Most 90 Day Fiancé: The Other Way fans have until now thought that Deavan Clegg’s mother was “horrible.” But the tables of reality TV surely seemed to have turned after Jihoon’s heart-to-heart with his mother Jung was aired. Sad and dejected after yet another fight with his American wife, Jihoon sits down with his mother to ask for advice. But in a surprising twist of events, his mother sympathizes with his excessive lies by telling him that it’s exactly how Korean men are supposed to act.
The troubles for 90 Day Fiancé couple Deavan and Jihoon never seem to end. The American and Korean who met online got pregnant on their first night together and even later married before welcoming their son Taeyang into their lives. But the story wasn’t as simple as it sounds as Deavan, who’d already returned back home once after disapproving of Jihoon’s lifestyle decided to make a permanent move to Seoul on her husband’s insistence. With her two kids, including Drascilla from a previous partner, Deavan paid for her own visa and tickets and even booked accommodation in South Korea. Jihoon, on the other hand, kept lying to her about having a job that could help support the family but didn’t even bother checking the locality of the house. The place, as expected, turned out to be messy and unsuitable for living in, and Deavan, yet again, felt cheated by Jihoon. This resulted in a major argument where Jihoon confessed to not having a good job because of his mediocre education. But, what really put Deavan on edge is when he revealed that he didn’t want to work full-time as he needed time to take naps.
Deavan threatened to leave for the U.S. and Jihoon returned to his parents’ house to ask for advice from his mother. His mother, however, did little to help with the situation. The 90 Day Fiancé star had confessed to having his mother manage his money because he’s admittedly careless with it. During Monday’s episode, he also spoke about spending it all on alcohol and “going out.” But, instead of giving her son an earful and asking him to mend his ways for the sake of his wife and kids, his mother proved she’s an enabler. Generalizing how Korean men behave, she reminisced about her past where Jihoon’s father had used “white lies” to woo her. “When people are young, they can be reckless,” she added while dismissing the fact that Deavan had sacrificed everything to come to Seoul. Jihoon finally couldn’t hold back his tears as he felt that he and Deavan were over for good but his mother wasn’t really done yet. “A man shouldn’t cry,” she told her embarrassed son but later confessed to the camera that her son was “a soft person” who she couldn’t bear to see in tears.
Jihoon has a $30000 debt to pay off, for which he keeps borrowing money from his parents. His delivery job does little to help him, and when fans had commented on his unemployment, he was quick to lash out at them and call them, “ugly” in a series of now-deleted posts.
However, the latest comments coming in are much harsher. “Jihoon’s mother is the problem with Jihoon! She has not raised a man; she has raised a 30-year old, irresponsible, lying child," wrote one unhappy Twitter user, while “Jihoon acts the way he does because his mother keeps making excuses for him and downplaying his actions,” tweeted another. Many believe that his mother sugar coating the reality of their relationship isn’t going to help Jihoon or Deavan sort out their escalating differences on 90 Day Fiancé: The Other Way. The way she switches roles from first supporting his actions to later showing tough love, when she should be asking him to get a job instead, hints at a possible controlling behavior. "Mommy issues" seems to be the theme for reality TV this week with fans seeing a similar state of affairs with Akshay and his mother Preeti from Indian Matchmaking too.
90 Day Fiancé: The Other Way airs Mondays at 9pm EST on TLC.