It’s hard to believe that it’s been three weeks since we learned about the relationship between Tom Sandoval and Raquel Leviss.
The world of Vanderpump Rules a lot has changed in that time, but the new episode airing on Bravo is a time capsule.
He chronicled the last few weeks in a simpler time, where Ariana Madix had no idea that her boyfriend of almost ten years was stalking one of her best friends.
It must have been hard for Ariana to watch the episode – especially the one that aired late at night.
Not clear exactly when Tom and Raquel’s relationship started — we’ll get that information during the reunion episode — but there’s a good chance the co-stars have entered the bone zone by the time Wednesday’s episode is filmed.
Sandoval recently cited the death of Ariana’s dog as one of the reasons he decided not to break up with her, and the purpose of the pool party last night was to help Madix move on after the dog’s death, so…
Anyway, at the time of the pool party, tensions were high because of the girls’ dangerous trip to Las Vegas to celebrate Katie Maloney’s divorce from Tom Schwartz.
Raquel has a panic attack caused by a mistake during the trip, but she feels brave at the pool party, and she locks horns with Lala Kent.
“[Leviss] should get his head checked,” Maloney said at the party, prompting Kent to call Leviss a “king’s fool”.
“Watching Raquel try to make up her mind is amazing. I don’t know what she thinks about me,” said Lala.
Mark of Irony : One of the things that bothers Lala is because Raquel insults her by calling her “mistress”.
Double irony alert: Ariana felt the need to come to Raquel’s defense and unwittingly stick up for the woman who hit the man!
“No, that’s cruel!” Ariana protested as she heard her friends messing with Raquel.
“It’s really hard for me to think that Raquel is fighting people and being crazy,” Madix said in the confessional section.
“I would think that Katie, Lala and Kristina treated Raquel as badly as they have treated everyone else.”
At the time, of course, Ariana had no idea what was happening – or would happen – between Raquel and Sandoval.
We’d say that Leviss felt guilty seeing Ariana defend him in last night’s episode, but regret is not in his wheelhouse.
All-in-all, the episode has plenty to advance Raquel’s villain arc, with the pageant queen getting on her moral high horse while spewing vitriol at Lala:
“You bully, you f–king pathetic, I don’t need this energy in my life,” Leviss told Kent.
“I’m finally studying with you. We will never be friends. You really give off a bimbo mistress vibe, and I can’t stand it.
In the weeks since Scandoval broke up, Lala has repeatedly insisted that she never liked Raquel or Sandoval.
After last night’s episode, we’re inclined to believe him!