AmyBre

Well put. Open a big world map and read a bit about those countries to understand it better. Karine, Abby and Jenny come from impoverished countries where there is little or no chance of social mobility. That means you are born poor and you die poor, probably in the same neighborhood and very possibly still in the same house you and your entire family was born. Changes for education are very low and it doesn't automatically translate into better jobs or a job at all. If your mother cleans homes, then you will clean homes. If your father was a mechanic, then you will be a mechanic. I'm not degrading these professions, I'm saying that there is little or NO mobility. By the way, these are professions in the US because you can have a dependable salary, real benefits and some job stability. In other countries, these jobs are the bottom of the bottom. Miriam, Antonio and Darcy's guy are from Europe, a collection of different countries with stable systems. Places with better economies, better governments and many more options for all. People in Europe (at least the ones I know) are not in a hurry to come to the US. Many of them, right out abhor the idea of dropping everything and relocating to the US. Karine, Abby and Jenny have nothing to drop so for them, moving to the US allows for an immediate escape from the hopelessness that is living in their countries. It's a simple question of survival and wanting options, even if their option is between being a home attendant or cleaning someone's home or working in retail. Again, I'm not putting down these options, I'm just highlighting that Karine, Abby and Jenny can easily get a job in any of those fields, make a couple of dollars and help themselves and their families. Simple as that.

Caillou is actually French Canadian. Very educational. PBS rules.

By the look in Antonio's face and by the way he treats her, Corny wasn't all that in bed. She strikes as subservient dead fish and Antonio has been around the block a lot and wants college stuff. By her immaturity about everything, Corny is still in High School when it comes to sex.

It took guts for Jenny to do that. She should have picked a larger size or lose some weight before. Notice how she didn't wear a two-piece.

Sean dogded that bullet and left without proposing. Then he saw how depressing it was inside his apartment and thought about killing himself. I don't understand people who travel to another country and spend a truckload of money on courting a person, but their home looks like shit. Wait a minute, Paul and Karine have been using the translate app all this time, now he is proposing and he's so dense that he writes it ALL in English? Karine is not so dumb after all. A tip to all men, if the girl doesn't say YES right away, walk away. Myriam is so full of shit. Everyone can see that this was all a staged setup. Patrick is such a douche. He doesn't know that to dethrone an existing boyfriend, you can't badmouth him and ask for a chance in the same sentence. Patrick saying "I have to respect the friend thing" and hitting on her at the same time. What a joke. Patrick and Myriam are so basic and so dumb (together and separately) that they are not worth writing about....Outside the boat again....Myriam, I really want to be with you.....Stop being so pushy. and Patrick, you are 25, please stop yapping about "the love of your life". It was nice to see Mother Patrick distill some sense into his BS. Antonio, please explain to Corny that you are just in it for the sex and that hanging out for two weeks doesn't mean you want marriage. No one explained this to Corny in her late teens..... Corny, how did you create a friendship with him? You don't even know his family. Larry and Jenny, Jenny forgave Larry. What a surprise......Only Larry would call Jenny the most beautiful woman, though he was smart enough to add "that I've ever been with". I really love the cousin telling her not to come to the US with that fucked up attitude. And his wife, a Filipina herself, hating on Jenny. It takes months and sometimes years to develop a real, mature relationship, yet in less than 10 days, all these people either propose or can't stop talking about it.

I mean, how much money are talking about here? Larry doesn't strike me as a saver so I'm gonna go wild and guess 5K. I'm sure TLC/Sharp are funding part of his trip too. At worst, he is out of of a five or six hundred dollars.....and he is a getting a vacation out of all this circus, plus a stipend and possibly income. In the end, he is coming out ahead.....Larry, shut up with the 401K already!!!

Larry mentioned his emptying out his 401K once again. He has done so in EVERY episode. Literally. and he was fake sipping that beer......that bottle was empty!

