Warning! The following contains spoilers for the 90 Day Fiancé: The Other Way episode "For Every Joy There Is a Price To Be Paid." Read at your own risk!
By and large, 90 Day Fiancé: The Other Way's fourth season has been the series' most engaging, as the new cast has been solid at keeping viewers entertained with some great drama and surprising twists. With that being said, even the best season can have its rough spots. For all the great moments witnessed so far, we've also been subjected to Nicole and Mahmoud Sherbiny's past-expired drama, and they may have cemented themselves as the most aggravating 90 Day Fiancé couple in The Other Way's history so far, if not the entire franchise as a whole.
Nicole and Mahmoud are not the first couple in this franchise to experience a clash of cultures, but the inability to spin stories outside of that specific issue has hindered things. Deavan Clegg struggled to adjust to life with Jihoon Lee in South Korea, as did Ariela Weinberg when she went to Ethiopia for Biniyam Shibre. But while their respective stories were full of variety that gave viewers a sense of what it'd be like to live abroad, I can't say that's the case at all with Nicole and Mahmoud.
90 Day Fiancé: The Other Way has spent nearly all of Mahmoud and Nicole's storyline showing fans arguments about clothes. Don't get me wrong, I fully understand that this is a hot-button issue worthy of some attention and interest, but it's literally all they really talk about. From the time Nicole deplaned to the credits rolling in Episode 408, all their conversations and disputes have revolved around clothing.
Not only are they constantly arguing about clothing, but it's the same repetitive cycle each time. Mahmoud will give her something to wear, and Nicole will cry and plead not to wear it. The two will then argue and reach some sort of compromise, and Nicole will wear a modified version of the outfit, leading Mahmoud to get passive-aggressive about her modification, which then results in a heated argument. Finally, one of them will threaten divorce and storm off. Then when the next episode starts, it's as if nothing happened previously, at least until clothes come up again, and the cycle starts anew.
Here's how Nicole put it in the episode:
All day, I’ve been working really hard to make Mahmoud happy. He taught me how to pray. I wore the burkini. But then, when we went to change out of our swimsuits, while the cameras weren’t rolling, I walked up to Mahmoud and he was acting funny. I asked him what’s wrong and he said something passive aggressive to me…I don’t know why he said it, but it was totally uncalled for.
I understand that, in all honesty, this is how things play out in real life for this couple and others, as people have the same kinds of fights all the time without any lasting conclusions being reached. At the same time, this clothing storyline has dominated Mahmoud and Nicole's scenes so much that it's hard to see what other issues, deeper or otherwise, might have them both questioning whether their marriage was a mistake. Surely there are more problems keeping things on edge beyond just what Nicole wants to wear, right?
If so, they don't appear to be plaguing the pair very seriously, as it seems like Nicole and Mahmoud are still married at present. Given the toxicity witnessed so far, though, it's wild to imagine they could still going through those types of spats. I'm hoping they'll be able to move past this chapter in the series and at least argue about more stuff as the season continues. As it stands, I'm not sure I'd ever want to see their story continue after this year.
90 Day Fiancé: The Other Way airs on TLC on Sundays at 8:00 p.m. ET. Catch up on the season now by checking out 90 Day Fiancé on streaming, or check out one of the older seasons.
