S05.E21: Stranger Things Have Happened

[Drogo]

Shekinah packs her bags and heads to a hotel. Kimberly and TJ each reach a breaking point. The uninvited guests wreak havoc at Brandan and Mary’s wedding. Daniele makes a new decision about her marriage to Yohan.

I haven’t been a fan of Kimberly or TJ but I really don’t know what she expects him to do for her here. Most young Indians are working 60 hours a week. She never took the time to learn the language. She insists on being disagreeable with every person she HAS met so there’s no one who wants to take her out anywhere. Can’t wait to see Jenny tear into her and then everyone else coddle her. 

Edited November 28, 2023 by Drogo

[libgirl2]

28 minutes ago, Drogo said:

Shekinah packs her bags and heads to a hotel. Kimberly and TJ each reach a breaking point. The uninvited guests wreak havoc at Brandan and Mary’s wedding. Daniele makes a new decision about her marriage to Yohan.

I haven’t been a fan of Kimberly or TJ but I really don’t know what she expects him to do for her here. Most young Indians are working 60 hours a week. She never took the time to learn the language. She insists on being disagreeable with every person she HAS met so there’s no one who wants to take her out anywhere. Can’t wait to see Jenny tear into her and then everyone else coddle her. 

I said it on another thread, Kimberly should go out, maybe get a job, take classes and learn Hindi..... just go do something! I can't imagine just sitting around all day, every day. 

I also can't wait to see what Jenny is going to say. She adapted and she had a lot of hurdles in front of her. 

[suzeecat]

The bugs at the wedding, OMG!  And then, they scrape the frosting off (with the bugs) and eat the cake.  Barf!  Talk about a wedding disaster!  Mary was a beautiful bride and seemed to take the bugs in stride.  Either she was on drugs or in shock.  Hopefully all those bug bites don't have a negative effect on her pregnancy.  Brandon's mom had a more relatable reaction. 

How long will Sarper's "promise" to never bring up children again last???  And, how do people spout off with such vile-ness and recover and flip a total 180 in less than 24 hrs?

My God, Yohan is a total pig!  I can't wait to hear what he has to say for himself at the tell-all. 

Edited November 28, 2023 by suzeecat

[libgirl2]

12 minutes ago, suzeecat said:

The bugs at the wedding, OMG!  And then, they scrape the frosting off (with the bugs) and eat the cake.  Barf!  Talk about a wedding disaster!  Mary was a beautiful bride and seemed to take the bugs in stride.  Either she was on drugs or in shock.  Hopefully all those bug bites don't have a negative effect on her pregnancy.  Brandon's mom had a more relatable reaction. 

How long will Sarper's "promise" to never bring up children again last???  And, ow do people spout off with such vile-ness and recover and flip a total 180 in less than 24 hrs?

My God, Yohan is a total pig!  I can't wait to hear what he has to say for himself at the tell-all. 

The bugs and cake didn't bother me so much. In some countries where food can be scarce, you make do, especially if they spent a bit of hard earned money on it. They seemed very calm and happy. I wish them the best. 

Sarper will change his mind. 

Yohan is a pig. Six different women and at least that one was paying his bills. and he wanted her to pay for his divorce. That d--- had better be worth it. Ugh. He is gross. 

[MamaGee]

Y'all. I think I love Brandan's mom. She has turned out to be very calm and concerned about them both. Bless her heart, I was worried her panic attack after the bugs would cause her to relapse!!!!!

Oh Shekinah. And Danielle. They are both getting exactly what we all knew they would. 

Kimberly is a nut job. She could do a lot to make her situation better. But she was raised in a totally unhealthy way and her coping mechanisms are minimal at best. Coincidentally, while watching Brandan, all I could think was people who grew up in instability have a tendency to continue that unstable life. Kimberly and Brandan illustrate that perfectly. 

[magemaud]

Judging from this episode and the previews for the Tell All, it’s obvious TOW is continuing its abysmal record of very few Americans successfully moving to a foreign country. It looks like Brandan and Mary is the only couple who stayed in Mary’s country this season and I wouldn’t be surprised if they don’t make their way to the US soon. I don’t count Kenny and Armando as a success story for the current season since they have been in Mexico now for a few years. 

