
‘Pam & Tommy’ – ‘Uncle Jim and Aunt Susie in Duluth’ – Review
Episode Five of Pam & Tommy has arrived on Disney+ and we’re getting into the juicy stuff as a media firestorm surrounds the hard-living A-list couple and we see the immense power of the internet and capitalism at play. And neither of them kind hide from those imposing duel shadows.
Following on from a tragic miscarriage and the loss of their unborn child, Pamela Anderson (Lily James) and Tommy Lee (Sebastian Stan) are left reeling and distraught from the grief. And then there’s the notion of the infamous tape that is beginning to circle the world and is growing into a viral hit. With Pamela’s career on the rise thanks to the impending release of her blockbuster film Barb Wire, the tape could not have been released at a worse time and a growing media storm is about to swallow these two celebrities whole.
Director Gwyneth Horder-Payton takes her turn behind the camera now and we’ve come to a very interesting new chapter in the saga of Pam & Tommy with Episode Five, ‘Uncle Jim and Aunt Susie in Duluth’ and the drama is about to hit home. Drawing on the emotional issues of the couple and the rising tension that this not-so-secret love tape is having on their relationship, it’s not a fun time to be Pamela Anderson or Tommy Lee and things quickly go from bad to worse in Episode Five. The drama is stacked high in ‘Uncle Jim and Aunt Susie in Duluth’ and we see how the uncontrollable nature of this viral media event fully comes to impact the two of them.
While Pamela’s career is about to hit the stratosphere thanks to the impending release of her blockbuster action movie Barb Wire, she’s also about to reach a whole new audience through a high profile piece in Glamour magazine, Tommy’s career is starting to flatten. Once the king of heavy metal and the Sunset Strip in the 1980s, his career is now flatlining due to the rise of grunge and he begins to take it out on Pamela and everyone around him. The added presence and uncontrollable nature of this tape only adds fuel to the fire and the couple get into it in multiple instances throughout the episode and stars Lily James and Sebastian Stan build out a considerable tension between the two characters. Each has their own needs and action on how they want to deal with the tape and things get bad for the couple quickly.
That badness comes in a growing media storm that surrounds the tape which is becoming an underground sensation due to the grey market economy that has sprung up around the tape and the ease of its distribution. From the high pedigree of the Los Angeles Times to the sensationalist comedy of noted late-night show host Jay Leno, everyone knows about the tape and Pamela and Tommy are the butt of every joke. But it’s when Penthouse founder Bob Guccione gets a hold of the tape that this firey story takes an even darker twist. And that’s when the knives really come out for Pamela and Tommy. As the arch-rival of Playboy’s Hugh Hefner, Guccione is ready to stick it to the famous couple and Hef at the same time and an army of lawyers don’t help, instead only pouring more fuel onto the fire.
The focus of ‘Uncle Jim and Aunt Susie in Duluth’ is very much on how Pamela and Tommy react to the firey media storm that has surrounded them. And the truth is they don’t deal with it well. While Pamela falls back into her meditation practices and Tommy just drinks his feelings away, there’s a brewing violent tension that slingshots back between the two of them and this episode gets volatile quickly. But even with their growing issues with one another, the two of them are still trying to stick it out together and for Lily James’ Pamela, this episode is one of serious character growth. Learning to stick up for herself, Pamela starts to bear her teeth and it becomes clear that she isn’t going to be pushed around by anyone anymore.
Episode Five of Pam & Tommy, ‘Uncle Jim and Aunt Susie in Duluth’ is the first time we see a real sense of drama erupt around the series title characters and it grabs you with the intensity of its expression. It’s about to get heavy in Pam & Tommy and all the love in the world isn’t about to stop the monster scandal that is about to devour these two lovers.
Pam & Tommy streams every Wednesday on Disney+
Image: Walt Disney Pictures