The Vanderpump Rules Season 11 finale ended with several buzzed-about moments, including Ariana Madixleaving a party after Tom Sandoval tried to talk to her, Lala Kentbreaking the fourth wall in a heated rant, a reflective look back at the cast's pivotal memories filming the show, and Sandoval delivering a chilling final line.
The conclusion to the episode was so jaw-dropping that the cast members weren't able to watch it until they taped the Season 11 reunion. Part 3 (which aired on May 28) showed their reactions as they saw it all play out for the first time.
"The season ended in a powerful and fascinating way," host Andy Cohen said during the reunion episode. "You guys have seen all the episodes this season, but we intentionally didn't send you the last few minutes of the finale episode. You've all been through such an interesting shared experience being on this show for over a decade that we wanted you to watch this ending together as a group and then get your real-time reactions after you see it."
Here's what happened after the cast watched the clip:
Scheana Shay, James Kennedy, Tom Sandoval, Katie Maloney, and Lisa Vanderpump react to the Season 11 finale montage
When the clip began to play, Katie Maloney said, "I'm scared."
As some of the cast members' significant moments from the past and more recent seasons were shown, Sandoval, Scheana Shay, and James Kennedy cried.
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Lisa, meanwhile, smiled at some of the other memorable occasions that were shown, including Schwartz and Katie's wedding.
Ariana Madix and Tom Sandoval have an emotional conversation about their relationship in Season 11 reunion
When the clip concluded, Andy asked Ariana for her reaction, and she quickly became emotional.
"A lot of what was said was really hurtful," she said. "That is me being my honest self. The hurt that I felt, I felt so deeply. I'm not here for the [Sandoval] putting on the waterworks thing."
When Sandoval said, "You know me well enough to know that this is not acting," Ariana declared, "I don't, though."
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When Ariana raised the subject of not wanting to be "forced" to film the conversation with Sandoval, he hit back, "That is our job... It's always having the one conversation with the one person you don't want to have it with. Like Lala said, this is what we do."
After explaining she is not in a place to have a conversation with Sandoval, Ariana brought up his last line of the finale, in which he said of the dramatic ending, "I love it. It's good for me."
"That last little thing, 'It's good for me,' it's right there. I was, in that moment, about to be used," Ariana said, to which Sandoval shook his head and said, "No."
Later, Sandoval apologized to Ariana, and vowed to give her "space."
Ariana Madix reacts to Lala Kent's Season 11 finale rant
Ariana also took a moment to address Lala's claims that she should have filmed a conversation with Sandoval during the finale episode.
"It hurts my feelings a lot," Ariana said as she sobbed. "It really does, because I was trying so hard and then I feel like it's our job to live our lives, and I'm living authentically by walking away from that ... I could have done it for the show but I don't think our show thrives when things aren't fully real, and that would not have been real on my part."
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As they continued talking, Lala explained her frustration stemmed from feeling that she was treated differently than Ariana when she went through her own split.
"When all of this happened, as much as I'm grateful that Ariana is not experiencing what I have experienced, I'm a little f-cking annoyed," she said, later adding, "I'm happy that Ariana has been catapulted into opportunity. However, I will be damned if one person doesn't step up to the f-cking plate."
"I was livid that night. Livid," Lala continued, referencing her finale rant. "I'm sorry if I hurt you, but I stand by what I said."
Although Lala said, "It was difficult because I understood where Ariana was coming from," she explained, "I was like why does she get to dictate how this goes down when I've never gotten to dictate [that]?"
As for other claims Lala made during that episode, Ariana wanted to clear a few things up.
"I don't think I'm Beyoncé," she said. "I don't think I'm God ... Arguably, if you want to talk in show terms, me walking away from that conversation was a lot more interesting than me sitting there and having it."
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For Schwartz, watching the clip back gave him a new perspective.
"I think [Ariana's] walk away was earned," he said. "I agreed with Lala when it happened. Now I feel like it was well-earned."
Scheana Shay reflects on Lala Kent's finale speech
Andy asked Scheana if she agreed with what Lala said during the finale, and she explained, "I was very frustrated, yes, and that's why I didn't want her to feel alone in that moment."