[libgirl2]

1 hour ago, magemaud said:

Judging from this episode and the previews for the Tell All, it’s obvious TOW is continuing its abysmal record of very few Americans successfully moving to a foreign country. It looks like Brandan and Mary is the only couple who stayed in Mary’s country this season and I wouldn’t be surprised if they don’t make their way to the US soon. I don’t count Kenny and Armando as a success story for the current season since they have been in Mexico now for a few years. 

I don't think Brandan and Mary will leave so quickly as I think she will stay for her grandparents. But who knows, things can change but it isn't as if he has a hot job waiting for him in the states. 

Edited November 28, 2023 by libgirl2

[Raja]

5 hours ago, libgirl2 said:

I don't think Brandan and Mary will leave so quickly as I think she will stay for her grandparents. But who knows, things can change but it isn't as if he has a hot job waiting for him in the states. 

But Brandan can actually earn money again in America while Filipino employers can't hire him.

[Drogo]

8 hours ago, libgirl2 said:

The bugs and cake didn't bother me so much. In some countries where food can be scarce, you make do, especially if they spent a bit of hard earned money on it. They seemed very calm and happy. I wish them the best. 

Frankly this is my favorite thing Brandan ever did. 

[1011101010001]

12 hours ago, Drogo said:

She never took the time to learn the language.

She has nothing to do all day and plans to live there permanently.  Um, learn Hindi?

11 hours ago, libgirl2 said:

I can't imagine just sitting around all day, every day. 

Maybe she was self-medicating her “depression” in Alabama but doesn’t have access to the good stuff anymore.

11 hours ago, suzeecat said:

The bugs at the wedding, OMG! 

I don’t believe Mary that she had not seen those bugs before.  Grandma was totally stoic in the car on the way back.

Many drug addicts feel like bugs are crawling on them.  Bet Mama Brandan was triggered.

Mary:  They are biting my fucking boobs!  What a devout little lady she is.

[1011101010001]

11 hours ago, suzeecat said:

And, how do people spout off with such vile-ness

Some people say untrue things when they are mad in an attempt to inflict maximum pain.  Some people say true things when they are mad that they normally are too inhibited to say.  Whichever it was here it was totally toxic.  

11 hours ago, suzeecat said:

My God, Yohan is a total pig! 

Which is no excuse for supposedly pro-female Danielle to be consistently referring to other women she hasn’t even met as bitches.  He was likely lying to most of them that he was single.

[1011101010001]

11 hours ago, libgirl2 said:

In some countries where food can be scarce, you make do

I hate to waste food so if I drop something like a cookie on my clean floor hell yeah I’m going to eat it.  And if I find a hair in a dish at a restaurant I just remove it and carry on.  No need to create a scene.

[Scarlett45]

10 hours ago, MrBuhBye said:

Which is no excuse for supposedly pro-female Danielle to be consistently referring to other women she hasn’t even met as bitches.  He was likely lying to most of them that he was single.

I agree. Danielle has a right to be mad that other women were sleeping with her husband, especially if they knew he was married, but that doesn’t make them a misogynistic pejorative. She can be angry and upset but direct that at Yohan who’s the person deserving of that anger. Yohan doesn’t want to discuss it because he’s done and doesn’t care about Danielle, I don’t think he loved her. I think he liked her and thought life would be easy with her, so he gave it a shot for a little bit until he likely got fed up or found a better mark. 
 

 

I have little patience for Kimberly and her hysterics but I felt for her. Talking to TJ at that time was like talking to a brick wall, he wasn’t ever going to give her any sort of emotional support. Why did they get married again??

[Drogo]

Ballsy of Kimberly to want emotional support from a person who (thanks to her refusal to go downstairs) has to eat every meal hearing his family complain about his antisocial spouse then walks upstairs just to be greeted with an Uber-scowl. 

TJ should’ve just walked outside and made heart hands up at the window; I’ve heard that fixes most couple problems.

[1011101010001]

1 hour ago, Scarlett45 said:

Yohan doesn’t want to discuss it because he’s done and doesn’t care about Danielle,

It seemed like they had been permanently broken up for a month so I don’t see any point in discussing it either.  And it’s not like if he admitted and apologized she would take him back anyway so if she just wants to browbeat him on camera why would he agree to that?

1 hour ago, Drogo said:

Ballsy of Kimberly to want emotional support from a person who (thanks to her refusal to go downstairs) has to eat every meal hearing his family complain about his antisocial spouse then walks upstairs just to be greeted with an Uber-scowl. 

