SurrealEstate Season 3 Episode 6, “Battleground,” depicts a supernatural warzone as a deceased Vietnam War soldier turns the upstairs of one home into a battlefield. Luke gets advice from the Beyond, and Susan meets a handsome guy in a truly Hallmark moment. “Battleground” is a solid outing with fun character beats. It strikes a nice balance between narrative movement and character development.
RELATED: Read our recap of the previous SurrealEstate episode, “The Gardener”
SurrealEstate, “Battleground”
We open with Dwight Campbell (Michael Chan) waking up on the couch during the night. He overhears what sounds like gunshots upstairs. Then, he stumbles upon a scene from a war film. A young man (Sam Ashe Arnold) places his hand over Dwight’s mouth, shushing him. Love it when a literal war breaks out in my house.
Elsewhere, Bob Livingston (Jefferson Brown) visits Susan (Sarah Levy) with a proposition: he wants to merge his real estate agency with Roman Ireland. Naturally, Susan is repulsed by him, her ex-boss and lover, and the idea. Bob begs her to run it by Luke after presenting her with a breakdown of his agency’s annual stats. Well, something of that nature; I never claimed to be a real estate agent.
World War Spook
After this, Susan and August (Maurice Dean Wint) tune in for updates from Tag (Alex Ozerov-Meyer). We learn that Luke is checking out a cottage on the lake while Lomax is still assisting her parents at the funeral home. Our trio chats about the Campbell house and its major case of World War Spook. Tag plans to research the house’s residential history, while Auggie will conduct a PKT, and Susan will chat with the Campbells.
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Later, Susan talks to Dwight and his husband, Peter (Colin Andrew Nimblett). They’ve lived in that house for 11 years without any issues. In addition, neither of them served in the military. Susan reassures them that Roman Ireland will resolve this ghostly issue (but first, a few readings).
Then, Susan calls Luke (Tim Rozon) to brief him on the situation. He’s en route to the cottage on the lake but is currently driving through country back roads, utterly lost. The connection between Luke and Susan keeps phasing in and out, too. This is the start of a horror movie, right? Luke parks in front of a tiny house that resembles a shed. He moves toward the door, clearly planning to ask for directions.
The War Is Here
Auggie conducts his PKT outside the Campbell house while Susan investigates inside. She wanders upstairs, where she encounters the inexplicable warzone. Auggie overhears the conversation between the soldiers and a great, big boom as a grenade goes off. He rushes upstairs to check on Susan. She points at the closet where the dead soldiers emerged. However, it’s empty now. It looks like your typical bedroom closet.
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Next, Luke meets Harry (Stuart Hughes), a curmudgeonly older man who would rather go into hermit mode than interact with people. Listen, I get that. I’m there now. Anyway, Luke asks for directions to the cottage, but Harry brusquely offers terse, one-word responses. “No” seems to be his favorite word. We hear thunder booming overhead. Luke has misplaced his car keys, and his vehicle is locked. He asks Harry for shelter to wait out the storm. Harry reluctantly lets him inside.
Meanwhile, Tag shares his research with Susan. He asks her to describe the soldier who interacted with her (the man from the beginning of the episode). She struggles to describe his uniform. Tag needs this info to figure out what decade homeboy is from. He pivots, asking Susan how she’s doing. She thanks him for caring. Tag’s a sweetie.
Bigger on the Inside
Elsewhere, Luke discovers that Harry’s tiny house is bigger on the inside (but a little less sci-fi looking than the TARDIS). He meets Harry’s beautiful senior pooch, Erasmus. Harry goes on about the outside world being irrelevant. Suddenly, Luke notices the front door is missing. Harry claims it’s where Luke left it, though, and it reappears.
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Then, Luke clocks that Erasmus is a ghost. The pup died at 13 years old. Luke asks Harry when he passed. We’ve got a ghost double-whammy, folks. Meanwhile, Rochelle (Joy Tanner) brings Auggie his lunch. He’s fiddling with a device specially for the Campbell house soldier ghost.
Rochelle makes a crack about The Shining twins finally reaching menopause. Auggie claims he doesn’t joke about the deadly weaponry ASDRA creates, so he would like Rochelle to extend that same courtesy for his job. She leaves, irritated.
Ghost Soldier
At the same time, Tag and Susan narrow down various battle helmets to one worn from the ’40s to the ’80s. So, they could be dealing with a WWII, Korean War or Vietnam War soldier. Auggie joins the conversation. It’s here that Tag concludes that the soldier hails from the Vietnam War era. Susan offers to tell the ghost soldier that his war is over.
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That night, Susan calls out to the ghost soldier, declaring that the war ended a long time ago. Suddenly, she’s rocked by an explosion. The soldier emerges and calls for a medic. Susan looks out of sorts as she tries to break the truth to him.
Later, Harry tells Luke about his life. His wife and kids loathed him. Erasmus changed his life. However, after the poor doggie passed away, Harry wasn’t far behind him, plagued by poor health. Harry offers Luke a glass of wine. Then, he delivers a message. Management wants Luke to understand that not every spirit needs to move on. Sometimes, a spirit wants to stay put and relive their happiest moments.
