On Season 4, Episode 3 of 90 Day Fiance: The Other Way, Mahmoud Elsherbiny introduced himself to viewers.
We had already seen and gotten to know Nicole, his wife. Fans aren’t quite sure what to make of her.
Meanwhile, Mahmoud’s brothers see the 30-year-old fabric store manager as a “spoiled sweetheart.”
But viewers are picking up on some major red flags. Most of them aren’t even subtle.
Nicole Sherbiny went to on a “spiritual tour” of Egypt, where she spotted a cutie in a fabric store. She and Mahmoud fell in love and married.
Subtext suggests that they may have rushed to marriage simply so that Mahmoud could have sex. In Egypt, he would not have even been able to stay in a hotel room with her before they tied the knot. But surely there was more to it than that.
Nicole and Mahmoud have clashed, largely over his objections to her clothing. She has never stayed more than two months in Egypt. And it wasn’t so long ago that Nicole was planning to divorce him.
Instead, Nicole is giving their marriage another try. She clearly loves Mahmoud.
Her parents, Harold and Wanda, arrived to help. But they had a lot of understandable concerns. They’ve never met Mahmoud, they can’t be there to support Nicole in Egypt.
It can’t have helped that they first found out about Nicole’s marriage from a friend, who saw it on social media.
Speaking of which, Nicole described her marriage to Mahmoud. It was weird, and she admitted as much.
The two had a formal, legal wedding. That was not enough for Mahmoud’s family, however. In order to appease them, they needed to marry within the context of Islam.
So they, as Nicole characterized it, had to crash someone else’s wedding to find a religious authority to officiate their union.
This naturally led to Nicole’s parents bringing up a question: is she interested in converting to Islam? Yes and no.
The thing is, Nicole already converted, she told them. She insisted that it was not a requirement, but that she admired the peace and dedication of Muslims. That is a normal reason for someone to first want to convert.
Nicole also added that she would want any future children with Mahmoud to grow up in a single-faith household. That is … an unusual concern for most converts. Nicole did not explain why.
Then, Nicole admitted to the confessional camera — but seemingly not to her parents — that she has some second thoughts.
See, Nicole was somehow unaware (literally we have no idea how) that converting would come with rules and expectations.
She does not follow any of Islam’s dietary restrictions. And, though head coverings vary by culture and a personal choice for Muslim women in many places, Mahmoud clearly expects her to “cover up.” Though she has vowed to never again don a hijab.
Then, Episode 3 introduced us to Mahmoud directly for the first time. Previously, we have seen him only in old photos and on Nicole’s screen.
He is 30 years old. He manages a fabric store, where he has been working since his teens.
Mahmoud met his wife there. He seems to feel baffled by their past conflicts, by her objections to his ideas about how she should dress, and even by her absence.
Mahmoud does understand that Nicole thinks about things very differently than he does.
It’s interesting, because Nicole also thinks about things very differently than … almost anyone. Only some aspects of this have to do with her being American. Or not being Egyptian.
So Mahmoud knows that his wife is her own person. He also loves her. But it’s unclear whether that changes any of his behavior towards her.
Ahead of his wife’s return to Egypt, Mahmoud spoke to his older brothers. Brothers who view him almost as an eldest son.
“Mahmoud is the youngest. He is our spoiled little sweetheart,” one brother quipped to the camera.”He’s never had a girlfriend.”
He continued: “Nicole is his first experience with females. So, he acted with no expertise. He was expecting a lot in a short time.”
One of Mahmoud’s brothers noted that his own wife is from another country. Fatima, he shared, is from China.
Apparently, their married life was something of a “war” for almost two years until things settled down. That sounds like an unusual honeymoon period.
But Mahmoud worried about the friction with Nicole. In almost the same breath, he mocked her concern over some sexist double-standards.
Mahmoud openly made it clear that he finds his wife’s objections to be ridiculous.
Nicole had asked why he could bare his arms whenever he likes if she cannot. Seeing him laughing at her behind her back is not great.
Then again, this is the guy who knows that their fights are constantly about clothing, yet he still issues his wardrobe demands. So … Mahmoud’s marital priorities are interesting.
His brothers told him that he has a “religious obligation” to “educate” Nicole about Islam.
One the surface, that seems controlling. But we should remember that Nicole converted to Islam, and they know this.
It is not unusual for people of a faith to offer advice, counseling, and education to new converts. But Nicole’s situation is fairly special.
(Can we talk about how she dresses like an undercover assassin? That’s not a criticism, but an observations)
Nicole packed her things. Her parents will take her car and presumably some of her belongings back to their home on a long, long drive.
She is no longer living in LA. She gave up her apartment, hopped onto a plane, and headed to Mahmoud. Even after admitting to her parents that she was “freaking out” and does not want to return to Egypt.
At the airport, Nicole and Mahmoud greeted each other with affectionate hugs. She wasn’t sure if the display would be acceptable.
PDA is very unusual in Egypt, but (straight) tourists will attract fewer stares than an Egyptian local. Mahmoud explained that a hug at an airport between a husband and wife is fine, despite Nicole’s uncertainty.
Kissing would have been another matter. And, in Mahmoud’s eyes, so was Nicole’s outfit.
Even though Nicole dressed herself in an aesthetic that we can only call “Elevated Nun Couture,” this was still not enough for Mahmoud.
He felt that her clothing (long sleeves, long pants, and a turtleneck blouse) was too revealing without the jacket closed.
Mahmoud couldn’t even get out of the airport without “correcting” Nicole’s clothes. This is not a promising sign.
