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Episode 2

By Deborah Jin 

Today, I will be reviewing the show Vanderpumps Rule. This is a reality TV show based on Lisa Vanderpump’s restaurant, SUR, in West Hollywood, California. Her restaurant is a raunchy, high-end lounge where all the servers and bartenders are building their careers in future show business in the heart of Los Angeles. The overall show follows her employees through their own personal adventures that they hope to pursue while working at SUR and also their interpersonal drama within the restaurant environment. I chose this show because it reminded me of another reality show I watched before called Selling Sunset. That show is about employees at the Oppenheim Group in LA as well. The shows are very similar in the way they follow drama between the employees and also their own personal lives, which is why this show really interested me. 

The main group of employees that Vanderpump Rules follows in the first season are Scheana, who is a new server that joins SUR, and Stassi, Kristen, and Katie and their boyfriends, Jax, Tom Sandoval, and Tom Schwartz, respectively. There is a lot of drama in the first season with the addition of Scheana. The workers at SUR have been working together for years and have formed a tight-knit group that is like family, so the arrival of Scheana starts some drama, especially with her past history that makes, specifically, Stassi, Kristen, and Katie all wary of her. 

I’ll be reviewing the second episode of season one of the show. Since it still is the opening of the show, we are still understanding the dynamic of the restaurant workers. We see more of their dynamic in and out of work. The main people we see in this episode are still Scheana, Stassi, Kristen, Katie, Jax, and both Toms.

Lisa Vanderpump is the owner of the restaurant in LA. She runs the whole restaurant and keeps her employees in check when they have drama in her restaurant. In the opening of the episode, we meet her business partner, Guillermo. If we were to see this relationship in society, we would assume that Guillermo is in charge because he is a man. However, we see in this scene that Guillermo is being pushed over by Lisa when she tells him that she wants to have a float during the Gay Pride parade in Santa Monica. Guillermo is hesitant at first because of finances, but eventually Lisa gets what she wants. In society, the stereotype that men are the ones who run businesses is challenged when we see Lisa act as such a powerful force. 

Because this show is set in the heart of LA, there are many gender and sexulaity stereotypes that it concedes to. All of the girls wear very revealing clothes as their uniform to work and in a one-on-one interview Kristen even mentions that the people that work there all have to be “hot” in order to sell the food. In another scene when the guys are being introduced we learn that Jax, Tom and Tom were roommates since they’ve worked at SUR. Tom praises Jax for sleeping with many girls when they were living together; he describes Jax as having a “rotating door” of girls in their apartment. This is the typical toxic masculinity that has become a norm and very prevalent especially in LA near Hollywood, which is where this is filmed. On the flip side of that, we learn about Scheana’s background as well. Scheana was on and off dating a famous actor, who apparently had a wife and two kids. She didn’t know about his family and was actually hurt because she really did have feelings for him. But when she comes to SUR, Stassi and all the other girls already know this about her and ostracize her before even getting to know her personally. Not only is she new, but she is bullied by a group of girls who have been together for years. This again feeds into the stereotype that girls’ reputations are usually the one’s getting tarnished for being too sexually wild when in reality the man was in the wrong for cheating. 

Stassi and Jax’s relationship is also focussed on because there has been a lot of drama since Scheana arrived. Because of Scheana’s past, Stassi’s insecurities take over and she gets very wary and jealous when she interacts with Jax at work.  When they argue with each other, Stassi being the girl in the relationship speaks up more and complains a lot about Jax’s mannerism, while Jax usually stays silent. He represents a clueless male who doesn’t know how to act in a relationship, while she is supposed to be the stereotype of the crazy girl who traps guys in a relationship. 

In this episode, the overall main event that is going on is the Gay Pride. SUR builds a float to be in the parade. That is where all the drama between the co-workers happens. This is an important part of the representation of the media that we have talked about in class. One important way to dismantle the stereotypes is to show more of what is considered “not normal” in order to strip away its inferiority reputation that having a normal standard has. There is a dominant identity within our social world. Being white, male, rich, and/or heterosexual will put you on a higher pedastal. Therefore, for many years these identities have become normalized by increased representation and visual exposure on the media. The more attention something has the more relevant and normal it becomes. So with more exposure the identities that have been discriminated upon will help change the stereotypes. 

This show has the same executive producers, some being Alex Baskin and Douglass Ross, as Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. Because the show needs to be eye-catching to keep viewers, the producers emphasize and over exaggerate the stereotypes since that’s what most people are used to. This can explain why so much of the characters and their personalities and actions rely the stereotypes.

