Ain’t Gonna Need This House No More
SURREALESTATE – Seaaon 1 Episode 10 – SPOILERS
Father Phil (Adam Korson) discovers a tunnel that leads to the basement of the Donovan house. He and Zooey (Savannah Basley) and Susan (Sarah Levy) use it in their attempts to find Augie (Maurice Dean Wint), whose last reported location was that basement. Meanwhile Luke (Tim Rozon), who has mostly recovered from last episode’s injuries, tries the front door again, which this time opens on its own, as though inviting him inside.
Phil has a less than satisfactory meet up with his late mentor Father Diaz (Juan Carlos Velis), and Zooey has a heart-to-heart with her dead boyfriend Kyle (Keaton Kaplan) who assures her that his death was in no way her fault. Augie, whom they eventually locate, sees his dead wife (Rachelle Casseus) who quotes Edward Munch at him: (“flowers shall grow and I am in them, and that is eternity”).
Luke’s evening is much more complicated. He meets the personification of The House (Greg Malone), and learns a few things. The portal that the Roman Agency closed in Episode One was an exit portal that had been there long before the house existed, and when it was blocked, spirits were prevented from departing to wherever they were destined to go.
It turns out that what Luke thought was the ghost of his mother Victoria (Jennifer Dale) was actually the ghost of his stillborn twin sister. (We also learn that Luke’s birthday is 31 March 1985.) His dead sister’s ghost tells him that she is the force enabling him to speak to and see the dead. She also explains that she made their mother’s life miserable for the first few years after his birth.

Luke and his dead twin’s spirit who has, in an uncommon twist to the ‘evil twin trope’, assumed the appearance of his mother.
Showrunner George R. Olson told Heather M. of TV Goodness: “My own mythology was that when Luke’s mother moved back to town and went next door, the house, in the form of that wonderful gentleman who played him, senses an absolute smorgasbord of emotion and loss and regret and everything like that. And basically used her presence there to interrogate and conjure up the spirit of the sister.”
In a flashback (to perhaps 30 years ago) the spirit of The House lets Luke’s mother in, glances furtively about to see if anyone was looking, and closes the door. Later, she leaves The House apparently unharmed but without her hat, coat, and scarf. Her purpose in going there may have been to shed the spirit of her dead child, and it seems she was successful in that the spirit remained there, waiting patiently for Luke to arrive.

Luke’s mom leaving what would become the Donovan House without the hat, coat, and scarf with which she arrived. She does not seem to be in a hurry.
Susan manages to mimic the effects of an acetylene torch (which operates at a temperature of about 22000 C); reopens the portal which had previously been welded shut; and saves Luke from imminent strangulation. (The spirit of The House and that of his dead sister are among those immediately sucked through the opening.)
With the departure of his sister’s ghost, Luke has at least temporarily lost the power to communicate with the dead. Luke now knows his mother is still alive, and will probably try to find her.
Megan (Tennille Read) wants to concentrate on her studies for a few weeks, further freeing Luke for his quest. Perhaps by the beginning of the (so far unconfirmed) second season, she will be a doctor. Susan, whose experiences in the house greatly increased her self-confidence, has been left in charge of the Roman Agency, at least for now.
next episode Trust The Process