S04.E08: Stranger In A Strange Land

[kendi]

Usman asks for his mother's blessing. Varya shows Geoffrey her hometown. Ed spends the night at Rosemarie's. Ash & Avery tour the outback. David continues his quest for Lana. Stephanie travels to Erika's hometown, and Darcey & Tom process everything.

[Kyanight]

5 minutes ago, kendi said:

Usman asks for his mother's blessing. Varya shows Geoffrey her hometown. Ed spends the night at Rosemarie's. Ash & Avery tour the outback. David continues his quest for Lana. Stephanie travels to Erika's hometown, and Darcey & Tom process everything.

Oh ugh!  Allow me to translate that last part.  Darcey ugly cries every time we see her on this episode, blubbering about how awful Tom is - and Tom mutters about how awful Darcey is and maybe mentions the fact that she gained 20 pounds in each boob.  Truly thrilling.

[Spike]

It seems like goat meat is pretty expensive.  How many pounds could you get from one?

[kendi]

1 hour ago, Spike said:

It seems like goat meat is pretty expensive.  How many pounds could you get from one?

I think he was totally ripping her off and Usman didn't care. Make her pay the full blown non-bartered white American lady price because she's condescending and a terrible person. The way Usman walks with Lisa reminds me of a caretaker instead of a girlfriend.

[OnceSane]

27 minutes ago, kendi said:

I think he was totally ripping her off and Usman didn't care. Make her pay the full blown non-bartered white American lady price because she's condescending and a terrible person.

If she doesn't know how to bargain, it's on her that she had to pay full price.  If you're an asshole to your translator-fiance, don't expect him to go out of his way to help you out.

[iwasish]

I have to say, for places that are pretty impoverished, both Usman and Rose have clothing, that is very  neat and clean. 
 

 

[Kangatush]

That's so cold of Usman to not negotiate at all.  BGL isn't paying the white price, she's paying the foreign idiot price.

[AZChristian]

1 minute ago, Kangatush said:

That's so cold of Usman to not negotiate at all.  BGL isn't paying the white price, she's paying the foreign idiot price.

She is what she is. 

[Kangatush]

This may sound odd, but I'm really proud of Erika for noticing red flags, and for calling Steph out on them.  A lot of other cast members could learn from her *cough* Darcey *cough*

[Kangatush]

Did Ash's accent get a lot thicker?

 

[Leilani]

Darcey is unstable and I hope she's being dramatic for the show because this is really awful for her daughters to see nationally televised if she's not overacting.

 

[nutella fitzgerald]

Angela never had to ask Michael to bargain for her!

[mamadrama]

2 hours ago, iwasish said:

I have to say, for places that are pretty impoverished, both Usman and Rose have clothing, that is very  neat and clean. 
 

 

I was also struck by this. My grandma was always like that. No electricity, no showers or bathtubs (literally just a tub), and an outhouse but she always made sure she and her 11 kids were clean and tidy. They were dirt poor but had pride.

I was also struck by the nice dishes and place settings. They'd taken care with their appearances and put forth a nice dinner. They were the"poor" ones, but Bad Egg was the sweaty, greasy, unkempt mess. There are some things money can't buy- like class.

[Kyanight]

23 minutes ago, mamadrama said:

I was also struck by the nice dishes and place settings. They'd taken care with their appearances and put forth a nice dinner. They were the"poor" ones, but Bad Egg was the sweaty, greasy, unkempt mess. There are some things money can't buy- like class.

Right?  I would bet that this dinner cost them money that they didn't have to spare. They had TWO different kinds of meat and a variety of side dishes, as well.  Despite the language barrier they all lined up to meet him and were friendly and introduced themselves.  Meanwhile Ed laments the lack of windows, feeds the chicken from his plate (that was NOT a pet, by the way - the chicken is a future meal!) and has the audacity to make a comment to her father about how he is older than the man.  Not very ingratiating.  When the father asks Ed his intentions, Ed says he wants to "date" his daughter.  I wonder what that would mean to the man... who wonders why this American has flown across the world to "DATE" his daughter?  What IS a date in Rose's small town? 

