The second season of Netflix. Buy Beverly Hills has been highly anticipated due to all the tea it has promised to spill. The new episodes of the show, which are available now, fill in the blanks about the family breakup between Mauricio Umansky and Kyle Richards and the Hilton family, as well as the couple’s own separation, while showing off the beautiful homes that the estate company Umansky’s roots, The Agency, are selling.
SHOP BEVERLY HILLS (SEASON 2): STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?
Initial shot: An exterior shot of the home that real estate magnate Mauricio Umansky shares with Kyle Richards. Umansky is sitting at a table with his daughters Farrah, Alexia and Sophia, and tells them, “I had an incredible 26 years with your mom” and explains that Kyle has asked for a separation and space to date other people. The girls cry. We pe right into the drama! But then… a graphic says: “Six months ago” and we can see all the drama that led to this sad and surprising separation.
The essence: Yeah The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills gives Kyle Richards a platform and a place to tell his life story, Buy Beverly Hills is her husband Mauricio Umansky’s platform to tell his own story, but he does so by interspersing high-end real estate listings held by his firm, The Agency, throughout his personal and family drama. Although the show is a real estate series, it has a more narrative structure than most other shows in that genre, because look, we know these people already, and let’s face it, we’re more interested in them than mansions overlooking downtown Los Angeles.
The show also adds a new layer of nepo-baby drama this season. While Farrah Brittany and Alexia Umansky already work for The Agency and often had to prove themselves to colleagues who were skeptical about their position in the company, now their sister Sophia also joins the family business, interning at The Agency while She is studying to obtain her real estate license.
When we meet the other agents who do not have the name Umansky, some of them, such as Joey Ben-Zvi and Ben Belack, openly express the rivalry and resentment they feel towards the Umansky sisters. Belack at one point explains that “real estate is a meritocracy” and everything he has, he has worked for and not given away due to nepotism.
And interwoven are the listings the Umanskys and their colleagues are showing, ranging from a vast olive ranch to a $65 million Bel Air glass estate. While the drama between the agents seems a little staged and predictable, at least Umansky himself seems more human than, say, the Oppenheims, and his close relationship with his daughters brings a warmth to the show than other real estate agents. The series seems to be lacking.
What shows will it remind you of? Buy Beverly Hills is kind of a cool show, as it capitalizes on our desire for shows about real estate porn, like I sell sunset and Million Dollar Beach Housethat combine beautiful homes with magnificent and spectacular sales agents, while adding the cache of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills in the mix.
Our opinion: When Buy Beverly Hills focuses on the lives of its other non-Umansky agents and offers tours of luxury homes, it is almost indistinguishable from other real estate shows. The program’s presentation speech was clear: “Let it be a real estate program that is also an extension of the Bravo Universe that serves as additional content for Housewives devotees.” Kyle and Mauricio add a layer of necessary drama, but it’s Alexia and Sophia, whose dry humor and competitive edge with their fellow racers make the show so fun. (Farrah is an integral part of The Agency, but she seems more reserved and less feisty than her sisters.)
At this point in television history, I think we’ve all seen enough cantilevered terraces, infinity pools, and booze-filled open houses to know the formula, and while the show doesn’t really do anything different with those ingredients, the Umanskys They achieve it. worth seeing. They’re good at what they do (real estate and clever jokes), which makes for good television, but it’s the real-life relationships that make the show more engaging. As the season progresses, a lot of tea is spilled about Mauricio’s fallout with Rick Hilton, agent Zach Goldsmith’s own relationship with Rick Hilton comes into play, and Kyle has open conversations about his struggles as a cast member on RHOBHand it’s fascinating to hear all this friction so candidly.
Sex and skin: None. After observing I sell sunsetIt’s actually a bit shocking to see real estate agents wearing jackets.
Parting Shot: After an event that Alexis and her joint agent Joey organized to sell a rustic ranch, Alexia and Sophia confront Joey, who has been promoting himself and is not actually an equal partner for Alexia. “Sometimes you don’t take me very seriously,” Alexia tells Joey. “You treat me like I’m some kind of accomplice to Umansky’s team. Now I am a very different person.” Joey knows that being attacked and outnumbered by any Umansky is not good, and his smirk disappears.
Performance worth seeing: Alexia Umansky feels like the family member poised to exit this show thanks to her humor and bold, boisterous attitude.
Memorable dialogue: “I have been married to Kyle for 27 years. She is my best friend. She is the love of my life. She will always be the love of my life. That will never change,” Umansky explains at the beginning of the first episode.
Our call: For me, the biggest question I had while watching this series was, “Do you want to watch it?” Buy Beverly Hills if you weren’t also a fan of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills?” While it certainly helps to be a fan of RHOBH and understand some of the context and family history of Umansky/Richards, Buy Beverly Hills is capable of standing on its own as brilliant, luxurious entertainment. STREAM 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.