S06.E09: Not So Silent Partners

[Chalby]

5 minutes ago, Hotel Snarker said:

Kalani really bothers me. She’s got this air of superiority and condescension towards Asuelu and other people all the time.

I have worked with many Mormons in the past, as well as have a Mormon sister-in-law (she converted after marrying my brother, so he didn't get on her Mormon train but he certainly benefits from being a man in that religion.) I can tell you that I think it's their religion that makes them feel superior to all others. I've always felt that's how they come across when conversing with me.

That reminds me, why are so many people using the word conversate on TV these last 5 years? It sounds so awkward and strange - what happened to the word converse?

[magemaud]

On 6/22/2021 at 6:22 AM, winsomeone said:

 

Natalie was all, baby, baby, right now! And now she doesn't want one at all?

 

Maybe she wanted to get pregnant in the Ukraine to ensure that Mike would bring her to the US but now it’s no longer necessary since she’s here? 

[Xebug67]

1 hour ago, Hotel Snarker said:

I know some people on here and on social media think Gwen is a saint. I don’t think she is. I always get this vibe that she is being very pushy to Yara and being on her back all the time. I feel sympathy for Yara. Yes, she knew Jovi would have to be away a lot for work, but she didn’t expect everything else. She didn’t expect to be a mother so early after her move to America, so that’s something new she now has to learn to navigate mainly without Jovi. And the pandemic is something no one saw coming. Yes, she knew Jovi would leave, but I think she also expected to be able to go out into town and make friends and such. Right now, because of the baby and COVID, she’s really only seeing Jovi’s parents.

Kalani really bothers me. She’s got this air of superiority and condescension towards Asuelu and other people all the time.

When Ronald said he would FORCE Tiffany to stay, it scared me. He could end up being really abusive. Also, poor Daniel in the ladies bathroom while Tiffany does a makeover.

I’m not a fan of Andrei, but Libby’s family have got to be the most uncouth and rude people I’ve ever seen, especially the two entitled, complaining-all-the-time sisters. Even the way they talk to Libby is awful. I feel bad for Andrei. Libby’s sisters blame him for EVERYTHING. They’re a bunch of loud-mouthed idiots who legit just antagonize him for the hell of it. Like this episode, they complain about him talking about business, and then they yell at him making him miss the turn. Oh wait, and it’s his fault now that he is not paying attention to the road. The guy can’t win.

I hate Mike. How the heck does he know that his mom didn’t call Natalie a hooker? He wasn’t even in the house when she allegedly said it, so how would he know? Instead of getting down to the bottom of this, he rather sides with his mom no matter what, calls his wife a liar, and makes her feel even more crazy than she actually is, when there’s a possibility that she might be telling the truth. He constantly leaves things unresolved, which contributes to their dysfunction. In the beginning I felt bad for Mike, but now he just gives me the creeps.

Angela is disgusting. Gaslighting is thrown around a lot in this series, but she is the definition of gaslighting in this relationship. She is literally picking every fight possible so she can use it as an excuse for divorcing him. Excuses after excuses after excuses. She thinks she’s going to be a hot piece of ass who can get any guy possible after her surgery, but she’s just an ass.She says, “It’s Michael’s fault that I’m smoking.” But she also says she’s been smoking since she was 15. I don’t think she knew Michael when she was 15. He wasn’t even born yet.

And Angela really thought that having an argument with Michael in the middle of the darn store would’ve persuaded the IT to get him to do what she wanted. That scene made me so uncomfortable. Claudio, the IT guy, is the MVP of this episode for not installing an illegal tracker and for being the most emotionally responsible person on the show thus far. Someone please rescue him, he doesn’t deserve this!

That final scene where Angela was talking to Michael outside. Her comment about her being in “the land of the free” and saying Michael should just stay where he belongs really pissed me off. It just displayed her insecurities about trusting him and not really seeing him as her equal. And you know why she talks about taking away Michael’s chance to go to America? Because she has nothing else to offer him. And she knows it. Also, her calling out Michael’s penis was really uncalled for. Can you imagine if a man had criticized a woman’s genitals like that? Remember our collective shock when Ed gave Rose the toothbrush? It would be that times 10.

I have said this many times, but I will say it once again. Can you imagine if Michael treated Angela the way she treats him? They seriously need to remove her from the show. She is quantum unlikeable. I am completely sickened by her.