I have my doubts that Rose ever made it to the states, but if she did - I hope it's everything she wished for, and more.

[bravofan27]

The goat shopping was hysterical, I have to say. Lisa was definitely a good sport about that. I like how Usman let her pick the goat, convinced her that it wasn't the white price, and then paid without any bitching from Lisa. Also, 115 for a goat seems like a steal. I had to laugh at the goat riding in the back of the car, too. Both the goat and Lisa were pretty agreeable about the situation.

Though Ed is not my favorite, I think he's in general nice and harmless. Rose will have pajamas, plumbing, and Prince will have a home. In return, Rose just needs to shave her legs and be loyal to him. I think that's fair to be honest. He's really trying hard with Rose's family. He must really really like her a lot to stay in her "home" with no windows or door (no security), none of the simple comforts he is used to, especially being in poor health, and sleep on concrete WITH THE FATHER who is there to cock block. That's a lot. A lot. He was a good sport about it. 

[Kyanight]

1 minute ago, bravofan27 said:

He must really really like her a lot to stay in her "home" with no windows or door (no security), none of the simple comforts he is used to, especially being in poor health, and sleep on concrete WITH THE FATHER who is there to cock block. That's a lot. A lot. He was a good sport about it. 

Yeah, but it would have been really crass for Ed to have boinked Rose with her sister and four year old son lying next to them.  They all sleep in the one room, yanno.  So Dad wasn't really needed as a cock block, unless Rose's family thought that Ed would be so uncouth as to demand sex on the bare floor with everyone sleeping around them.

[RealReality]

Lisa - fresh off a fight with Usman about how she complains all the time .. immediately starts complaining about the goat market.  JFC. 

She has got to be one of the most joyless, miserable people on this entire franchise.  

Has she managed to say one nice thing about anything since she has been in Nigeria?  She has to be exhausting.

 

[Kyanight]

35 minutes ago, RealReality said:

Has she managed to say one nice thing about anything since she has been in Nigeria?  She has to be exhausting.

No.  Gripe, gripe, complain, piss, whine, gripe.

[RealReality]

Erika has resting bored face. 

[bravofan27]

55 minutes ago, RealReality said:

Has she managed to say one nice thing about anything since she has been in Nigeria?  She has to be exhausting.

 

She said that the goat she ended up buying was spunky. I was surprised to hear her say something nice-- granted, it was about a goat, but it was nice! And she even named him, 

Erika seems like a bitch to me. She seems really fake, really into herself, and her constant eye rolling is pissing me off. It's so passive aggressive and immature. Can't stand it and I hate it when others do it-- it's always the skeevy girls too, that fake nice to someone's face and then turn around and roll their eyes to make sure everyone knows how they really feel. 

 

Edited April 7, 2020 by bravofan27

[bravofan27]

I love Rose's looks. ☺️

[AussieBabe]

I really hope Usman tipped the gentleman extra on Lisa’s tab. Maybe she should stop chasing foreign male parts if she’s going to gripe and bemoan every single thing about the country they live in. 

I have atopic dermatitis/contact dermatitis or just plain eczema. My dermatologist has never told me only thread counts above 1,000 would suffice. The thread count doesn’t matter as much as content/material. I have contact reactions to things like formaldehyde, Orange disperse dye, etc. So unless an allergen is in those sheets under 1000 thread count, he can miss me. If it was that dire, why ship the sheets? Everything else has gotten lost. Why chance it? Stick them in the suitcase or carryon! I pack sheets when I stay in hotels because whatever they use to wash them causes my eczema to haunt me like sleep paralysis demons. Aside from that, he slept on hotel sheets that probably weren’t 1,000+ thread count.

Erica is over Stephanie, and it has only been 72-96 hours.