TJ should’ve just walked outside and made heart hands up at the window; I’ve heard that fixes most couple problems.

Didn’t she spend a whole year there before?  Was he acting differently now or did she just suddenly change her mind about what she wants in a partner?  None of this makes any sense to me unless it’s all fake to be on tv.

Edited November 29, 2023 by MrBuhBye

[Scarlett45]

6 hours ago, MrBuhBye said:

It seemed like they had been permanently broken up for a month so I don’t see any point in discussing it either.  And it’s not like if he admitted and apologized she would take him back anyway so if she just wants to browbeat him on camera why would he agree to that?

Didn’t she spend a whole year there before?  Was he acting differently now or did she just suddenly change her mind about what she wants in a partner?  None of this makes any sense to me unless it’s all fake to be on tv.

I can believe now that’s she’s his wife and “locked down” TJ has changed his tune. It could also be that he regrets the marriage too and wants her to leave him rather than he be the bad guy. 

[libgirl2]

3 hours ago, Scarlett45 said:

I can believe now that’s she’s his wife and “locked down” TJ has changed his tune. It could also be that he regrets the marriage too and wants her to leave him rather than he be the bad guy. 

I was thinking the same thing. 

[1011101010001]

4 hours ago, Scarlett45 said:

wants her to leave him r

In the Tell All preview she is back in the US but still wearing the circle on her forehead so mixed signals much?

[anoninrva]

4 hours ago, MrBuhBye said:

In the Tell All preview she is back in the US but still wearing the circle on her forehead so mixed signals much?

She isn't on her YouTube channel:   https://www.youtube.com/@PositivelyKimberlyLLC

It looks like there's lots of tea, as the young'uns say, on that channel,  but I've barely watched it.  She does come across a lot calmer in her own element.  Go figure.

[IvySpice]

10 hours ago, Scarlett45 said:

It could also be that he regrets the marriage too and wants her to leave him rather than he be the bad guy. 

That's how it looked to me.

The Brandan/Mary wedding looked like a great event until the bugpocalypse happened. The venue was gorgeous. Too bad they are doomed to suffer together until they decide to suffer separately.

[HorrrGoodnight]

Yohan is like the final boss of assholes... HOWEVER, Daniele is really playing victim here. She sold him a dream and  planned on scamming him into staying in the DR so she could run from her broken piggy bank. 

[Scout Finch]

On 11/28/2023 at 6:59 AM, libgirl2 said:

The bugs and cake didn't bother me so much. In some countries where food can be scarce, you make do, especially if they spent a bit of hard earned money on it.

It's not just poorer countries. I finally got to make my dream trip to see Paleolithic cave art in September in the south of France and there were flies in most of the food shops. Even in a big chain supermarket, they were on basically anything that wasn't in a sealed package. The meat, deli, and produce sections were near the back of the store so it wasn't as if the flies were just inside the entrances. In the little village I was staying in I was really looking forward to getting a freshly baked baguette but when I went into the small bakery nearly everything had flies on it, including all the bread! I ended up getting a couple of croissants from a bin under the counter because I didn't see any flies on/around them--and I didn't want to come across as "Don't y'all have health inspectors like we do in 'Merica?" I could clean the produce from the supermarket but baked goods, not so much!

 

Edited November 30, 2023 by Scout Finch

[libgirl2]

6 hours ago, Scout Finch said:

It's not just poorer countries. I finally got to make my dream trip to see Paleolithic cave art in September in the south of France and there were flies in most of the food shops. Even in a big chain supermarket, they were on basically anything that wasn't in a sealed package. The meat, deli, and produce sections were near the back of the store so it wasn't as if the flies were just inside the entrances. In the little village I was staying in I was really looking forward to getting a freshly baked baguette but when I went into the small bakery nearly everything had flies on it, including all the bread! I ended up getting a couple of croissants from a bin under the counter because I didn't see any flies on/around them--and I didn't want to come across as "Don't y'all have health inspectors like we do in 'Merica?" I could clean the produce from the supermarket but baked goods, not so much!

 

I remember on Pillow Talk Anny made a comment about the flies on the meat at butcher shop's adding spice or something in DR! 

[lightninggirl]

Daniele/Yohan
Daniele: I cannot believe that Yohan was capable of this.

