They say knowledge is power, and evidence of this age-old tenet abounds on the latest season of Selling Sunset, wherein key pieces of information — illicitly begotten, tactfully deployed — are used in overt power plays by the agents of the Oppenheim Group. From Bre and Amanda’s camera-friendly plan to expose Chelsea’s husband’s affair to Nicole’s allegation of Emma’s extramarital dalliances, it’s clear that the agents have mastered the art of information dispersal for personal gain. Brett and Jason appear, as always, oblivious to the machinations taking place right under their noses, and remain ever focused on their real-estate empire. When a canine death rocks the agency, the group comes together in a rare moment of shared grief and support before returning to their habitual plots to gain or regain the upper hand.
Curiously, the season stops short of revealing which of the agents’ schemes are met with success. The final scenes show Chelsea on the precipice of new beginnings and Bre stopping by the office, Amanda in tow, with “a little proposal” for Jason. Meanwhile, Emma still hasn’t been confronted on camera with Nicole’s claims. A season-eight reunion has yet to be confirmed, but if it does happen, it’ll be high stakes and these standings will be updated to reflect the dramatic power shifts that are sure to take place.
Brett and Jason
Mean Twin and Horny Twin continue to do basically nothing this season besides be mean and horny, respectively, as they are wont to do. Jason takes a brief hiatus from being Horny Twin to adopt the role of Sad Twin while he grieves the loss of Niko, the chihuahua he shared custody of with Mary. But that only lasts until he buys himself a Lamborghini to console himself, and then he’s back to being Horny Twin.
Nicole
Here’s some free advice: If you ever find yourself fighting homophobia allegations as hard as Nicole is fighting them this season, you have acted in a homophobic manner. You may not be a bigot at your core, but you owe someone a sincere and unqualified apology. While being nice to a homophobe in her comment section may genuinely have been a mistake on Nicole’s part (a generous assumption, but let’s go with it for a second), it’s her refusal to take accountability that reveals her endemic weakness. Nicole’s only power this season comes from an unsubstantiated rumor about Emma, which she clumsily drops on the Pioneertown crew, to no apparent end other than publicly maligning Chrishell’s strongest ally. After this botched effort goes nowhere, the season ends with her strategically handing the rumor off to Bre, someone who might actually have the social engineering dexterity to do something with it. Surely Nicole will be rewarded for her unsubtle act of self-interested allyship toward Bre. Just kidding! Can you imagine?
Mary
Mary starts the season off by inexplicably raising an issue with the way that Chelsea dresses at a broker’s open in Manhattan Beach. Things haven’t been so smooth between Mary and Chelsea in recent seasons, so maybe this was a power play, or maybe she just wanted to get us warmed up with some low-stakes drama. Chelsea, to her credit, isn’t having any of it — in eight seasons, the styling team on this show has not once veered into the territory of “business professional” for any of the agents, so the claim is frankly weird and uncalled for. Things take a turn for Mary mid-season when Jason delivers the news that Niko’s kidneys are failing and he only has days left to live. Mary spends the remainder of the season grieving Niko at various listings and righteously giving the other agents a hard time for the scene they caused at Niko’s funeral. It was a mixed bag for Mary this season that included no discernible evidence of an imminent rise to power.
Johnny Manziel
Episode 6 treats us to a strange encounter between Bre and ex-husband Johnny Manziel, who link up to find the former footballer a house in L.A. Their tour of the house (formerly owned by a magician from the Magic Castle, no less) turns quickly into a flirty tête-à-tête rehashing their short-lived marriage, because that is the point of meeting up with your ex, housing needs be damned. It all culminates in Johnny hijacking Bre’s car from the driveway and speeding off down Sunset, never to be seen again. There’s really no power move like the ones made in desperation by those who have loved and lost.
Amanza
It’s hard to know where to place Amanza on this list, considering her status as a real estate agent is questionable at best. On one hand, there’s undeniable power in her hard pivot into the arts: she’s barely got her feet wet and she’s already staging swanky gallery openings and closing 5-plus figure deals for her original works. On the other hand, let’s just say the Oppenheim Bell doesn’t exactly run for cover in fear of being struck when Amanza makes one of her rare appearances in the office. It seems as though she’s realized that real estate is not her calling, and that’s admirable. Knowing when to throw in the towel can, paradoxically, carry power.
Emma
Emma and Chrishell both find themselves in a tricky position this season when their loyalty to Chelsea is tested against their desire to remain cordial with Bre. Emma, in contrast to Chrishell, chooses blind faith in Chelsea’s story in the name of unequivocal support for a heartbroken friend. You can see the logic here, especially when you consider the context: Emma herself is plagued this season by rumors that she’s been having an affair with an unnamed married man. In recent days, her own allies on the cast have come out in vocal displays of support against these claims, and it’s not a stretch to think that this is the reciprocal treatment that Emma had in mind when pledging her allegiance to Chelsea. Whatever her motives, Emma’s refusal to even hear Bre’s side of the story comes across as defensive and politically motivated, and it undermines the power that came with her long-standing reputation as an easygoing friend to all.