I've had this question for a long time, but before asking it let me state that I HATE Ed with the heat of 1,000 suns.  I signed the online petition to get him booted for ever being able to appear on any other TLC shows again.  I wish something terrible would happen to him along the lines of what he did to abuse Liz.  With all of that being said, I've never understood what was so awful about pointing out to Rose that she had "not pretty" breath.  Ideally that should have been done when the cameras weren't rolling, so as to not embarrass her in front of however many people watch the show, but when filming's going on do they ever get any down time away from being filmed so that private things can be said to each other?  I mean for me bad breath is a huge DEAL BREAKER.  I've never had the courage to tell anyone I ever went out on a date with that they had bad breath if they did have it.  My go to response in those situations was to ghost the guy, or tell them some fake little white lie as to why I couldn't go out with them any longer.  If Ed was not such a POS about almost everything in his life, wasn't it better that he pointed that out to her rather than just dumping her, and trying to work on getting to the bottom of her bad breath issues?  Let's say, for example, that if the reason truly was because of her ulcer, then they could tackle that health issue together.

Ed is sh***y for a ton of enough reasons, but IMO pointing out Rose's breath issues is not his most horrible crime.

[Frozendiva]

2 hours ago, Chalby said:

Angela was made aware of what she could and couldn't eat. Her operation was one in which her body will tell her what not to eat before she ever meets a dietician. I have heard the body will vomit/ have painful gas the moment one strays from the plan.

Too bad the show didn’t show that to the viewers.

[CrazyInAlabama]

11 minutes ago, Frozendiva said:

Too bad the show didn’t show that to the viewers.

Yes, "Dumping Syndrome"  what happens when someone eats way too much, or the wrong things, after gastric sleeve, or bypass.    It's just a awful as it sounds. 

[StatisticalOutlier]

2 hours ago, Johann said:

Thanks for the info, but it was Andrei that said he was the only one that could drive because of that license.  I don't know if he or the family or even the producers made that up, though.

I listened carefully because I wanted them to be caught in a lie, which would be the case if he said he was the only one who could drive because of his CDL license, implying that the others can't because they don't have the right license.  But he said he was the only one "capable" of driving it, due to his CDL.  That addresses skills, which presumably he has more of than the rest of those beasts, due to his experience, so I'd have to rate his statement that he's more capable than the others as true.

Rats.

 

2 hours ago, Hotel Snarker said:

I feel sympathy for Yara. Yes, she knew Jovi would have to be away a lot for work, but she didn’t expect everything else. She didn’t expect to be a mother so early after her move to America, so that’s something new she now has to learn to navigate mainly without Jovi.

Maybe she didn't plan to be a mother, but if they weren't using birth control, then it's not unexpected to become pregnant.  And I think we would have heard if they were using birth control and it failed.

She had choices, both before getting pregnant and after.  She chose to move here to be with a man she knew would be gone half the time.  And before figuring out how she would navigate that, she chose to have a baby with the man she knew was going to be gone half the time.  If I have any sympathy for her, it's because I think she made bad choices, not that unexpected things were inflicted upon her.

42 minutes ago, Xebug67 said:

And the pandemic is something no one saw coming. Yes, she knew Jovi would leave, but I think she also expected to be able to go out into town and make friends and such. Right now, because of the baby and COVID, she’s really only seeing Jovi’s parents.

She might have managed to make pandemic lemonade out of lemons if she didn't have a baby--she seemed to object most of all to all the drunk and gross people on the streets, and she would have had all the time in the world and the streets to herself to roam all around and get to know the city. 

That's what I would have done, anyway, if I had been in an interesting new city when the pandemic hit.

 

[Opine]

2 hours ago, Chalby said:

I guess I am willing to give Mike a pass given how horrid Natalie has been since she arrived in America. If she's that horrible to him in front of the cameras imagine what she says when the cameras aren't around? If I were Mike I'd be treating her the same way I just wish he would cut bait and have her go home. Her behavior this season has also helped explain why Mike was not at all excited when she phoned him out of the blue and said her visa was approved and she wanted to come over. He should have listened to his gut which was telling him to not give her another chance.

I totally agree.  Natalie proved her craziness in her very first few appearances.  She is unbalanced and one of the most arrogant people I've ever seen.  I believe a small part of the arrogance is a cultural difference, but the crazy is not!  Mike's not to bright.  He let her come for the money, but then he kinda got stuck with her when the pandemic hit.  He's not a great guy by any means, but after the way Natalie has acted since the beginning, I get it.

