Strange Love, Episode 5: She Loves Me, She Loves Me Not

Last time, Brigitte and Flavor Flav comforted one another after a particularly uncomfortable social debut. Flav laid his heart out on the line, inviting Brigitte to come home to New York with him. She agreed, in principle at least! But there are still some loose ends to tie up, including Brigitte’s telling her fiancé, Mattia, that she is going to New York with “Foofy Foofy.”

As we begin this episode, Flav is “servicing” his trusty Viking helmet. This involves rubbing some kind of compound on it, and apparently this doesn’t smell too great. Brigitte is complaining about this, naturally, while at the same time smoking a cigarette. She’ll get over it!

This is the day that Flav will meet Brigitte’s kids at long last. I have been wondering about this, actually. We learn that her kids live with her ex-husband. Flav figures that the best way to a kid’s heart is through his stomach, and to this end, he has decided that he is going to cook a real American meal – steak, fried chicken, the works. Flav informs a rather skeptical Mama of his plan, and then heads off to the grocery store. He quickly discovers that not knowing Italian is a severe handicap. He has a hard time communicating, but manages somehow to get what he needs. Come on now, you mean to tell me that no one in this store speaks any English, even just a little?

Back at the villa, Flav finally convinces Mama to let him cook by himself. She isn’t comfortable with this, and is concerned about food poisoning. “Disaster, disaster,” she says as she hovers about in the kitchen. Flav discovers that he forgot the flour and has to return to the store. Again, he has difficulty communicating what he needs, but is finally successful. However, this second trip to the store has set him back time-wise. He scrambles around, making a mess as the clock is ticking. The next thing he knows, Brigitte is back with two of her sons. Flav is feeling the pressure and it ain’t pretty.

Brigitte introduces her two sons, Douglas and Raul to Flav, who greets them both with a hug. The boys seem more than just a little bit puzzled by this odd little man with the manic mannerisms. In fact, they seem almost afraid at first as Flav tries a little bit too hard to win their approval. Actually, the older of the two boys seems more mature than Flav! It is certainly understandable that Brigitte is very nervous about this meeting, especially after the resounding rejection the couple received from her snootier than thou friends in Lake Cuomo.

Dinner is finally ready, and everyone sits down at the table, while Flav brings in the food that he has prepared. The boys are still rather cautious and seem to even be somewhat suspicious of the food. Things aren’t going well at all here. Fortunately, Brigitte’s oldest son, Killian, arrives to save the day. Killian is cool with Flav having talked to him on the phone during the couple’s Surreal Life days. Once the younger boys realize that their older brother likes Flav, it’s all good.

Flav tells us it was a blessing to meet her kids and says, “Her kids are my kids too.” Brigitte says that when her boys realized that she really likes him, they are okay with him too. Awwww. They all hug goodbye, and the boys leave for home, most likely thanking their lucky stars that they don’t have to live with their nutcase of a mother.

Morning comes, and it’s D-day, or rather M-day. It’s time to leave the villa, and Brigitte knows that she has to say goodbye to Mattia. Together, Flav and Brigitte look at pictures from their trip, and this seems to steel her nerves a bit. She really cares about Flav, and this little reminder of the good times they have had together helps. But she is still very conflicted, and even as she packs up and prepares to leave, she talks about how much she hates to leave Mattia.

Finally, Brigitte is ready to leave. Flav and Mama are at the door, and there are tears all around. Flav keeps reassuring her, reminding her that he will be waiting for her outside so that they can go to the airport.