Alanna
In an impressive display of tact and social competence, the newest agent at the O group manages to navigate her debut season while completely steering clear of drama, even picking up some wins along the way. She impresses the Mean Twin with her handling of the landscaping issue at the Hollywood Hills development property, dispenses some extremely sage advice to Nicole (who dutifully ignores it), and most notably, invites the cast on a group trip to Pioneertown, the small desert town outside Joshua Tree that she allegedly owns. Do not start asking questions about Pioneertown, because you will end up with no answers and even more questions, such as can a person really own a town? I guess so. How much does that cost? It’s not clear. Have I ever seen anything that was filmed in Pioneertown? If you haven’t watched the music video for the KIDZ BOP Kids cover of Lil Nas X’s “Old Town Road,” then probably not. Anyway, Alanna isn’t messy, which means she’s a little boring, but there are worse crimes. She’ll need to make a name for herself before she’s a real power player in this bunch, but she’s got a town under her belt, and while I still don’t know what that means, exactly, I’m not going to bet against it.
Chrishell
When the season begins, Chrishell appears to be the only agent with a friendly relationship to Bre, evidenced by the pair sharing an ice bath while Chrishell asks Bre to return to the office in spite of her falling out with Chelsea at the end of last season. So it makes sense that she takes a different approach from Emma when it comes to navigating the tensions that reignite between Chelsea and Bre. After a tense phone call where the Chelsea-Emma-Chrishell trio accuses Bre of staging the cheating allegations for camera, Chrishell approaches Bre with a peace offering (a drum set for Bre’s son, Legendary Love Canon) and a promise to hear her side of the story. It’s a pragmatic act of good faith, but it’s clear in the aftermath that Chrishell is still left confused and conflicted about which side to pick, an issue that comes to a head in an explosive confrontation at Niko’s wake. In all of this, it’s odd that simply absolving themselves of the feud that has little to do with them is never seriously considered as an option by either Chrishell or Emma. I guess that would be a different show.
Bre’s Friend Amanda
Look, it’s no secret that Amanda wants a desk at the Oppenheim Group, and she’s clocking hours this season to prove she’s cut out for the job. The job in question? Stirring the damn pot. While Amanda herself was not a major character this season, her decision to bring her friend’s text-based revelations of Jeff Lazkani’s affair to a filmed scene was the catalyst for the only drama that made this season worth watching. Without it, we were left with a desert town and a dog funeral. Not only did Amanda bring the tea, but she made sure she was rewarded with a not-insignificant amount of screen time for her spoils. Bask in the limelight, Amanda. You earned it.
Gracie
With Niko out of the picture and a grief-stricken Zelda reckoning with the reality of being the last chihuahua standing, Gracie notices a pet power vacuum and doesn’t waste a moment in marking her territory as the agency’s cutest and most influential dog. It’s a move I didn’t see coming, and for that I respect it even more.
Chelsea
Chelsea’s arc this season takes a rapid escalation around episode five, from banal drama with Mary over her outfit choice at a broker’s open to an intense reckoning with her husband’s infidelity. It’s unclear when Chelsea is being confronted by Bre whether she’s receiving the information for the first time, and honestly it seems unlikely. Even though the news seems to be out there, at least among the residents of the W Hollywood and their associates, Chelsea decides to keep coy about the situation, disclosing the betrayal only to Emma and Chrishell while keeping the rest of the agents (and Jeff himself?!?!?!?!) in the dark. Whether her secrecy is motivated by heartbreak alone or ulterior motives, the effect is the same: She garners a lot of sympathy this season from other agents and uses that sympathy to draw lines in the sand between her allies and her enemies. It’s hard to wrangle power from a scorned woman with little to lose, especially one who navigates the most personal betrayal with the poise and cautious deliberation that Chelsea does this season.
Bre
Bre is in pole position entering a potential reunion. With the season’s principal drama revolving first around her learning of Jeff Lazkani’s affair via Amanda, and then around her deployment of this information (and crucially, the decision to have it all go down on-camera), Bre is at the center of it all. While Chelsea’s, and by extension Emma and Chrishell’s, claim that Bre orchestrated a scene for production may be true, it’s not an allegation that carries any weight. To state the obvious: They’re on a reality show — one that has relied and capitalized on the messiness of its subjects’ personal lives since day one.
Closing out season eight, Bre has a few things going for her: (1) a motive, Bre needs an ally in the O group, and she has artfully primed Amanda to be that person in a future season; (2) a weapon, Nicole (motives unclear, except a probable revenge fantasy against Chrishell and her crew) has handed Bre a golden dagger in the form of a salacious rumor about Emma; and (3) a target, Bre has an opportunity to wield this information in order to kick Emma, Chrishell, or Chelsea out of the office, either via outright bullying or convincing Jason and Brett that they are a detriment to the O group. What seems most likely is Chrishell leaving of her own volition, having nothing left to gain from being on the show. Either way, an opening at the O group could mean big things for Bre and Amanda. There are dark forces at play this season. It’s fun to watch.
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