#Love Is A Losing Battle In The Latest Pam & Tommy

This is the most Rand-heavy episode we’ve seen in a while. The once-triumphant thief is already being brought low by the pitfalls of the free market that let him sell the honeymoon tape in the first place. Early in the episode, he stalks past a guy hawking knock-off tapes in the parking lot of Tower Records to pitch the store manager on selling the real deal. What makes his version different, the man asks. “The difference is I was first, man,” Rand says, clearly furious at his quickly dissolving power. The video store guy answers with some sage advice: “You know, David Bowie once said, don’t be the first to do anything. And I bet he wasn’t even the first to say it.”

Rand talks a lot about karma, but doesn’t seem to recognize that he now seems to be receiving a heaping dose of his own. Butchie, the tape’s mobster financier played by Andrew Dice Clay, catches up to Rand in this episode, too. He makes the guy choke down vodka-soaked cherries while questioning him about where Miltie’s gone. Until now, Rand seemed pretty sure his buddy was doing international work for the project, which he clearly wasn’t. That facade comes crashing down when Butchie hilariously yells at Rand that Antwerp is the diamond capital of the world, while Amsterdam, where Miltie is hiding out, is notorious for its drugs and sex workers.

By the time Rand realizes his business partner has ghosted, it’s too late. Rand owes Butchie tens of thousands of dollars, and the guy makes him pay it off by becoming a certified shady henchman. This is apparently a thing that happened to the real Rand, too; in the “Rolling Stone” article that provided the foundation for the show, Gauthier told interviewers that “knees are a little harder to break than most people think.” Jesus. Anyway, Seth Rogen’s version of Rand doesn’t acclimate well to the shakedown business, so he decides to go after his own personal big fish instead: Tommy.

Rand meets Tommy in a parking lot while Pam takes a night away at a hotel. “What’s up, lover-cup?” he chirps when she tries to call and check on him. His attitude is much darker when he finally comes face to face with the guy who ruined his life, though. Rand asked for a specific amount of money, the amount Tommy owed him for contract work in the first place. Tommy shows him the money, and then lights it on fire in front of his eyes — but not before calling him “a bottom, a beta, a chump, a b**ch.” In a fantastic scene later on, Rand’s ex Erica finds out about his involvement with the tape and kicks him out. Oddly, her scorn doesn’t seem to hit the guy as hard as Tommy’s does now.

I’m not sure who we’re meant to feel bad for here, until the two standoffish men lay out the entire thesis of the show in just a few lines. “Well, you’re a bad person,” Rand tells Tommy. “Yeah, maybe,” Tommy answers, unbothered by the accusation. “Maybe I am. But what about Pamela?”