SurrealEstate Season 1 Episode 4 Review: A House Is Not A Home
Carissa Pavlica
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It's still hard to determine exactly what this show is trying to be.
For sure, SurrealEstate Season 1 Episode 4 was the funniest of the bunch with actual comedy scenes written into it.
And, finally, the scary bits were a little unsettling. Just a wee bit, anyway.
What shocked me the most was that Luke is walking away from the Donovan house.
I fully expected that storyline to last the entire season. Since Megan is still living there, and the house is still on the market, nothing is certain.
But Luke is totally into Megan, and his mother's bitchy presence is killing the vibe, so he's walking away from the house and toward Megan.
Good for him, but bummer for us because that house was a treasure trove of possibilities. Still, if Megan is sticking around and Luke's mother gives her grief, he'd probably rescind his determination to steer clear.
As Luke is a genuinely kind person -- I mean, come on. Tim Rozon! -- it would be sweet if he never again had to darken his life with the likes of his mother. Because he's right, he spends enough time fawning over spirits. He deserves a break.
His special set of skills came in handy to slap down one of his competitors, though. Greg Chisholm wasn't far off from the nastiness of Luke's mother. Does Luke attract these bad souls?
Susan was pretty excited that they were asked to help Greg, even if she couldn't be a part of it. Somerset Estates was a sprawling suburban development and a huge moneymaker.
But when similar troubles (the troubles... hello, Haven!) befell residents across the neighborhood, sales dropped, sending Greg into a panic significant enough to call in Roman Real Estate.
Whatever Greg did to Luke over the Balmoral Farms deal must have been pretty bad. Greg was practically begging for Luke's help and promising to grease his palm for anything the firm could do to get things back to normal at the Estates.
The aforementioned comedy came from the two real estate teams meeting in the street as some kind of gunfight at the OK corral situation. It was rather uncomfortable, really. But maybe you thought it was amusing?
The moral of the Somerset Estates story was that if you steal intellectual property from someone, you'd damned well better be sure that they're not going to haunt you.
Come on. It's 2021. Telling anyone outright not to steal isn't even worth the effort. The only payback will come through spiritual vengeance.
As it turned out, it was a rather heartfelt story. Bernie designed a house for the woman he loved, who then crushed his heart into a million pieces.
With the culprit dead and buried, his only recourse was to wreak havoc with anyone who occupied a home built from the stolen designs.
Luke got lucky since he could use Bernie's pain to satisfy his desire to throw dirt in Greg's face, but Luke also seemed to really like Bernie. In a very short time, they grew to be friends, such as they were.
Bernie: I'm getting really tired of looking at your face.
Luke: I sell real estate; I get that all the time.
That exchange made me laugh out loud. Maybe I'm an easy mark.
When Bernie was freed from his long-lasting torture, Luke seemed sad to see him go.
Surely, we'll discover what the heck went down at Balmoral Farms. You can't name something like that and forget about it.
As mentioned, Susan had her hands full with a couple of the most annoying people.
Sophie and Duncan were being haunted in their home, and I couldn't think of a more deserving couple. They're ugly people on the inside, and it's fun seeing them suffer.
Unfortunately, their demanding personalities only meant that Susan suffered in their stead since they were hardly upset about the spirits.
The possibility that their paint color was wrong irked them more than the wet footprints and Sophie's projectile vomiting of rancid seawater.
Zooey was out of the office for the first time as Susan's car was damaged when a headed horseman ran her off of the road to the seaside house. They've been having catfights since Susan joined the Roman Agency.
Luke: Zooey! It's your lucky day. You get to drive Susan up to the coast.
Zooey: And leave her for dead, right?
Luke: This is why we don't have HR.
If that ain't the truth! If you watch SurrealEstate online, you know that the group has been an HR nightmare since Susan arrived.
Once again, Susan admitted she was wrong when it came to Zooey, and Zooey opened up about her past, which is rather tragic.
Their fear and some adult beverages forced them to lean on each other and confide some secrets with each other, including Susan's telekinetic past.
The haunting wasn't too bad, either. There have been many stories about hauntings around lighthouses due to the light's deficiency leading to shipwrecks.
Phil: The sailors are coming! They want revenge on the tardy horseman, but they will settle for you!
Susan: Oh, perfect. And there's nothing we can do?
Phil: Yeah, you can get out of there!!
Susan: So, if the vengeful sailors don't fill our lungs with seawater and kill us, the influencers will unleash their Twitter mob.
Zooey: Kind of a coin toss.
They quickly discovered why the house had been abandoned for so long, but Susan's abilities saved the day.
Hopefully, there will be more scenes where she's called on to use her ability to make fire. That's the kind of thing we should see on Syfy.
I've said it before, but there has to be more to Luke's abilities given how astute he is in the field and that crazy house he grew up in. More, more, more, please!
So what did you think about "A House Is Not A Home"? Do you think that SurrealEstate is going to be more procedural than serial in its storytelling?
Please tell me you're still watching!!
Carissa Pavlica is the managing editor and a staff writer and critic for TV Fanatic. She's a member of the Critic's Choice Association, enjoys mentoring writers, conversing with cats, and passionately discussing the nuances of television and film with anyone who will listen. Follow her on X and email her here at TV Fanatic.
