’90 Day Fiancé: Before the 90 Days’ Is Giving Big Ed Flashbacks With Mike and Ximena
The long-running TLC series 90 Day Fiancé has seen dozens of couples come and go over the years. Many of them have become iconic within the reality TV world, receiving shows of their own. This includes the franchise’s numerous spinoff series like Before the 90 Days.
Some of 90 Day Fiancé‘s most memorable characters originate from this spinoff. The best example might be the infamous Big Ed. With the new season of Before the 90 Days out now, some fans are having flashbacks to Ed’s antics when they see Season 5 couple Mike and Ximena.
Big Ed raised eyebrows on Season 4 of ’90 Day Fiancé: Before the 90 Days’
“Big Ed” Brown was a cast member on the fourth season of 90 Day Fiancé: Before the 90 Days. The American was in a relationship with Filipino single mother Rose Vega. Unlike the main show, couples on Before the 90 Days aren’t yet engaged. Instead, they must decide if they want to continue their previously long-distance relationship and start the visa process together.
Ed and Rose first met in person as the cameras rolled. It was immediately apparent that he was a handful. Not only was Rose significantly younger than Ed, but she was also much less financially secure. Ed seemed to believe his riches gave him license to treat Rose disrespectfully. Before their meeting, Ed lied to her (claiming to be much taller than he really is). The older man would insult and degrade her while behaving rudely to her family and doing disgusting things such as rubbing mayonnaise in his hair.
By the end of their time on Before the 90 Days, Rose dumped Ed. This cemented her status as a fan favorite and Ed’s as a series-defining villain. In the aftermath, Rose has mostly left the cameras behind and started her own successful business.
Ed, on the other hand, continues to appear on 90 Day spinoff shows, like The Single Life. Between his original appearance and now, he’s been accused of sexual harassment by a coworker, gotten engaged to his friend Liz, had the engagement broken off, then gotten re-engaged to Liz all over again. It’s anyone’s guess where things will go from there.
Season 5 introduced Mike and Ximena
Making his debut in Season 5, Mike Berk initially seemed like the hero of the story to viewers. He seemed like a decent dude looking for love, in contrast to his girlfriend, Ximena Morales, who complained often and was not-so-subtly framed as being more into his money than his love.
The two became engaged after his first trip to Colombia to see her, proving how much of a romantic Berk was. However, the script quickly flipped after that.
After Berk showed up unannounced for a second visit, things soured between the couple. His lack of manners only became more apparent when he refused to leave, becoming more and more of a nuisance until Ximena finally broke up with him.
Some fans are calling Mike Berk Big Ed 2.0
If things weren’t already sounding similar enough, Screen Rant went to the trouble of breaking down all of the reasons fans cite Mike as being the show’s newest Big Ed. Both men have poor hygiene and gross habits, Mike having a penchant for farting and burping as well as tracking animal poop inside. He’s also 10 years older than Ximena, not to mention quite a bit wealthier.
In some ways, though, Mike might be even worse than the Ed we saw in Season 4. Additionally, he screamed insults at Ximena when she wanted to break up. He also demanded she returns all the gifts he gave her — a bluff she called when she did it. Even getting him to leave the house was a challenge, as he insisted he owned it since he paid some of the rent on it.
Unlike Ed and Rose, though, the couple seems to have reconciled as they explained during the Season 5 tell-all. It’s anyone’s guess as to how that’s going to work out.
