Warning! The following contains spoilers for the 90 Day Fiancé: Before The 90 Day episode "The Big Chill." Read at your own risk!
90 Day Fiancé is typically a show where we see the relationships of couples take center stage, but occasionally unrelated life events can interject and transform the focus of the story in big ways. Those watching latest Before The 90 Days episode on TLC or via a Max subscription witnessed just such an instance when one of the participants had a death in the family, which now put the progress of a major storyline in question.
After some quality time together after his arrival in the Philippines, David and Sheila made their way to her parents' house so that he could meet them. There was some all-around difficulty in communicating, due to his being deaf and their lack of ASL knowledge, but Sheila's parents seemed to approve of the relationship overall.
Unfortunately, tragedy struck the next morning when everyone in the house woke up to the shocking news that Sheila's mother had passed away. According to Sheila, her mother got up at some point in the middle of the night and fell through the home's staricase due to a step that wasn't properly secured. By the time the family discovered what happened, she had already passed. Sheila was understandably devastated to lose her mother so unexpectedly, and the loss is one that could possibly put a strain on her blossoming relationship with David.
How David Reacted To The Big Death
Though David had only just met and connected with Sheila's mother, he was completely gutted by what happened. He explained that he was purely in shock when they found her, and was unaware of what to do. Had they been in the United States where he would have had more input into how to handle, he might've been able to take charge and relieve some of the burden from Sheila and her father. In the Philippines, however, he had no idea how to even start approaching the aftermath.
David learned via Sheila that it's local custom for someone to stay with the body at all hours until it is buried. Leaving someone's remains unaccompanied is considered bad luck, so Sheila and her father took shifts staying with the body until her funeral and burial. This obviously cut into the limited quality time that David could share with his girlfriend, but he seemed to take the change in plans well. Overall he was very sympathetic to the situation and never once made it about himself.
How This Tragedy May Impact David And Sheila's Relationship
While David was as supportive as anyone could possibly be in this situation, I think there's a definite possibility of this impacting his relationship with Sheila as 90 Day Fiancé: Before The 90 Days continues. Sheila will likely be mourning the loss of her mother long after David is back home in the United States, so it wouldn't be surprising if this impacts the rest of their time together.
Sheila mentioned, for example, that she didn't feel prepared for intimacy with David, and nor was she interested in such acts given what was going on. It's also possible she'll feel less motivated to take David around the country for sight-seeing now that she's coping with the unexpected death of her mother.
Additionally, we know that this spinoff's purpose is for cast members to decide whether or not they even want to begin the K1 visa process to move to the United States. As such, I can't help but wonder if Sheila will want to leave the Philippines after her mother's death, especially now that her father is presumably living alone. That's not to say she and David will completely end their relationship, but putting a delay on the process does feel possible.
This actually isn't the first time a 90 Day Fiancé cast member has had to cope with the unexpected death of a family member. Angela Deem found out her mother passed away shortly before her wedding to Michael Ilesanmi overseas, and they are still together. The same goes for frequent Pillow Talk couple Robert and Anny, who tragically lost their infant son. Death is unavoidable and tragic, but relationships can persevere regardless.
We'll see exactly how this situation will impact David & Sheila's relationship as 90 Day Fiancé: Before The 90 Days airs new episodes on Sundays on TLC at 8:00 p.m. ET. Here's hoping both have a lot of patience and understanding while navigating this tragedy and will ultimately do what's best for both of them. Head to our 2023 TV premiere schedule to see what else is popping up on the small screen soon.
