Vanderpump Rules is planting the seeds for a Tom Sandoval redemption arc

In last night’s very special episode of Vanderpump Rules, our group of contractually conscripted buddies experimented with some big concepts: accountability, responsibility, forgiveness. It’s that final one they come closest to embracing in this episode, thanks to both Lisa Vanderpump’s prodding and Tom Sandoval’s reveal last week of just how close to close to death he felt during the height of the Scandoval backlash.

We begin, apparently, one day after the argument between Sandoval and Scheana Shay in the Sur Alley. DJ James Kennedy is hosting a pool party in celebration of Katie and Ariana’s forthcoming sandwich shop, Something About Her. Scheana and Lala stop by Lisa’s house. Lisa is wearing sneakers, which is weird for her. Less weird is her edict that everyone should try to be a little nicer to Sandoval because Lisa fears he might literally kill himself.

Scheana says that she doesn’t feel like Tom has taken responsibility for what he did. She has, partially, a point; he does get extremely defensive and accusatory whenever someone brings up his misdeeds. But what would responsibility and accountability look like in this situation? Isn’t agreeing to return to the show—an activity somewhat similar to choosing Mother’s Mercy every seven days—a type of twisted accountability? Would they rather he disappear like Raquel and leave them to talk around him for a season? Lala, meanwhile, admits to the audience that she’s had a hard time viewing Tom as an actual person; she says she was treating him as if he were her own ex—i.e., she was out for blood—but it kind of seems like she was treating him more as a professional wrestling villain.

At the pool party, Lala once again continues her trend of often being the coolest head in the room; maybe it’s the sobriety, maybe it’s motherhood, maybe it’s finally ditching the gross Randall Emmett. At James’ pool party, she begins her path to forgiveness, reaching a tentative détente with Tom Schwartz. She says something almost wise: “At some point in my life, I have to practice forgiveness. I cannot wear my trauma like a badge of honor anymore.” Yes Lala! That’s good! (Less great is later, when she seemingly randomly asks Ally what James’ rock bottom moment with drinking was so she can film a conversation with him about sobriety. She promises not to share what he says with the group but, again, this is a filmed conversation on national television.)

This pool party is intercut with scenes of Sandoval and Billie Lee (making a strong case for recurring cast member status after appearing in three of this season’s four episodes to date!) where Tom is dropping his own pearls of wisdom. “It’s always the people closest to you that seem to hurt you the most,” he says, pensively, straight to camera. Yeah, dude. You demonstrated that very lesson last season. Slightly more poignant is his comment that he doesn’t feel like he’s allowed to be happy, and yeah, he’s kind of not. As he pointed out in yesterday’s largely disastrous New York Times Magazine interview, he feels like he’s not allowed to profit from this scandal the way everyone else has. Are money and happiness the same thing? Maybe to this cast, given the general way they carry themselves!

Back at the pool party, Scheana attempts to broach the subject of treating Sandoval less like a rabid wild animal that needs to be put down. Ariana is having none of it, somewhat reasonably; she feels that it’s a manipulation, and he just wants to stop being persona non grata so he can be invited to parties again. She doesn’t believe a word out of his mouth, also mostly reasonably. She doesn’t really care too much about his suicidal ideation and she knows that she’s “a bitch saying this” but finds it “annoying.” She also doesn’t feel like he’s taken responsibility for his actions, but it’s still a bit unclear about what that means; does she want him to just be less of a dick, or does she want him to go away? Maybe it doesn’t really matter, because he’s still incredibly set in his ways and, at this point, change seems unlikely.

For example, Sandoval gets some actionable advice later at Schwartz’s apartment. Sandoval makes the absolutely braindead assertion that people got permission to treat him badly after Scheana and Lala went on different podcasts trash-talking him; well, no, the show you’re on gave people permission to do that. Schwartz says, hey, maybe don’t say out loud that you think all these women are out to destroy you all the time. “His tone of, They don’t know what they’ve done to me, worries me,” Schwartz says in a confessional. Generally, if the world is treating you like a supervillain and you want to change that perception, it’s a good idea to stop talking like a supervillain. Point to Schwartz.

The episode ends on a bit of a curveball, as James arrives at Vanderpump Dogs, where it seems like Lisa will give him the same spiel about treating Sandoval better. Nope! Instead, she reveals his dog Graham, which Raquel kept when they broke off their engagement. Raquel ended up giving the dog to a foster family (presumably when she checked into a facility in the Scandoval aftermath) who then gave the dog to a shelter because it was biting people, and he eventually ended up with Lisa. It’s strange how closely this situation mirrors the one that led to her demise on The Real Housewives Of Beverly Hills, but if VPR notices that parallel, it opts not to highlight it. The image of James walking to his car with Graham is a hopeful one—enjoy it before everyone is at each other’s throats next week in Tahoe.