The season isn’t complete if Darcey’s not crying.

I don’t care about the white version of Ceasar. He’s chasing after a computer.

Edited April 7, 2020 by AussieBabe

[mamadrama]

7 hours ago, Kyanight said:

Right?  I would bet that this dinner cost them money that they didn't have to spare. They had TWO different kinds of meat and a variety of side dishes, as well.  Despite the language barrier they all lined up to meet him and were friendly and introduced themselves.  Meanwhile Ed laments the lack of windows, feeds the chicken from his plate (that was NOT a pet, by the way - the chicken is a future meal!) and has the audacity to make a comment to her father about how he is older than the man.  Not very ingratiating.  When the father asks Ed his intentions, Ed says he wants to "date" his daughter.  I wonder what that would mean to the man... who wonders why this American has flown across the world to "DATE" his daughter?  What IS a date in Rose's small town? 

I have my doubts that Rose ever made it to the states, but if she did - I hope it's everything she wished for, and more.

As my husband and I watch this, more and more we're finding women to "throuple" with-or rescue. We want to open a lodge and invite all the foreign women brought over by the creeps. Kinda like our own Save-a-Ho program, only with less hoing. 😉

[mamadrama]

Ed can STFU about Rose's house. He was embarrassing ME with all the questions to Rose about the ceiling caving in, electric issues, etc. For the record, I have atopic dermatitis and I've never "had" to sleep on 1000 tc sheets. His "condition" seems to come and go. Sheets have to be high quality but any random cheap shirt is okay? *Side eyes Ed* 

I'm #TeamRainbowBrite. BooberTuber is intentionally starting fights so that she has an excuse not to be romantic. I originally thought Erika was in on this scam. Now I don't. 

David, who I really can't believe is that dumb, is a good example of the effects of America's deinstitutionalization. 40 years ago he'd have been in a padded room somewhere. He should hook up with Yolanda.

Speaking of...

While I think her storyline is a joint fraudulent endeavor between her and Sharp, I'm starting to think that David's is only on his side. I think he's frauding us and Sharp. The $100,000, seven year relationship, multiple trips that she backed out on, etc is very embellished at the very least. I wouldn't be surprised if NONE of his plot, as it's been presented to us, is real. Not sure what his angle is yet or what he's going to get out of it. I wonder if he and Lana made something up together. 

BGL is vile. I hate her talking heads. She's so smug. She's also one of those people who seem to enjoy shocking people.

Run, Varya, run! 

[Kangatush]

Damn it Tom, I never want to be  Team Darcey, but you made me.  What was your plan exactly?  You have more love for her than she'll ever know, but you love her like a sister, but you've found someone who loves you the way you need to be loved...?  She specifically said if you were going to end things, say so, so she didn't have to haul herself to NYC.  

[Zevious Zoquis]

Tom fights dirty.  The weight comment was ice cold!  

 

I so want the whole David story to be true!  And I want it to go about as wrong as it can just short of any actual harm coming to him!  lol...please let Lana be a 300lb Ukrainian gang member.  Please!!

 

No Yolanda in this ep so far, but I certainly look forward to her saying things like "I'm very concerned about this" and "I don't understand what is going on" followed by "I still feel like it's all just a big misunderstanding."  

 

Bi girls.  BORING!!  Vocal fry.  ANNOYING!!!

 

I mostly skip over Ash and Averry.  

 

BGL & Usman.  I hate her. 

 

[winsomeone]

Nothing about Rose rings true. She lives in a hovel at the end of the earth? Then how did she and apparently her sister too, buy i phones or smart phones? How do they pay the monthly phone bill? And how do they physically pay the bill..carrier pigeon? They can get internet and phone service there? How did the many gifts Ed send her arrive? UPS??? They came from the hotel by hired car..is that how Rose normally goes to that city? How she got there to meet Ed? Her family lives there, but I really doubt that Rose does.

