‘SurrealEstate’ Season 2 Review – Everyone’s Favorite Paranormal Realtors Are Back And Scarier Than Ever

This piece was written during the 2023 WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. Without the labor of the writers and actors currently on strike, the series being covered here wouldn’t exist.

After surviving its own near-death experience, SurrealEstate roars back to life with a new season that’s even better than the first. Luke Roman (Tim Rozon) and the rest of the Roman Agency are back, bringing along all the spooks and hijinks you’d expect. Everything’s tighter, scarier, and – somehow – even more fun. It’s SurrealEstate exactly as you remember it, just cranked to an eleven. But underneath all of that camp and horror lies some surprisingly grounded character work. For there’s quite a bit of tension lurking around the Roman Agency; a tension that threatens to tear the entire team apart. If you’re new to SurrealEstate, there’s no better place to start than these first four episodes. But if you’re a returning fan, there’s a ton here to be excited about.

Haunted Houses and Interpersonal Drama

Season two begins a few months after the events of season one’s climactic finale. Business is better than ever, but all of the characters are struggling with the aftermath of that night. In the months between seasons, tensions are at a high in the Roman agency – particularly between Luke and Susan (Sarah Levy). In Luke’s absence, Susan’s been steering the ship – quite successfully, too. But when he returns, things take a turn toward rockier waters. Their respective methods clash harsher than ever, and the entire agency finds itself at a bit of a crossroads. What is the Roman Agency without Luke Roman? And who is Luke Roman without his ability to talk to the dead? How does he fit in amidst this world of supernatural horrors without his special insight? Season two of SurrealEstate dives headfirst into these questions, delivering a scary, thrilling, and emotionally satisfying ride along the way.

The tension between Luke and Susan takes center stage. Susan feels restrained by Luke and the agency, constantly undermined by Luke’s decisions. Making matters even more complicated, Susan finds a house she falls in love with, but it’s a bit spooky. It’s her dream house, but even there she can’t entirely escape from the stresses of her job. Meanwhile, Luke tries to ease his way back into the business having lost his ability to commune with the dead. Without this intuition, he’s about as clueless as the rest of the team. And that doesn’t sit particularly well with him. It only feeds into his more reckless tendencies, his penchant for disregarding his own safety and blindly rushing into danger. Susan and Luke have always existed at polar opposite ends of the spectrum, but this season only exacerbates their differences and the resulting drama is as gripping as it is enthralling.

Scarier and More Dangerous Than Ever

With Luke’s powers out of the way, there’s a palpable sense of danger for the entire cast this time around. No get-out-jail-free cards; the potential for any character to suffer any horrific fate. But in the absence of Luke’s powers, the show finds many creative ways to keep the team communicating with the ghosts. Lots of weird, anachronistic technology; even scrabble pieces. The writers have a ton of fun exploring all the different ways to communicate with the ghosts – and it genuinely breathes a lot of life back into the show. Every episode offers something different, whether it be creepy ghost kids, kitschy paranormal TV shows, or even murder mysteries. There are just so many little delights packed into these episodes that it’s quite easy to keep coming back for more.

This season leans a lot harder into the scarier aspects of its premise, too. Each episode genuinely feels like a proper haunted house story – even with how varied the hauntings are. That’s not to say there’s not a lot of campy silliness hanging around – especially when it comes to a lot of the guest characters. But those campier aspects take more of a backseat to the darker, more horrific parts of the season. Even the silliest of scenes somehow feel grounded through the character work and terrifying scares. The first season felt a bit lacking in the scares department, so it’s nice to see season two pick up a lot of that slack. It’s perfect Halloween viewing; creepy, gothic, and genuinely scary.

A Lack of Focus on the Supporting Cast

The one downside is that the rest of the cast gets a lot less screen time than last season. These early episodes revolve around Luke and Susan – for better or worse. On the bright side, Rozon and Levy bring their absolute A-games this time around – Levy especially. With how much of the season rests on their shoulders, it’s nice to see them relishing their roles. The downside is that August (Maurice Dean Wint), Phil (Adam Korson), and Zooey (Savannah Basley) all take a bit of a backseat in these early episodes. They’re very much present, and Zooey especially gets a fair amount to do. But don’t go into these first four episodes expecting anything like season one’s “Ft. Ghost Child”. It’s still early days, of course. So, there’s time for SurrealEstate to dig into its supporting cast once again. But it’s a problem worth noting all the same.

Final Thoughts

Overall, season two of SurrealEstate delivers even more of what made season one so great. There’s less of an overarching storyline this time around, and more of a collection of ongoing character arcs that weave in and out of each episode. As a result, there’s a lot more time to spend on each episode’s haunting, leaving room for a ton of scares, gags, and brilliant visuals. Led by an ensemble of actors all giving their best performances, SurrealEstate is as creepy as it is campy. A true Halloween watch in the best sense of the word. It’s clear the writers still have a ton of different ideas for the show, and hopefully, the rest of the season keeps pushing the show to even bigger heights. As it is, these first four episodes offer a promising start and are well worth a watch – even if you’re new to the series.

New episodes of SurrealEstate air on Wednesdays at 10 p.m. on SYFY.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QYyrqe9PFok]