James Kennedy is reunited with Graham Cracker, the Goldendoodle that his ex Rachel Leviss had to give up when she went into a treatment facility after Scandoval. “I never thought that I’d be able to be with Graham again. I let that love go such a long time ago and I’ve had to just erase him from my mind,” he says.
James claims that he was the one who took care of Graham and “was the best dad.” He smothers the dog with love, because he’s so cute and floofy.
In a confessional, he states that he doesn’t know how his girlfriend Ally Lewber is going to handle the news that they’re now going to live with his ex’s dog. “Guess we just gotta deal with it,” he says, meaning Ally will have to deal with it.
Ariana Madix and Katie Maloney plan for their non-existent shop
Ariana Madix and Katie Maloney talk about setbacks for their sandwich shop There’s Something About Her. Apparently, someone pooped on their patio. “We really wanted to open by the end of this month, but there’s just so much logistical red tape that the city keeps throwing at us. And like, I would ask, who do I have to blow at City Hall to grease the rails a little bit but it’s West Hollywood. They’re all gay,” Ariana tells the cameras.
Katie reveals that she’s not going on the Tahoe trip that her ex Tom Schwartz has planned and states that she doesn’t even have FOMO about it. “I’m not even sure Tom Schwartz thinks it’s a good idea that he’s trying to bring everyone together.”
It turns out that Ariana has refused to go either. “I’m not going to be loyal to people who don’t reciprocate [my boundaries],” she tells Katie.
Ally Lewber just can’t shake Rachel Leviss
James brings Graham home to Ally Bally. Their cat Banks meows in displeasure. Ally asks if Rachel knows about the situation and James doesn’t give a poopy. Although Ally expresses sympathy for Rachel losing her dog, she says in a confessional, “It’s not the ideal situation. Last year I had to deal with her so much and now she’s gone and her dog’s here and I’m like, damn, I can’t really get rid of this girl, can I?”
Graham barks at Banks, who is hiding behind a glass door and Ally is worried the dog will maul her cat. James reassures her that Graham just nips but doesn’t hold on, which doesn’t comfort Ally. On the other hand, James is worried that the cat will scratch the dog. The parents are taking their own kids’ sides, which doesn’t bode well for their relationship.
The Toms are shopping for Lake Tahoe and everything is expensive. They talk about how Raquel changed her name back to Rachel. Tom confesses he knew she was out of the mental health facility and tells Schwartz that he texted her but he got no response.
“I think once I didn’t hear from Rachel on my birthday, I started to really think that something was going on and that she was purposely not talking to me,” Sandoval shares in a confessional.
Schwartz tells his BFF that he needs to move on and that the Tahoe trip will help. “I’m bringing my cheery happy energy,” Sandoval says. Then he asks the store if they have any knives.
Sheana Shay and Brock Davies have marital issues
Scheana Shay and her husband Brock Davies go shopping for Tahoe as well because she hasn’t completely written off the Toms despite being Ariana’s ride-or-die. It is camera time, after all.
However, despite her enthusiastically shopping for extra-small bikinis, she tells the cameras that she has anxiety staying in the same house with wormy mustache guy. “Is he gonna try and talk to me? Is Ariana gonna be upset? I care about her feelings but I wanna go on this trip,” she says. Being a flip-flopper is not easy.
She and Brock have an argument through the dressing room door about her inability to leave Summer Moon with a rando nanny who’s not her mom. Brock tells her she has mommy issues. Scheana points out that it’s weird to fight in a clothing store, despite the cameras obviously filming them for a reality show.
The group plus Graham goes to Lake Tahoe
Despite being sent to a kill shelter, Graham is now living a life of luxury and is heading to Tahoe in Lisa Vanderpump’s PJ. That’s short for private jet, in case you plebians didn’t know. Ken Todd is snoring in his seat because old people like to take naps. The rest of the scrubs fly commercial.