[Gobi]

39 minutes ago, winsomeone said:

Nothing about Rose rings true. She lives in a hovel at the end of the earth? Then how did she and apparently her sister too, buy i phones or smart phones? How do they pay the monthly phone bill? And how do they physically pay the bill..carrier pigeon? They can get internet and phone service there? How did the many gifts Ed send her arrive? UPS??? They came from the hotel by hired car..is that how Rose normally goes to that city? How she got there to meet Ed? Her family lives there, but I really doubt that Rose does.

Smart phones and I phones are common in the Philippines, together with internet. Others have explained the details better than I could. They don’t have monthly plans, in general.

Caloocan City, where Rose lives, is not as remote as TLC makes it out to be. It is a suburb of Manila. Presuming TLC didn’t rent a car for her, Rose probably took a jeepney to meet Ed. These are privately owned mini-buses that are cheap and abundant. They are called jeepneys because the originals were modified US Army surplus jeeps from WWII. You can see at least one in the background of almost every scene in Manila.

[mamadrama]

57 minutes ago, winsomeone said:

Nothing about Rose rings true. She lives in a hovel at the end of the earth? Then how did she and apparently her sister too, buy i phones or smart phones? How do they pay the monthly phone bill? And how do they physically pay the bill..carrier pigeon? They can get internet and phone service there? How did the many gifts Ed send her arrive? UPS??? They came from the hotel by hired car..is that how Rose normally goes to that city? How she got there to meet Ed? Her family lives there, but I really doubt that Rose does.

I feel like we address this with every episode.

I haven't seen anything in her living situation that does NOT ring true. You're gauging these things from a presumably American viewpoint, but things are different there and not always comparable. Smart phones, for instance, are MUCH  cheaper in the Philippines, as are the phone plans. They pay a fraction of what we pay. Several non-profit organizations donate phones and there's a big market for rehabbed phones. It's not implausible that she would have one. In fact, some of the world's developing countries saw their greater population with smart phones before we did. Coverage may be spotty in places, just as it can be in the US, but they still have 3G, 4G, 5G, etc.

Rose does not travel to Manilla regularly.  (Had she ever been there at all?) When she travels around the Phillipines she probably takes the bus, though she may also know someone with a car. There are more than a dozen international airports there as well as around 20 domestic ones. Other transportation options include jeepneys, water ferries, water taxis, bikes, taxis, and train. They have freeways. Even the most remote destinations are accessible. I assume production got her there to Manila as well as transported the two of them back to her town. It would make sense because production prefers a certain amount of control so they can set up the cameras and stuff.

Rose's home is not a "hovel" to her. It looked on par with the others. They may be poor by our standards, but they have a home with separate bedrooms for the sisters, electricity, and a business. Not a standard of living that I am used to or want, but it's comparable to her neighbors.

The town doesn't need "carrier pigeons"-it has internet access...it probably has a business, even if it's just a shop, where people can pay their bills. I live in one of the poorest and remote parts of the US, but we still have internet access. Granted it's not good, but it exists. I can pay my electric and water bill at a gas station across town. There's a vestibule there that's set up for bill payments. She may have the same. Of course, I can also pay online or by phone...

International mail arrives in the same way ours does-by a carrier (but not a pigeon). UPS delivers there, as does DHL and parcel post. FWIW in the first episode Ed said she hasn't received any of his packages. (Why he continues to send them is beyond me.) Some think she DID get them and just sold the stuff.

[winsomeone]

And the money to buy the phones comes from where?

[kendi]

4 hours ago, Kangatush said:

Damn it Tom, I never want to be  Team Darcey, but you made me.  What was your plan exactly?  You have more love for her than she'll ever know, but you love her like a sister, but you've found someone who loves you the way you need to be loved...?  She specifically said if you were going to end things, say so, so she didn't have to haul herself to NYC.  

Did they talk about trip to Argentina so Darcy could meet his friends? Or did I imagine Darcy talking about that?

