SurrealEstate Review: Ft. Ghost Child (Season 1 Episode 5)

SurrealEstate Season 1 Episode 5, “Ft. Ghost Child,” delivers a change in tone that works to the story’s advantage.

In a switch from previous offerings, this episode opens with Luke giving a sales pitch for a home while August and Father Phil attempt to exorcise the spirit in the house. The voiceover is an intriguing shift, giving us a glimpse of what the client sees as opposed to what Luke does.

It’s one of the first times we see that a client doesn’t actually know the home is metaphysically engaged when they purchase or lease it. It likely would have gone the same here if it wasn’t for George, the ghost child.

First, “Ft. Ghost Child” has standout performances from the guest cast and successfully does what some previous episodes have not: construct a haunting story that gets us invested in the characters. 

George’s hauntings start out as innocent fun with toys placed around the house and escalate as an ignored child would. Atticus Lee-Sampson’s scenes are silent but powerful and he plays the innocent, but angry, child well. 

It would be easy to break this child apart as they did with Russell in the opening. However, if we have learned anything about the Roman Agency, they won’t do that unless they have to. That held with SurrealEstate Season 1 Episode 4, “A House Is Not a Home,” when Luke refused to dispense with the original architect. 

Understanding that this child deserves better is the kind of empathy ghost stories need. George is, at his core, just a child who is waiting for his mom and who wants to have fun. 

Phil’s story is the standout in helping George get closure. Since Phil mentioned being a fallen priest on SurrealEstate Season 1 Episode 1, “Pilot,” and we saw his husband on SurrealEstate Season 1 Episode 2, “The Harvey,” I’ve been wondering what led him to that crossroads in his life.

Adam Korson plays Phil with a very humorous air to him. From the episodes we’ve seen so far, it would be easy to assume that he was shamed out of the church, but his willingness to go back shows that there’s more to it.

PHIL: The organization wasn’t meeting my needs. So I became a total Karen and asked to see the manager.
SISTER YASMIN: Yea, in the middle of Easter mass. They said you were drunk.
PHIL: I was drunk. And gay. And gay. But I knew eventually I’d be gay and sober. 

Spiritual trauma is a real and relatable issue for many people, especially in the LGBT community, and having Phil be so honest and vulnerable is a form of representation that is much needed in this space. 

Phil’s story isn’t just about his fall from the priesthood, it lays the groundwork for a story about reconnecting with faith. 

PHIL: I miss it. I do. I miss the communion, the music, the rituals that have been around for 2,000 years. They’re comforting….Most of all, I miss feeling like somebody’s in charge. Like our destinies are being crafted by somebody kind, and benevolent, and wise. 

When Phil’s husband jokes about how he isn’t looking for god as much Lin-Manuel Miranda, the expression that Korson gives him just shows how he completely misses the point. Phil is trying to communicate a deep loss, and he isn’t being heard like he needs to be. 

He has a mission, and a purpose on this episode, to help the little boy, but he doesn’t have any peers in this endevour. He was going to give his whole life to the Catholic church before he left, and everything he believed in left until he heard the music again and realized maybe his isn’t completely alone.

PHIL: The music washed over me. I haven’t heard it since I left, and I was surprised how it…helped. I felt better. It gave me strength and comfort. You could have taken that away from me.  I’m really glad that you didn’t. 

Given how anti-LGBT Catholic theology can be, it’s refreshing to see Phil return to a church and start to rediscover some of the things he loved about the practice he was going to devote his life to.

When you hear a priest is on a team that deals with metaphysically engaged properties, you expect him to be leading the exorcisms, but from this, we get the feeling that Phil’s connection to these ghosts is much, much deeper. Giving him this rich storyline about reconnecting with faith and what led him to a priesthood makes him a more interesting and multidimensional character. 

The episode ends on a somber note, and it has much more emotional weight to it than some of the previous episodes. While a lot of the other ghosts were vindictive, George wasn’t. At least, not intentionally. 

It’s heartbreaking when Luke breaks the news that his mom isn’t coming back for him. He offers comfort and reassurance, and he handles it with care. It’s also the first time we have felt sorry to see a spirit go on this series and it’s treated with the somber tone it deserves.

The decision to pan around the room as George falls asleep only to see a hand turn on the lullaby in the board is a nice touch. We haven’t seen spirits move on willingly, and as an audience, we don’t need to. This was a moment for George that only those in the room should have witnessed, and panning back to Luke sitting by George’s firetruck accomplishes that.

This lines up nicely with Luke’s story about his dad. Picking up on the story with Luke’s mom, we get to see exactly how the conversation Luke has with his mom on SurrealEstate Season 1 Episode 3, “For Sale By Owner,” has affected him. We don’t get any real answers, but the dialogue drops enough hints that we can start to think about where the story is going. 

This is something the series has been doing very well. As infuriating as it can be to get nuggets of information at a time, it connects and picks up the threads of its story nicely. 

In the end, “Ft. Ghost Child,” shows that SurrealEstate can do more than just jump scares and menacing ghosts. It shows what the show can do if it wants to dig deep and show some emotion. This marks the midway point for Season 1, and if the show continues to construct a long-term narrative it has the potential to end on great terms. 

Stray Thoughts:

• As much as I loved Phil’s storyline, I don’t think we needed his voiceover over the nun lighting a candle for the mothers who never came back. Yes, it’s sweet, but it could have been cut out too. Leaving it in has me concerned that we may not see more of Phil’s journey this season if they felt the need to tie this storyline up in a pretty bow.
• Watching Susan and Tessa test each other was a fun bit to watch over the course of the episode, but I am glad it took a backseat to George and Phil.
• Damon and George had a cute relationship throughout the episode. Their childlike personalities suited each other well and carried the story. Having Damon take inspiration from the house is a nice touch and really does embody the mind of a creative who feels blocked. Watching Damon interact with the self-propelled toys also added a nice touch to the storyline as Damon tried to make sense of the coincidences.
• Listening to Luke talk to Damon about how the house is talking to him makes me wonder how much of himself he saw in Damon and George. It feels like there’s a lot to unpack there.

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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