Now Mother Mullet, what an evil shrew.

 

[Opine]

1 hour ago, Xebug67 said:

I've had this question for a long time, but before asking it let me state that I HATE Ed with the heat of 1,000 suns.  I signed the online petition to get him booted for ever being able to appear on any other TLC shows again.  I wish something terrible would happen to him along the lines of what he did to abuse Liz.  With all of that being said, I've never understood what was so awful about pointing out to Rose that she had "not pretty" breath.  Ideally that should have been done when the cameras weren't rolling, so as to not embarrass her in front of however many people watch the show, but when filming's going on do they ever get any down time away from being filmed so that private things can be said to each other?  I mean for me bad breath is a huge DEAL BREAKER.  I've never had the courage to tell anyone I ever went out on a date with that they had bad breath if they did have it.  My go to response in those situations was to ghost the guy, or tell them some fake little white lie as to why I couldn't go out with them any longer.  If Ed was not such a POS about almost everything in his life, wasn't it better that he pointed that out to her rather than just dumping her, and trying to work on getting to the bottom of her bad breath issues?  Let's say, for example, that if the reason truly was because of her ulcer, then they could tackle that health issue together.

Ed is sh***y for a ton of enough reasons, but IMO pointing out Rose's breath issues is not his most horrible crime.

Who is Liz and what happened between Liz and Ed?  What did I miss??????

[Gobi]

53 minutes ago, Opine said:

Who is Liz and what happened between Liz and Ed?  What did I miss??????

It’s a phone call from Ed to his latest girlfriend. It wasn’t on this show, might have been on a Discovery+ show. I’m pretty sure there are links to it here somewhere and it might be on YouTube.

[Adeejay]

6 hours ago, Opine said:

Natalie proved her craziness in her very first few appearances.  She is unbalanced and one of the most arrogant people I've ever seen.  I believe a small part of the arrogance is a cultural difference, but the crazy is not! 

Natalie has a holier than thou attitude. She thinks very highly of herself.  She is up there and everyone else is down here.  I believe she was spoiled by her sweet, well-meaning mom. She might be a great beauty in the Ukraine, but in NY, she would just be an ordinary looking woman from Brighton Beach or Sheepshead Bay.  And, if she had such a huge career in the Ukraine, can’t help but wonder why she was living in that small, cramp Soviet Era apartment with her mother. 

[magemaud]

9 hours ago, Johann said:

   I think it shows what kind of picky neighbors they probably are...And their grass is too good for anyone to walk on.

I thought the sister’s orange house was fugly 

[Quilty]

What if the roles were reversed in the Angela/Michael phone incident? If a man had been talking to a woman that way he would be off the show and probably have some intimidation charges against him. 

[Mr. Miner]

20 hours ago, Xebug67 said:

I mean for me bad breath is a huge DEAL BREAKER.  I've never had the courage to tell anyone I ever went out on a date with that they had bad breath if they did have it. 

For the 20th time NO! I do not want a breath mint.

-Xebug67's date with bad breath-

[Kath94]

Why is it that Angela "has a right" to know where Michael is at every moment, but when he asked about her odd mask she answered, "nunya business?"

[Xebug67]

1 hour ago, Kath94 said:

Why is it that Angela "has a right" to know where Michael is at every moment, but when he asked about her odd mask she answered, "nunya business?"

Because she's Angela.  'Nuf said.

[Xebug67]

22 hours ago, Opine said:

I totally agree.  Natalie proved her craziness in her very first few appearances.  She is unbalanced and one of the most arrogant people I've ever seen.  I believe a small part of the arrogance is a cultural difference, but the crazy is not!  Mike's not to bright.  He let her come for the money, but then he kinda got stuck with her when the pandemic hit.  He's not a great guy by any means, but after the way Natalie has acted since the beginning, I get it.

Now Mother Mullet, what an evil shrew.

 

Definitely agree.  And oh, how I HATE that self-satisfied, smug expression she gets on her face after every time she's said something nasty or condescending.  She looks like the cat that swallowed the canary, and is probably thinking she got a real good zinger in at the person she's directing her nastiness towards (usually that's Mike).

I absolutely cannot stand this pretentious beyotch.  I would actually pay good money to hear what her two ex-husbands have to say about her. 

