Rand Gauthier, the man who ignited the fire and stole Pamela Anderson and Tommy Lee’s private tape, has been missing from the screen for the entire two episodes. But finally, “Pam & Tommy” Episode 7 brings him back and follows his story further as he faces his own Karma that knocks him down to teach him an important lesson on “consent.”
However, the irony of Rand’s character is that he is just like a grown-up kind who believes that he is the center of the world. He fails to put himself in other people’s shoes, and thus, no matter how much one teaches, preaches, or kicks him, he will never be able to comprehend Pamela’s situation. He will come up with big words and philosophy to convince people around him that whatever he did was right, but there is a loneliness in that kind of egotistical behavior, and people like Rand are destined to succumb to it. “Pam & Tommy” Episode 7 tries to trace these layers in Rand’s character through this episode while also slightly hinting at the irony of Pamela’s screen career. Hence, without any further ado, let’s explore what all happened in the episode.
See More: ‘Pam & Tommy’ Episode 6: Recap & Ending – The Legal Examination Of Pamela Anderson
The Release of Barb Wire
Pam and Tommy Episode 7 follows the events of May, 1996, which also marks the release of Pamela’s film, “Barb Wire.” As Pamela makes her rounds to different PR conferences and TV shows to promote her film, the reporters and TV hosts eagerly ask her about the stolen tape and her ongoing legal battle with Bob Guccione.
Pamela’s lawyer, Richard, informs Tommy and Pam that the judge has ruled in favor of Penthouse, probably after getting influenced by Guccione’s moving speech on freedom of the press. At this point, Pamela points out that she always knew that this would be the outcome and thus never ever wanted to drag Guccione into court, but Tommy got paranoid and messed it all up.
However, the question here is: Is a star or any other public celebrity not entitled to decide what happens to the pictures that they have not consensually authorized to be published in the public domain? Does being a celebrity mean that they are the property of the public, and everyone has the right to defame them in any way they see fit? While these are some serious questions that “Pam & Tommy” Episode 7 tries to put forward, ironically, in the real world, the answer is too complex, almost incomprehensible by most of us.
Throughout the episode, Pamela avoids the questions on her leaked tape, but each comment and each joke shakes her up emotionally. She tries to smile for the camera, but deep down, she wants to scream and cry loudly. She is even pregnant with Tommy’s other child and is taking everything in the best possible manner. But the tragedy here is that Pamela can’t act, and “Barb Wire” is not the perfect film either. At one point, she wanted to be an Oscar-worthy actor, but her choice of films and her talent didn’t support those ambitions or dreams. It’s a highly complex situation for an artist where each criticism pierces their soul, but they can’t do anything about it. It’s art and entertainment, and public opinion is all that matters sometimes. For Barb Wire, it failed both critically and financially.
At the end of “Pam & Tommy” Episode 7, Tommy Lee and Pamela sneak into a public theater to gauge the audience’s response and find them laughing at Pam’s dialogue delivery, even in the most intense scene. In the moment of distress, Tommy tries to lift her spirits, but until when?
The Karma Hits Rand Gauthier
Karma is a vicious circle where what goes around comes around. Rand believed that he was taking some sort of Karmic revenge by stealing from Tommy Lee and leaking the tape. But that’s not how it works, because he not only stole the tape but also leaked it to get financial gain.
In “Pam & Tommy” Episode 7, we finally see Rand again, who has been living in his wife Erica’s apartment after the goons hired by Tommy Lee raided Rand’s apartment. Rand has been rigorously trying to contact his partner in crime, Uncle Miltie, who took all the money and flew to Amsterdam, double-crossing both Rand and Butchie Peraino, the mobster who invested in their little illegal trade.
So far, the tape has been copied by numerous bootleggers who are selling these tapes illegally, and Peraino is suspicious of the entire network. Therefore, he wants his 50,000 dollars back. In Miltie’s absence, Peraino’s men pick up Rand and bring him in front of the crime boss, where Peraino finally reveals to him that he is not as bright as he thinks he is. Rand pretends like a nerd who knows it all but couldn’t figure out a simple thing like that Miltie stole all the money to spend on drugs and women in Amsterdam, and now Rand couldn’t do anything to get back his part of the share. Above all, he is responsible for Peraino’s money, and will kill him if he fails to return every cent.
Ironically, Rand still considers himself a victim in all this and writes a letter to Tommy Lee asking him for the money Tommy owes him. For one last time, Tommy does come to meet Rand and brings the money along, but instead of giving it to him, he burns it in front of Rand to make him realize that what he has done with Pamela is worse than anything imaginable and evidently beyond repair. Consciously, Tommy is aware of the fact that in his pursuit to take revenge from Tommy, Rand has destroyed Pam’s life, but yet Rand doesn’t realize or want to accept that he has done anything wrong.
In Erica’s apartment, Rand still has the nerve to blame Tommy Lee for everything, even his own actions. He finally confesses to Erica that he stole the safe from Tommy’s mansion and leaked the tape to make it into a profitable business. At this point, even Erica lectured Rand on the concept of consent, but it seems like Rand is not a man who can be preached to. He only knows one thing and one thing alone, which is to blame others for his own miseries, failures, or lack of courage. Until and unless he doesn’t realize his own mistake and take responsibility for his own actions, nothing will ever become right for him.
At the end of “Pam & Tommy” Episode 7, Rand becomes a thug for Peraino and thrashes a man, Albert, at his own house to recover Peraino’s money from him. While Rand beats up Albert, he blames him for getting him into this nasty business and points out to him that he has brought this wrath upon him. Every hit is a consequence of his own actions. Ironically, Seth Rogen is telling this to his character or Rand, whoever as a conscious human being wants to accept it.
Peraino threatens Rand to work him as a thug, and with that, all that dignity that Rand has been preserving to coax up his ego went down the drain the first time he hit a man with a bat.
‘Pam & Tommy’ Episode 8: Expectations
In Episode 4, Rand met a guy named Seth Warshavsky, the founder of Internet Entertainment Group, who harnessed the internet boom and started adult webcam shows for his users, from a warehouse in Seattle. In “Pam & Tommy” Episode 7, Seth and his company, IEG, struggle with stagnant traffic that compels him to find something intuitive that will bring millions of hits on his websites. But what? Well, if the show is about a leaked tape, then we all know where this will lead to, isn’t it?
Whatever Seth is planning (or has already planned) will act as a final blow to Pamela’s public image and might wreck it completely. It will also lead to divorce with Tommy Lee, and the reason for the separation might be domestic violence (in the series). In “Pam & Tommy” Episode 6, when Pamela recalls her days from the past, a flashback sequence establishes that she broke up with her boyfriend (Dan Ilicic) after he lost control and tried to hit her. Hence, the series has already sown the seed in the narrative, and in “Pam & Tommy” Episode 8, we will finally witness what it will grow into.
Though we all know how it is going to end for Tommy Lee and Pamela Anderson, we are just curious about the fate of Rand Gauthier, and whether he will ever realize his mistake or pay for his sins (in the series). Will he ever face judgment? The final episode of “Pam & Tommy” Episode 8 will finally reveal what the creators have in store for Rand.
‘Pam & Tommy’ Episode 7 is streaming on Hulu.
