Scheana Shay Has Become the Star of ‘Vanderpump Rules’

Vanderpump Rules shines in the shades of gray. After weeks of stagnation, the group have finally found a way forward by tossing aside their expected archetypes and embracing the unknown.

This season of VPR has struggled immensely to follow up the explosive Scandoval affair, and it’s in large part because reality isn’t simple, nor does it follow a linear narrative. Sometimes, the story we tell in our heads is antithetical to what truly plays out. Pre-season, Ariana Madix rose out of the ashes as the new star of Vanderpump Rules, showing how to make lemonade out of the most sour lemons—something she attempts to exemplify in this week’s episode.

But on screen, the real star isn’t Ariana, or even Tom Sandoval. It’s the supporting characters, particularly Scheana Shay. In Lake Tahoe, away from social media and podcast microphones, Scheana and Lala have had time to reassess, allowing the ladies to let their guards down. And the fourth wall has come all the way down, too. Vanderpump Rules is no longer pretending to be a show about servers or a friend group. This is a show about a group of microcelebrities contractually obliged to film together, and it only works when we embrace that.

Read more at The Daily Beast.