An all-new episode of SurrealEstate airs tonight on Syfy. The series follows real estate agent Luke Roman (Tim Rozon) and his specialized team who sell the houses that no one else can: those that are haunted or possessed or have some kind of ghostly phenomena. The team researches and fixes the paranormal issues while attempting to make sales.

In season two, Luke has lost his ability to speak with the dead, which has caused a lot of tension among the team, especially with Susan (Sarah Levy), who had been closing houses in his absence.

Recently, SciFi Vision spoke with creator and showrunner George Olson about season two, including Luke’s attitude towards Susan, Zooey (Savannah Basley) getting her license, what’s to come for Auggie (Maurice Dean Wint) and Father Phil (Adam Korson), Luke’s breakup with Megan (Tennille Read), the new addition coming to the Roman Agency, and much more.

Watch the full interview or read the transcript below and be sure to tune in to new episodes, Wednesdays on Syfy.



SCIFI VISION:   The first thing I want to ask is, how long had you guys planned on having Luke lose his abilities? Was that something that was decided a long time ago? Or was that something that maybe as you went to pitch [the end of the] season it sort of came about?

GEORGE OLSON:   That actually happens in Episode 10 of the first season, and the challenge is always in a show like this to not be repeating yourself. And as we were getting close to in the writers room, kind of figuring out the arc and particularly Luke's arc, we started talking about, how do we promise our viewers that season two ain't gonna be just a retread of season one. The thought of having Luke lose his powers - and I spent a lot of time explaining this to our writers room, because I had this vision of the relationship that Luke had with his sister that happened in utero, that it created a connection that never really went away. That his connection to the other world, or to the other side, was a direct result of him being connected to someone who had died. And well, what if when she gets pulled down the [portal], what if that was severed? I mean, physically, it made sense that that might be something that was separate. And what would that do? What would that mean? How would that be? Once we kind of made that decision, it just opened up all kinds of cool things. I mean, what kind of stuff is August going to have to create and jerry rig to open that dialogue to make it possible to do that, and what's it going to do to Luke? Because Luke always kind of felt like this was a curse and a burden.

Yeah. Now he wants it back.

Yeah, and he still has kind of the bravado - like, at one point, August, I think, it's in episode two, August asks him, “Do you think your condition is permanent?” And Luke says, “Well, you mean, do I think that I'm going to be a normal person now? Gee, I hope so.” So, he's still kind of whistling in the graveyard about that ability. One of the things that it also did was it gave us the opportunity to have Susan step forward, as someone like Susan invariably will. Then, Luke becomes a little threatened, a little insecure, says some very unkind things and makes her kind of hunker her down and wonder what she's doing. And right at that time, she finds this house, this wonderful house, and she is always - and one of the things we front load in, in episode one of season two, is Susan saying, “I believe a house is like a soulmate.” She's telling a client you can look at 1000 other houses, but when the right one comes along, whammo, and she kind of finds that house, and it's a safe place, and it's a place that hunkers down and a place that embraces her. Just how tightly it embraces her, we will come and see.

I do want to ask about the house, but first, and we were actually talking about this on our podcast the other night, but Susan kind of…came more into her powers…sort of at the time this all happened to Luke. Is he maybe - unconsciously though - jealous that she can do things now and he can't? Is that maybe partially why he's not so nice? Because he's not really picking on the other people as much as he is very condescending to her. I was kind of curious what you thought.

Yeah, I mean, there could be a little bit of it. It's funny, I've never thought of that, but there could be a little bit of superpower envy. But I think most of it mainly, is the fact that Susan, he has such respect for Susan. Susan does what he does. I mean, if you look at, I think anybody, we look at people who do what we do in a little bit of a different way. If they succeed, it almost feels like we're failing. I think that, you know, August can build great, great stuff. Phil does great research. Zooey does everything great, but Susan is a salesperson, a real estate salesperson, and that's what he is. That's what he used to be. And now she is a real estate salesperson who's just killing it and can spot well, the trailer hitch. But he is now just a real estate guy, and is that enough? I think that that is what leads him to say these unkind things. And, you know, I think Luke has never been mean. Tim Rozon, who plays Luke, in these first couple of episodes, he [was like], “look at this script,” and he said, “I have to say this?” Even as he says those things, and this is what makes him such a great actor, is that he walks that line so nicely. So, we see he’s being a jerk, but we still kind of like him, because nice people can say some very unkind things and do some very unkind things. It's just what makes us human. I think Luke's whole self image, his whole image of who he is, has changed, and he kind of overcompensates, particularly in episode one.

Yeah, I was just thinking though… like I said, he's kind of condescending to her. She sort of in the next couple episodes backs off a bit, which kind of surprised me. Can you talk about that? And also, is it partially I guess, because she's so concerned with everything at work, that she's missing all the signs that we're seeing of [the house], you know, that maybe this isn't a good thing, but she's obviously not not quite noticing it. She's enjoying her house.

Yeah, that's a really good point is when she encounters this house, it's the wrong house at the wrong time, because right now, she is feeling threatened, and she's feeling insecure - not insecure - she's pissed off. She feels that she's being marginalized and devalued, and she arguably is, but she also knows that it's Luke's agency; he has his name on the door. And any of us who have been in a situation where we're at a place where we don't feel like we're being valued, I don't think the answer that leaps to mind is to grab somebody by the by the collar and say, “Value me!” I think, you think, “Okay, should I stay or should I go?” That's kind of the math that she does. When Susan has her conversation with her mom early on her, and her mom makes it clear, you know, “I don't think you'll ever be happy until you've worked in someplace where you're the boss.” That gets her thinking too, and just when she's having those thoughts, and she's she's a little bit vulnerable, the house kind of feels that.

