Just over the hills from the titular Sunset our friends at the Oppenheim Group are always selling lies the magical land of Encino. It’s a place where Bre and Chrishell are working on listings Heather describes as “warm” even though they’re so big I have to imagine the only reason you’d buy one is to move in with a family you never want to see. Also, Bre’s house has a huge wasp, which I think should affect the sale price. But what’s most important is what Encino teaches us: There’s a better, more affordable world if you’re open-minded enough to visit the other side of the hills.
With Jason off in France, looking at a lady in her underpants — and with Brett largely not on this show anymore — the O Group’s leadership is weak, and a revolt is brewing. Mary, who is supposed to be Jason’s second in command, is simply not up to the task of managing people. Mary wants to sell houses; she does not want to flip Jason’s penthouses or adjudicate conflicts between other grown women. Especially conflicts as stupid as this rivalry with Chrishell that Nicole wants everyone to care about.
There’s something a little sad about what’s happening to Mary, and even I can’t help but think of Christine. Mary and Christine were best friends before this show. They lived together. Then, fame turned Christine into someone Mary couldn’t understand, and with their downfall, it feels, to me, like Mary lost something she hasn’t been able to get back. Her fire is gone, and she seems unable or unwilling to stand up to Jason or the other women. Remember, this person lost her shit at Jason in front of everyone for inviting Christine to her dog’s birthday party. Now, she’s doing free work for him so he can take a vacation and letting Nicole continue to subject us all to her ridiculous grudge. I have no idea what Nicole thinks she’s doing, but all she’s accomplishing is making Mary look weak in front of Chelsea, the one person you should never show weakness to.
Chelsea is apparently on a Holy Christian Crusade to protect the sanctity of the broker’s open and the American family. It’s incredibly off-putting anytime someone invokes Christianity as the reason they can’t be friends with someone, as she does with Bre. For one thing, Chelsea isn’t exactly working in a soup kitchen, okay? She makes her living helping billionaires invest blood money into mansions on hills that overlook tent cities while wearing a bra as a top. Chill, babe! What was it that Jesus said? Remove the beam from your own eye before pointing out the splinter in someone else’s? (Matthew 7:5. That’s right, folks, I went to Catholic school!) Besides, the version of Christianity that encourages scorn and disgust towards suffering people — as Bre is with the news that Nick Cannon had another baby behind her back — is not exactly the kind that would be tolerant of, say, Chrishell being queer or Amanza being divorced. Amanza picks up on this, and Heather of course is playing both sides.
But Bre isn’t the only co-worker Chelsea’s after. She’s noticed Mary’s reluctance to squash the beef between Nicole and Chrishell, something Nicole — of all people — alerts her to. This is another unforced error from Nicole, whose only ally up until now was Mary. By the way, Nicole is so rattled about being called a bitch in a fight she started that it’s clear her suggestion that Chrishell has a “victim mentality” was pure projection. No one has presented as a bigger victim this season than Nicole. It feels like she’s spent the last five seasons just seething over not being cast in this show, and now she won’t rest until everyone knows that she and not Chrishell is “Queen of the Valley.” Nicole, people are dying!!
Things heat up between Mary and Chelsea directly when Mary starts second-guessing the lease price for the Strand house. I bring this up because it’s the second time Mary and Nicole have been shown doubting Chelsea’s professional judgment pretty harshly. I don’t quite know what to make of the fact that this is only shown happening to Chelsea. They also *pointedly* show Amanza — the only other person in the room who isn’t white — asking Chelsea if she’s okay afterward. But Chelsea can handle herself — she has Christ on her side after all — and confronts Mary about her lack of willingness to keep order in Jason’s absence. Mary responds by … demanding they wait for Jason to get back to have this conversation. Ugh!
When Chelsea asks Mary to at least set an example for the rest of the brokerage, she literally responds with, “Who, me?” Yes, you! Mary, the manager! I wish she understood that the dance she must do to avoid this conflict will only worsen things. It’s understandable for her to be traumatized by the Christine situation. It makes sense that she’d be afraid to lose Nicole, another close friend, to more reality-TV drama. But there’s nowhere else for this to go; the buck stops with Mary. If she’s not willing to deal with it, it can only get worse. And really, if Nicole is going to put her in this situation, how good of a friend is she really being? Until Mary musters up the strength to go over that hill, she’ll never realize how close Encino actually is.
Location, Location, Location
• Davina Watch: No Davina in sight. How long is Burning Man?
• Funniest line of the episode: Chelsea to Nicole: “I don’t care, girl.”
• Chelsea’s makeup artist should win an Emmy. Her eye makeup in particular is astounding.
• I didn’t care about Jason’s wood ceiling, but I love Dougal and Jonathan’s ceiling with the cedar planking that is $10 a foot.
• This episode contained another important lesson: Never buy a house in a neighborhood with an HOA! I’ve never owned a home, but I’ve never heard a good thing about an HOA!
