According to Syfy's press release, episode five of their new summer ghost series, SurrealEstate, "When a rap star rents a client's recording studio, a tragic secret is revealed in the playback."
It seems like every ghost story these days has to eventually get into hip hop/rap culture. Now, it is SurrealEstate's turn - and on FRIDAY THE 13th, no less!. Considering that this is only their 5th episode, I'd say this show really isn't messing around.
Directing is none other than Melanie Sarofano, who guest starred memorably only a few weeks ago. She doesn't appear in this episode (I don't feel her star presence would embody the rap genre very well either), but her directing was quite polished here. I ended up enjoying the episode more than the subject matter suggested I would. Of course, I cannot get into specifics since that might cause me to spoil something important, but I can say this proved to be an amusing stand-alone episode.
Sure, there are some ghost-show type cliches I felt could have been avoided, but I think the characters and performers worked well within the constraints of the genre. Sarah Levy's Susan Ireland gets some amusing lines. Plus, it's not very often where we get to see hip hop culture within the context of a Canadian horror lens, esp. on basic cable. Let's just say, it's probably a lot more pleasant than the American version would have been. Still, the bland "procedural" feel continues to dog this promising series.
Per usual, it's the final scene that will stay in your memory the most. This time, though, it might be too anti-climatic for some viewers, but I found it.....appropriately haunting enough.