Lisa FaceTimes with the Toms and gives Sandoval advice to be cool with the group so that they accept him. Unsurprisingly, he starts to cry. Then he cries in a confessional. “Just Scheana saying hi to me in the airport like that, it just felt like a hint of acceptance,” he cries.
The Vanderpump Group (minus Katie and Ariana) are settling into their rooms in Tahoe. Scheana starts nagging Brock about him tossing his dirty clothes on the floor.
She makes fun of him for washing his tighty-whities with a pink shirt, which turned his underwear pink. “Maybe just don’t do the laundry. I tell you, don’t do something if you’re gonna f*** it up. I will do it properly,” she tells her child husband.
Brock argues with her but it’s hard to take him seriously when he’s wearing a long zig-zag caftan with hot pink swim briefs.
However, he chooses to have a serious convo with Sandoval despite his questionable attire. Brock tells the dude that he messed things up within the friend group. Sandoval responds by saying he and Rachel didn’t mean to cause any harm with their affair. “But we felt like things were done towards us with very specific malicious intent,” he tells a flabbergasted-looking Brock.
Sandoval fails to stick up for Rachel Leviss
In a confessional, Sandoval plays the victim and talks about how the group came after him, selling merchandise to profit off of Scandoval and talking badly about him on podcasts. He says, “This is something we need to mutually move on from together.”
Lisa comes with Graham and then leaves abruptly because she apparently has better things to do than hang out with a bunch of Millenials. James hints to the group that he has the dog because Rachel is not equipped to handle him. Sandoval doesn’t defend Rachel because:
“I know what James is saying in regards to Graham is not the case,” Sandoval tells viewers. “But James is not in the headspace to hear what I have to say right now and I definitely don’t need to be making any waves.”
Everyone visits Lisa’s new restaurant-in-progress “Wolf” while it’s in the demo process. In a completely new, never-before-done TV scene, they take a sledgehammer and bust open the walls while screaming out their demons. “Scumbag and cheaters!” Sandoval yells while railing at a wall. “Worm with a mustache! Charles Manson’s son!” FYI, those were all the things he was called after Scandoval and apparently, he’s been salty about it.
The group wants Sandoval to take accountability for his actions but he keeps yelling catchphrases surrounding his scandal. “James Kennedy!” “Motherf***ing Scandoval!”
Lisa does a Real Housewives of Beverly Hills move and then asks James over dinner how he feels about Sandoval in hopes of getting a good scene. There’s awkwardness but it’s clear they’re not falling for her tricks like the other housewives and they don’t answer.
James Kennedy becomes the most reasonable one of the group
Sandoval asks James to have a talk. “When it went down, I was, like, scared to talk to you. Like, it just was like, so overwhelming.” James responds by telling him that it didn’t make it right for him and Rachel to betray everyone.
“I never, and nor did she mean to like, hurt anybody,” Sandoval tells James. “Nobody wants to hurt anybody but you knew it would,” the DJ snaps back. James then reveals that he is smarter than he looks when he points out that Sandoval could have worked things out with Rachel if he had just ended things with Ariana first.
“I mean, it just comes down to not being able to like, man up and, like, leave the relationship,” James says, not unreasonably.
James asks if all the heartache was worth it, to which Sandoval says, “I don’t know.” Hindsight is a b***h. “It wasn’t just about being with Rachel. It was also getting out of a relationship that I know wasn’t suiting my life. The path that I was on was not a good path. It needed to change.”
Out of all the guys in VPR, it’s sad that James trusted Sandoval not to betray him. Although, it’s weird that he would trust his ex-girlfriend’s ex-boyfriend. Yeah, you need a Venn diagram to understand the group’s dynamics.
“You were meant to be the most trustworthy. You were the guy,” James inexplicably tells Sandoval. In a confessional, James describes Sandoval as “the last person in Hollywood that was gonna f*** me over.”
Sandoval is sad and sorry. James misses the old times. Sandoval tells him they’ll work through their issues. With this group, it won’t be surprising if they sweep things under the rug for old times’ sake.
