Five TLC couples’ 90 Day: The Last Resort therapy session is nearly at an end — but not without a little more drama.
Monday night’s episode saw the fallout of the guys’ trip to a strip club, as well as Kalani Faagata’s night outside the resort (not to mention her wedding vows). The relationships continued to unravel as trust fell into question and outside influences hindered the pairs’ happiness.
With the recommitment ceremonies looming, it remained unclear whether the couples would actually want to recommit to each other — or would this be the end of their relationships for good?
Yara and Jovi’s Strip Club Stress
Jovi Dufren had no remorse for his wild strip club outing with the guys, but it caused Yara Zaya’s insecurities to spiral as she wondered why Jovi Dufren wanted to return to the clubs time and time again?
To say the pair were not on great terms would be an understatement — and it all got worse when the couples (sans Kalani and Asuelu Pulaa) boarded a boat for a day at sea. The boat ride began with an angry Angela Deem telling off the men for taking her husband Michael Ilesanmi to the club via FaceTime.
On a FaceTime call with Michael, Jovi recounted the evening — but when Yara tried to interject, Jovi told her to “shut up.”
Elizabeth “Liz” Woods commented on the incident in an interview, saying, “Jovi in the past has constantly patronized [“Big Ed” Brown] for the way that he speaks to me, and oh my God, I never thought he would speak to Yara the same way. I’m starting to see some of the issues publicly now just based on the way that he’s treating Yara.”
On the boat, Yara wasn’t about to “accept” her husband’s rudeness and told Jovi, “If you’re gonna talk to me like that, you’re gonna go and get f — -ing married to some stripper, OK?”
That was just the start of the strife for the couple, and Ed added to the spiral by telling Jovi to come clean to Yara about texting the night before with a local stripper he’d previously traveled and “hooked up” with.
Yara asked her husband point-blank: “What is so bad about your f — -ing relationship that you need to f — -ing always hang out with the strippers?”
The other women saw the betrayal and sided with Yara. “Damn Jovi. What the hell? I just want to hug Yara and comfort her,” Angela said in an interview. “I haven’t seen that side of Jovi, and I don’t know if it’s a hangover, but I’m very upset with the way he’s treating Yara.”
She added, “Watch yourself ’cause Memaw is listening.”
Yara ended up in tears and threw a drink at Jovi before walking to the other side of the boat. “I was trying to have fun last night, that’s it,” Jovi said. “Not with her. I wanted to have fun with the guys, I’m sorry.”
But Yara wouldn’t let it go this time. “Why the f — — are you married if you like her then?” Yara asked, later adding, “You can put that apology to your f — -ing anus.”
Though Ed appeared to be making conversation when he brought up the texting, he brought things to a whole new level when he brought Yara and Jovi’s daughter Myla into the conversation, taunting, “Why don’t you explain to your daughter where you were?”
At that, Jovi exploded. He stood up to punch Ed, but production got involved before any fists flew. Liz also stepped in to try and end the physicality. “You bring my f — -ing daughter into this? This is your ass, man. I will f — — you up,” Jovi yelled.
He explained his anger later in a confessional: “Ed just doesn’t know when not to cross a line. He continues to bring up stuff about other people when he’s got more problems than anyone in his own relationship.”
Later, Yara spoke a bit more about the role the strippers play in their relationship — and it came back to physical appearance. “I have no idea why my husband is so obsessed with strippers. It’s always been that way. I try to look good for him. I try to not let myself go,” she said. “I know I have a child, my body has changed. But I still go to the gym every day. I try to be good for him, and I have to be honest, I’m so f — -ing insecure. I have so much insecurities. I feel bad about myself, and he brings all of these insecurities back.”
She added, “Jovi [is] always telling me that if I will not be looking good, he will not be with me. So, makes sense.”
Ed and Liz Take Opposing Sides
After the argument with Jovi on the boat, Ed scolded Liz because she had “interjected” herself into the situation confrontation. “I appreciate you standing in for your man, but it made me look weak,” Ed claimed. “It made me look like I can’t defend myself.”
Liz admitted in tearful confessional interview that this had upset her and caused her to question her own dynamic with Ed. “The way that he treated somebody else ended up hurting me and causing problems to our relationship,” she explained. “So, how do we work, moving forward, on that, in a 24-hour period before the recommitment ceremony?”
Instead of engaging in the conversation with Ed, Liz stormed off as he yelled after her, “There you go! Therapy’s working, babe!”
Ed explained his side to cameras: “I don’t want her stepping in front of me in any kind of situation. It’s my job as the man to protect her. If it’s a physical altercation, she’ll step in. But what I don’t understand is why she won’t stand up for me in an emotional way.”
Liz worried that she and Ed were hitting a dead end, saying, “The fact that he’s not even trying to put in any work shows that he’s not going to be able to take any of this progress back home. It definitely makes me feel like I don’t want to be leaving here with him.”
Earlier in the episode, Liz held her tongue when Ed defended Asuelu. “It is really hard seeing Ed side with Asuelu knowing how much I know,” she said. “I can feel myself getting a little rattled about the situation, but I have to understand that I can’t say anything to Ed right now until Kalani decides to open up to the group. It’s just something that I have to be patient about.”
Kalani GIves Up on Her Marriage
It was over for Kalani and Asuelu.
The mom of two decided it was time to end their relationship for good — and asked for an immediate divorce. Last week, viewers saw Kalani step out of her marriage and spend the night with another man. The step back was what Kalani needed to decide what to do about her marriage as Asuelu continued to fail to meet her emotional needs.
Kalani called an emergency therapy session to break the news. “I really was gonna just go and talk and try to figure out my feelings for him and my feelings for the other person, but then, we ended up doing other things,” she said. At hearing Kalani’s decision, Asuelu collapsed into his chair.
When he asked point-blank whether she wanted a divorce, Kalani could only silently nod. “A lot of the time with Asuelu things are just very hard and very complicated,” she said during the session. “I feel like I have to fight to get an ounce of kindness or affection or love. And I don’t have to do that with the other person. I know you’re trying really hard, but I feel like you started trying and it’s too late now.”
“I’ve been fighting for almost seven years to make this work,” she said. “I just don’t want to f — -ing do it anymore.”
A devastated Asuelu said a confessional interview: “I know everything that’s happened is all my fault. But I can’t do anything — I can’t change her. This really hurts and [is] painful. Divorce is not what I want for my family.”
The pair vowed to remain friends and to co-parent their two sons, but Kalani did not want to drag things out, telling Asuelu, “I do think It would be best if we just, right away, divorce.”
She continued the thought in an interview: “The sooner we get divorced, the better for the kids. There’s just nothing more that can be done. I’ve given up. I just hope he can deal with everything and move forward with all of us.”
90 Day: The Last Resort airs Mondays at 9 p.m. ET on TLC.
