SurrealEstate isn’t the first supernatural Syfy series Tim Rozon has been on. Fans of Wynonna Earp will always remember him as Doc Holliday. The paranormal western might have ended, but at least we receive a little mini reunion tonight between Rozon and Wynonna herself, Melanie Scrofano.
This week’s property of the week involves a family lake cabin in a secluded area. Harper (Scrofano) has been trying to sell it herself but as we see in the intro, there are spirits that scare away any potential buyer. Harper’s younger brother has had enough and hires the Roman Agency. When Luke arrives, it appears to be a case of a free loading sibling who doesn’t want to give up her meal ticket but when he spends the night, his powers kick in and realizes that something darker is at work.
There’s some really great horror in “For Sale by the Owner” and the episode knows how to build suspense. SurrealEstate does a good job with its fake outs and keeping ambiguous figures lurking in the background. When the actual haunting begins, Harper’s dead descendants emerging from the lake paint quite the visual. Even the tunes from a music box sound creepy.
The story behind the cabin is compelling as it explores the despair caused by loss and how it can affect generations. A grandmother’s suicide inadvertently curses the home and it becomes a literal battle between Luke and the spirits for Harper’s soul. The resolution is far from original but built up well and Harper is finally released from her ordeal.
This episode of SurrealEstate has a lighter tone back at the office where Susan tries to find a property for a famous horror writer. It helps develop the relationship between Susan and Zooey more with the former learning to trust her coworker while the latter becomes less condescending and arrogant when she’s right.
Moreover, it gets a bit juicy in the workplace as they gossip over Luke’s interest in the home in the series premiere behind their boss’ back. At first the group thought it was because he is interested in Meg Donovan but after doing a follow-up, Auggie and Father Phil learn about Luke’s link to the house and his mother. However, as Susan puts it, it can be both. It will be interesting to see if Luke’s connection to the home might be too personal and put him in conflict with the rest of his coworkers.
Speaking of Luke, he continues to surprise episode after episode with his complexity and the gradual revealing of his character. The home Susan eventually sells to the writer was his childhood home and we learn about the hard time he had as a kid with his powers growing up.
More significant is the reappearance of his mother and their conversation. Luke doesn’t have the same friendly bond with her as we’ve seen with his father and you can feel there’s a lot of unresolved issues between the two. It’s intriguing to see how their conflict progresses and whether Meg Donovan will get caught up in the middle of it all since it is her house.
The third episode of SurrealEstate caters to fans with a sought-after reunion but more importantly, delivers a solid scary story along with delightful and funny office gossip.
New episodes of SurrealEstate air Friday nights on Syfy.
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