90 Day Tell All: Maybe It's Tim and Veronica Who Could Use Some Time Apart

Season 4 of 90 Day: The Single Life started off with lots of promise, thanks to vulnerable new daters and the addition of franchise royalty in the form of Chantel Everett. Familiar patterns emerged — Natalie once again pinned all of her hopes on Josh, and her intensity once again scared him away — but the show was often at its best when sticking to the paths less traveled, following Tyray and John as they navigated novel parts of adulthood (dating and commitment, respectively).

But the recently concluded fourth season just provided more proof for what’s become an undeniable truth of 90 Day: Veronica and Tim’s relationship will suck the air out of any room (or spin-off). The exes turned friends and co-parents have been a package deal for some time now, appearing on the flagship series before regularly nabbing spots in Pillow Talk and at the Tell Alls, even when they’re not in the cast. Their dynamic has never been entirely genial, as Tim tends to criticize Veronica’s every move, but, until The Single Life Season 4, their joint presence was tolerable, sometimes even fun (credit due Veronica). But the first part of the Tell All marks a tipping point — it might be time for Tim and Veronica to take a break from each other, or at least the show.

In the fourth season, both Tim and Veronica searched for new love, albeit at very different paces. Tim could barely bring himself to kiss Luisa after a second date, while Veronica’s situationship with Jamal became increasingly exclusive. Their love lives remained entangled, much to Jamal’s chagrin — and Luisa’s, if her reaction at tonight’s Tell All is any proof. And I won’t rehash too much of that here, not just because I’ve already written on the subject, but because we’ve all been here before: Tim, Veronica, Jamal, the audience, the other cast members, and reunion host Shaun Robinson. Tim and Veronica’s closeness often rubs their new partners/prospects the wrong way, but neither one of them seems to want to change things. Tim and Jamal almost came to blows in Season 4, yet Veronica won’t give up her best friend or even just set some boundaries.

That was frustrating, if somewhat understandable — who would want to cut a longtime friend out of their lives for a relationship that might not work out? Tim and Veronica have long insisted they’re the best of friends, which is why they’re prepared to let boyfriends and girlfriends come and go. But their increasingly frequent appearances within the franchise have exposed the cracks in that facade; when Jamal went in on Tim’s parenting, Veronica, who was in the midst of the drama, didn’t exactly leap to her bestie’s defense. The vibe in their joint talking heads this season wasn’t pleasant; it was mostly the usual “Tim makes faces while Veronica talks.”

It’s enough to make you wonder how much they truly like each other, a question that appeared to be on the minds of their exes in the Tell All (and now, hopefully, the 90 Day producers). Before the cast members had even hit the stage, Tim’s owning up to his “resting bitch face” as Natalie described him as “arrogant.” When Veronica joins them in the green room, Tim makes a crack about how she looks like someone who turns letters on a game show — you know, just the standard greeting for your friend of 10-plus years who’s going through a breakup.

Shaun wastes no time getting into the particulars of Veronica and Jamal’s relationship, which was declared officially over, and Jamal’s excellent breakup technique (reportedly, texting "Take care. [peace sign emoji]"). This segment quickly turns into a relationship postmortem, as Veronica presses Jamal for clarity on his decision in the hopes of finding closure. Admitting she was dumped by emoji in front of millions should be reason enough for Veronica to take a break from The Single Life. This is what we should be talking about! But it’s not long before the focus turns once more to Veronica’s relationship with Tim. Jamal and Luisa claim the two friends don’t even like each other; in fact, they’re constantly trashing each other.

"You are not this person. You're fake," Luisa says to Tim as Jamal expresses his disgust at having to share a stage with him. Tim mostly laughs it off, acknowledging their thorny dynamic, but Veronica says they "graduated from best friends to family," which would sound nice and cozy, if she didn’t immediately follow it up with "We have grown apart. He has gotten very busy." It’s hard to know what the truth is — Veronica and Tim’s recent appearances in the franchise don’t make them out to be especially close at this point, but they could just be going through a rough patch. Or maybe they use their friendship as a way to self-sabotage or at least keep other people at arm’s length.

What is certain is that their relationship will always take over any interaction, be it a drink with friends or a Tell All. For all his snarkiness and egging Luisa on, Jamal ultimately apologizes to Veronica for the way he handled things during the relationship and after. That’s ostensibly the end of that chapter, but Luisa is supposed to return to dish on her time with Tim, which will inevitably lead to more hand-wringing over his friendship with Veronica. Maybe it’s time for a platonic version of The Single Life, in which Tim and Veronica try to find new friends — that could end up being the best move for their romantic lives.

90 Day: The Single Life Tell All continues March 25 at 8:00 PM ET on TLC. Join the discussion about the show in our forums.

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