'Pam and Tommy' Episode 8 Recap "Seattle"
Sometimes it's best to walk away.
As the series finale of Pam and Tommy, there is the expectation that a lot of loose threads will be wrapped up. What I didn’t expect was that meant the ending of everything.
Mötley Crüe is busy promoting their newest album, Generation Swine, at a familiar Tower Records location. Seems like the modest audience is enjoying the new record, but it’s hard to look past the small crowd standing nearby. They are wearing band shirts of some of the hottest acts in 1997 — bands like Rage Against the Machine, Alice in Chains, Nirvana, and Soundgarden. Mötley Crüe wasn’t built to survive this generational change and this would be a rude awakening for the band.
Meanwhile, Pamela is trying to get new gigs in the film industry following her flop with Barb Wire. Usually, one film wouldn’t kill a career, but the sex tape and the Penthouse magazine damaged Pamela’s image beyond repair. We learn that she was auditioning for 1997’s L.A. Confidential (the role she auditioned for went to Kim Basinger, who won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress.) Apparently, she was also considering “a James Bond spoof”, which ended up becoming Austin Powers starring Michael Myers and Elizabeth Hurley.
Rand is still doing work for Butchie Peraino, but it’s wearing on him. He asks Butchie for a way out and he’s offered one avenue of salvation, deliver $10,000, and then they’re even. There’s no way that Rand can come with that kind of money. Luckily for him, technology is about to take another leap.
Seth Warshavsky (Fred Hechinger) has made himself a nice little business, peddling webcam footage on the internet. The Internet has advanced enough that it’s possible to stream video and the results are good enough. After the Penthouse case made clear that showing footage from the tape was part of the freedom of speech awarded by the First Amendment, Warshavsky took it upon himself to distribute the tape on his website Clublove.com. Since he didn’t charge for access to the tape, he wasn’t profiting off it directly (of course the publicity would bring countless people to his website.) Millions of people were going to have free, unfiltered access to the tape. As the head of the Internet Entertainment Group, he was about to present Pam and Tommy with a business arrangement.
With the ease of use of the Internet, anyone was going to be able to access the footage from anywhere on the globe. Warshavsky explained to Pam and Tommy that it would be in their best interest to sell the tape to him. He could then profit off of it, but that would allow him to charge for it and legally go after anyone who distributed the tape elsewhere. In the early days of the Internet, that provided some comfort to Pamela, and she was prepared to take comfort wherever she could find it. (It’s nearly impossible to stop something from spreading on the internet nowadays.)
Pamela decided to sell the footage to IEG for free. She wasn’t about to let the optics show that she would profit off of her sex tape, but this didn’t sit well with Tommy. He’s not about to give that up for free.
One thing that keeps being repeated to Tommy, is that he should feel proud of the sex tape. He comes across as great in the footage and given his size, he could have a future in pornography if the whole music thing is done. That isn’t the same for Pamela. Her possible career has been damaged forever; she really doesn’t have any upside from this.
Pam and Tommy have another big argument, but this time it seems that Tommy is about to become physical with her. It’s a frightening scene and shows the violence that would eventually be the end of their marriage. According to Yahoo, this is one recorded instance:
Lee was arrested on February 24, 1995, after Anderson called the police and reported that her husband had kicked her in the back and buttocks three times as she cradled her son Dylan, who was 7 weeks old at the time. The incident occurred the same day as his arrest. According to the police report, Anderson had a broken finger and red marks on her back. Lee faced three felony charges of spousal abuse, child abuse and unlawful possession of a firearm. Three days after his arrest, Lee posted $500,000 bail and was freed. He was ordered not to contact Anderson or his children and to stay at least 100 yards from their house.
Tommy does sign the papers and Pamela believes that it’s the end of the sex tape in her life.
Once Warshavsky has the rights to the tape, he wants the original so he can have a better quality product. He’s going to have to reach Rand. Rand eventually hands over the tape for $10,000 and that makes him square with Peraino, but he decides to do something else with the money. He drops it off with his ex-wife Erica and tells her to use the money to finalize their divorce. The series lets him off with a grace note he doesn’t deserve.
Pamela, some years after giving birth to her son, is seen covering up a tattoo on her finger. Instead of saying Tommy, it’s now going to say, Mommy.
Finale thoughts
Pam and Tommy started out strong with Lily James capturing how the world saw Pamela Anderson. But it kind of fizzled as it went along, and ultimately it didn’t do so much to help Pam, but rather exploit her once again. There are multiple attempts made to make the audience feel for Pam; she never wanted any of this and it significantly damaged her career. It’s a shame then that the most significant power the showrunners give Pam is to silently accept her fate.
Pamela Anderson notably wanted nothing to do with the series and has since announced her own authorized documentary of her life for Netflix.
Pam and Tommy is a well-acted miniseries, but it really has nothing new to say about the ordeal. There’s a better series here about the beginning of pornography on the internet, but this isn’t it. [C]
Some brief ending tidbits and additional links are below the paywall.
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