Liz Is Done Being the Charlie Brown of 90 Day Fiancé

The future of the couples who appear on 90 Day Fiancé: Happily Ever After? is typically as ambiguous as the show’s subtitle, even if they’ve gotten married and/or had kids. But the rocky relationship between Liz Woods and Ed “Big Ed” Brown has always seemed destined to end in heartbreak — they’ve been together for roughly three years (engaged for two), during which they’ve managed to break up 12 to 13 times. Even Ed can’t keep the number straight, and he’s been the driving force for more than half of them.

But the most confounding relationship in the 90 Day world may truly be over. This week’s episode of Happily Ever After? Season 8, titled “The Itsy Bitsy Liar” — which might sound like damning evidence against Ed, but it could apply to Sophie, who’s also been withholding some key info from her partner — shatters the illusion of domestic coziness that Ed and Liz tried to establish in the five preceding episodes. About 13 minutes into the episode, Liz sits down for a solo interview, blinking back tears and taking deep breaths. She says she’s at “a loss for words,” then recounts what’s happened since the last episode, including the fact that Ed canceled their wedding without telling her.

"I don't understand how he can cancel the wedding over stupid taco pasta,” Liz says, referring to the fight that was seemingly the last straw. She’s had no contact with Ed since the dustup, which apparently happened in front of his sister (also named Liz) and her daughter Ryleigh. They went to bed angry, and when she woke up the next day, Ed was gone. She only found out the wedding was canceled because the officiant texted her.

Liz may finally have learned her lesson, though. She knows there’s more to the latest breakup than an argument over the spice level of his pasta. "The only thing I can think of is Ed is getting cold feet and he never actually really wanted to get married,” she says, and it’s like the clouds parting to let in the sunlight. She calls him a “coward, a weakling” for running off without an explanation and ending their engagement via a third party (that’s actually a very Ed-coded move, though).

But Liz has had these epiphanies before — in previous seasons of HEA, during the Tell Alls, and as part of the last-ditch efforts of The Last Resort. She’s shouted out her issues during their knock-down, drag-out fights, and in great detail, only to make up with Ed off-camera and eventually return for a new season of 90 Day. Their reunions are no longer shocking, though their reasons for still being together are unclear. Both Liz and Ed have said and done things to erode the foundation of their relationship; rather than figure out how to rebuild it (or if it even can be rebuilt), they just moved to Arkansas for a fresh start.

Things did seem to be going well earlier in the season: Ed seemed to be getting along with Ryleigh, and he actually listened when Liz’s mom expressed her concerns. But Liz and Ed seem to have just put up a front for most of their time on-camera. A little relationship math reveals that they’ve been broken up for most of their engagement; they’ve known each other since 2021, been engaged for two years, and have, according to Ed, now split up 14 times.

When Liz went shopping for her wedding dress earlier this season, she conjured the image of Charlie Brown taking another valiant run at the football that Lucy — in this case, Ed — will inevitably snatch away. Despite her optimism (or is it masochism?), there was no way to come back from having thrown her engagement ring into a bush and having her ex(?)-fiancé demand that she return that same ring in front of a national audience during a Tell All (but only after admitting he was still messaging his ex!).

As always, Ed tries to set himself up as both the victim and the good guy in this scenario, telling his sister that he and Liz will just "go back to the same fighting and arguments” if they stay together, and he "cannot live like that for the rest of my life." He makes the same whining complaint that he did during Last Resort, about Liz not “protecting” him when he messes up (helluva away to manipulate someone, telling them that they’re responsible for your mistakes). But there’s a kernel of truth to all of Ed’s self-pitying b.s.: "Liz needs to go live her life and I need to live mine."

Though their onscreen confrontation is yet to come, it looks like Liz may have already taken Ed’s words to heart. Before Happily Ever After? Season 8 even premiered, Liz was showing off her new man on her Instagram, posting carefully edited photos (so as not to reveal his face) of the two together. She’s been both coy and effusive about her new partner, but not about her breakup with Ed. When a fan asked her in the comments of a post why Ed is suggesting they’re still together — even though he’s also teased his own new relationship — Liz replied “Must be something in his wine.”

Reality TV cast members always walk a fine line between living their lives and not spoiling their shows. Liz and Ed appearing to be on the outs before Season 8 of HEA premiered is as effective a tease for the new episodes as any of TLC’s promos. But Liz herself may have set up this breakup storyline; on February 14, she posted some key art from the show with the caption “March 17th — Our Final Chapter and the Biggest Drama Yet.” “Final chapter” would seem to point to their breakup, because a wedding wouldn’t end their time on a show like Happily Ever After?, which is all about the aftermath of saying “I do.” So, even if the decision was made for her, if Liz is finally free of Ed and his football-swiping ways, it was worth it.

New episodes of 90 Day Fiancé: Happily Ever After? drop Sundays on TLC, Max, and Discovery+. Join the discussion about the show in our forums.

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