I've said this before and I'll say it one last time before I reduce my participation in this great forum. Sharp and TLC and picking people and couples with the least possibility of making it an with great chances of embarrassing themselves with their stories and actions. In previous seasons, there was at least one couple who we thought could actually make it....someone with a bit of common sense and brains. Lately, NONE of the couples have anything but BS and drama and that is manipulation and script all the way. The stories are played out (Nicole is the new Danielle, Darcy is just blah blah, gold diggers, dumb men and professional women in search of one thing only. When I know what's coming and what happens is actually worse or lower, then what's the point. For a while this was entertaining, but with, it has run its course. I learned a lot on this forum and might drop by but as much tolerance as I have, I just can't take this with all the other choices on TV and Streaming. In deciding this, I thought about if this was in real life, would I stand around these people to watch them do dumb and self-promotion things in their pathetic ways. The answer was no for me. Sharp and TLC have a good premise for a show, but they need slightly modify their approach so that there is some entertainment but there's also truth and less script to these shows. Invest some money and respect the participants. Eventually, people see through bullshit or are fatigued by it and drop it.

Definitely an AirBnB, if not an actual hotel room or an SRO (Single Room Occupancy). SROs are like studio apartments, but worse. I kept thinking about Courtney's parents when Carlos Danger was cooking breakfast in his underwear. The guy is in desperate need of attention and also promoting himself as a wannabe porno actor.

I dislike Darcey a lot, for all the reasons we have discussed here. But Jesse was wrong and even Darcey did not deserve such a cruel mind fuck. Jenny and Abby are both players and use her tears and pout to manipulate their suitors. I continue to feel very sorry for Karine and I know why she forgave him. Courtney is just a lost case. The level of desperation of some of the participants is just overwhelmingly pathetic. I'm coming to the end of the road with these shows and may soon be dropping it. I doubt I'll be missed much in this forum but I'm grateful for the insights and the laughs.

Mohammed and Azan strategically picked these women because they are easy to hook. They are simpletons with very low self esteem. There is nothing about their personalities that one may find appealing. I just don't see myself having a drink with any of these halfwits. People like that (men and women) when they find themselves being pursued by someone slightly better looking and slightly more interesting than them (basically someone with a pulse), they just jump on them on hold on tight. The problem with Nicole and Danielle is that they have very little self esteem and they have not invested in themselves in terms of education, appearance, morals, spirituality or general common sense. They are plain and empty and they have been ignored for ages at family get-together, at parties and even at the supermarket. If you want to find someone interesting, become an interesting person FIRST. Do you think that Nicole and Danielle read books? Not once have I heard them talk about anything spiritual. Men who marry these women for a green card have had discussions with their buddies about this subject. They know of other men who have married and left. There's a whole subculture of finding shortcuts to escape poverty and marrying an American is very high on that list.

besotted = great word

Larry is an embarrassment to mankind. From his interactions with Jenny's family and his mindless chats with Jenny -- yes love, no love -- I bet my shoe collection that he suffers from a form of dementia. This explains why he didn't date for 12 years. Any adult, even a clueless jackass adult will have a moment to reflection later on and realize he made a fool of himself and should apologize. Instead, he asks Jenny what's up with the face. Larry should marry Nicole, they deserve each other.

Kelly, how do you know this? Have they discussed it in the series or are you just inferring?

Having children does not automatically grant Azan the ability to become a legal resident. Children get automatic citizenship from their parents, but not the other way around. But Azan must be sponsored and at that interview, their child becomes a factor only if he has been involved in the life of the child. He will need to show Skype logs, receipts of money or gifts sent and that sort of proof to authenticate. Suppose Azan impregnates Nicole while she's visiting Morocco (which according to him he can't do until they are married). Suppose Nicole returns to the States and has Azan Jr. and decides NOT to return for him or get married at all. It's a scary thought, but you and I will be supporting Azan Jr. If Azan is smart, he will NOT sleep with Nicole until he is on US soil. If he is truly smart, he won't have sex until they are officially married. Something tells me Azan is not that smart/cunning.

