BRAVO: Vanderpump Rules

[Faulkner]

I found the third part of the reunion terribly sad. They’re all horrifying human beings, Ariana included, and at a certain point, it felt monotonous for the left side to be so vicious and self-righteous after all we’ve seen of them over the years and the way they’ve lived their lives. Lala and James felt lucky that the Scandoval gave them cover for their own [!@#$%^&*], and, I’m sorry, they shouldn’t have been allowed to shout and curse over people. Their loud, attention-seeking (and, in James’s case, likely drug-fueled) behavior should not have been rewarded.

And I get that Ariana is angry, but her lashing out was hard to watch. Understandable relatable anger but still gross and ugly. I’m not interested in seeing her turn her victim status into gold. I’m not rooting for her. She’s never been likable to me and this scandal hasn’t changed that.

Scumdoval’s comment about Ariana keeping her T-shirt on during sex. Low. He’s right that he’s not a serial killer, but that’s the lowest of low bars. 

No words for Raquel and that meltdown in the final five minutes. She is a DARK frightening person. I don’t want her on my screen. I walked away from all of that feeling icky.

I’m almost wondering if this huge surge is too much for the show to take on moving forward. I feel there’s an inevitable letdown coming. It was a well-produced, entertaining, dramatic season that felt very real in ways these shows rarely are, but, ironically, in some ways exposed how barren VPR has become after all these years. I don’t see how this story moves forward in any credible way. These relationships should be irreversibly broken and to force them would be embarrassing and ghoulish. To just show their isolated, fractured lives as broken humans doesn’t seem like a way forward either. And they’re all too old for this. 

Maybe the show’s trajectory towards cancellation (before all of this) was a blessing, and LVP at least now has a potential off-ramp with her new series.

 

Edited June 9, 2023 by Faulkner

[Faulkner]

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[Cat]

Being only a very casual viewer of VPR, I, too, have found the clips from the reunion increasingly unpleasant.

I wasn't sure whether to post anything here, given that I'm not a VPR regular. But I was confused at how increasingly unsympathetic I felt towards Ariana, and slightly sorry I felt for Raquel -- at odds with the Twitter echo chamber braying for Sandoval and Raquel's blood.

The reunion (especially part 3) took me back to another VPR reunion years ago where Kristen Doute was the 'bad guy' and basically beaten to a pulp by everyone on the couches. I get that someone as angry and self-sabotaging as Doute turned off the audience. But I couldn't believe how Sandoval and Ariana, who were cheating on Kristen behind her back, were gaslighting her that she had it coming. The cast and audience went along with that narrative almost unquestioningly. 

As a result, I could never warm to 'Ariana is, like, so great!' pronouncements. Is she? She comes across like a blank-eyed stoner to me. I never liked Sandoval who has been a self-obsessed narcissist from Day One.

There are deep toxic elements underpinning the show which are never going to change. One of them is that Hollywood is dirty, and these would-be actors are conditioned to sell their body and soul for stardom. BTW, I don't blame this cast for trying to cut a piece of the pie for themselves -- launching bars and sandwich eateries and music singles and podcasts. But they also carry with them a feeling of financial and emotional precariousness, of dependence. That can be a hard watch.

The other toxic element, which you allude to, is a lot of drugs fuelling emotions and anger and wretched sexual decision-making. I don't think most of these kids can make it through the day without a bump of something or other to keep them going or calm them down. Or keep them thin.

Re: reunion! Like most people in this world, I know how it feels to be betrayed by a significant other, and I'm sure we all could find common ground on that score. In theory, I should be Team Ariana, but I've ended up being Team Nobody. Her anger is relatable, of course, but also gross, as you say. It also feels performative at this point, because she had to hold on to that pain and wait a few months to 'let it all out' for the cameras. Anyway, she is leaning into this, and parlaying victimhood into endorsements. Obviously, people react differently to events. It's hard being cheated on. It's hard dealing with the humiliation and the grief and the anger. 

Sandoval, as mentioned, is a narcissist from mustache to toe, and toe-curlingly skeevy. That's all I've got. There is no fixing that.

