SurrealEstate 3×5 Review: “The Gardener”

SurrealEstate season 3 episode 5, titled ‘The Gardner’, continued to expand the show’s lore while also, finally, giving us scenes highlighting Lomax’s family.

I have been waiting to learn more about Lomax because, in my opinion, she hasn’t had much to add to the monster-of-the-week narrative style of SurrealEstate. While ‘The Gardener’ had Lomax far away from the action that happened, at least it gave us a look into her household. Lomax took a break from the Roman Ireland Agency to visit her parents. Apparently, her siblings were busy, so she had to help. Not only that, but her parents could only turn to her because of what they had in mind.

It was obvious Lomax’s parents wanted her to take over the family business the moment she shared the screen with them. It made sense. Lomax’s a skilled mortician. We even got to see her in action this week. And while I knew she wasn’t going to leave the agency anytime soon, I was still glad the writers decided to let us learn more about her life.

Lomax’s coping mechanism involving talking to the dead bodies she’s working on was an interesting creative decision. I mean, I think it would have been awesome if Lomax could actually talk to dead people, in contrast to Luke’s ability to communicate with ghosts. But hey, I’ll take what I can get because, as I mentioned, it was an interesting creative decision.

While going over the Pros and Cons of taking over the family business, I liked how one of the Cons was about her parents micromanaging her every move if they couldn’t let go once she took over. Also, working for the Roman Ireland Agency had allowed Lomax to grow as a person, especially when it came to becoming better at social interactions… with the living.

Another fun scene involved Rita showing up at a funeral to try and make new clients. Apparently, certain buyers wait for a person to die so their property can appear on the market. Not only that, but going after the recently widowed has a higher chance of bagging a good commission, as said person would very likely be looking to downsize. Oh, Rita. Never change. Her verbal fight with Luke was hilarious.

So, yeah, while I enjoyed the scenes featuring Lomax and her family, I’m still waiting to see her take more of an active role when handling the supernatural with the rest of the crew.

Talking about the supernatural, the property in question involved a couple, named Paul and Jan, who had lost the love they once shared for each other. They reluctantly teamed up to work on improving the curb appeal of a property they had planned to build a life on. The very next day, Jan noticed a mysterious purple flower, which led to her meeting a young man named Blake. Sticking with the episode’s title, Blake introduced himself as a gardener who was more than happy to help Jan with the numerous purple flowers that had popped up overnight.

The writers didn’t try and hide anything about Blake’s intentions. He was clearly evil and definitely not human. However, his actual identity was kept hidden until later in the episode. At first, I thought Blake might be a ghost attached to the property. But nopes. According to Tag’s research, Blake’s origins were linked to folklore. The purple flower was revealed to be called a sheep-eater or Puya chilensis. The folklore involved a shepherd being trapped by the plant and losing his life.

Apparently, the plant remained dormant for six years before waking up for a week to search for sustenance. The dangerous being living in the property had killed people before, and this time around, it was Jan’s turn. According to August’s theory, the plan entity had evolved over time. It had figured out how to appear human and use a glamor to lure the next victim. Jan’s wanting to be loved and appreciated painted her as easy prey.

Due to Jan being glamored by Blake, she continued to grow distant from Paul, finally being accompanied into the woods by Blake so she could be consumed. Of course, August had the perfect device to find Jan by tracking her location via an emotionally charged item (her wedding ring). August, Luke, Susan, and Paul got to Jan before she could be completely decomposed. The rescue led to Blake, buried underground, shooting some vines to get to her.

I was expecting a better fight between our heroes and Blake. Luke tearing up the vines by using a rock and the disconnect turning Blake’s body into a skeleton was quite anticlimactic. Susan did burn the body. So, that was a nice touch. I also liked how Susan and Luke mentioned keeping an eye on the property just in case Blake somehow returned.

I’m here for SurrealEstate exploring other paranormal beings other than ghosts and similar entities. I wouldn’t mind actual vampires and werewolves showing up down the line.

Even though they got together at the end, their relationship helped Luke rethink his friendship with Megan. Our boy’s clearly in love with Megan. Staying “just friends” with her was taking a toll on him. I liked how Luke finally decided to share his feelings with Megan. In a sense, it felt he had been forcing himself to wait for the possibility of getting back with Megan when she broke up with her current boyfriend.

While I understood Megan getting emotional after what Luke said, I do feel she was a bit unfair when she mentioned how Luke should have fought harder for their relationship. I mean, as Luke mentioned, what was he supposed to say? He’s not the type of man to stop Megan from pursuing her dream of becoming a doctor, even if it meant she would have to go abroad.

Yes, Luke could have told Megan he loved her a lot earlier, but then again, he didn’t want to make Megan’s journey about himself. He didn’t want to be the reason for creating the slightest bit of doubt in Megan’s mind about wanting to stay.

Megan did mention that Luke should tell her the answer after he figured out who they were supposed to be to each other. And while I’m here for the two being endgame, I think, at this point, in their lives, taking an actual break would do them good, especially Luke. He’s down bad. 

The emotional turmoil Luke might experience after ending his “friendship” with Megan and continuing to focus on his profession could build towards creating an opening for Tyler/Malec to influence Luke. Let’s see.

August’s definitely trying to look out for Luke. He even noticed the creepy Elvis the Elephant plush in Luke’s office. Seeing Susan take the purple flower to August because she felt something might be off, while no one has even suggested analyzing the plush toy did annoy me. August needs to steal it and run some tests ASAP! 

What did you think of SurrealEstate season 3 episode 5 ‘The Gardener’?

Feel free to share your opinions.

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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