I also cannot stand when she goes into what she seems to think of as "cute little girl" mode, whenever she's trying to wheedle Mike into doing something for her.  And that ridiculously stupid riding around on the suitcases, what/why the eff??? To try to get Mike to think she's such a delicate, dainty, tiny little helpless thing???  Let me vomit in my own mouth now.

I wonder if Mike was always this fed up with and disgusted by Natalie's horribleness, or her throwing the ring back at him was the trigger for him to finally no longer be willing to quietly and passively put up with her BS.

He's quite the a--hole himself and his mother's a total hag.  What a crappy family they are.

Natalie's mother seems sweet though.  How she spawned that she-devil is anyone's guess.

Edited June 24, 2021 by Xebug67
Correction

[Xebug67]

16 hours ago, Adeejay said:

Natalie has a holier than thou attitude. She thinks very highly of herself.  She is up there and everyone else is down here.  I believe she was spoiled by her sweet, well-meaning mom. She might be a great beauty in the Ukraine, but in NY, she would just be an ordinary looking woman from Brighton Beach or Sheepshead Bay.  And, if she had such a huge career in the Ukraine, can’t help but wonder why she was living in that small, cramp Soviet Era apartment with her mother. 

That apartment is beyond depressing, with no decorating touches whatsoever to make it homey in any way, shape or form.  One would think with two women living there they would have personalized it in some way.  It's so sterile and uninviting. 

As horrible as both Mike AND his mom's homes both are, they're both still a step up from what Natalie left behind in the Ukraine.  I'd definitely prefer Mike's mom's pigs collection to the absolute nothingness that is Natalie's Ukrainian apartment.

[Xebug67]

22 hours ago, Opine said:

Who is Liz and what happened between Liz and Ed?  What did I miss??????

Like Gobi said.  It was Ed's nearly five-minute long verbally abusive tirade of a phone call to his most recent girlfriend after Rose.  She appeared on The Single Life spinoff show with him.  All you have to do is type in "Ed, Liz, phone call" in YouTube and tons of versions of it will pop-up.  There's also a ton of articles about it online.  Use the same search terms in Google if you want to read more about it.

I didn't mean to deviate too far from the discussion about this episode, so I apologize.

[greekmom]

19 hours ago, Quilty said:

What if the roles were reversed in the Angela/Michael phone incident? If a man had been talking to a woman that way he would be off the show and probably have some intimidation charges against him. 

Agreed. I think she should have been kicked off the show when she got physical with Avery's mom at the Tell All a few years back. For some reason TLC just loves her and POS Ed.  I wonder how the heck they were able to let Geoffery go.

[mamadrama]

4 hours ago, greekmom said:

Agreed. I think she should have been kicked off the show when she got physical with Avery's mom at the Tell All a few years back. For some reason TLC just loves her and POS Ed.  I wonder how the heck they were able to let Geoffery go.

Probably because his drama was off show. The biggest sin the cast can actually make is being boring. TLC apparently doesn't care what TF you do unless you've violated your NDA or give them a normal (read: boring) storyline. If he'd have acted like a mad man on the show then he'd probably still be on it. 

[mamadrama]

On 6/23/2021 at 3:56 PM, Xebug67 said:

Ed is sh***y for a ton of enough reasons, but IMO pointing out Rose's breath issues is not his most horrible crime.

As an isolated incident I could wave it away a bit. In context, though, IMO it was crossing a line. He said that to her AFTER he threw an STD test at her (while refusing to take one there himself), repeatedly lied about not wanting kids, misrepresenting his height, and complaining about her hairy legs/house/handling his money (it was less than $2)/sister. 

[gingerella]

On 6/23/2021 at 8:27 PM, Adeejay said:

Natalie has a holier than thou attitude. She thinks very highly of herself.  She is up there and everyone else is down here.  I believe she was spoiled by her sweet, well-meaning mom. She might be a great beauty in the Ukraine, but in NY, she would just be an ordinary looking woman from Brighton Beach or Sheepshead Bay.  And, if she had such a huge career in the Ukraine, can’t help but wonder why she was living in that small, cramp Soviet Era apartment with her mother. 

I think she did have her own place that was in the midst of renovation but she stopped the reno because she assumed she was moving to America to be with Mikey Mike Mike. When he saw her place, wires hanging down from ceiling, etc. he asked about it and she said as much and IIRC he was a bit put off that she assumed she was moving to the US to be with him. Or am I misremembering another dumbass couple from Ukraine or Russia? There are so many mail order couples I get confused...

