Netflix’s Selling Sunset returns for yet another season of dishy drama that’s set against the backdrop of real-estate porn in the Hollywood Hills. This season, which was shot immediately after the last one, and teased back in May with a juicy trailer, promised even more back-stabbings and bitchiness from the ladies of The Oppenheim Group. And so, when Season 3 dropped on Friday, I decided to spend four hours of my life bingeing on the scandalous lives of my favourite real estate agents. Here’s what was going through my mind as I did.
- Okay, so where were we? Mary got married. Christine is about to. Davina is trying to peddle an insanely overpriced house for a difficult client with a “scary” foreign accent. New girl Amanza was having some custody problems. And Maya and Heather are still so interminably dull that they bring absolutely nothing to the table. But I guess all eyes are on Chrishell this season. It is, after all, where we supposedly get a front row seat to her sudden and unexpected divorce from This Is Us star Justin Hartley.
- Some of the foreshadowing in this series is so egregious that it’s excruciating. I’m cringing every time Chrishell gushes about her perfect life and adoring husband. It’s painful to watch knowing what’s coming.
- Christine has really settled into her part as the queen bitch. In fact, she’s so good at it that you forget that she’s a real person. Then again, that may be the point of this whole exercise.
- That said, her wedding philosophy of “no bitches, no buffet, no speeches” is one that more people would do well to adopt.
- Yes, everyone on this series is still arguing over the most trivial things. And yet, all of this childish drama makes for television that’s somehow compelling enough to get you three whole seasons. We really do love us some schadenfreude don’t we?
- Is it just me or does the conflict in this season feel a lot more forced?
- Botox and burgers as a theme for an open house? Now you’re just pandering to the Hollywood cliché.
- Speaking of clichés: “I’ll have water for lunch, thank you.” How do restaurants in Beverly Hills stay open when no one seems to order any real actual food.
- I have no sense of when anything is happening in real time. I have no idea how much time has lapsed between each showing and each showdown. I know we’re making our way towards Christine’s wedding, but is it a week away or a month away? Christopher Nolan could take some notes from how well the producers of this series warp the spacetime continuum.
- Five episodes in and it finally happens, the big bombshell we’ve been waiting for all season: Chrishell’s divorce. And look, it just so happens that everyone finds out, while glammed up at the office, and by way of a TMZ alert on Christine’s phone.
- Why am I watching this again?
- So much of this series feels like some sort of reenactment. It looks like it was staged and shot after the fact. This is made all the more apparent after we learn of Chrishell’s divorce. The one-on-one time that she has with both Mary and Amanza comes off as scripted. And badly at that. “You’ve got five minutes. Here are the points you need to hit. Go!”
- I really feel for Chrishell. It’s one thing to be blindsided by a divorce. But to have it play out in this partially scripted, contractually mandated way, must wreak havoc on the actual reality of coming to terms with such a devastating life event.
- On the other hand, these episodes have provided her with quite the platform to tell her side of the story. I wonder how Justin feels about the world knowing that he filed for divorce and then told Chrishell by text message. I had no idea he was Malaysian.
- Is there favouritism at play with Mary getting all the choice listings? Or is she just the most reliable realtor who gets things done with the least amount of drama? I mean, she showed her wedding venue, on her wedding day, and then closed the deal. She’s the hardest working gal in showbiz real estate.
- The one thing that often gets overlooked in conversations about this show is just how good these women are at their jobs. And not just by how relentless they are in their hustle, but also in the way they stage and sell each property. They know their market and they know how to work it.
- Then again, and I can’t be certain of this, but there seems to be far less realtor-ing going on in this season. All of these multi-million dollar houses are now just different spaces in which these ladies can have their heart-to-hearts.
- Mary is your one true ride or die! “There are not two sides. The right side is Chrishell’s side because she’s our friend.”
- Heather just stormed out a room because she’s upset with Christine and Davina for making fun of her. And yet, their conversation seems to continue. Is she just standing off camera, by the door, so she can finish the scene?
- I love how, after all this time, Christine thinks that Chrishell’s last name is Strause. (It’s Stause. Without the “r.”) Even when she’s feigning empathy, she fails.
- Holy shit, it’s Karamo!
- Holy shit, he’s not buying the house Christine is showing him because the bedroom has low beams and he’s a tall man who likes to have crazy acrobatic sex.
- Nope. I still have absolutely no thoughts on Maya. Ditto with Heather. Can we please write them out of Season 4? Maya is already threatening to quit and move to Florida. Just let her move and not have it be a backdoor pilot to Selling Sunset: Miami.
- The real villain finally reveals herself. We’ve seen it hinted at throughout the series, in the way Davina tries to stay above the fray by framing herself as being honest, straightforward, and sensible. But it’s becoming clear that all of her snide remarks are engineered to create discord. Romain knew it all along.
- Love her or hate her, Christine makes no bones about who she is or what she wants. She also knows exactly how she needs to behave in order to get the screen time she craves.
- There has been a significant shift in the way this show is shot. In the first and second seasons it felt like the producers tried a lot harder to balance the melodrama of these lives with the actual business of selling multi-million dollar houses. Everything that happens in Season 3 feels like theatre. It feels like all of it’s been crafted in order to feed the beast.
- When’s that fourth season dropping again?
Selling Sunset
Netflix, Season 3, 8 episodes
Showrunner: Adam DiVello
Cast: Chrishell Stause, Christine Quinn, Maya Vander, Mary Fitzgerald, Heather Young, Davina Potratz, Romain Bonnet, Amanza Smith, Jason Oppenheim, and Brett Oppenheim
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