Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Selling Sunset’ Season 9 on Netflix, A Series That Feels Like It’s Stuck In Escrow

Oh, you thought that a new season of Selling Sunset meant that we’d be getting new drama and new real estate listings? There are certainly new listings, but the drama… well, get ready for a lot of Nicole doing bad things to people. Again. We’re nine seasons into Netflix’s flagship real estate docu-series, and at this point, it’s starting to feel like these co-workers should start looking for new jobs for their own sanity and ours.

SELLING SUNSET (SEASON 9): STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

Opening Shot: Chrishell Stause, Chelsea Lazkani and Emma Hernan enter a 6 bedroom, $21 million Los Angeles mansion, oohing and ahhing about everything from the stove that’s built in to the countertop and the his and hers bathrooms. But before too long, they’re gossiping about their colleagues, namely Nicole Young, who clashed with Hernan last season, accusing her of having an extramarital affair.

The Gist: The first scene of Season 9 of Selling Sunset is the perfect distillation of everything you know and expect from the show; ridiculously luxe real estate, and the ridiculously dramatic agents who sell it, gossiping about each other while touring said fancy homes.

This season picks up not long after the events of Season 8, the biggest of which was Nicole and Emma’s clash over the rumor that Nicole spread. The clash has divided the O Group’s office… essentially it’s everyone in the office vs. Nicole, and she’s starting to be ostracized. Nicole, in an effort to clear the air, meets with Emma and while she made a mistake though, she’s wishy-washy about just how responsible she is for perpetuating the rumor. (Hint: She was very responsible.)

Nicole explains to Emma that Jason and Brett Oppenheim’s cousin, Jenn, relayed to her that Emma was behaving indiscreetly with a married man, which Emma immediately refute. Nicole continues to make excuses and blames Jenn, declaring that she received the affair information from a “trusted source.” This is clearly the behavior of someone unwilling to take responsibility for their actions, but eventually — and it takes way too long for us to reach this moment — Nicole does apologize to Emma, but she also acts like somehow she’s a victim.

The Nicole/Emma issue is the biggest issue of the season early on. (Get ready for Nicole to cross yet another line when she takes a truly nasty swipe at Chrishell – so nasty that even the Oppenheims can’t endure any more of her.) Later episodes deal with the very real fallout from the Altadena and Palisades fires that struck L.A. in January.

Our Take: Nine seasons in, it feels like Selling Sunset is stuck in escrow. This cast is filled with big personalities – Nicole Young, Chrishell Stause, Chelsea Lazkani – but they can only clash and fracture so many times. While there’s a fairly regular cast turnover (when one Christine Quinn closes, a new Bre Tiesi opens, as the saying goes), the last two newbies, Alanna and now Sandra Vergara, haven’t really been given much screen time, not enough to make an impression.

This season does feature celebrity cameos — JoJo Siwa, Tyrese Gibson — plus appearances from the cast of Selling The O.C. and former O Group employee Heather Rae El Moussa as they help with wildfire relief, and a Selling the City crossover featuring Eleanora and Jordyn from that series. New cast member Sandra Vergara (yes, related to Sofia) is fine, but she doesn’t even show up until episode 6 and she basically just sidles up to the Bre/Mary/Amanza clique after an argument with Chrishell. The season’s most dramatic moment comes early on [SPOILER ALERT] when Nicole is asked to leave The O Group.

In Nicole’s absence, the show leans heavily into the aforementioned cameos and you can’t help but wonder how many more exhausting and petty fights we would have to endure if it weren’t for the fact that the fires actually helped provide a positive spin as the cast comes together in service to help the city. But aside from that aspect – which at least has the illusion of being productive and positive – the show has gotten tedious, rehashing the same conflicts over and over.

Sex and Skin: If you want to see butt-cheek baring Chanel-inspired short shorts, you’ve come to the right place.

Parting Shot: After Nicole and Emma meet to (unsuccessfully) smooth things over, Emma, who had been avoiding going to work, says, “I will not let this nasty, evil woman take anything away from me. Fuck it, I’m coming back to the office with my head held high.”

Performance Worth Watching: The first half of the season is all about Nicole. Is she a delusional villain who can’t take responsibility for her often cruel and misguided actions? Is she a necessary plot-driver for the show’s drama? Yes and yes.

Memorable Dialogue: “She’s like… if cancer was a human being. Is that too harsh?” Chrishell says about Nicole while discussing her with colleagues Chelsea and Emma. Dang, way harsh, Tai. But Chelsea doesn’t disagree, “It’s kind of accurate.”

Our Call: While Nicole’s continued insults and ability to inadvertently ostracize herself from her colleagues can be dramatic and exciting, it makes this season feel a bit one note. I said this last season but if you’re truly invested in this cast, you’re probably still going to enjoy what’s in store, but if you’re on the fence, SKIP IT.

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.