Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Selling Sunset’ Season 8 on Netflix Blurs The Line Between Onscreen and Real-Life Drama More Than Ever

The latest season of Selling Sunset‘s reputation precedes itself. The show is known for its high-end real estate and high-drama agents, but some of the interpersonal arguments have spilled over into real life and seem like they might even pose an existential threat to the show. While the new season is definitely full of rivalries and rifts, you have to wonder if the formula is getting a little stale by now, with the same troublemakers causing the same kind of trouble time and again.

SELLING SUNSET (SEASON 8): STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

Opening Shot: “The L.A. real estate market is unpredictable, to say the least,” Chrishell Stause says as she primps in front of a mirror. “Last year was definitely challenging, but we’re not giving up,” she adds in what has to be the most generically boring opening statement ever.

The Gist: Season eight begins with drama in the form of sweeping dramatic views from atop a house that seems like something Tony Stark would live in. Chrishell is showing the $38 million property to her client, Melanie, a British woman whose budget begins at $30 million. It’s a metaphor, really, as the seasons of this show progress not only do the houses become bigger and more unreal, so too does the drama within the Oppenheim Group.

After Melanie leaves, Chrishell and her boss, Jason Oppenheim, sit down for what I’ll call a “bridging the season gap” conversation, where Chrishell asks if Jason has spoken to Bre Tiesi, their colleague who stormed out of the O Group last season and seemed like she might not return, frustrated by the unfair pay structure that sees the Oppenheims taking a hefty percentage of their brokers’ commissions. Gotta pay for all those Gucci polo shirts somehow! Alas, Jason has not spoken to Bre, but in her absence, he’s hired a new agent named Alanna Gold, a self-proclaimed former nerd who explains that none of her new co-workers would have even talked to her in high school. As a fellow high school nerd, so far, I’m getting positive vibes from Alanna.

Alanna is competing with Mary and Chelsea for a new listing that the O Group might be getting, a mansion in Manhattan Beach that’s going for around $30 million (that seems to be a magic number this season), but Chelsea is convinced that she’s the only person for this job and will impress the owner’s wife. After everyone makes digs at Chelsea for her revealing, tits-out dress that she’s wearing, she swears she’ll wear a turtleneck if that’s what it takes to get the listing. Has anyone on this show ever worn a turtleneck for real?

Chelsea is one of the main reasons Bre is still not back in the office, too. While she’s still frustrated at the pay, she also isn’t convinced that she wants to be around a woman who repeatedly criticized her home life and co-parenting situation with Nick Cannon.

The first episode ends with Alanna, Chelsea and Mary each meeting with the owners of the Manhattan Beach home to basically sell themselves as the listing agent. Each of them pitches while they’re worthy of the job, but ultimately, the couple wants Mary and Chelsea to split duties, which neither woman is happy with.

What Shows Will It Remind You Of?: There are a whole gaggle of real estate reality TV shows on Netflix — Owning Manhattan, Buying Beverly Hills, Selling (Insert Your Favorite Glamorous Locale Here — The O.C? The Hamptons? Even Tampa!?! ) — but Selling Sunset is the O.G. of the bunch.

Our Take: Selling Sunset has become a little bit of a reality TV empire, but it also feels a little like it’s starting to crumble a little, as empires tend to do. While the first episode hints at drama between Chelsea and Mary, we already know (thanks to social media) that there will be more Chelsea/Bre drama and some serious accusations made by Nicole about Emma. Those accusations, in which Nicole claims Emma had an affair with a married man, have the cast in an uproar and much of their anger is directed at production, with Chrishell stating she will not work with Nicole Young ever again and calling the show’s production company, Done and Dine, “disgusting” for allowing that rumor to be broadcast on the show.

While it’s rarely boring to get a glimpse at how the .0001% live, from their high perches atop Hollywood, often times the drama within the O Group feels stagnant. While several of the episodes this season do have pretty heady emotional arcs, from Chelsea’s crumbling marriage to the death of one of the O Group’s four-legged friends, for me most part, the conflict among the show’s co-stars feels a little too predictable and the drama feels like it’s repeating itself over and over. But with Chrishell and other cast members furious about what production has allowed to be shown, it also makes you wonder whether that will also have consequences for the show’s future, or at least if it will affect who will appear on future seasons.

Sex and Skin: These women are still dressing for the club and not the office, especially Chelsea.

Parting Shot: The first episode of the season ends with a montage of what to expect from the whole season, including accusations made by Nicole Young about Emma Hernan cheating with someone’s husband and Bre’s claims that Chelsea’s husband is cheating on her.

Performance Worth Watching: Newcomer Alanna Gold brings a more professional energy to the office and I’m intrigued by the fact that she says she owns a western desert town where she’s the sheriff.

Memorable Dialogue: “I don’t focus all of my efforts and my energy on my wardrobe. Sorry, Chelsea,” Mary Bonnet says during a confessional, explaining why she should be chosen as the agent on a $30 million house in Manhattan Beach.

Our Call: STREAM IT if you’re a devoted fan of the show and you’re already invested in these people, because understanding their history and their multi-season arcs helps flesh out their drama. But at this point, if you’re just joining us in the high-end world of the O Group, I feel like you can dip and just read about these folks in the gossip rags.

Liz Kocan is a pop culture writer living in Massachusetts. Her biggest claim to fame is the time she won on the game show Chain Reaction.