Destroyer of Worlds
Episode 7 of Pam & Tommy begins in May 1996 with Rand continuing to hide out. His constant calls to Miltie attracts the attention of Erica, especially when the phone bill comes back. When she fails to get a straight answer from Rand, she demands Rand leave by the end of the week. Miltie continues to live it up in Amsterdam, snorting drugs and leaving Rand in deep trouble with the mob. With Butchie unable to find Miltie, he instead turn their attention to Rand and decides to bring him in instead. And it doesn’t take long for them to find him. Rand reveals that Miltie has left with all the money, leaving Butchie to force Rand into paying up instead. If not, he’s going to be in the world of trouble. Butchie breaks the news to him that Amsterdam is not the diamond capital, given we know that it’s actually the drug and hooker capital. Putting two and two together, Rand realizes he’s been swindled. In order to try and stop Butchie from killing him, Rand sends a type-written message across to Tommy, asking to meet with exactly half of the $50k he wants. Meanwhile, Pam its on a brave face to do her PR interviews for her new movie. The trouble is, one of the reporters catches her off-guard and asks about the lawsuit and the sex tape. She’s quick to point out she and Tommy are victims and not – as this reporter suggests – part of an elaborate PR stunt to rekindle their fame. Unfortunately, this tape is brought up on The Tonight Show too, as Jay Leno continues to push Pam’s buttons and probe over what’s happening with it. The initial comedic edge he adopts soon whiplashes to one of poignancy as Pam mentions how devastating this has been for them. Tommy is hot under the collar and looks set to charge onto stage afterwards too. Only, Pam stops him and tells her partner he needs to be strong and allow her to go it alone. Tommy shows up at the parking lot where Rand confronts him. Tommy calls him a loser and gives a scathing assessment of the man’s life. Tommy is also quick to point out that Pam doesn’t deserve this. Although he thinks about handing the cash over, instead he burns it and throws it over the fence. Rand eventually shows up to see Butchie, who hands over a bat and tells Rand that he’s going to work as a loan collector for them now. Rand can’t do it though, struggling to do Butchie’s bidding and eventually heading home empty-handed. There, he speaks to Erica and reveals the truth about the tape. She’s absolutely livid and demands he leave, pointing out the lack of ethics involved in this decision. With nowhere else to go, he heads over to Albert’s place – the guy who owes money to Butchie – and beats him down. Rand is desperate and demands the guy cough up the money or there will be trouble. The Penthouse verdict comes in but unfortunately the judge throws the case out. The judge has ruled in favour of Penthouse given they’ve used their first amendment rights and they can’t counterargue that. Pam is disgusted and distraught, pointing out that the law is against her and her body; essentially the press are slut shaming her. Despite Pam’s movie premiere going ahead, whispers from numerous punters and reporters continues to bring the subject back to her sex tape. There’s a rift growing between her and Tommy too, and it’s clear that Pamela is suffering from depression. The pair are weathering a storm and right now it seems unclear whether they’ll make it through to the other side unscathed or not.
The Episode Review
Pam and Tommy returns with its penultimate episode, with Pam going through the wars and struggling to actually make good on her career promises. With whispers continuing to circulate about her tape, and the Penthouse gig thrown out shockingly quickly, the subject of ethics is examined here. Then again, the irony with this is that Pam and Tommy in itself is a show that Pamela Anderson has clearly stated she won’t watch and isn’t exactly happy about, so there’s definitely some poetic irony there. This episode does show how desperate Rand has become and what a world of trouble he’s in. At the same time, the episode highlights an issue that’s plagued Pam & Tommy from the start – it’s overlong. The same story could have been told in less time and despite the visuals and style living and breathing the 90’s, the story itself could have done with some tightening up.