Stay Humble
Also, as per Management, Luke doesn’t know everything. They advise him to approach his job from that angle. After imparting this message from beyond the veil, Harry hands Luke his car keys. Luke gives Erasmus, the goodness ghost boy, a few pets before departing.
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Then, Tag hits the research motherlode, revealing that the soldier’s name is Robert Vincennes. He dated Lynette, whose family resided in the Campbell house in the late ’60s. They went to prom together. Robert was deployed right after high school and died in action in 1968. Tag found Lynette, who is widowed and still lives in the area. Susan asks for her address.
That evening, Auggie tells Rochelle about his uncle, who served in the Vietnam War. Upon returning, he was a completely different person. Auggie reveals his uncle steered clear of social events, even those of the familial persuasion, after that. Rochelle assumes this is why Auggie struggled at ASDRA. Robert the Ghost’s story resonates profoundly with Auggie. He hoped to help this “troubled young man.”
An Interrogation
Meanwhile, Tag gives Susan more info regarding Robert. Before they end the virtual call, Tag offers his condolences for Susan’s loss — the passing of her mom. Aw. Inside the Campbell house, Auggie tries to contact Robert. Like Susan, he declares that the war is over. Unfortunately, Robert knocks Auggie unconscious.
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The following day, Luke returns to the office. He spent the night at the cottage on the lake, but the trip was worth it. The cottage will make a pretty penny on the market. Susan updates Luke regarding the Campbell house. Why would Lynette’s soldier boyfriend haunt her old house decades later? Rochelle calls Luke, asking if he’s seen Auggie. Auggie never came home the night before.
Elsewhere, Auggie wakes up tied to a chair. Robert interrogates him about a fellow soldier who’s missing. He accuses Auggie of killing his friend. Luke arrives. He calls out to Robert. Robert threatens to shoot Auggie in the head, training a gun on the latter. Can a ghost gun really kill living flesh, though?
A Reunion and a Fire
Thankfully, Luke persuades Robert to stand down. Susan meets Lynette Meeker (Anne Shepherd) and brings her to the Campbell house. Luke and Robert play a game of catch outside while Auggie watches from afar. Robert explains how important Lynette was to him. Sadly, they stopped writing letters months away from his untimely demise in battle.
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Lynette reunites with Robert. She transforms into young Lynette (Eleonora Poutilova), who kisses Robert. She’s grateful for this closure. Now, she can finally say goodbye. Robert moves on. Auggie explains to Luke and Susan that US soldier remains from the Vietnam War were finally transported stateside after decades abroad. This is why Robert is haunting the house now — he’s back home.
Next, Susan tosses a piece of Bob Livingston-related mail behind her onto her kitchen counter. Speak of the Devil, he calls her. Susan reveals she didn’t bring his proposal of merging to Luke, but she’s rejecting it anyway. He wouldn’t understand or gel with their moral code. He irritates her during the conversation, and her anger sets the crumpled-up mail on the counter ablaze. The fire spreads up the curtains behind Susan. After she hangs up on Bob, she says aloud that she hopes he dies in a fire. Comedy!
A Warning and a Meet-Cute
Later, Vonda (Jessika Mathurin) stops by the agency. She chats with Auggie, warning him about Tyler/Malec. Tyler isn’t himself these days. Vonda tells Auggie about Tyler and Luke’s new partnership. Oh, and he’s obsessed with Luke. We know Auggie has been suspicious of Tyler since day one. Auggie vows to pass this on to his boss.
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Then, Susan meets a firefighter, Crash (Stephen Huszar), who saves her kitchen from death by fire. He’s a cutie. They flirt with each other. She gives him her card. Crash offers to regale Susan with the story behind his nickname if she has dinner with him. Smooth. Funny that she meets a firefighter after starting a fire with her mind.
After this, Susan returns to the office after Auggie informs her about Vonda’s warning. She confronts Luke about his deal with Tyler. Luke insists he was going to tell her about it. Susan doesn’t align with Tyler’s business methods, nor does the agency. Luke reassures her that he’s not like Tyler.
Once Susan departs, Luke grabs Elvis the Elephant from his desk drawer. He hugs the stuffed animal. Then, he gazes into the “X” button eyes on the stuffy, almost becoming entranced by them. Luke snaps out of it, though.
Tyler is bad news, dude.
RELATED: Read our SurrealEstate recaps
SurrealEstate drops new episodes every Thursday at 10 pm EST on Syfy.
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What I do: I'm GGA's Managing Editor, a Senior Contributor, and Press Coordinator. I manage, contribute, and coordinate. Sometimes all at once. Joking aside, I oversee day-to-day operations for GGA, write, edit, and assess interview opportunities/press events.
Who I am: Before moving to Los Angeles after studying theater in college, I was born and raised in Amish country, Ohio. No, I am not Amish, even if I sometimes sport a modest bonnet.
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