The reeducation of Tom Sandoval continues on Vanderpump Rules

The Vanderpump Rules gang did its best to be mature and get along last night, and while that’s great for them personally, it makes for rather uninteresting reality television. A lot of this episode felt like the wind-up for what seemed like it could be a blow-out fight. Instead, it ended up being a pretty measured conversation where Tom Sandoval apologized to DJ James Kennedy, seemingly as genuinely as one can with a camera in his face and on a reality television program that made him both a national laughingstock and disgrace. But let’s back up.

Before the gang (sans Ariana Madix and Katie Maloney) heads to Tahoe, there’s some table setting to be done back in Greater Los Angeles. James has his dog Graham back after Raquel/Rachel abandoned it and Lisa Vanderpump rescued it. This seems to be news to Ally, who is less than thrilled because 1. she already has a cat and 2. this is the dog that belonged to James’ ex-fiancée before she became a national laughingstock and disgrace and had to give it up so she could seek treatment. Ally protests that keeping Graham (which James quickly renames Hippy over something to do with his godfather, George Michael (?)) would be mean to James’ ex, but the subtext is clearly that she doesn’t want yet another reminder of Raquel/Rachel around.

Speaking of Raquel/Rachel, the filming of this episode happens when Ms. Leviss announced that she wanted to return to using her birthname, Rachel (which would put this filming in mid-July). This is revealed in a conversation between the Toms, where Sandoval says stoically, “I knew about the Rachel thing. Wasn’t my place to reveal that.” Aw, he’s such a good guy! We also find out that she is out of treatment but they haven’t talked.

The last piece of business to deal with in L.A. is Scheana and Brock’s trip to a bathing suit store, where they get into an argument about finding a nanny for their daughter Summer Moon. They apparently found someone for the job, but she had to back out at the last minute. This is difficult, certainly, as it has more to do with Scheana’s postpartum mentality than it does actually finding a qualified nanny in the second-largest metropolitan area in the United States. They agree to table the issue until after Tahoe, but they still bicker in Tahoe about other things.

Of course, we can’t forget that this trip to Tahoe is effectively a commercial for Lisa’s new restaurant “Wolf by Vanderpump,” which is probably another reason this episode is the least interesting of the season so far. Lisa does a photoshoot with husky dogs (which she calls “wolves”—sure) and describes the restaurant as “sexy” and “masculine.” Based on her recent, shall we say, “furry curious” Instagram posting, this whole thing feels bizarre.

Anywho, she calls Sandoval upon his arrival in Tahoe and tells him not to attack anyone. He then cries in the car with Schwartz because Schneana was willing to sit next to him at the airport and say hi. Back at their frankly gorgeous rental property, he tells the gang he’s bringing in a guided meditation specialist as a fun, non-alcoholic activity, which receives a mixed response. He also kind of spreads rumors about a dog, telling everyone that Graham attacked people and that’s why James ended back up with it. Other than that, the group mostly rehashes old garbage: at the house, at Lisa’s new, unfinished restaurant, at dinner with Lisa at a different restaurant. None of it is that interesting. Ultimately, Sandoval takes Lisa’s advice, at least with James, and calmly just says he’s sorry and doesn’t try to make excuses. A détente is made with another person, at least for this week.

But before we end, let’s check back in with Ariana in Valley Village. She has realized that, yes, she and Sandoval did buy the house together, but she says she bought pretty much all the furniture and wants Tom to pay her for it, or she’s going to keep it. For some reason, the portrait of the two of them made out of Legos is still hanging on the wall, and she learns that she can pay to have it reworked to feature only her. That’s kind of funny, but why the hell is it still hanging up? Couldn’t she at least put a sheet over it? This is a question we will have to wait at least another week to learn the answer to.