Season 2 of Owning Manhattan hits Netflix a year and change after Ryan Serhant’s big move to the platform from Bravo and the Million Dollar Listing universe. In the interim, he returned to And Just Like That…, his namesake firm’s agents became breakout stars – and the real estate reality world added even more competitors. But in the real world, SERHANT was also going way bigger. Billions in listings, more billions in sales, a team growing by leaps and bounds, and with that, plenty more pushback in perception and industry pressure. And yet, you’ll rarely see Serhant sweat it. In Owning Manhattan Season 2, he says, “We’re moving our turf uptown.”

OWNING MANHATTAN – SEASON 2: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT? 

Opening Shot: “Nice is in my DNA.” We’re back shadowing Ryan Serhant for Season 2 of Owning Manhattan, and he’s telling us how SERHANT’s massive growth has created a more money more problems situation. With growth comes attacks, and more haters. He’s still nice, but: “Now I’m on offense.” 

The Gist: Like in his pursuit of new blood. Serhant’s got a splashy, glassy new contender to rival the $250 million-dollar property that dominated Owning Season 1: 200 Amsterdam, a gleaming thumb jutting over the Upper West Side, where he’s brokering the whole damn building, full-floor unit by full-floor unit. (What could you do with 5,000 square feet of amenity packages?) To make this happen, the CEO’s looking outside his stable of successful agents, and his eyes light up when he talks landing Peter Zaitzaff as sales director. This guy’s already established. A titan of New York City lux real estate. As Serhant’s pitch commences, on a terrace overlooking Central Park, you can feel it. Peter’s already got the sauce, so why does he need Ryan’s sweetener?

Speaking of Season 1, the interpersonal agent dramas that started there have not ended here. Over a dinner that seems to consist entirely of martinis and fruit, Jade Shenker spills her lingering haterade toward Chloe Tucker Caine all over Jordan March. And at SERHANT, in the bullpen, Nile Lundgren, Jordan Hurt, and Jessica Taylor conduct a gossip session that’s ostensibly about who will land 200 Amsterdam – they know nothing about the boss’s Peter pitch – but is mostly about flaunting their respective egos. It’s not unique to Owning Manhattan, or even the real estate reality sector. But the personalities on this show are particularly skilled at saying one thing and meaning something else. Usually something selfish.

SERHANT isn’t just making moves in Manhattan. Owning Season 2 will also see the firm finding its way down the Eastern Seaboard to Miami. And with a precedent for upheaval set by Ryan’s late-innings canning of Jonathan Nørmølle, and with Jonathan’s departure holding space for a new office villain – actually, who knows, he and his tats might even return – we’re very much down to see how a larger-format firm, with even more top-down pressure to perform, turns up the heat on these agents who all think they’re god’s gift to selling.

'Owning Manhattan' Photo: Brian Zak / New York Post

What Shows Will It Remind You Of? How much time ya got? The aspirational lifestyle/real estate porn reality pattern is so clogged, it demands we think about the inevitable next sector to be exploited. But for now, Selling Sunset, Selling the OC, and Selling the City are all flying high.

Our Take: At the top of Owning Manhattan Season 2, when Ryan Serhant says “There’s a difference between being nice and being weak,” it’s right in line with our sense of him. He sells that line like he sells boffo properties: with a natural niceness, aggressively supercharged. But at the same time, it’s a line that feels written in a lab, the same way how, a minute later, Serhant breaks the fourth wall on a reality show. A supposed hard line between “nice” and “weak” is a construct, just like how the interpersonal spats on Owning Manhattan can feel. The big boss is skilled enough in the reality space to project his personality in exclamation point form, while still feeling genuine. But just like how he can’t front-face every property as CEO, he can’t prevent Owning from drifting into same-y reality territory whenever he’s not on camera.   

Even if the positions a lot of this show’s principals hold feel archetypal, especially with so many similar series filling streaming, we still mostly like where they’re coming from. Yet another glitzy space, the latest kazillion-dollar rehab of a vintage building – honestly, our eyes tend to glaze over. It’s just not interesting. It’s better as a backdrop to all these agents fueling their workday with competing versions of “I’m the best, nobody’s better, don’t even try, come at me bro.” Real estate itself is finite. It’s not about affordability with Owning Manhattan, it’s about availability. And we like watching who will use this cutthroat landscape to avail themselves best. 

'Owning Manhattan' Photo: Everett Collection

Performance Worth Watching: “I’ve been here since the beginning – like, I’ve been your most loyal guy.” Jordan March’s industry pedigree is rock solid. But he’s still out here competing for every big whale property. Partly, this is how Ryan Serhant likes it. But for Season 2, the other part is us putting Jordan on Jump Ship watch.  

Sex and Skin: Nah, but with these people, dressing to the nines is amplified to like ninety. Stories-tall heels, accessorized with bold colors, bassinets and purse dogs. Serhant’s suitcoat with dragonfly appliques. And admixtures of blazers with T’s that show off ink, or are severely tailored to within an inch of the fabric’s life. 

Parting Shot: Lots of WTF looks in the room as Ryan Serhant makes a big proclamation to his staff.

Sleeper Star: We called Chloe Tucker Caine the sleeper star of Owning Manhattan Season 1, and she retains the designation here, and now with her baby daughter Charlie. Chloe called her six months away “maternity leave,” but the culture of NYC real estate only recognizes that last word. She knows she’s got work to do, getting back in the game. “In real estate, if you are not closing deals, you are making zero dollars.”

Most Pilot-y Line: “My job isn’t just about reeling in the biggest listings anymore. As a CEO, now it’s about reeling in the biggest talent.” That’s cool, Ryan Serhant, but adding new sharks could clog the waters.

Our Call: STREAM IT. Season 2 of Owning Manhattan is yet another lifestyle real estate reality pageant. But its people, beginning with boss Ryan Serhant, seem to have a penchant for breaking out of the typical boxes, usually in delicious drama phone ways.  

Johnny Loftus (@johnnyloftus.bsky.social) is a Chicago-based writer. A veteran of the alternative weekly trenches, his work has also appeared in Entertainment Weekly, Pitchfork, The All Music Guide, and The Village Voice.