[kirklandia]

1 hour ago, gingerella said:

I think she did have her own place that was in the midst of renovation but she stopped the reno because she assumed she was moving to America to be with Mikey Mike Mike. When he saw her place, wires hanging down from ceiling, etc. he asked about it and she said as much and IIRC he was a bit put off that she assumed she was moving to the US to be with him. Or am I misremembering another dumbass couple from Ukraine or Russia? There are so many mail order couples I get confused...

Pretty sure that was Varya/Geoffrey.

[Polliwollidoodle]

Yup was thinking of the apartment undergoing renovations ( it was almost like a loft) and then I remembered it was Varya's apartment.

I didn't think Natalie and Mama's apartment was so terrible; I really just thought it was typical for Soviet bare essential style. But now giving it a bit more thought, it was super bare. When I think of Andrei's parents in Moldova I mean the apt was small but they were going all out to make it special. Then again that was the food and wine and the doily type stuff. More typical maybe of their region. closer to Romania and the y spoke Romanian. FWIW

Ok I would love to have seen where Yara lived. She seemed quite upscale and used to the better things. Just sayin.

[gingerella]

3 hours ago, kirklandia said:

Pretty sure that was Varya/Geoffrey.

You're right, see? I get these mail.order brides all mixed up! 

[Baltimore Betty]

2 hours ago, Polliwollidoodle said:

Ok I would love to have seen where Yara lived. She seemed quite upscale and used to the better things. Just sayin.

Yara lived in Siberia.

[Polliwollidoodle]

On 6/25/2021 at 7:18 PM, Baltimore Betty said:

Yara lived in Siberia.

Did she? I don't think we ever saw where she came from. Are we again confusing Varya with Yara? Wasn't it Varya who lived in Siberia? So confused. (((Help))))

[Baltimore Betty]

34 minutes ago, Polliwollidoodle said:

Did she? I don't think we ever saw where she came from. Are we again confusing Varya with Yara? Wasn't it Varya who lived in Siberia? So confused. (((Help))))

Yes, it was Varya, I got my Russian/Ukrainian/Siberian girls mixed up.

[evansmom10]

On 6/22/2021 at 3:22 AM, winsomeone said:

Natalie was all, baby, baby, right now! And now she doesn't want one at all?

Maybe she realized what time it was in this (failure) of a relationship and changed her mind!

[seacliffsal]

I think the "baby now" from Natalie was because she wanted to make sure Mike would bring her to the U.S. and thought a baby would guarantee it.  However, this really confuses me because she is such a famous actress, model, and Ukrainian intellectual that I can't imagine that she would want to leave her fabulous life...

[Kid]

On 6/23/2021 at 8:05 AM, DiamondGirl said:

Julia is irritating but there’s one thing I noticed:  that German shepherd adores her over the other people in that house.  Dogs know.

They do indeed!!!

[SunnyBeBe]

On 6/23/2021 at 9:12 AM, DiamondGirl said:

I seem to recall one of the sisters bitching about lack of space for their luggage because Libby filled it up.  She thought there should be cargo space underneath like a bus, I guess.

I thought there was cargo space underneath the cabin. Also, it seemed that Libby was taking up cabin space by not using the space underneath.  Probably contrived. Still....I detest all if them except for the kids.  

[Nancybeth]

Yara and Natalie are both from Ukraine, right? Varya and Julia are from Russia. 

[Scarlett45]

3 hours ago, Nancybeth said:

Yara and Natalie are both from Ukraine, right? Varya and Julia are from Russia. 

Yes that is correct.

[ethalfrida]

This has puzzled me for a while./.. Whose girlfriend came from Russia to the US after she broke up with her boyfriend, threw a ring at him and so on? I always thought it was Natalie.

[Gobi]

14 minutes ago, ethalfrida said:

This has puzzled me for a while./.. Whose girlfriend came from Russia to the US after she broke up with her boyfriend, threw a ring at him and so on? I always thought it was Natalie.

It is Natalie, but she's from Ukraine.

[ethalfrida]

Just now, Gobi said:

It is Natalie, but she's from Ukraine.

Okay, thanks....

[jojo3couleurs]

I think you're mixing it ip with Varya, who got a 'tourist visa' to visit Geoffrey and showed up at his house while he vas with another girlfriend...