In his act of revenge against Tommy Lee, Rand Gauthier not only stole his safe, but also illegally sold his private tape with Pamela Anderson to establish a profitable network with the help of the world wide web. The previous three episodes followed the causes of hostility between Tommy and Rand and chronicled the love story of Pam and Tommy, who faced the repercussions of Rand’s revenge in “Pam & Tommy” Episode 4.
Looking at the previous episodes, one may have high hopes for “Pam & Tommy” Episode 4. However, it doesn’t carry forward the plot any further and instead moves in circles, making the narrative a bit dull and without much laughter (considering it’s a comedy-drama show).
The only takeaway from Episode 4 is how Pamela is affected as soon as the revelations about the tape hit her, which, to be honest, was already suggestive in Episode 3. We hoped that Episode 4 would provide much more insight into Pam’s struggle to become a serious actor, but maybe the creators are holding it for future episodes. However, the disaster has already hit the screen, and the emotional plight won’t be much of a savior for the series.
The Tape That Derails Everything
Soon after the marriage, Pam and Tommy started trying to have kids, and in Episode 3, Pam finally gets the good news from the doctor regarding her pregnancy. However, the couples’ happiness is short-lived.
Tommy feels that Pam’s ultrasound is a cherished memory and it belongs in his precious safe, only to find out that the safe is long gone. He quickly reports the matter to the police, and while Tommy is listing his guns and jewelry to the officers, Pam remembers the unlabeled tape that Tommy kept inside it.
At Pam’s insistence, Tommy connects with a private detective, Anthony Pellicano, who quickly figures out that the carpenter who installed the CCTV cameras at their house could have probably stolen the safe too. Without any further ado, Anthony pays a visit to Rand and tries to threaten him, but Rand refuses to share anything.
In a short moment, Pam, already having nightmares due to overthinking about the tape, finds a few men from the camera department playing it on the sets of Baywatch. She freaks out and runs to Tommy for help, and finally, the couple sees the website dedicated to them.
Anthony assures them that he will deal with the matter to the best of his talent, and Tommy is quite confident of it, but Pamela has a lot of things at stake. She tries to express the same to Tommy, which creates a conflict between the two because Tommy literally doesn’t understand what a leaked tape means to a woman.
Pam’s fears and worries, however, not only disrupt her mental peace, but also result in her miscarriage, which causes visible tension in their marriage and fuels Pam’s rage, which she unleashes on a paparazzi following the couple during their tragic moment.
For a person who has been hit with a tragedy, a moment like that may seem like the end of the world, but for the media, which runs on gossip and probes into the personal lives of celebrities, finds it really credible when a movie star loses his/her cool and reacts in a certain manner, in which they are not allowed to, but their reactions are totally human. What will happen next is that the news of Pamela attacking the paparazzi will flood the newspapers and screens, but no one will even dare to ask the other side of the story because they can’t sell sanity and reasonability, but only gossip.
The Hypocrite Hustler
Rand Gauthier acts like an excited kid from the neighborhood who has high hopes and dreams, speculates easily and expects in abundance, yet does nothing to achieve it and always looks for easy bucks. Following his true nature, Rand pitched the idea of selling Pam and Tommy’s tape online, but his Karma laughed upon him as he never received his fair share of profit and his partner, Uncle Miltie, kept it all.
Rand needed money to pay for the alimony because he hadn’t yet given divorce to his estranged wife, Erica. Though Rand tells himself that he will give divorce to Erica as soon as Miltie remunerates him, at the back of his head, Rand knows that he is still in love or obsessed with Erica.
The events of “Pam & Tommy” Episode 4 make Rand not only vulnerable but also attack him from all sides. At first, Anthony Pellicano knocks on Rand’s apartment door and thrashes him to force him to return the stolen tape. Later, when Tommy finds out that Rand is already selling the tapes, he contacts the biker gang, which pays a visit to Miltie’s workshop, Ingley Studios, looking for Rand. They also visit Rand’s house, from which Rand escapes from the back door and runs to Erica’s apartment to save himself from Tommy’s wrath.
On the other hand, Uncle Miltie finds the right moment to leave town and escapes to Amsterdam, leaving behind Rand to deal with the crooks and police.
It is the genius of Seth Rogen to pull off a character like Rand Gauthier, who in one of the scenes preaches to a bootlegger not to illegally sell tapes of Pam and Tommy in Tower’s Records’ parking lot. He tells the person that whatever he is doing is illegal and unethical, and the audience can very well sense that Seth Rogen is not preaching to the vendor but telling himself (or Rand), who established an empire by selling off someone’s privacy, which could destroy a person’s life.
The upcoming episodes “Pam & Tommy” will increase the threats to Rand’s life. At the same time, Pamela will face the consequences of her impulsive aggression, which will probably result in negative publicity and harm her upcoming film release, Barb Wire. However, what will be more dramatic is to see how these losses and rejections will affect Pam and Tommy’s marriage as they finally fall apart.
‘Pam & Tommy’ Episode 4 is streaming on Hulu.
