SurrealEstate Review: A House Is Not a Home (Season 1 Episode 4)
Horror takes a backseat on SurrealEstate Season 1 Episode 4, “A House Is Not a Home.” While the series does still focus on the Roman Agency selling homes with a weird presence, the focus is less on a good jump scare and more on the team itself.
For the first time since the series premiere, the series shows us two stories but lets Susan shine as we get to see a bit of her pyrotechnics come into play.
When we first find out that Susan has a special ability, it’s easy to see it as a gimmick. In fact, I was starting to wonder if it may fall somewhere on the floor to be picked up midseason if the writers ran out of road with Meghan’s house.
It’s a relief to see it put to use early on, and used in a way that’s applicable to the Roman Agency’s goal. Until now, we have mostly heard her talk about Susan using her ability to get back at her exes. There’s some talk about how she can control it, but until we see her actively summon it, we don’t know for sure she’s not surprising it.
Furthermore, it comes on the crux of Susan and Zooey getting to know each other. It’s so important for shows to put women together in a way that isn’t competitive or in any form of competition, and having these two characters just talk is a great start to building their friendship.
It’s especially important that we get to know a bit about Zooey. Administrative support for a business can be its best asset, and while Zooey appears tough, it’s nice to see that there’s something under all that pain. Plus, it’s nice to see her out in the field and get a taste of how Zooey might act when confronted with a ghost.
While Susan is dealing with influencers, Luke has to deal with a builder whose community is having trouble. This story feels formulaic and the answers are all arrived at relatively quickly.
Plus, when all is said and done, it’s not a story where you want to root for the client. Honestly, neither the influencers nor the builder are characters who we want to see win, but that just makes us focus on the Roman Agency more.
What Luke’s case does illuminate is what model communities are. While I doubt the show is trying to educate anyone about how new home construction works, it found a very interesting vehicle for a haunting that should be celebrated.
The mistake made here is designing the Delaware house on a home that they didn’t have the rights to. The original home was meant to be a custom, but the model homes all had the same design, essentially becoming clones.
There is an entire industry based on this practice. It’s not always in a community, but you can buy home blueprints online to build your own home. The customers who buy these blueprints buy the rights to build a home on a certain lot. And yes, these homes do have originals a lot of the time.
This is an interesting concept when you consider how things are copied and remixed. While the story doesn’t dwell on it, it’s clear that it’s not just an unrestful spirit, but also copyright infringement here. Especially when you consider the home was not meant to raise a profit, and the client all but admitted to ripping off the design in his first scene with Luke.
In the end, it feels like this story is meant to be a morality test for Luke. He knows the client wants the ghost gone and makes an enticing offer, but he doesn’t take it.
So much of Luke’s character is shrouded in mystery, and I like that the show is giving us this slow burn as to what shaped him. We want to know more about how he got to where he is, but the show keeps dangling characters that keep us interested just enough to tune in each week.
“A House is Not a Home,” is one of the first real character-centric episodes, and it’s exactly what the show needs.
Stray Thoughts
- Savannah Basley’s performance really shows how multi-dimensional Zooey can be and I am looking forward to seeing more of her.
- It truly feels like Phil is just in the stories for exposition and August is there for tech. These roles are not uncommon in procedurals, and sometimes they can really steal the show but I want them to be a little more present in the action. It doesn’t hold that they shouldn’t meet clients when they met Meghan in the first episode.
- I like that the series circled back to Luke’s mom so soon, but does this mean that the Donovan house is no longer a scene we’ll be visiting frequently? It feels like a waste to abandon it.
What did you think of this episode of SurrealEstate? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
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SurrealEstate airs Fridays at 10/9c on Syfy.
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Lauren Busser
Lauren Busser is an Associate Editor at Tell-Tale TV. She is a writer of fiction and nonfiction whose work has appeared in Bitch Media, Popshot Quarterly, Brain Mill Press Voices, and The Hartford Courant.