‘Vanderpump Rules’ Season 11 Recap: The Summer of Traitors (2024)

The time has come to say goodbye to Season 11 of Vanderpump Rules, a season that has left viewers with a lot to think about, since many of the cast's alliances that were meant to stick together didn't. This was supposed to be the season that would finally see a Tom Sandoval takedown after creating the biggest scandal on the internet last year. Season 11 saw multiple cast members admonish him for hhow he had been towards many of them during the incident, especially Ariana Madix. However, it all changed pretty quickly, and breaking the fourth wall made even the cast realize who their true friendships were.

After what felt like the craziest year in Ariana Madix's life, she came into this season still reeling with emotions from finding out her ex-boyfriend Tom Sandoval had cheated on her with Rachel Leviss and being on Dancing with the Stars. She relied a lot on her friends for a shoulder to lean on, since emotions and feelings were still fresh, and having to go back to filming would open up wounds that she may have been trying to heal. Viewers were excited to experience the aftermath of "Scandoval" and how the girls would handle this season. Yet, it showed how producers and even the cast themselves could heavily manipulate a season; they've been on TV for so long that they think they know what viewers want more than viewers themselves.

Lala Kent and Scheana Shay especially disappointed many viewers after a season that felt like they were looking only to forgive Sandoval because they had to film with him. Every cast member knew their loyalties lay at the beginning of the season, and some were quick enough to change their perspectives because they were only thinking about what would be better for them. This season has proven that it's time to give a show a break and how disconnected these people are from reality, but one thing that won't change is how everyone knows that James Kennedy is now the number one guy in the group — sorry, Jax Taylor and the Toms!

Vanderpump Rules

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'VPR's Season Finale Breaks the 4th Wall as Scandoval Drama Boils Over'Vanderpump Rules' Cast: See How the SURvers Have Changed From Season 1 to Now'Vanderpump Rules' Season 11: Where to Get Lala Kent's Outfits — FemestellaVanderpump Rules Season 11 Finale: Cast Members Turn On Ariana Madix For Refusing To Film With Tom Sandoval

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Best known as one of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, Lisa Vanderpump opens the salacious kitchen doors of her exclusive Hollywood restaurant and lounge, SUR.

Release Date

January 7, 2013

Cast

Lisa Vanderpump , Katie Maloney , Scheana Shay , Tom Sandoval

Main Genre

Reality TV

Seasons

10

When the season started, the focus was mainly on Ariana trying to maneuver this new lifestyle of living with her ex, opening a restaurant with Katie, being on Dancing with the Stars, and learning how to go about her every day with her friends by her side after going through such heartbreak. Everybody was still Team Ariana; at the time, Tom Schwartz was trying to have a friendship with the girls while also sneaking in updates Sandoval's actions. In the beginning, Ariana had made it clear to everyone that she in no way wanted to have a friendship or even a relationship with Sandoval. She wanted everyone to respect that and even started by saying that if any of them wanted to become friends with him, then she would take that as her cue to step aside from the friendship and not be involved. These feelings are 100% valid because, again, this was still fresh for her, and even though she was keeping herself busy, she is still one of the most followed reality stars. Anything she did would be covered in the news, and she would not have a sense of peace until she was alone.

The girls all started to be Ariana's allies. They were quick to shut down anything that came towards them that was negative towards Ariana, like Tom Schwartz calling her a "queen" and the one that was controlling everything. In reality, she was stating her input on how she would feel if she were to go on a trip with Tom Sandoval. Still, behind closed doors or in every confessional, the truth always came out, specifically with Lala Kent and Scheana Shay. During the first episode, the tone of the season was set by having Lala as its narrator and "voice of reason," which just seemed like she was the producer's pawn or the master manipulator of the whole season. Viewers started to question Lala's true intentions early on in the season when she decided to extend an olive branch to Rachel Leviss after she didn't return for the season. This is a surprise because she was very vocal about her feelings towards her during the Season 10 reunion, and the sudden change didn't look believable.

