How exactly does Rand Gauthier break into the titular couple’s house in Pam & Tommy? The first three episodes of Pam & Tommy dropped on Feb 2 on Hulu, while the remaining episodes will be released on a weekly basis. Episode 1 of the Hulu show sets up the backdrop for the events that lead up to the sex tape scandal, situating the safe heist at its center.
Recreating the real-life events that prompted electrician Rand Gauthier (Seth Rogen) to pull off a heist in Pamela Anderson and Tommy Lee’s Malibu mansion, episode 1 mostly explores Rand’s point of view. Despite following Lee’s suggestions for the room renovation, key aspects of which the drummer would change often on a whim, Rand and his contractor were fired on the grounds of “shabby” work. Moreover, when Rand goes back to retrieve his tools, Lee holds him at gunpoint and refuses to part either with the tools or the money owed to him. This, of course, angers Rand to no end, which is justified to an extent given his economic situation.
Things take a murky turn when he decides to rob Pam and Tommy's huge Browning garage safe, and spends months staking out the house and planning the heist. Interestingly, Rand names the heist “Operation Karma”, reflecting his notion that his actions are part of some sort of divine plan of righteousness, stemming from his interest in karmic systems in religions around the world. After spending months noting the couple’s sleep times, whereabouts, appointments, and schedules, Rand hatches a plan to evade the security cameras in the property, which is as bizarre as it gets, considering that this actually happened.
Rand essentially throws a white, Tibetan yak rug over himself to be disguised as the couple’s dog, who would often roam around the property at night. This bonkers plan seemingly works, and Rand proceeds towards the garage with a U-Haul dolly with the intention to carry the safe through the front gates. Although Rand is alone and the safe is ridiculously big and heavy, the plan succeeds after he straps the safe onto the dolly and walks right out through the gates. The show also goes as far as to show Rand entering the house, walking up to the couple’s bedroom where Pam and Tommy are sleeping, and flipping them off indignantly.
Much like the real-life events that constitute the core of Pam & Tommy, Rogen’s Rand has no idea about the contents of the tape and is initially only interested in expensive jewelry and the guns that Tommy owned. Although Rand does not pay much attention to the Hi-8 among the stolen belongings, he eventually visits porn director Milton Ingley (Nick Offerman) to find out about its contents. This, of course, was the beginning of a terrible sex scandal, as Ingley and Gauthier decided to distribute the tape illegally in order to earn profits, and the rest is history.