Vanderpump Rules has been hard to watch this season for a multitude of reasons…some of which don’t include the parasite that is Tom Sandoval. From the group not wanting to film together, a lack of storyline, and just the fakery that feels like it’s running rampant throughout the streets of WeHo & The Valley, it’s not great.
We’re about to embark on the 5th episode of the season and I am bored. I mean, I’m still going to watch but it’s not great. It’s painful, it’s not must watch TV and I’m tired.
We were never going to be able to ride the high of Scandoval forever and I think the fault for Season 11 falls in the hands of the Bravo execs. We should’ve gotten this season in October or November or they should’ve started filming much later and let the dust settle. The audience has moved on from the scandal and it’s hard to watch the cast still stuck in the past.
We had a lot of problems before Season 10 that have not been addressed. The great firing of 2020 where we lost three key, dramatic players haunts the cast and while Season 10 was going to be good regardless of scandal (divorce, breakups, etc), there is still a problem with this cast.
Stassi, Jax and Kristen kept the wheels turning. No one that’s on the cast now was ever strong enough to carry a show on their own and I think we’re seeing that come to fruition now. Sure, Lala & James were built in a reality TV show factory and are excellent reality stars, it’s just not enough. Lala is too high and mighty, playing both sides of the fiddle constantly and always changing the goal posts, and James is just James. He seems to be in a good place right now and he’s a much better, easier watch when he’s sober versus drinking.
When it comes to the Toms, Ariana, Scheana and Katie, they’re just not interesting enough to keep me hooked. Scheana has always been a pick me and gets harder to watch with every episode; Katie is just Katie and never seems fully pleased to be on camera, and the Toms… well, they’re just horrible.
On the topic of Ariana, this is her season and I’m fine with how she’s playing it out. I wish the editors would put a timestamp on every episode to remind us of when it was filmed so we have the context of being reminded that this is just three months after the Scandoval news broke.
The Ariana in July 2023 and the Ariana of February 2024 are most likely very different; she might not be feeling as petty, she’s not as focused on who is talking to Sandoval, and probably just feels a bit lighter.
All that being said, I’m still tired of seeing Ariana and Katie refuse to go on the cast trip because the Toms are going. You knew what was going to happen when you started filming this season, they really should’ve sucked it up or should not have signed a contract for season 11. We’re almost a month into the season and nothing has happened aside from constant fighting about who is talking to Tom and if he’ll be on the cast trip. It’s not interesting and it’s not fun. It just paints Katie and Ariana in a bad light because the viewers in present time are over Scandoval.
Now, let’s talk about Tom. It’s always about Tom.
Sandoval is literally insane. There is something so wrong with him, it’s hard to put my finger on it. He is so far up his own ass I don’t know how he even speaks.
Tom is under the impression that everyone has to just move on because he cheated and it’s a new season, when he has done nothing to repent for his sins. He’s not sorry, he doesn’t understand why his friends are mad, and he just wants everyone to move on. It doesn’t work like that! He has to beg for their forgiveness, he has to show that he’s worth forgiving.
This past week when he said that Lala and Scheana showed the public how to treat him, I could’ve screamed. No Tom, you showed your true colors and the people who didn’t already hate you now see what a piece of shit you are. In the words of James Kennedy, “Don’t do something outrageous and expect people to not be outraged”.
Tom didn’t spend any time trying to form a coherent, meaningful apology. He continually blamed Ariana for his cheating, said she wasn’t fuckable because she wore a T-Shirt, made comments about Lala’s pregnancy, and then went on tour to sang about his affair days after his life blew up.
Tom doesn’t blame himself for his actions and that is a problem. He takes zero accountability.
It would be one thing if in February 2024 Tom was owning up to his mistakes and finally apologizing for real, but that is simply not the case. He is still making excuses, comparing himself to George Floyd and just not keeping his mouth shut.
I need Tom Sandoval to just be quiet, let everyone forget how big of an asshole he is and maybe we can move on. I doubt that will happen though.
So, where do we from here? Are we going to continue to watch Ariana and Tom dance around their Valley home? Is Schwartz going to keep watering plants? Will Lala stop switching sides and will Scheana ever stop making everything about her?
I think in the time of Scandoval, we have moved past pretending that the group are going on a trip to Tahoe to open Lisa’s new restaurant, or having Sandoval casually walk into SUR when everyone else is there… I think we need to tear down the fourth wall. I’m ready to watch a reality show about reality TV stars who were catapulted to fame because of their friend’s poor decisions.
Let them talk about ad deals Ariana is getting, show Lala recording her podcast and talking about the Send It To Darrel merch, and simply discussing the fact that they do not want to film with Tom Sandoval because of his behavior.
Let’s go full meta, let’s push Lisa Vanderpump to the side and embrace that the cameras are front and center.
What do you think? Where does Vanderpump Rules go from here?