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Episode 1

By Sierra Grossman

         In the first episode of season one in the reality TV show Vanderpump Rules, restaurant owner Lisa Vanderpump kicks off the series by describing the key differences of her two restaurants as “Villa Blanca is where you take your wife, SUR is where you take your mistress”. In the initial episode of the series, we are introduced to Vanderpump’s employees and their current ties and associations with SUR. We learn that Stassi is dating and living with bartender Jax, Katie is dating Tom Schwartz, who is also best friends with bartender Tom Sandovall, who is dating Kristen, who is best friends with Stassi and Katie. All these people work together at SUR, and many have had previous romantic or sexual histories with one another. In the episode, we are introduced to Scheana, who is a transfer from Villa Blanca to SUR. Scheana is desperate to fit in and be friends with the tight knit crew at SUR, but finds it is difficult when Stassi, the queen bee at SUR, finds out that Scheana “homewrecked” a marriage by sleeping with and having an affair with a married man for two years, ultimately causing his wife to file for divorce. This particularly does not sit well with Stassi, as she has dealt with infidelity from her partners in the past. From here on out, we begin to watch Stassi take the role of the jealous, insecure, yet beautiful blonde. In the episode, Sanderval mentions in a confessional, that “as confident and good looking as Stassi is, she is still insecure”,

          In the show, the main cast appears to be white, heterosexual, and cisgender. In this storyline, we mostly hear from the castmates that are women, as their drama seems to be the most enticing. The main episode’s storyline focuses on Stassi, who has the stereotypical attitude of the hot-blonde-mean-girl-head-cheerleader who always gets her way and is the center of attention. To counter it, we have Scheana, who is the sweet, lovable, but naïve brunette who just wants to be liked by Stassi and her crew. The duo gives off the same heated drama that is reminiscent of Sharpay versus Gabriella in the hit Disney movie series High School Musical. We also have Jax, who is your stereotypical meathead-player-bro. Together as a couple, him and Stassi move like Barbie and Ken. Fully accepting her role as a natural alpha, Stassi mentions “the girls are naturally drawn to me and the boys are naturally drawn to Jax, so we just kind of lead the pack”.

           From the first episode alone, you can already tell you are in for a raunchy ride. There is an unsaid emphasis on the fact that sex sells in the restaurant. The women’s uniforms are “barely there” backless mini dresses that do not allow you to wear a bra. It is also not unusual for male bartenders to have most of their buttons on their shirt undone while working. When discussing new tactics to sell the specials on the menu, waitress Katie encourages her coworkers to describe the dishes like they are sex. Every person on the main cast conforms to the social norms and expectations that come with their sex and gender, specifically the LA norms of their gender. The boys are strong, muscular, and tan, while the girls are thin, and do their hair and make up everyday before work.

           In a meeting with her employees, Vanderpump addresses an issue within the restaurant. Vanderpump debates with her employees whether to continue to pull tips, or have her employees begin to walk with what they make that night to avoid the weaker servers from piggybacking off the stronger servers. Vanderpump goes on with the meeting by announcing how much money each of the servers made that night. Whether or not this was done for the shock value for TV’s sake, this ended up having political ramifications, as it began a hostile competition between servers, specifically the two main women, Stassi and Scheana, who continue to throw jabs at each other for the rest of the episode. Vanderpump Rules depicts the hierarchal and competitive relationships women hold with each other, especially in a working environment. 

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Character Overview

Lisa Vanderpump: Lisa made a start on the Bravo network as an OG member of the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. Vanderpump is a mega successful and rich business woman, and the owner of the restaurant SUR. Because of this factor, she has an extra hold on the reigns of her waitstaff, who all admire and respect her.  

Stassi: Stassi is a longstanding waitress at SUR. Despite not being the best server, Stassi gets away with a lot because she is friends with Vanderpump’s daughter. Stassi is a natural leader who is described to have “pretty girl syndrome” and it shows through her work place dynamic and relationships. 

Jax: A notorious stud. Jax is Stassi’s boyfriend of two years. Jax is a stereotypical LA player who finds himself in hot water when cheating allegations begin to arise and create tension between him and Stassi.

Scheana: The new girl at SUR. Scheana has a hard time fitting in with the cliquey SUR crew when Stassi finds out that Scheana had an affair with a married man for two years, claiming she had no idea he had a wife, even though he was a popular actor. Stassi especially doesn’t like this because she had dealt with unfaithful men before and is currently dealing with rumors of Jax possibly cheating.

Katie: A level-headed server at SUR and also Stassi’s main sidekick. Katie is the supporting role for Stassi anytime drama unfolds. She is also dating Schwartz. 

Tom Schwartz: Schwartz is bestfriends with the whole SUR crew, most noticeably closest to Sandoval and his girlfriend Katie. Tom tries his best to land a job at SUR with the rest of the gang.

Kristen: The third part to Stassi’s triad. Lisa makes it known through snide remarks that Kristen is on thin ice with her job at SUR, and is constantly being sent home early for misbehaving. She is also dating Sandoval.

Tom Sandoval: A levelheaded bartender at SUR. Tom is notorious for opening the season by panicking that he cannot find his hairspray before work. Sandoval is known for being well groomed and polished and his musical talent. Sandoval is best friends with Tom Schwartz, and is also in a long time relationship with Kristen.