SurrealEstate 2×7 Review: “God and Monsters”

SurrealEstate season 2 episode 7, ‘God and Monsters’, dealt a lot with fear. It also added a new member to the Roman Agency while ushering in a huge change for husbands Phil and Anthony.

‘God and Monsters’ opened with a flashback taking place more than 40 years ago. We got to see a young kid named Morris being afraid to go to sleep alone in his bedroom. Apparently, there’s a monster under his bed. I mean, we have all been there, but the difference was that the monster was real and it was quite vocal about wanting to eat Morris. Jumping to the present, we got to see a much older Morris (James Collins) adamant about selling his childhood home after his mother’s death. There’s one issue though. The monster under the bed was still there and it missed Morris.

The current episode dealt a lot with fear. Morris was fearful of the monster under his bed. He was also concerned about the time he had left after being diagnosed with a brain tumor. He wanted to reconnect with his daughter. Other than that, Luke had to come to terms with accepting the information Phil provided him about his mother’s whereabouts. Another supernatural-related plot had fresh recruit Lomax (Elena Juatco) help an immortal woman begin a new chapter. And Zooey was worried about a distant Susan.

A lot happened in ‘God and Monsters’ and I think the creative team handled each subplot well. Every character got their moment to shine as the members of the Roman Agency continued to develop.

While I found the monster under the bed thing interesting, I was a bit confused about the monster’s motives. It’s revealed that it liked scaring and taunting a young Morris because it wanted to make him stronger, especially with Morris belonging to a household with an abusive father. Couldn’t it instead have tried to be Morris’ friend? Hmm.

All of that bullying led young Morris to become mean and scared, putting him on the path of aggression and ultimately prison. Seeing Morris wonder how his life could have been different if the monster hadn’t done what it did offered an emotional moment. The episode gave Collins a lot to work with as he, as Morris, showed his acting range, seamlessly going from playing a scary dude out of prison to a vulnerable man still linked to the trauma from his past. It was nice to see Morris making amends with the monster and deciding to go meet his daughter.

Morris’s decision gave a gentle nudge to Luke to begin working on finding his mother. I want to know why she left Luke and his father all those years ago.

On a side note, Luke still sensed a bit of his ability to communicate with the dead. I’m unsure if that meant his powers were naturally healing or if the portal in the Donovan house was at risk of reopening.

August’s character development involved sharing with Phil how his older brother was sent to prison and how he came out of it a changed man. He got murdered 12 weeks after being released. That particular scene helped explain how August was able to recognize the prison tattoos Morris had. August was also able to sense Morris’s fear. And it all linked to how prisons change most people for the worse even if certain units are meant to offer rehabilitation. 

Zooey took it upon herself to finally pay a visit to Susan. However, she wasn’t able to do much as Luke called her back to the office for an emergency meeting after she knocked at the door. The creepy AI detected Zooey’s knock. It’s aware that Susan’s friends will come looking for her soon. I wonder what plan it will come up with to stop them.

Again, I don’t know if it was due to scheduling conflicts or not, but Susan being absent during the past couple of episodes just doesn’t sit well with me. I want to know how she’s doing while trapped inside the house’s walls. Give me a glimpse!

Coming to a major development, with thousands of resumes being submitted by potential real estate agents, Luke decided to ignore them all and reach out to a woman named Clytemnestra Lomax. She was one of the top agents until she had to quit due to professional drama and to look after her family’s funeral home. It’s a job Lomax didn’t like doing and she immediately accepted Luke’s offer to join the team.

And yes, for those wondering, Lomax had a special ability. Turns out, her nose itched whenever someone lied to her. It’s very useful to have if you’re in the business of sales. Also, I’m looking forward to seeing if her ability would work against supernatural beings. And with her being able to detect lies, would her nose still itch if a person told a lie they 100% believed to be the truth?

I liked Lomax. She’s business-oriented but she’s also kind. Her first case involved asking a squatter, named Elsa, at one of the apartment buildings to move. The paranormal aspect involved Elsa being immortal. She’s lived in the apartment for 500 years. Nothing she’s been able to find proved capable of killing her. And she feared moving away to a new location.

I enjoyed Lomax’s interaction with Elsa with Lomax stating how truly living took work. Lomax wanted Elsa to have a happy life, especially as someone who has seen the death of numerous loved ones. Lomax wasn’t going to quit when it came to gently urging Elsa to move on. I want Lomax to succeed and Elsa to be happy. There’s still so much the world can offer her.

And yeah, so, immortal human beings exist in SurrealEstate. It’s not all ghosts and monsters. I continue to be a fan of how George R. Olson and his creative team expand such a fictional world.

Talking about the big change in Phil and Anthony’s life, we got to see the two return home with a baby near the end of the episode. They are finally parents. And I couldn’t be happier for them!

However, I do have to say that seeing them with a baby felt a bit too rushed to me. I would have liked to witness at least one visit from an adoption agent interviewing Phil and Anthony. Phil had been mentioning how the adoption process was a waiting game. So, I would have liked to see an agent showcasing some level of homophobia that resulted in the husbands having to wait longer. 

But anyway, they finally got the baby they always wanted. So, yay!!!

Now, we have to wait and see if the baby develops supernatural powers or if a vengeful demon, due to Phil’s connection to the church, decides to take revenge by putting the baby’s life in danger.

Did you watch SurrealEstate season 2 episode 7? What did you think of Lomax?

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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