Syfy’s SurrealEstate is back for a third season, and we cannot wait! This series is one of those that once you’re hooked, that’s it — you’re in for the long haul.
The third season picks up with a three-year time jump off the back of the second season finale. A lot has changed, with The Roman Agency turning into The Roman-Ireland Agency and various members of the team going onto pastures new. Tim Rozon and Sarah Levy chatted with us about the time jump, storylines to come, and the beauty of empathy in this series.
The SurrealEstate time jump works for Tim Rozon and Sarah Levy
Hidden Remote: Let’s jump straight in with the three-year time jump between the seasons. What was that like for you?
Sarah Levy: We actually didn’t wait too much less than that between seasons. It was about two years, so it actually felt like we were arriving right on time. But that being said, yes, we leave off introducing The Roman-Ireland Agency and come back in fully up and running in a new place, a new space, with new people.
It did feel like a bit of a time jump, but it felt nice. It felt like a fresh start, and we’re ready to take on both the paranormal activity and the normal real estate scene.
Tim Rozon: It was a real parallel. It felt like two years had passed in between our real lives, and then we found out we were coming back. The agency itself as changing into The Roman-Ireland Agency in a new building, a new office. I think a new city maybe.
In real life, we moved the entire crew, the entire production, to a whole new province, so the energy just felt kind of unparalleled. I just remember being kind of excited for both, just super happy. I imagine Luke and Susan felt the same selling houses and dealing with ghosts.
HR: Luke is now accepting his past and his abilities, and he’s faced some of those demons. Where do we find him coming into SurrealEstate season 3?
TR: It’s so funny with Luke. He’s really, really good at dealing with the demons of the outside world and the paranormal world, but the internal demons that he’s had to face himself haven’t been great. Season 2 was tough. He kind of made some progress with his mother, which was great, but then he loses his best friend and his dad. The good news is he doesn’t come into it alone. He kind of solidifies his partnership with Susan, and I think they realized that they need each other. It's better to have someone that you trust and can count on.
Then we also realized how much we needed the team, because we can’t do it without them either. They’re just so pivotal and important.
HR: Can you tease any of the personal demons coming for him this season?
TR: Yeah, his past life comes back to haunt him in the form of a real person in season 3. Seasons 1 and 2, the big bad was a house, a physical house, and for season 3, we have an actual person that wants to do harm to Luke and the people around him, so it kind of ups the stakes. It’s really fun.
HR: Sarah, Susan got a huge storyline in season 2 with the possession. What’s it like coming into season 3 for her? Surely there’s some emotional trama there.
SL: Oh, for sure, and in my own life! During SurrealEstate season 2, I was a brand new mother, and coming back for season 3, two years later, I just felt like a little bit out of the fog. My life was imitating art in where I was mentally in season 3. I just felt so much more myself as a human being. As Tim said, it did feel good, like a fresh start.
I felt confident coming back to work in a new city. I think Susan feels the exact same coming off of that trauma. What happened to her and breaking through being part of the new agency and feeling like she has the power to help spearhead now and not always asking for permission, it’s like she has the capacity to now make decisions on behalf of the agency herself.
HR: I did want to ask about that. Now that Susan is a partner and not just working for Luke, what’s the dynamic shift like?
SL: I think the dynamic in season 2 was an incredible imbalance. Luke was maybe feeling his feathers were a little ruffled. It seems like Susan was trying to assert herself, and now we’ve evened out. We’ve realized that we need each other, and that we are more helpful working together. That’s kind of our jumping off point for season 3, and not letting our egos get involved.
HR: Tim, can you add a little about how Luke is feeling with the dynamic shift?
TR: Yeah, I think that’s it exactly. I think in season 2, maybe Luke was feeling a little more vulnerable and didn’t want to admit how amazing Susan was in this business. In the professional life and personal life, you get a sense that they’re a found family. They all need each other, so for season 3, that’s the great part. We’re in a good spot, because everything else is falling into place around us.
HR: Something I’ve loved about Luke and Susan is that they have empathy for many of these spirits. Not all spirits are evil. What’s that been like for the two of you to show that sometimes spirits just need help moving on?
SL: That’s one of my favorite parts of this show. It’s not all spook and horror and gore. There’s a real human aspect to all of these entities that are there. A lot of these people have trouble moving on, and you see why that is the case, and I love that you really get to the heart of things at the end of the day. I think that’s what our writers and George [R. Olson], our creator, have done so well, to really flash out who these people and things are and why they are the way they are. There’s a real person, a real story there.
TR: Yeah, me too. I think that’s what really makes this show special and kind of different than other shows. I notice sometimes like the bigger ,the better. The more scary the demon, it normally comes from a place of fear. The biggest, baddest, scariest person in the room is actually the one that’s most frightened.
Even in episode 1, you see it goes back to just the little boy. That’s all this big scary man was, a scared little boy. Then when we can talk to the little boy, it helped the big scary man get past what he needed to get past. What a gift!
HR: Just to finish, what’s the search for a new receptionist like?
SL: It feels like it’s proving to be impossible. As we see in life, sometimes, it’s hard to replace people that feel irreplaceable, especially in this setting, in this agency, but it’s odd to see a rotating door of people. You’re like “no, not this one, not this one.” It’s not necessarily they’re not for us. It’s we’re not for them either. It’s a very specific agency, and that takes a very specific person to work at, so we’re interviewing each other.
TR: I don’t think LinkedIn has a category for that.
HR: Right! If there was, I’d be deep in that category!
SurrealEstate season 3 premieres on Thursday, April 3 at 10/9c on Syfy.
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