“Pam & Tommy” hinged its eight-episode narrative on the recreation of real-life events that took place in the lives of the couple, while making a few creative choices to bring more dynamism to the story as a whole. While some parts of the series, especially the later episodes, put forth a scathing commentary on several issues — including how the media treated women at the time, being distastefully invasive about something innately personal — the overall vibe does come off as exploitative, sensationalized for shock value.
However, this is not to argue that “Pam & Tommy” does not have its merits, but the show demands a more nuanced conversation in terms of how it chose to portray Pamela and Tommy’s story. There’s, of course, the case of Rand Gauthier (Seth Rogen), who is granted a semi-redemptive arc by the end, which, when matched against his actions, seems utterly unearned. Nevertheless, while “Pam & Tommy” followed the limited series format, Stan believes that the show was capable of exploring more and delving deeper into the story:
“I think we could always have explored it more and deeper. You could have made another eight episodes, even going further into the story. But I feel we came at it with the best intentions and we really tried, given the allotted time, to do our best with what was given to us as actors.”
Of course, that doesn’t mean there will be a second season. When pressed on whether or not a second season will actually happen, Stan said: “I don’t know. I’ll have to think about that. I’m not sure actually, at this point.”
While a season 2 does not really seem to be in the works, this is most definitely for the best, given that “Pam & Tommy” was made (ironically) without Anderson’s consent, or any kind of involvement on her part, for the matter. Continuing the story not only does not serve any narrative purpose but also furthers the show’s intrinsically divisive nature and treatment of its core subject matter.
