Warning! The following contains spoilers for the 90 Day Fiancé: Before The 90 Days Season 7 episode "Brave New World." Watch the episode with a Max subscription and read at your own risk!
There's been no shortage of entertainment thanks to the latest season of 90 Day Fiancé: Before The 90 Days hitting the Fall TV schedule, but while the drama is still fun to get caught up in, Season 7 has been more of a struggle than expected for me to watch thus far. I wasn't wholly sure what my problem was until watching the worst storylines of the season began to rear their heads in the latest episode.
Plainly said: the American cast of Season 7 is largely unlikeable, and if Loren's ban from the 90 Day Fiancé subreddit wasn't evidence enough of that, this episode really drove it home. Every season has its sore points, but this is pushing it, and I find myself increasingly unconcerned about whether these couples end up getting a happy ending or not.
Before The 90 Days' American Cast Members Are So Hard To Root For
After going down the list of each U.S. cast member from Season 7 of Before The 90 Days, there are numerous red flags to list. I'm sure many readers know the ones I'm talking about already, but just for the sake of those needing a refresher, here's what I've tallied so far:
- Tigerlily married Adnan a day after meeting him for the first time and knows nothing about Middle Eastern culture.
- Brian lied to Ingrid about his actual age and hid his past as a drug dealer.
- Veah is taking her ex-boyfriend to meet Sunny, who has no idea what's happening.
- Loren told Faith they couldn't kiss because he had gonorrhea from cheating on her.
- Rayne told Chidi she believed his blindness was fated so that they could be together.
- Niles is preparing for a wedding with Matilda, but is waiting until he arrives to tell her that he doesn't want to go through with it.
This cast has only gotten more unsavory when seeking out updates online, as evidenced by Loren's Reddit ban and Rayne's bizarre talk of vampires and cannibals. There are still two couples this season that viewers have yet to meet, but if these duos were the combined cream of the crop, maybe we just cut ties and move on with the season?
I'm joking, of course. But I do have to wonder what led to so many unlikeable people being thrown into a single season, and whether or not the upcoming couples will be similar.
Is TLC Trying Too Hard With Its Casting?
I realize the casting team for 90 Day Fiancé actively seeks out couples they think will make for the most entertaining television season. At the same time, the cast of Before The 90 Days Season 7 feels like a forced attempt to showcase people making the most bone-headed decisions and hoping that it works out for the best.
At times, this season feels like the show is searching for the next Big Ed Brown or Angela Deem rather than highlighting couples trying to create a happy married life despite their differences. The franchise seems to be reaching a point where they prefer people more likely to spontaneously propose in a sandwich shop rather than tell a love story between two different cultures.
90 Day Fiancé: Before The 90 Days has always been the messiest of the spinoffs, but I think this season is too much. Just a few weeks ago, I initially said I was locked in on the drama between Chidi and Rayne and other storylines, but it's all too much now. My only hope is that the couples on the way are more down to Earth, and we can see a balance between that and the chaos.
Catch new episodes of the TLC series on Sundays at 8:00 p.m. ET. After that, check in on the 2024 TV schedule and see what is going on in the coming weeks.