Girl, you're honestly THE ONLY ONE. 🙄 Stevie Wonder saw that shit, FFS. My favorite part was the other woman only contacting her when she thinks she's going to have to pay for Yohan's divorce BUT let that go on for over two years?? 😂 She can't really go back to NY, can she? She probably can't get an apartment or a car there with the bankruptcy, right? Please correct me if I'm wrong.

Sarper/Shekina
"While I ignored Sarper for 2 days, he actually started trying really hard to get my attention and to show me that he was sorry. I see him really trying so I'm willing to meet up with him." Typical narc behavior on every level from him. And those damn fake contacts are freaky, too. GTFO. Also, if Sarper isn't 50 damn years old I'll eat my hat.

Brandan and the Mary-go-round
Actually, the insects were the 4th plague of Egypt, but who's counting? 😂😳🦟
It was nice of Brandan's mom to hug Mary-go-round, and I'm shocked that Mary-go-round didn't shove a fistful of cake into Brandan's face. It's a low bar, honestly.

Kim & TJ
I can totally see the whole 'ring the doorbell to get to the roof' think turning into hostility. She really needed to find a hobby - yoga, cooking classes, anything that is safe for her to get to & from with her limited Hindi (and certainly without creepy Raj's and their slag mother's help). I love how TJ immediately runs down to his mommy and acts like Kim's ruined his marriage. 🙄

On the tell-all preview, I totally forgot about the one couple! I think she's from Denmark or Holland? LOL.

 

Edited November 30, 2023 by lightninggirl

[Wanda]

Re: Kimberly and TJ; I’ve been married to an Indian man I met in grad school for 35 years and he has never been what I’d call “open” to discussing feelings or being emotionally supportive. He prefers to just pretend a fight never happened and gloss over it, ignoring how I will continue to be upset. So I felt for her as they argued at that moment.

And we live in the US. I would never have agreed to marry him had we been in India; in his parents house even though they were very Westernized and spoke fluent English. That would have been a deal breaker. Love does not conquer all.

[Stuckathome]

Normally, I would finger wag at Danielle for calling the other women bitches rather than directing her anger at her cheating man. However, that one woman at least knew he was a married man and knew all about Danielle and continued the affair. So, yeah, she is as gutter trash as cheating Yohan. I am curious if these are women who found him via social media after their first season (I feel like I remember that happening with Colteee) adn slid into his DMs or if these are women he met in the DR on vacay a la Danielle. And WTF did he do with all this money? He was getting $$ from SIX women PLUS Danielle and PLUS siphoning off cash from her account with the card. 

Even though, as someone above wrote, Stevie Wonder saw this coming, I admit I am shocked at how BOLD he was----sending a dick pic while she is right outside handing out gifts to his family??? Wow. 

[1011101010001]

5 hours ago, Stuckathome said:

He was getting $$ from SIX women PLUS Danielle and PLUS siphoning off cash from her account with the card

Plus OnlyFans although I don’t know how many subscribers he has.

[IvySpice]

9 hours ago, Stuckathome said:

Normally, I would finger wag at Danielle for calling the other women bitches rather than directing her anger at her cheating man.

She gets a pass from me for being angry at the whole world while she's in the process of throwing her husband's stuff onto the lawn. She's allowed to have a tantrum and arrive at a nuanced understanding later on.

[Chalby]

On 11/28/2023 at 3:45 PM, suzeecat said:

My God, Yohan is a total pig!  I can't wait to hear what he has to say for himself at the tell-all. 

There were so many indications of his true personality right from the start. I remembered being embarrassed for Danielle because he couldn't even behave like he was madly in love with her. He was always saying or doing something to minimize her importance in his life. But I also believe she enticed him with hopes of ending up in America.

So both of them entered into the marriage knowing things weren't 100% between them. We all could see it.

[Chalby]

On 11/29/2023 at 2:50 AM, MrBuhBye said:

I don’t believe Mary that she had not seen those bugs before.  Grandma was totally stoic in the car on the way back.

I haven't a clue about bugs over there, but during one fishing excursion at a remote lake, we made the mistake of lighting up the campsites with two flood light styled lanterns and OMG! I've never seen so many bugs in my life. I felt phantom bugs crawling on, and biting, me for weeks afterwards. Avoid perfume and bright lights when camping.

[Kid]

On 11/28/2023 at 10:38 PM, Scarlett45 said:

Why did they get married again??

 Bacause they LOVE each other!!🤣🤣