The season finale of Vanderpump Rules ended with a cast divided. In the final scene of the May 7 episode, Tom Sandoval approached his ex, Ariana Madix, hoping to have a conversation. She shot him down by swiftly exiting the venue with her new man, Daniel Wai.
The dramatic exit elicited strong feelings from several cast members. Sandoval criticized his ex for not pulling her weight on the show, stating, “If you don’t want to film with your ex, don’t be on the show.”
Lala Kent echoed Sandoval’s take, suggesting Ariana was being hypocritical.
“It’s bullsh*t that she can’t film with someone that she stays under the same roof [as],” she said. “It’s a lot that she’s saying, ‘Don’t f*ck with Tom Sandoval … but I’m going to sleep down the hall from Tom Sandoval.”
Scheana Shay, who had Ariana’s back after the cheating scandal, now appeared to agree with Sandoval and Lala. She agreed that Ariana’s boundaries were “unfair.”
After hearing out the cast, I can’t say I’m convinced that Ariana was in the wrong. Let’s take a look at the situation from Ariana’s point of view.
Here are all the reasons I’m still on Team Ariana…
She did film with her ex
The cast’s biggest critique of Ariana is that she refused to film with Sandoval. But wait, didn’t she? Sure, she won’t have a one-on-one conversation with him but she didn’t avoid him completely. They attended the same pool parties, showed up at the same events, and even sat across from each other on a beach day.
The cast has accused her of not pulling her weight for the show but she has continuously put herself in situations where she has to interact with her ex-boyfriend. I would call that being a team player. I’m sure it’s traumatic to film with a man who snuck around with your close friend for 7 months but she did it for the sake of the show. Lala doesn’t have to go on cast trips with Randall Emmett. Scheana doesn’t have to eat pizza and sip soda across from Michael Shay. She’s in a difficult situation and they aren’t cutting her enough slack.
She doesn’t have to assist in Sandoval’s redemption arc
Ariana spoke about her decision to walk away from the conversation with Sandoval in a confessional. She made a great point that the conversation would only serve him and do nothing for her and her arc on the show.
“Whatever it is that Tom is trying to get from me, it’s not for me, it’s for him,” she said. “I am the final boss in his video game of redemption and because he can’t get to the final boss, he’s f*cking pissed.”
Mic drop! Sandoval keeps trying to rush Ariana’s grieving process because if she forgives him, others may follow. He makes comments about how he is willing to move forward but she isn’t willing to let it go. Well, yeah, it happened to her. You are the one who had the affair, Sandoval.
She doesn’t have to be the ‘perfect victim’
Whenever Lala criticizes Ariana, she points to Ariana’s newfound success as a reason she shouldn’t be angry or hurt. First of all, brand deals don’t mend broken hearts and secondly, the statement has a strange implication. Would the cast only have sympathy for her if she wasn’t doing well? If she couldn’t get out of bed every morning would the cast be less sympathetic to Sandoval? Ariana has managed to turn lemons into lemonade but that doesn’t mean she needs to break bread with her cheating, lying ex-boyfriend. Duh! The statement suggests that she would only deserve sympathy if she “lost” the breakup. That makes no sense to me.
I felt disappointed in the female cast members watching the Season 11 finale of Vanderpump Rules. Both Lala and Scheana have been involved in cheating scandals and I thought they would be sympathetic to Ariana’s feelings this season. The cast is clearly divided, which could greatly affect the future of the show. While I am unsure what the future holds for VPR, I know for sure I am still Team Ariana.
TELL US – WHAT DID YOU THINK OF THE VANDERPUMP RULES FINALE? DID YOUR FEELINGS ABOUT ARIANA MADIX CHANGE?
