Viewers have followed 90 Day Fiancé's Julia Trubkina and Brandon Gibbs through thick, thin and a farm's worth of manure. The couple spent their time together living under Brandon's parents' roof and house rules, including sleeping in separate rooms as a sex deterrent despite being engaged. The issues stemming from this situation defined their early relationship.
Though the couple did eventually move off the family farm and into their own apartment, the stressors of family, finances, and Brandon being friends with a woman not named Julia Trubkina were never far from home.
Birth Controlling
As Julia lands in Washington, D.C. for a sightseeing excursion before settling onto the farm, Brandon's parents' omnipresence was immediate. With Julia's arms wrapped around the man she'd just flown from Russia to be with, Betty and Ron were all of two steps behind the couple as they shared their first ionate kiss on U.S. soil.
More than cognizant of the sexual tension between her son and his fiancée, Betty took it upon herself to push birth control on Julia during their first family meal. As Brandon sat in silence, Julia vocalized her unwillingness to take oral contraceptives or anyone's input on her body. Mad at Brandon's reticence/defense of his mother's concern, Julia quipped, "Your parents don't need to worry about pregnant because we not tonight."
Baby, Don't Leave
Brandon and Julia's sleeping arrangements were the root of most of their problems. With their time together at a , Brandon's breakfast tea and crumpets in bed had to last Julia throughout the workday and during their nights apart. Craving intimacy and embrace, Brandon's mornings tend to linger more so wrapped in Julia's arms than around the farm.
With Ron laying into the couple over not helping with farmwork in the mornings, Julia offers, " I'm not waking up with chickens," and Brandon blames Julia, saying he's defenseless to her snuggles. Following Julia into her room, Brandon opts to take Ron's side, saying he'd always gotten his chores done before she moved onto the farm. "We live together, but I not feel we live together," she said.
Vegas Mirage
Kicking off their move to Happily Ever After? with a bang and a daydream, Brandon and Julia go to Vegas to celebrate their honeymoon. Wearing a pair of oversized teardrop frames that would never be seen again, Julia dreams out loud to Brandon about moving to a bigger and brighter city.
After Brandon alludes to having a house lined up for them down the street, he laughs away Julia's proposition as unrealistic "casino land" dreaming and offers to quit his job so they can be homeless under the neon strip. "You thinking real life is staying farm and clean s--t," she scoffs, before warning that as soon as she gets her green card and work papers, she's as good as gone.
Maternal Ambition
After moving off the farm and into their first apartment in Richmond, Virginia, Brandon and Julia throw a small housewarming party. While Julia is thrilled to see their communal friend A.J., she's less enthused about Brandon's friend Melanie being there.
After saying she wants a stripper pole installed in the same breath as a baby bed, Julia's decorative and maternal aspirations were as much an act of dominance as they were small talk. When Melanie offers that they need time to settle in and that a baby would curtail their freedom, Julia responds with "Melanie, stop talking," ruining Brandon's party and ignoring her (and Brandon's) legitimate concerns.
Why We Marry?
Julia's wedding dress and venue recon started off on the wrong foot and progressively got worse. Before stepping foot inside the dress shop, she was already irritated at Brandon for allowing his mother Betty to them and potentially push her opinions. Julia makes it through two dresses before Brandon's indifference could no longer be ignored. "Please talk," she says through his silence.
Brandon's disassociation would continue. After he forgets why they chose May 9th to wed and has no answers as to how many people will be there, Julia asks, "Why we marry? I need feel you care about wedding day." Brandon's jarring outburst of, " You're crying because that's not my dream to walk down the aisle. You're upset because I don't share the female fantasy of a wedding day," speaks of a man pressed for answers and well outside of his comfort zone.
Cute Animals?
Frustrated, Julia calls her father to talk about Brandon's broken promises of autonomy. Encouraged by his agreement that Brandon needs to step up, Julia calls Brandon at work and unloads on him. "I don't want to live here. I don't want to take care of animals. I hate this place," she screams.
Julia states that she didn't come to America to clean animals and threatens to go back to Russia if they don't move out. After Brandon exasperatedly asks, "What's wrong with taking care of a few cute animals," Julia erupts with, "You f--king serious? Cute animal? I hate you," and promptly hangs up.
No Clothes In The Hot Tub
More of a communal scolding, Julia and Brandon's romantic staycation without supervision ends abruptly after Betty returns to a hot tub in slight disarray. Confusing viewers and Julia alike by her "no sex, but full-nude-only hot tub use," Betty's overbearing ways are met by a wounded Brandon and a Julia ready to further wound Brandon.
"How he change life if his mother tells him what to do? How's he gonna take care of me?" Julia asks, concerned whether or not they'd ever be free to simply be together. Questioning whether Brandon would ever stand up for her or for himself, she'd soon give him an ultimatum that would jolt him into growing up.
Farmer Julia
Julia's first day on the farm without Brandon was spent (reluctantly) feeding pigs and clock-watching. Returning home from an exhausting day of pest control, Brandon yawns his way to his room and decompresses onto his bed without saying a word to his fiancé.
Furious, Julia walks into Brandon's room and warns, "Brandon, this is last time I take care of pigs," before exploding with, "I think this is my bad dreams. I hate this. I think about I really want to go home." Brandon having the nerve to want a few moments to himself after Julia waited all day for him was too much, and after all of one shift, it would be the last moment he got to himself.
Separate Rooms
Ron and Betty's hard-line stance on Brandon and Julia sleeping in separate rooms haunted the couple from their first night together in D.C. right through Brandon's "bargaining chip" conversation he had with his parents over Mexican food. Respectful of his parents' house rules, Julia found Brandon's surprise subservience/bedroom segregation to be a near-fatal blow to their relationship.
The argument happened incessantly for months. It happened between Brandon and Julia, Brandon and his parents, Julia and his parents, and his parents themselves. Ron was so against it that he told Brandon he'd rather them leave the farm than sleep together under his roof. Julia's relentless complaints were finally rewarded when Betty caved and allowed them to share a bed if it meant they'd stay.
Melanie
A sweet, slender brunette with intimate knowledge of Brandon; Melanie is Julia's mirror/worst nightmare. "I go meet Melanie not because I want to be friend with she. I just don't trust girl. This is why I go." Julia's meeting with Brandon's longstanding friend was by all s disastrous.
Openly dreading details of Brandon and Melanie's past, Julia is gifted stories about them sneaking into Ron and Betty's liquor cabinet and watching scary movies together. Melanie's chemistry with Brandon was undeniable. Between Julia stating that Mel should stay with Brandon and that she'd leave with her boyfriend TJ, and Melanie pressing her on her intentions, the night built to an enraged Julia storming out and an embarrassed Brandon left speechless in front of one of his oldest friends who was now enemy No. 1 in the book of Trubkina.