‘Pam and Tommy’ Episode Six Recap: ‘Pamela in Wonderland’
"Mrs. Lee, do you recall how old you were the first time you publicly exposed your genitals?"
That's the intentionally hurtful and "disgusting" question a lawyer asks Pamela Anderson (as played by Lily James) early in the sixth episode of Pam & Tommy.
Much of "Pamela in Wonderland" finds Anderson subjected to a grueling pre-trial deposition as a result of the legal battle she and husband Tommy Lee are entering with Penthouse magazine as they try to block the release of stills from their stolen and illegally distributed sex tape.
Lee (as portrayed by Sebastian Stan), who has been naively insisting that he has just as much to lose from the stolen tape as Anderson, wasn't invited to the proceedings, which include Anderson being forced to watch and comment on the tape with a room full of strangers as the opposing lawyers try to insist the Anderson made the tape with the hope of personal profit.
In between these disturbing scenes Anderson flashes back to various pivotal moments in her life, including when she was first discovered by a beer company representative at a football game, and the moment her hometown boyfriend jealously tried to stop her first test shoot at Playboy magazine: "Maybe I don't want my girlfriend's tits to be all over the whole world!" She immediately declares "this is for me, this isn't for you," and removes herself from what has suddenly become a dangerous environment.
At episode's end, she firmly puts her foot down again, refusing to return for a second day's deposition and threatening to fire her lawyer if he can't make that happen. But much greater battles - both for her career and her marriage - are waiting outside the office for her.
Best Scene: After a particularly horrible deposition exchange causes Anderson to throw up in the restroom, the court stenographer offers her the first mercy she's seen all day: "For what it's worth I've seen a lot of horrible depositions," she says. "But this..."
Episode seven of Pam & Tommy debuts on Hulu on March 2nd.