[Takitaki]

1 hour ago, winsomeone said:

And the money to buy the phones comes from where?

Same place the money for clothes and food comes from.

1 hour ago, kendi said:

Did they talk about trip to Argentina so Darcy could meet his friends? Or did I imagine Darcy talking about that?

He did say that in one of his texts. Probably meant he wanted to take her there, you know, as a sister.

[RealReality]

David decided to take an eight hour road trip in a country where he doesn't speak the language, can't read the language, into an area that is a warzone and on poorly paved roads. 

David started this journey at noon.  

David is a moron. 

At best, he would have arrived in a strange wartorn area in the dark, at night and likely an hour or two before everything closed.  And if it's a wartorn area, everything may shut down when the sun sets because criminals are out on the streets taking advantage of chaos.  

If he was insistent on doing this he should have started driving as soon as the sun was up, like 6-7 am, 8 am at the latest.  

18 minutes ago, Takitaki said:

Same place the money for clothes and food comes from.

He did say that in one of his texts. Probably meant he wanted to take her there, you know, as a sister.

Darcy should be so lucky.  Tom is far more into his sister than he is into Darcy. 

Edited April 7, 2020 by RealReality

[iwasish]

13 hours ago, bravofan27 said:

I love Rose's looks. ☺️

I wonder who paid for those nice straight white teeth?

[outtahere]

She also has enough money to get a tattoo.  I think Rose spends a lot of time away from the hovel she calls home.  Her sister seems to be the one spending the most time with Prince.  

[Kiss my mutt]

It would be funny if Usman and the goat seller were friends and they set Lisa up to over pay. 

[Kangatush]

1 hour ago, Kiss my mutt said:

It would be funny if Usman and the goat seller were friends and they set Lisa up to over pay. 

They didn't need to be friends, she totally overpaid.  That was 100% a situation to haggle, so the goat man started high.  Since there was no haggling, he got paid his inflated price.

[humbleopinion]

90D Fiance: The Easter Sunday Edition

Big Egg

Ed+Mayo= Deviled Eggman

Rat scurrying in the bathroom shadows: The Easter Bunny shape shifted

Goat=Nigerian Lamb

Egg Hunt=David looking for Lana(the golden egg) hiding in the bushes, up a tree..Where's Waldo Lana?

Dyed eggs=BigEgo's oleaginous faker fake jet black locks, BGL's bleached permed do

RoseMarie=Sacrificial Lamb

Easter lilies=Weeds yanked from the side of the road by Geoffrey

Easter Bunny=Williams (only YoLa believes)

Decorated eggs=Geoffrey’s Red/Pink Tititoos, does anyone else find them feminine?

Like In prison he was someone’s gf?

 

Edited April 12, 2020 by humbleopinion

[humbleopinion]

BGL got the American, camera crew friendly price for the goat... betcha the seller was the local Big Shot's son as a stand in, so he can be on US teevee....

[Kangatush]

2 hours ago, iwasish said:

I wonder who paid for those nice straight white teeth?

Nature?  And she brushes.  Look, why do all the poor people around me have iphones?  Different priorities.  And relatively, Rose and her family aren't doing badly.  They have a large building, and a shop.  That means income.  That means the ability to have food, clothing, a tattoo, and a phone.  Not rich at all, but doing better than a lot of others in that area.  

[Kyanight]

1 minute ago, Kangatush said:

Nature?  And she brushes.  Look, why do all the poor people around me have iphones?  Different priorities.  And relatively, Rose and her family aren't doing badly.  They have a large building, and a shop.  That means income.  That means the ability to have food, clothing, a tattoo, and a phone.  Not rich at all, but doing better than a lot of others in that area.  

Who in that area has the money to buy their junk?  This isn't really a tourist town.

[Kangatush]

Only tourists wear slides?  I didn't see anything in there that was just for tourists (I ❤️ the Philippines shirts, mugs, keychains...)  I saw shoes, bootleg movies, and other non-food crap I can buy in my local convenience store.