Lala's blind eye policy towards Rachel, was seemingly also adopted with regard to Sandoval. Her demeanor started to change, which was another opening for Scheana to change her ways toward Sandoval, mentioning that he was her best friend and someone who was there for her during the pandemic. Scheana started to show signs she was cracking under the pressure of being Team Ariana and began to make the scandal and the season about her.

Lala Kent and Scheana Shay

Ariana started this season by having her girlfriends by her side to continue supporting her as her ride-or-dies. She even said at an event she thought the whole season that she and the girls were acting as versions of The Spice Girls. Her reality was very different from everyone else's, and it's sad to see how she thought all the support was on her side. Yet, two of the people who went the hardest against Tom Sandoval and Rachel Leviss were the two people who were starting to change what they thought about them. After Lala tried calling Rachel and was left on read, her forgiving intentions shifted towards Sandoval.

Scheana started acting as if she was the one who had gotten cheated on last season; she did state that the attention the scandal received accentuated her postpartum OCD, but instead of being able to have a conversation with Ariana about it, she decided to start feeling guilt over her lost friendship with Sandoval. Scheana's guilt and suffering was shown the most during the group's trip to Tahoe for the opening of Lisa Vanderpump's new restaurant, Wolf by Vanderpump. Tom Schwartz was the one who handled this trip, and he wanted it to be an olive branch between the group and Sandoval. In many ways, this worked because there were many situations in which Scheana felt that he had changed. She could "have her friend back," which can be a reality. Still, with her building that relationship, she decided to tell Ariana her true feelings of missing that friendship, which did not work in her favor because she pushed for a conversation with Sandoval that would never happen.

The season progressed with some cast members quickly forgiving Sandoval for his actions and forcing Ariana to talk to him. Katie Maloney was one of the first to call out Lala when she aggressively told Ariana to let go of everything and talk to Sandoval. Katie very quickly shut her down, arguing to be supportive of Ariana's healing journey since it may be different from the situation Lala went through with her ex, Randall Emmett. It was obvious Lala might have felt jealous of the support Ariana received when she got cheated on when she went through a similar situation with much less public support.

Ariana's mindset about how she would handle people being friendly with Sandoval evolved as the season moved on. She stated that she would stay friends with them, but for her sake, she would never want to have a conversation with him. It seemed Scheana didn't understand that because she kept asking Ariana if she would talk to him for her, and she clearly said, "I wouldn't talk to him even for you, babe. I'm sorry." Scheana was visibly bothered by her plan to get the two of them to talk not working. Not only was Scheana very vocal about her feelings towards Sandoval changing, but she was also vocal at how annoyed she was that she didn't get to be on Dancing with the Stars.

‘Vanderpump Rules’ Will Be on Pause After Season 11

Throughout the season, confessionals show how Lala and Scheana truly felt about Ariana and all the opportunities she received after the scandal. The problem during this season is not that they are not getting along and not wanting to film, but that they are acknowledging that they have to film, making them separate themselves from reality and not show their true selves. Lala spent the whole season and even the three-part reunion campaigning that everyone needed to be as honest as she had been. This is somewhat ironic, given she has been the most dishonest on the series, never truly opening up about her situation with her ex, both before and after they started dating.

It was obvious that Lala wasn't trying to be authentic when she took the fact that Ariana hadn't watched the season before the reunion to her advantage by pretending as if they were a team. Ariana was misled during the reunion after seeing how her friends truly felt about her during a final, un-aired scene, making her rethink her friendships with them. Having the cast watch the final minutes during the reunion allowed for a more honest reaction to the "She's not Beyoncé or God" comment that Lala made, and was a good way for Ariana to see what was happening behind her back. Lala attempted to make Ariana look like the villain throughout the season, but even Lisa Vanderpump agreed that Ariana needed to remove herself from the situation between her and Tom.

This season may have felt like a drag to many, but opening viewers' eyes to why the cast needed a break from being on television and moving on with their lives was necessary. They have spent the last decade being followed by cameras, and it's starting to take a toll on some of them. As Andy Cohen said at the end of the reunion, "May they continue having the best days of their lives."

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