Raquel reminds me of a little pageant girl who is told how to pose, how to smile, how to look sad for the camera, and apes those poses, thinking that they represent her actual emotions. But they don't. She doesn't know how to feel, because she doesn't quite know who she is supposed to be -- or worse, who she is. It is sad to see someone empty and rather damaged.

Tom Schwartz is also someone who does not know who he is, and who is completely spineless. No wonder Sandoval and Katie latched onto him, thinking they could manipulate him.

Lala and James should have been removed from the room the moment Raquel came on and they started acting the fool. This isn't their story to tell. They are enjoying this bullying pile-up way too much. Given their chequered histories (to say the least!), they need to STFU and sit down.

Edited June 11, 2023 by Cat

[Cat]

delete

Edited June 12, 2023 by Cat

[Antoyne]

The reunion was filmed 3 weeks after she found out about the affair.

[Cheap21]

That makes her anger more palatable but I still cant stand her. She is the victim but this story has made me come to a point where I cant stand her and Im actually rooting for Raquel

[carolineg]

I think Ariana has the right to feel however she wants to, but I don't feel that bad for her.  This is honestly the best thing that could have happened to her.  She drops the dead weight partner, is making bank, and has the world's sympathy.

I do feel bad for Raquel to a certain extent.  She is pretty young and a little dumb.  I don't think her actions were right, but she took all the blows at the reunion and seems very lost.  

I find it very uncomfortable that the other cast members go so hard at Tom/Raquel.  Not because I truly think they deserve any grace, but because everyone on the show is a hypocrite.  We have been watching these fools cheat and lie for years too.  Tom/Raquel didn't murder anyone and I feel like most of the cast (outside Ariana) is taking this way too seriously.  Calm down everyone!  Scandoval just gave you a lot more seasons of the show. 

I agree with @Cheap21.  The Ariana sympathy train has gone on for so long I am actually coming over to the other side of it and put off by her attempts to cash in on it.  I don't hate the hustle, but it's getting a little much.

[Michael]

I found the reunion almost unbearable by the third part, too. Ariana has every right to be pissed at Sandoval and Raquel, of course. (I know there's some amount of hypocrisy considering how she and Tom got together, but she wasn't professing to be Kristen's close friend, so it's also a very different situation.) And this was the first time she'd seen Raquel since it all came out, I think, so it makes sense she'd go in on her. But it got to the point where Andy would ask Tom or Raquel something, and immediately Ariana, James, and Lala would be all screaming over them the second they opened their mouths. It was exhausting and monotonous. I don't even want to sound like I'm defending Raquel, but she came on that stage to do her job and answer questions, so at least shut up long enough to let her do that -- it isn't like she showed up at Ariana's front door in the dead of night insisting on telling her side of the story.

Edited June 14, 2023 by Michael

[Faulkner]

 

[Cheap21]

Cancel it then bc her coochie saved it. We as an audience are cheated out of the fallout if she isnt there. Charli is boring and irrelevant and should only be brought back as someone for Raquel to film with, not as a replacement

[Taoboi]

I meant to come back at some point to say THIS very thing. 

 

So I found it hilarious how Twitter was trying to go in on everyone...knowledgeable Twitter, Twitter who drop every hint of a moment that something was going on between Tom/Raquel...and yet they could not put themselves on the mindset that the reunion was basically filmed after they had found out. I was like whatever. 

 

Part of the scandal is it was cheating with the close/best friend...which sadly...is relatable. Some would say Raquel got off easy. And while I still have not watched Part 3...I give her respect for coming to face the music. 

[Faulkner]

A spin-off is in the works, with Jax, Brittany, and Kristen in talks to star.

[Faulkner]

Kristen filmed with the VPR crew last night. Looks like Schwarz is also back mingling with Team Ariana:

 

[Faulkner]

@DaytimeFan, you called it. The show was nominated for Outstanding Unstructured Reality Series alongside “Indian Matchmaking,” “Selling Sunset,” “RuPaul’s Drag Race: Untucked,” and “Welcome To Wrexham.”

@Cat @Taoboi @Cheap21 @carolineg @Antoyne @Michael @j swift

Fox Force Five somewhere in tatters.

 

Edited July 12, 2023 by Faulkner

[Cheap21]

its warranted as the production from how they incorporated late breaking news into this season deserve an award