I was going to say, I wonder though, if maybe in the back of her mind, she also maybe thinks that Luke does need her, and he will come crawling back to her. I kind of wonder if that's just kind of in her head a little bit.

I cannot disagree with that at all.

I also want to talk about Zooey. Obviously, she's getting her license…Can you It sort of talk about that, and how is that going to affect the dynamic?

Zooey is so fun. She's just such a fun character to write, and Savannah has taken her to places that - all the writers in the writers room loves Zooey so much. Having her become a real estate agent, it had to be, for one thing, it had to be her her idea, as most things that happen to Zooey does, but she is probably the least - I mean, many realtors that I know, and this is broad to salespeople, there's a certain personality that is sales. I think they generally tend to be outgoing and people pleasing kind of people. Zooey says very much what she thinks. She really has never found a product that she gives a crap about enough that she would want to sell it, but it's that opportunity. It's, I think, catalyzed somewhat by her wonderful relationship with Susan. And the fact that Susan is bowing out right when she is stepping forward is an enormous burden, I think, for Zoey. Just when she needs that mentor, more than anything else, she's gone, and she's incommunicado. Not only that, but there's the thought that she's rejected them, and Zooey’s part of that. That's a really hurtful thing for Zooey. If you combine the fact that she's doing something that she's not - I mean, she could be good at anything, right? But does she love it? Zoey is someone who is not going to do something that she does not love. So, watching her kind of say, “Is this something I can do?” Because she's good at it. Of course she's good at it; she's Zooey, but is it something she wants to spend the rest of her life doing? We'll see.

The other thing I want to ask about, and granted, I don't know whether she's coming back or not…but is Luke, I mean, is he moving on? Can you just sort of talk about [that or if] she’s going to come back? Just whatever you're allowed to say.

I loved Megan, I loved Megan, not talking about her like she's dead, because she's not that, that I will tell you. But I love Megan, and she was so good for Luke, but having her move on was part of my goal in season one, to leave Luke in a really crummy position at the end of the season. Losing her and having her just decide that she just could not have this insanity in her life, and knowing that it was part of the package when she was in a relationship with Luke, that was fun. But then the irony of having him lose his powers just when she is moving away to follow her career, her medical career, that was really delicious. Now that being said, I don't think we've seen the last of Megan, I can't say for sure, but she is such a wonderful, not foil for Luke, but her skepticism from the very beginning, from the very pilot and season one, is just such a nice seasoning for Luke's character, and you cannot have enough smart, ambitious, clever women in your show, and Megan is certainly that.

Yeah, she’s great. Let's talk a bit about Auggie. We haven't really talked about him - you kind of mentioned this, but are there any maybe inventions that are coming that will be cool that you can tease about? Because he's always got fun stuff.

He always has fun stuff. He is a very analog guy in a digital world. We will see a lot more. We'll peel back some of the onion, the layers of August this season, and we'll get to see him a little bit more. But he is very true to the guy that we've met, we'll just find a little bit more maybe about how he got that way, and maybe get to meet one of the earliest machines that that he built early in his career…Part of Luke losing his power was a great opportunity to have August be creating these things, you know, from the Scrabble tiles, to the old fashioned phone, and everything, and these different devices that are meant to reach across and be able to communicate to the other side of the veil. We'll see those all season long.

What about Phil? We don't have a whole lot on him - we did the one episode last year, but are we going to be getting more of his backstory?

Yes, we will. Yes, Phil will have some some cool things going on in his life. We’ll meet another member of his family. We'll see Anthony, you know, him and Anthony at home, and they're trying to adopt. So, we'll see how that goes. That'll be an ongoing story. You'll get plenty of Father Phil, and, in this season particularly, he is so good at tracking down the folklore and coming up with the aha moment that,”Oh, so that's what the unfinished business is,” Or “that's what the story is.” He's so good at that. We'll see him bring it to a whole new level.

It's really a great ensemble cast. Let me just ask you; you made me wonder, which character do you think you're most like out of all that we discussed? Which one that I'm most you most like as you? I'm just curious. Who do you connect with?

I'm probably an August. I'd like to think that there is, and there probably is, some of me in all of them. I identify with August the most as far as kind of the introversion and the constant dropping of obscure literary references. I'm guilty of that.

So, other than what we talked about, I mean, we already talked about a lot, but is there anything else coming up that you're allowed to tease that's in these next few episodes that are coming?

We'll have a new addition to the Roman agency, and that'll be in episode seven of the second season. I think you guys are gonna love her. She comes in and steps right in. It's funny, I was worried when we talked about bringing in another character, because this ensemble is so wonderful. The chemistry is just so great and everything, and this character, which is a credit to our writers and to the the actor herself, just stepped in and fits right in seamlessly and gives a whole different point of view. So, that'll be that'll be fun. Watch for that.

Can you tell me who plays her?

Yes. Her name is Elena Juatco, and she is a fabulous, fabulous actor, and just a treat to have added into our mix.

Do you have any other guest stars that you can talk about coming up?

Oh, gosh. You know, they're so tied to the stories that we have, but we had such great guest stars this season. What we call our spook du jour, our story individual stories within each episode, are so dependent on those guest stars coming in and stepping in and being fun and interesting and believable and everything. Gosh, we were so fortunate this season to have some just really fun, really fun, people and entities.

Well, I'm looking forward to looking forward to seeing them…I love all the houses too.

St. John's Newfoundland. St. John's Newfoundland is so cool. I can't imagine shooting it anywhere else.