[Kyanight]

37 minutes ago, Kangatush said:

Only tourists wear slides?  I didn't see anything in there that was just for tourists (I ❤️ the Philippines shirts, mugs, keychains...)  I saw shoes, bootleg movies, and other non-food crap I can buy in my local convenience store.

Ah, ok.  Still, no one looks like they have much money there - and it looks like there are a lot of shops.

[bravofan27]

1 hour ago, Kyanight said:

Ah, ok.  Still, no one looks like they have much money there - and it looks like there are a lot of shops.

My husband is from a poor country, and when he was growing up, a lot of people sold stuff out of their homes for money. His mom,  who is very traditional and strongly tied to her country, still sells her homemade goods out of her home to people from her country even though she is in the US and could work at a mall or in retail. People from their country like to buy their goods from other people from their country. It's the way they do things.

The folks in the poor areas don't have transportation and the little shops provide a service to those in the area. Just like in the US there are millions of tiny shops in strip malls that provide a service to the population in the area. For example, next door to me is a tiny Cuban lunch place, that is probably mostly frequented by the Cubans in the area. They aren't making a shit ton of money, but enough to pay the bills and give the Cubans in the area a place to go. 

Edited April 7, 2020 by bravofan27

[nutella fitzgerald]

The Philippines is a third world country, not a war zone. (And even Omar had a smartphone.) The electricity isn’t 100% reliable and the roads aren’t smoothly paved, but the HDI is higher than South Africa, Morocco, Nigeria, and India.

Edited April 7, 2020 by nutella fitzgerald

[nytonc]

On 4/6/2020 at 5:16 PM, kendi said:

I think he was totally ripping her off and Usman didn't care. Make her pay the full blown non-bartered white American lady price because she's condescending and a terrible person. The way Usman walks with Lisa reminds me of a caretaker instead of a girlfriend.

I hope he charged her triple and split the profit with Usman. 

[Mrs. Hanson]

4 hours ago, Kangatush said:

Nature?  And she brushes.

I agree - my sister has straight pearly whites and has never had braces.

Per how they derive income - they have a store and most likely, like it is in many villages, people help each other out if in need.

7 hours ago, Takitaki said:

He did say that in one of his texts. Probably meant he wanted to take her there, you know, as a sister.

And ask her if she has gained weight.

[Kiss my mutt]

5 hours ago, Kangatush said:

They didn't need to be friends, she totally overpaid.  That was 100% a situation to haggle, so the goat man started high.  Since there was no haggling, he got paid his inflated price.

That’s why I said it WOULD be funny if he were in on it. 

[kendi]

1 hour ago, nutella fitzgerald said:

The Philippines is a third world country, not a war zone. (And even Omar had a smartphone.) The electricity isn’t 100% reliable and the roads aren’t smoothly paved, but the HDI is higher than South Africa, Morocco, Nigeria, and India.

I had a big chuckle at Rosemarie laughing in a preview snippet, calling Ed a big baby because the electricity went out in the middle of the night. Most importantly, the little fan can't cool him so he really won't be able to sleep. Those brown-outs happen all the time. Again, got mega irritated with Ed mumbling, "What have I got myself into" or "What am I doing here?" Like she's pulling a fast one on him? She's poor! 

[bravofan27]

Darcy and her men are a mystery to me. I don't know how she manages to get involved in such dysfunctional relationships. There were no issues with her Jesse-- he picked on her about dumb shit and Tom does the same thing. Jesse lost his mind because Darcy told him how to cook a steak. Tom is pissed that Darcy doesn't only talk about him on calls. These should not be major issues! I can't imagine talking to a guy who vents about his ex girlfriend, and then deciding to ruin his life for not daring making the conversation all about me. 

WHAT?

Darcy is in a bad place with men. Maybe because she's really insecure and not allowing herself time to think and heal from her divorce.