90 Day Fiance Season 9, Episode 3 continued several stories while bringing on one of the franchise’s most polarizing couples.
Ariela and Biniyam have Bini’s paperwork and his K-1 visa, but he hasn’t told his family.
Telling them at the last minute makes things worse — especially for Ariela, who somehow ends up getting the blame (and a face full of wine).
Bilal’s twisted test for Shaeeda, showing her a fake house and deducting points when she notices that something is wrong, has thus far earned her a D-.
Without knowing that she’s being tested, can she still get her grade up enough to see his real house?
Emily and Kobe are looking forward to spending time together, but Kobe is eager to meet his son for the first time.
Jibri brings Miona home to meet his parents, but they just can’t see eye-to-eye on when to make the move from Rapid City.
Yvette meets Mohamed at the airport, but despite their reunion being uneventful, things just feel … odd.
1.
Ariela Weinberg and Biniyam Shibre
One of The Other Way’s most talked-about, most polarizing couples is now ready to make their way to the United States via the K-1 visa. Biniyam now has his passport … after Ariela handled all of the paperwork to get it. They, and baby Avi, are just days away from making this journey and leaving Ethiopia behind.
2.
But Biniyam hasn’t told anyone yet
The K-1 process takes a long time, and Bini had many opportunities to tell his friends and family. Instead, fearful of how they will respond when they find out that he is moving away, he has postponed telling them until now. (Presumably, they assume that he and Ariela are filming again for another season of The Other Way)
3.
Most of us are familiar with Ari and Bini’s story
But for those who don’t (not everyone who watches the flagship series watches all of the spinoffs — there are so, so many), Biniyam explains how he was married once before to a different American woman whom he impregnated. Unlike with Ariela, he did not get to witness that baby’s birth. And now it has been several years since he last saw his firstborn son in person.
4.
He and Ariela have their own son, Avi
Avi was born in Ethiopia — Ariela flew there to give birth so that Bini could be there. However, Avi had a hernia and required surgery, so towards the end of their more recent season, Ari flew back with Avi to New Jersey for the hernia surgery. While she was gone, Biniyam’s existing behaviors — partying with friends, being unreachable for lengths of time — became even worse.
5.
C’mon, man
Biniyam admits to the camera that while his fiancee and son were overseas, he would go out to clubs with friends, hang out with his buddies, and often turn his phone off or put it into airplane mode, making himself unreachable. He had these behaviors before, but then he was always (eventually) coming home to Ari. Instead, Bini was home alone, turning the house into a dance studio. While he insists that the women he invited over were just friends and that he did not cheat … things got pretty bad. For a guy who talks so much about being afraid of losing his family again, he didn’t really seem to make much of an effort to be a good partner for a long time. That changed when Biniyam met Ariela halfway, temporarily moving to Kenya to be with her and Avi and patch things up.
6.
Fans generally like Ariela’s family
Her mother, Janice, has been part of their story since the first day. We see her chatting with Ariela, wondering how Bini will adapt to being neighbors with Ariela’s family. Ari’s parents are renting an apartment that isn’t too far from their home so that their daughter and future son-in-law and their grandson can be close at hand, which is a wonderful gesture. Ari admits that Bini has asked her to not tell her parents about their disagreements, because he wants them to have a good impression of him.
7.
Meanwhile, Bini breaks the news to his buddies
There’s no easy way to tell someone that you’ve been holding off on sharing news until the last minute, but his friends are shocked — because he’s leaving so soon, and because his relationship with Ariela is not exactly picture perfect.
8.
It’s time for Bini’s music video to debut
Bini is one of several aspiring … musicians … who infamously seem to want to boost their fledgling careers with reality TV fame. His premiere is on a tiny TV, but it’s a happy celebration and, Bini thinks, a perfect time to tell his sisters Mimi and Wish what he’s planning.
9.
Party time
Again, we have to assume that Bini’s sisters believed that they were filming another season of The Other Way to explain the cameras being there.
10.
Then he breaks the news
Biniyam is moving to another continent … and doesn’t tell his sisters until the literal night before? That’s just a few steps away from texting them “bye” on the plane.
11.
YIKES
Biniyam was dragging his heels for all of these months because he knew that his family would not take it well. He was right … but he still should have told them sooner once it was certain.
12.
They’re mad
While they are clearly unhappy with Biniyam for not telling them, they also go after Ariela — claiming that they treated her like family, so she owed them a warning just as much as Bini does.
13.
Um, what?
Ariela pushes back on the suggestion that she has been welcomed with open arms by Bini’s sisters. While they have arguably made an effort to spend time with her (and her with them), the animosity and resentment has been palpable.
14.
And then the big moment
Wish clearly thinks about it for a moment while Ariela is speaking and then dashes her in the face with a full glass of red wine, leaving Ari sputtering and stinging a little while Mimi and Wish see themselves out. Everyone’s unhappy.
15.
Bilal Hazziez and Shaeeda Sween
It’s the next morning, and Bilal has yet to reveal to Shaeeda that he has brought her to a home where he doesn’t live (it’s his childhood home) in a work van as an elaborate test to see if she will still love him if he lives in a state of disrepair. It’s very twisted, but there’s no doubt that some viewers will praise Bilal.
