Total Bellas: Season 5 Review
Total Bellas Season 5
This season on Total Bellas, we went from “Brave New Bellas” to “Babies on Board” and everything in between. Any news of a baby on the way is exciting. The unique twist is that Brie and Nicole are pregnant at the same time. Twins having babies at the same time! Destiny would have it no other way. The pair already share so many things in common. In their co-memoir, Incomparable, they both mention how they were brought up interchangeable. Even when they reached the WWE, their unique similarity as identical twins were written into their storyline by way of “Twin Magic (one twin hides under the ring and replaces the other to finish a match). Although pleasantly surprised, no one is shocked. Well, everyone except for Birdie.
First Comes Love…
In episode one we find ourselves swooning over the courtship of Artem and Nicole. Artem Chigvintsev and Nicole met while they were partners on Dancing with the Stars. They did not win, but Artem did win Nicole’s heart and the couple started dating after her public break up with {redacted}. It is hard to not fall in love with Artem. He’s a gentleman. He’s a cook. A real cook. He can build. His accent is to die for. Oh, and he can move. Like really move. It’s easy to fall head over heels for those blues eyes. They might be complete opposites, but he gets her and loves her for her. Their relationship hits its highs and lows, but they always manage to find their way back, despite Nicole’s obvious commitment issues. Artem is a true romantic and he has patience; even when Nicole decided to flirt with other guys in front of him. This season he seemed to be in it for the long run, the commitment, family, and kids. By the end of the season we see him win not only Nicole over, but her entire family. The engagement was the perfect ending for Nicole and A and the audience too.
Its not always Yes! Yes! Yes!
While we saw one relationship blossom and bloom, another one struggled. Brie and Bryan have been known as being very transparent with their relationship throughout the show’s tenure. This season was no different. Brie struggled with balancing her role as a dedicated wife and mother and owner of multiple successful businesses. While Bryan coveted time with his wife, Brie let it slip that having more children was not in her thought process. At least at the time. With any relationship, communication, or lack thereof, is the key to a healthy partnership. It is also not easy being married to a twin, which Bryan handles in a way that only the gentle, earth-loving pro wrestler can. There are tears, arguments, and makeups and one particularly emotional trip to Sedona. Voila! Danielson baby #2 is coming soon. They always prove why they are our favorite hippie couple.
Family is Family
One of the best dynamics of Total Bellas is their extended family. This season we get a special dose. Papa Bella is reintroduced to the audience when the Bellas decide to write their book. We know from previous seasons that their family had a distant relationship with their father. So much so that JJ and Nicole were not even on speaking terms with him. Brie was the only sibling that reconnected with their father. When the twins wanted to write their story, a big part was retelling the trauma they lived through growing up and the separation of their parents. In the earlier episodes, we finally get a sit down with their father, Jon Garcia. It is refreshing to see them reconnect on a trip to Mexicali to connect with their Mexican roots and embrace their heritage. Their newfound love and connection with their father were met with adversity. JJ and Kathy are not on the same level of healing. What we learn is not everyone reacts and heals the same way. In a later episode, Brie tries once again to get JJ to embrace his Mexican side. That would mean acknowledging his father and its obvious he is not ready to take that step. In the end, that is also okay.
Speaking of JJ, the fans were not fans of his this season. From picking fights with Nicole, to arguing online with Paige about “rioters and looters”, JJ is also good for drama. His plight begins when he “calls” Nicole out about being selfish and it quickly turns into a tantrum better performed by a 3-year-old. JJ plays the role of a Heel to perfection. In his defense, it is probably not easy being the youngest boy in a family with famous inseparable twin girls.
The season concludes with the announcements of Brie’s and Nicole’s pregnancies. A surprise to almost everyone except Nicole; although in a mid-season episode, we see her battle with the decision of freezing her eggs with or without Artem. When Brie’s test pops up positive, Nicole’s twin telepathy has her feeling a need to also take a pregnancy test. This time it is way more than twin telepathy. First comes Love…Then comes Marriage… Then comes a baby in a baby carriage. The perfect end to a fairy tale. Luckily, it is not the end because the Bellas are coming back for a season 6 on E. Stay tuned.
