SurrealEstate 1×6 Review: “Roman’s Six”

SurrealEstate season 1 episode 6, titled ‘Roman’s Six’, has got to be the most enjoyable episode yet. We had the Roman Agency trying to outsmart a very dangerous paranormal being.

Directed by Melanie Scrofano and written by Duana Taha, the main plot of ‘Roman’s Six’ involved the Roman Agency being handed over a house by Rita (Luke’s competitor). The opening of the episode made it clear how tough the case was going to be. The first couple of minutes of ‘Roman’s Six’ had Rita’s assistant die due to a tree branch being pushed into his eye socket, followed by a woman dying by falling eye-first on a knitting needle and then another woman dying by catching a stray arrow in her… yup, eye. I loved how the creative team decided to show all of the deaths. The entire sequence gave me Final Destination vibes. 

According to the team’s research, it’s deduced that everyone who attended the open house for the haunted establishment was being targeted for some reason. The house wanted people to come in so it could kill them later. After Rita gave the Roman Agency a list of prospective buyers, I liked seeing the team trying to avoid more deaths as they made their way through the list. The paranormal being struck every three days and made sure to make the deaths look like accidents. Of course, the team’s first try didn’t work. A guy, whom Phil (Adam Korson) warned, didn’t listen and died while eating dinner at a fancy restaurant.

Things got personal when it’s revealed that Megan (Tennille Read) also attended the open house and is next in line to die. I loved seeing the entire Roman Agency coming together to protect Megan. Even though she’s not fully accepting of the paranormal, I liked how Megan’s sane enough to heed Luke’s warning. Being a doctor in training, she applied logic to the situation and it helped Luke (Tim Rozon) and the rest to come up with a strategy to defeat the serial killer supernatural force.

‘Roman’s Six’ gave us some lore building, too. Turns out, the dangerous demonic presence was called a Watchmaker. As the name implies, such an entity was all about doing the same thing over and over again while precisely following a pattern. It struck every three days and killed people by jamming items in their eye. We also got to know that it wasn’t able to monitor the potential victim’s action throughout the day. The Watchmaker only had a small window to figure out how to kill a person. After that, it would become dormant until it was time to strike again. I’m a fan of creative teams sharing the rules of their fictional worlds. It helps make the narrative feel more immersive. 

Megan’s question about what would happen if the demon’s pattern was disrupted served as the basis of the Roman Agency’s plan to put a stop to the Watchmaker (who had possessed the body of the house’s former owner named Catherine).

Tricking the Watchmaker into thinking it had killed Megan was definitely a major highlight of the episode. I have to be honest, I had no idea Megan’s death was a fake-out. I actually thought the writers had decided to kill her off to cause Luke more pain. I have to say that Luke’s entire team working together to create the perfect “fake death” for Megan, by having a piece of rebar go into her eye while walking outside, was executed impressively.

As for Plot B in ‘Roman’s Six’, that involved Susan (Sarah Levy) trying to sell a property that was being used as a fraternity house by three college dudes. It was clear that those young men weren’t going to allow the property to be sold. After playing nice didn’t work, Susan was ready to involve lawyers. But that’s where Zooey (Savannah Basley) decided to step in and what we got made for another highlight. I had no idea Zooey had it in her to change her entire personality and basically charm the young men into doing her bidding by lying about recording TikTok videos. I thoroughly enjoyed the entire sequence.

Also, seeing TikTok being used in SurrealEstate even though it’s yet to be mentioned in the Gossip Girl reboot (which has aired six episodes), made such an omission even more glaring. Gossip Girl is supposed to be about social media being used to ruin lives and spill tea. Why the heck hasn’t TikTok been used to show receipts or cause online havoc? I highly doubt the entire high school-going generation is on Instagram 24/7 (as Gossip Girl would like for you to believe). SurrealEstate being more with the times compared to freaking Gossip Girl is amusing to me. You can watch my coverage of the queer-inclusive Gossip Girl reboot over on our YouTube channel.

The paranormal aspect of Plot B was revealed to involve the ghost of an old man contacting the Roman Agency to get those frat boys out of his building. The good news is that Susan and Zooey did get paid in the end. I’m so here for the idea of actual ghosts also contacting the Roman Agency to handle stuff with the properties they have left behind so they can peacefully move on to the next realm. “As long as the check clears,” said Zooey. And I’m in total agreement.

SurrealEstate continues to strike the perfect balance between gore, creepiness, and comedy. With four more episodes to go, I can’t wait to see what else the writers have planned.

Other thoughts and questions:

• Yes to Luke being ready to show Megan a new house to move into. She really needs to get out of her current haunted mansion.
• Did I hear that wrong or was Luke actually a stripper during his college days? Come on, Rita. Tell me more.
• Rita’s incredibly frustrating! She didn’t show an ounce of sympathy for her dead assistant.
• With Susan mentioning how it seemed as if Zooey had charmed the three young dudes to do as she said, I wonder if Zooey has the ability to charm people? As I have said before, I wouldn’t be against Zooey having witchcraft in her bloodline.
• Of course, August (Maurice Dean Wint) wasn’t going to enter such a haunted house even those it opened the front door for him.
• Luke’s scenes with Catherine (Elizabeth Saunders) in prison were well-acted. I loved how Saunders played the cold and calculating Catherine.

What did you think of ‘Roman’s Six’?

Let us know.

Author: Farid-ul-Haq

Farid has a Double Masters in Psychology and Biotechnology as well as an M.Phil in Molecular Genetics. He is the author of numerous books including Missing in Somerville, and The Game Master of Somerville. He gives us insight into comics, books, TV shows, anime/manga, video games, and movies.

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