SurrealEstate 3×4 Review: “A Family Thing”

SurrealEstate season 3 episode 4, titled ‘A Family Thing’, was about catching up with Zooey’s professional life as a new lawyer as she tried to handle things between three highly volatile siblings.

While I’m glad to see Zooey being the focus of a storyline in the latest episode, her presence did make me miss Father Phil even more. August’s back to working full-time for the Roman Ireland Agency. And I wouldn’t be surprised if Zooey showed up a couple of more times in upcoming episodes. That only leaves Father Phil from the OG cast who has yet to appear. And I have a feeling we likely won’t get to see his face in the six more episodes to go. I have no idea what made creative George R. Olson send Phil (his husband and daughter) all the way to Rome at the end of season 2 and why he wasn’t given a reason (I would have taken any excuse!) to come back to the agency after a three-year timeskip between the two seasons.

Anyway, talking about ‘A Family Thing’, the episode opened with siblings Sheri, Barry, and Arlo being asked by the pastor to throw dirt in the grave at their mother Lisbet’s funeral. Even such a task got turned into an argument between the Eno siblings as they talked about who Lisbet loved more and who should be the first to throw dirt into her grave.

A fresh lawyer, Zooey’s in charge of handling Lisbet’s estate. Apparently, Lisbet wanted her kids to come together to decide what should be done with the family house. If they didn’t decide by a particular date that was coming up soon, the house and possessions would be donated to charity, or something to that effect.

Staying at the house intensified the hatred between the siblings, with each getting a scene where they talked to an alternative version of themselves who reminded them of the hurt or humiliation they had experienced in the past due to each other. I liked how the creative team quickly made the audience aware that something was definitely not right when the so-called memories were mentioned. Something sinister was messing with the Eno kids’ recollections. The mysterious presence wanted them to pick up a weapon (any sharp household item will do) and start killing.

Of course, Zooey had to bring the situation to Luke, with her former boss and August realizing that something angry indeed haunted the family home. I liked how the reveal was handled, with the narrative allowing Lisbet’s ghost to intervene to try and make things right. The scene where the angry spirit slapped Lisbet a bunch of times caught me off guard. I don’t think I have ever seen a storyline that allowed such a thing to happen, considering the relationship the angry spirit and Lisbet shared. But I understood why Lisbet let it happen. It made sense in context.

With the vengeful spirit gone, the Eno siblings seemed a bit at ease with each other. However, I doubt they will ever like each other. Not only had the spirit been messing with them since childhood, but the Eno siblings also didn’t come across as calm people. I guess the most they could hope for was to tolerate each other’s existence and never escalate matters to outright wanting to kill. 

Due to Zooey and Susan having strengthened their friendship over the course of past two seasons, I appreciated ‘A Family Thing’ having Zooey reach out to Susan for advice. Susan was a fish-out-of-water when she began at the (then) Roman Agency. But Susan allowed herself some grace, and the ensuing experiences made her into a better person who was surrounded by very loyal friends. According to Susan, a lobster’s quite vulnerable when it sheds. It needs to stay hidden for a time. Zooey also had it in her to come out stronger after feeling vulnerable, having started a new chapter in her life.

Susan also shared a scene with Lomax as the two continued to progress through many DIY projects around a new house because it was something Susan was supposed to do with her deceased mother. While I’m here for Susan and Lomax being friends, I hope the season gives Lomax something substantial to do because right now she just… exists. I want a storyline focused on Lomax the same way Zooey got one this week.

Lomax brought some very old bricks to use for Susan’s accent wall project. However, seeing a Caduceus on one of the bricks gave them pause. Pulling in their new researcher Tag (who’s crushing on Susan), nothing came of it as brick companies were known to mark their bricks. However, I’m going to put a pin on this particular story thread. The brick got a whole lot of screentime for simply having a mark that wasn’t supposed to mean much. I wouldn’t be surprised if something comes of it down the line.

Talking about Luke, Tyler took up most of his attention. Wanting to possess Luke to use his ability, Tyler tried it with an exhausted Luke after a two-hour jog. He failed. Tyler tried again with a drunk Luke. He failed. Luke’s ability to talk to the dead was somehow making him resistant to Malec jumping from Tyler’s body into Luke’s. It made sense, because if Luke didn’t have said resistance to begin with, he would have been possessed by a spirit a long time ago due to how much he communicates with the dead. 

Malec’s not done, of course. I think his latest strategy is to mess with Luke psychologically. I wasn’t expecting Malec to mail the Elvis the Elephant plushie to Luke. Our male lead tried to remember where he had seen the plushie before, but the mental block persisted. I hope Luke passes the plushie to August to run some supernatural tests instead of forgetting about it and placing it somewhere in his office.

Another thing that took me by surprise was how the Roman Ireland Agency didn’t have an active alarm against malevolent entities following Luke or his team into the office after August left for ASDRA. They went through a whole lot of trouble when a murderous spirit tagged along with them during the events of ‘Quarantine’ (season one episode 7). I wasn’t expecting such an oversight at all. Do better, Luke! Do better!

I hope August’s able to upgrade and reactivate the alarm ASAP. August gave Tyler a side-eye and was clearly worried about Luke. Fingers crossed the team’s able to realize the serious threat Tyler’s supposed to be before Luke’s pulled into life-threatening trouble. 

What did you think of SurrealEstate season 3 episode 4 ‘A Family Thing’?

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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