out for Niles' best interest, doesn't it make more sense he'd work more for the favor of the people he knows? It just seems very convenient to me that in his conversations with Mr. Arc, Niles has been convinced to do exactly what she wanted in the first place.
At the same time, I can't help but feel a little bad for accusing Matilda of manipulation. This is the plan she thought was happening until Niles came to Ghana and told her differently. It's hard to fault her for being happy she doesn't have to cancel her plans for marriage, assuming Niles can come up with the money for the ceremony.
I'd love to say marriage will be easy for these two, but I think there are signs that they could be another married 90 Day couple that splits. Niles being pressured into the wedding, not having the finances to cover it, and his parents being openly opposed to the wedding feels like a recipe for disaster if she ever comes to the United States. Honestly, it sounds similar to some of the past issues the Season 2 cast of 90 Day: The Last Resort has faced, so if they do tie the knot, maybe we'll see them on Season 3 when it potentially hits the 2025 TV schedule.
