Warning! The following contains spoilers for the 90 Day Fiancé: The Other Way Season 6 premiere, "My Best Friend's Meddling." Stream it now with a Max subscription.
TLC didn't leave fans waiting long for the next spinoff, as a new season of 90 Day Fiancé: The Other Way is already upon us. This is sad news for those hoping for a tell-all after we found out where the Love In Paradise couples ended up, but good news for everyone in love with this spinoff. This season is already off to a strong start with storylines, though one new couple is already making me exhausted for the rest of their journey.
I was prepared for Shekinah Garner and Sarper Güven to test my patience with the wild nose job storyline, but I wasn't expecting this premiere episode to be dominated by James and Meitalia and the very simple problem surrounding their marriage and imminent move to Indonesia.
James Can't Stop Keeping Information From People
When 90 Day Fiancé: The Other Way first introduced James and Meitalia, I assumed these newlyweds would become my favorite couple. They seemed firm in their love for each other, established with healthy jobs, and frankly, pretty normal. Of course, they wouldn't be on the series if there wasn't some red flag or drama in the relationship, and it became apparent as the episode went on.
While James had no issue with letting his wife go to Indonesia for him to follow in a month or so, she had her concerns. Mainly, she was upset that James still had not told his family about his move to Indonesia despite being a key part of the elevator repair business run by his them. James admitted that dropping this on his parents would leave them in a rough spot, which made Meitalia all the more frustrated he hadn't told them despite leaving in a month.
This was one of many omissions we learned about throughout the episode in which James was not telling people things they probably should know. Meitalia found out from their mutual friend that he had fears of having children, which caused her to break down. She had another breakdown later when James revealed their dog could not join them in Indonesia, with the general reason being that he had not gotten the dog proper vaccinations and that they would return for him later. The excuse, to be honest, was about as believable as when Gino Palazzolo tried to lie about throwing himself a bachelor party to Jasmine Pineda.
This Feels Like An Issue Easily Remedied By James
I don't think James and Meitalia are on the path to being the next 90-day couple to split after marriage, but there's a clear issue that needs to be addressed. James has a problem with telling people things they don't want to hear, and he makes it worse by waiting until the last minute. Hard conversations aren't fun, but he's creating unnecessary and additional stress on himself and his marriage by not facing them directly.
In a franchise where people are secretly communicating with their ex, or with boyfriends who can't stop donating sperm, this is such a silly problem. It all comes down to James recognizing the harm he causes by not being upfront with people about uncomfortable subjects. I'm sure the conversation about him leaving the United States will not go well with his parents, but had he talked to them months before doing so, it might not be quite as tense. Ultimately, it's undoubtedly going to create resentment between his family and Meitalia, so I understand her fear of his plan. We'll see how it plays out in the coming episodes, but I'm already so exhausted by this couple.
90 Day Fiancé: The Other Way airs on TLC on Mondays at 8:00 p.m. ET. For those wondering, the rest of the episodes will be hour-long, so expect something new to pop up in the lineup after next week's episode!