16.
Somehow, it’s working
Shaeeda took things very well but clearly disappointed Bilal by commenting at all on the state of the house, so the next morning, she apologizes to him.
17.
After Bilal leaves, however …
Shaeeda calls her mother, Sandra, and shows her the house, including the peeling popcorn ceilings.
18.
It’s not what she expected
Sandra is very aware that this is not at all what Shaeeda expected to find, especially after what she’s seen of Bilal when he visited Trinidad and Tobago.
19.
So what’s the deal?
Sandra has to ask if Bilal rented his suits when he visited them, if he was just putting everything on to impress her. The alternative would mean that he simply leaves massively below his means, or makes very poor financial choices — buying nice suits and watches when he could have his home repaired for a fraction of the cost.
20.
Sandra does offer some decent advice
She mentions that Bilal is divorced and has been a single man for some time, so perhaps Shaeeda can help encourage him to have better priorities and to have a more inviting home. (Also, to be honest, some wonder if Shaeeda had picked up on enough little clues to figure out that something was fake by now)
21.
Shaeeda doesn’t know that she’s being graded
Speaking to the camera, Bilal says that she had a “D-” for the night before. I know that I came from a “B stands for Bad” household, but a D- is bad in anyone’s book. Only Shaeeda’s apology the next morning, in Bilal’s eyes, has redeemed her. It’s a pity — if she had flunked, perhaps she would have dodged a huge bullet.
22.
Bilal takes Shaeeda to “his mom’s” house
Shaeeda notices that the houses are getting nicer and the neighborhood more affluent as they drive. Then he takes her through the door of what we, the viewers, know to be Bilal’s home.
23.
Surprise! It was all just an elaborate lie!
Shaeeda had clearly picked up on there being more wrong with the situation than just the ceiling, because she has such open relief that she’s not losing her mind over the discrepancies between Bilal and the lifestyle that he briefly tried to convince her that he leads. Also, despite its lack of color, Bilal’s house is very nice.
24.
But yes, Shaeeda sees the red flag
She admits that she may struggle to fully trust Bilal after these shenanigans. She is also weirded out that he put her through a test after she gave up her entire life, and left her family behind, to be with him.
25.
Emily Bieberly and Kobe Blaise
Emily has picked up Kobe from the airport, and the two have some very cute banter about driving, some of which is rooted in Kobe’s familiarity with international roadways.
26.
He’s so excited to meet his son
He has been looking forward to meeting Koban since before he was born. Two years is a long time to wait, but the K-1 visa process is agonizingly slow even without a pandemic.
27.
By the way, Emily has some … gifts
The two had a very spicy, very physical relationship while in Xi’an, China. They have both grown and changed a lot, but they both hope that the chemistry will still be the same as it was.
28.
The attraction is still there
They both sound very gung-ho about hooking up again. Emily has explained that Kobe really isn’t into sexting (even though she is), so it has REALLY been a long time for them. That’s why Emily wants them to spend the night at a hotel before heading home … so that they can have one childfree night before beginning their lives as parents.
29.
There’s one hitch in that plan
Kobe has waited years to meet his son. He feels like Emily is being selfish and not thinking about his feelings. Emily, on the other hand, is being very realistic about what their home lives are about to be like — between having a toddler and living with her family, this could be their last chance to bone for a long time.
30.
Dinner time
There’s a really cute moment when Kobe lets Emily order for him, because he doesn’t know what to order — a reversal of how things were when they met in Xi’an, and he would order for her. At dinner, they talk about parenting — Emily wants to make sure that things go smoothly when Kobe meets Koban. They also acknowledge how very, very white Emily’s town is. There is one, and only one, other Black person in the restaurant. Kobe has experienced this before (he did live in China for a while), but it will be an adjustment to say the least.
31.
Jibri Bell and Miona Bell
Jibri of course is the one with the bright red pickup truck, he tells Miona, as they lug her luggage from the airport to the car.
32.
He has so, SO many gifts for her
Jibri is really being thoughtful, giving Miona things to welcome her like a pair of genuinely stylish cowgirl boots. He gives her a matching hat, but with her hair up like it is, she can’t wear it.
33.
Jibri is so much
He throws his head back and shouts with joy, which is … a goofy thing to do in real life. Miona doesn’t participate, but she seems … charmed?
34.
She likes how larger-than-life Jibri is
Look, there’s someone out there for everyone, and these two do seem extremely cute with each other.
35.
Miona is already taking in the sights
She notes that there’s “nothing” in sight for a lot of the drive, because it’s countryside. Even “downtown,” she notes the one-story buildings. She also notices that there are a lot of cars and few people walking, which is not what she is accustomed to. (America has fewer walkable communities than Europe because so much of our urban development happened after things like cars were invented — there are other factors, including climate)
36.
Jibri warns Miona that it will soon be cold
She says that moving to Los Angeles before winter — which is only months away — would be a good plan, but Jibri says that it’s not that realistic. Miona isn’t so cure.
