In a Season of Big Swings, The Single Life's Veronica May Be Taking the Biggest Risk

Everyone in 90 Day: The Single Life has something on the line: their heart, their ability to believe in the basic decency of other people (poor Tyray). And that’s just the cast members; the people they’re dating or looking to date all have their own hopes and insecurities.

John seemed keenly aware of that fact when he headed to Austin (even if he was whipping out the vibrator hours after landing). He knows Meghan and her daughter Reba are a package deal, which is why he doesn’t want to rush things. John obviously has some commitment issues, but his concern seems sincere. At least he isn’t overcommitting or asking Meghan to uproot her life.

But that kind of big move is inevitable — if not for John specifically at the moment, then for someone like Jamal. Now that he and Veronica are exclusive, it’s time for some big changes. He acknowledged that in last week’s episode: "There's no way to grow this relationship when we're apart." Of course, he immediately followed that up by complaining about the “pressure Veronica sends my way about moving. I just feel we haven't been dating that long yet."

Jamal called for reinforcements on his latest trip to Charlotte, North Carolina, and his buddies Mostafa and Kazi did what any good friends would do: ask questions about Veronica’s close relationship with her ex, Tim. Veronica tried to brush them off, explaining for the umpteenth time that she and Tim are just friends. And it must be frustrating to get asked that question all of the time… but it is a valid one. The last time Veronica started to get serious about someone — the completely unworthy Justin — she at least entertained the notion of setting more boundaries with Tim. He did too!

But here she is, in another season of The Single Life, once again caught between her current boyfriend and her best friend/ex. Veronica clearly wants to find a way to keep Tim in her life (and Chloe’s). She also wants to make room in that life for Jamal. Six episodes into Season 4, she’s no closer to making that happen. What makes this such a fraught situation is that no one’s entirely in the wrong. Jamal’s concerns are valid, even if he isn’t expressing them perfectly at the moment (and may not be quite as ready for a serious relationship as he claims). Tim is right to wonder if Jamal can step up for Veronica and Chloe; though, in the event that he does, Tim also needs to be prepared to actually step back.

The person missing in all of this debating, of course, is Veronica. She keeps saying she just wants Tim and Jamal to get along, and while they are grown men who really should be accountable for their own feelings, she does very little beyond forcing them to hang out. She had little to say last week, when Jamal blew up at Tim and criticized his parenting skills. When Tim fought back, Jamal yelled “She tells me everything!” Are things between Tim and Veronica less amiable than they seem?

Even friendships can hit rough patches, especially after 10 years and some cohabitation. The problem isn’t that Veronica may have vented about Tim to Jamal, it’s that she may not feel like she can tell Tim what her issues are with him (if they do in fact exist, and Jamal wasn’t just talking sh*t). We’ve seen this so many times in 90 Day Fiancé and its spin-offs. In Season 10 of the flagship show, Ashley regularly sat her fiancé-now-husband Manuel across from her friends and her family to let them convey her dissatisfaction with him. (Look, we know that translator app is iffy, but this just isn’t the way.) And we’ve said it before: the communication trouble in this franchise isn’t limited to the language barrier.

It’s hard to judge if there’s really tension between Veronica and Tim, in part because she regularly uses their 1:1 interview time to tell him she needs him to chill out with Jamal already, and he mostly rolls his eyes at her pleas. You also can’t just write off the decade-plus of history they have, and the way they seem to have each other’s back But with Jamal telling the cameras and his buddies that Veronica’s friendship with Tim is a deal-breaker, she may not be able to play mediator much longer. Though he was an assh*le, Justin effectively made the decision to break up for her. Veronica might not get that “lucky” this time around — she may be the one to have to choose.

Veronica isn't the only one out on a limb, though the immediate consequences seem less dire for everyone else. This week, Tyray traveled to New Orleans with his brothers, who gassed him up just enough for him to actually make a move on a fellow tourist. The setup is pretty low stakes, even for someone as inexperienced as Tyray; if Taresa bails, he’s at least proven to himself that he doesn’t need to wait for the woman to make the move.

Chantel feels she has a lot, ahem, riding on Giannis, the Greek soccer player she sees as her personal Spartan. She came in with huge expectations, some of which were met — she feels the D, or “his passion,” while frolicking in the sea — and others that were slightly dampened with Giannis told her he’s close to his family. Her response: “My ideal guy would be an orphan.” Somehow, Giannis does not run away, instead sticking around to kiss Chantel for the first time. Although she could probably stand to adjust her expectations to be more in line with Tyray’s (just have some fun on vacation!), it is nice to see Chantel this giddy again. As she says at the start of the episode, she once again feels like the woman she was before Pedro and all the family drama and heartbreak. If it took a trip to Greece to get that back, then it was worth it.

New episodes of 90 Day: The Single Life drop Mondays on Max and Discovery+.

Danette Chavez is the Editor-in-Chief of Primetimer and its biggest fan of puns.