For a US Citizen to sponsor and bring his parents over, it takes one (1) year from application submitted to greeting them at the airport. Siblings take approx 12 years. In theory, Azan can become a citizen 3 years of being married to a citizen (Nicole) and bring his family over. The many factors and challenges of this make it almost impossible. For starters, his main challenge to stay in an unhappy marriage with someone with the IQ of a 7-year old. Someone with no emotional intelligence, no empathy, no ambition to get ahead in life. Someone manipulative and ultimately, NOT pleasant or physically healthy, much less attractive. As a person, Nicole brings very little to a relationship, as a woman, nothing from what we have seen. Nicole has a toddler and toddlers require lots of work. Azan can apply himself and try to be a father figure to Mae, or he can just bolt, Muhammed style. To approve his 3-year Citizenship based on marriage to a citizen, they need to file taxes together. They need to live together and be on a mortgage or rental lease. They need bank accounts together and show a history of involvement in each other's lives. I doubt Nicole has A bank account. The other challenge for him will be to have an income above 25K per year in order to qualify for the required affidavit for the I-864 to sponsor his family. If Azan is smart, he can do it. I hope for his sake that he is able to pull through and help his family move out of abject poverty. If Azan is smart, he will learn a trade or educate himself in order to start working as soon as he lands in Florida. His relationship with Nicole will ultimately fizzle and break apart, so he should make plans to be independent from the minute he lands at the airport.

Can you imagine being Mother Nicole? It's gotta be God's Ultimate punishment. That poor lady has the look of someone who has cried herself dry over her daughter's stupidity.

SpankyDoll, you are in Paris (on vacation I assume) and you find time to come and rip it with us???!!!!! I think I want to be your BFF.

I would bet my first kid that TLC/Sharp are paying most of Nicole's expenses. She is ratings gold. Nicole is a welfare queen and just as she is probably defrauding the government to pay for many of her expenses, she has found another cash cow with this program. In her solitude, Nicole probably congratulates herself on finding this setup, not knowing she is the one being exploited. This is Danielle and Mohammed all over again.

I have another $20 that says that Larry is mentally sick. If this is the case, it would explain a lot. I reiterate that neither Nicole nor Larry get a "free pass" at doing dumb things because they are not playing with a full deck.

TwirlyGirl, thanks for your research into this and for sharing this knowledge with us. As much as I despised some of the people on this show, I'm glad I found this forum and all I've learned from its contributors.

I'm with Kelly on this one. There's no abuse per se. It's more neglect and very poor child rearing.

I said I wouldn't comment on Nicole because I find her repulsive as a person and as a mother, if she can be called that. But I'll say this. Nicole is so "gold" for the Sharp/TLC that she is the only participant to be featured on two separate seasons, of the same series. I could see the producers milking her for all the drama she has. The producers know about the polarity of her parents and will suck that dry as well. What does that say about us as a society? and what does it say about the sad state of creativity on television and in the entertainment in general. I second someone's observation that Nicole's issues may be clinical and might have been diagnosed. This doesn't excuse her behaviour, but her father's enabling screams of feeling sorry for her and perhaps he knows that she is a sick person who will eventually destroy herself and her poor daughter. If Sharp/TLC are knowingly exploiting a sick person (schizoprenia, bipolar, etc), Matt Sharp and his crew will burn in hell.

Luis is 21, not 25. It's worse. Correction, Luis is 26, still not someone I'd bring around my 17 year old daughter.

I wrote about the selection process on September 5th. Here’s the gist of it and why Nicole and Azan are picked again. Sharp and TLC explicitly pick the ones in the worst circumstances or least likely to make it as a couple. N&A are picked because Sharp/TLC know that their circumstance are ripe for drama. I wouldn’t be surprised if Sharp has someone scanning forums to see what people are saying about their shows. As a matter of fact, this is a formal position within their marketing, along with their focus groups. Hundreds of couples apply to these freak shows, they will receive financial and legal assistance with the process and their 2 minutes of fame. Of these hundreds, they select 10 to 20 and from those, they pick the final 5 or 6 couples that they will feature. You need to picture this selection process. A big round table of producers, each indicating which couple is weirder than the next. Which aspects of their lives can be exploited? All the things we write about and find absolutely crazy/stupid, have been planned or predicted by producers who have been doing this for a long time. There are thousands of couples applying for K9 visas every day. But these normal couples don’t generate clicks, or viewers who come back and stay for the commercials. It is the 48-year old with no money and no common sense buying her Thai love slave, or the “41” year old cougar Bra impresario with her bartender Luis who get viewers (intelligent viewers like us who spend money). As a very serious side note, I think Sharp Entertainment is overdoing the “exploit the poor” angle. If they don’t tone it down a bit, they may face a backlash or “viewer fatigue”. To exploit the poverty of Jenny's and Karine's families is just nasty and very low. Darcey we laugh. But to make fun of people's unfortunate circumstances to sell commercials is just wrong.