For years to come, much ink will be spilled about 2020: a global pandemic, a toxic US election, a racial reckoning, and of course, the collapse of Vanderpump Rules. The hit Bravo series axed about a thousand cast members, but luckily, VPR has a roster deeper than Game of Thrones, which means there’s still lots of potential for drama. After all, it’s not like we have no villains. Katie Maloney is still doing Katie, James Kennedy is still doing James, and Lala Kent is still doing… something?

I cannot lie: I was absolutely shocked by how much I enjoyed this ninth season premiere. There was so much for us to embrace. We had a classic “you weren’t there for me” battle between Scheana Shay and Lala. We had a TomTom spat caused by Katie. And of course, we had the true piece-de-resistance — a bitter feud between James and Max Todd over a salad order. I never thought Vanderpump Rules could truly thrive without its iconic monsters Jax Taylor and Stassi Schroeder, but if this first episode is any indication, it appears as though the Pumptini still has a few sips left in it.

We open the premiere with none other than Lisa Vanderpump, who we find sporting a blazer and necktie because business. She’s eager to re-open TomTom for the first time since Covid hit, and to help her out is trusty stock player Richardson Cherry as well as Ken Todd, who seems like he may have spent all of quarantine soldered onto a barstool in the corner.