SurrealEstate Season 3 Episode 1 Recap: Buckaroo

If you haven’t seen “Buckaroo” yet, avert your eyes!

This is a full, scene-by-scene episode recap to accompany our SurrealEstate Season 3 Episode 1 review.

This is your last warning!

A bearded fellow is talking on the phone while fly fishing. Isn’t that supposed to be quiet time?

He catches a heavy toolbox that holds a stuffed elephant with crossed-out eyes. He falls to the ground, seemingly rising as a different person — one who does appreciate the nature. Well, as a way to get back at Carl. He’s coming for him.

He picks up the stuffie and begins walking away.

Lomax is racing to a location where Luke and Susan are working with a couple’s house that holds an ornery ghostly wife who wants to be reunited with her husband. Instead of coming down the stairs, she falls through the fireplace, doing that crazy The Ring walk toward the terrified couple.

Luke is on all fours, facing the monstrosity, asking who she is and what she wants. She’s the housekeeper for the Cheevers. They gave her conditions. Susan says he got her pregnant. They put her in that chimney while she was still alive, and she burned for so long. Now, she wants vengeance.

She wants Cheevers to burn. The good news? There was a warehouse fire in 1931, and he died in it. He burned once, and then they cremated him, burning him again. This seems to satisfy her, and she pours the ashes over her, laughing, disappearing into nothing.

Lomax says, “It’s a good thing they didn’t bury the son of a bitch.”

They’re going through a lot of research interns slash receptionists, who give them incorrect information. 

They’ve already had 35 replacements for Zooey. They’re having a very hard time replacing those they lost.

The bearded man is Mr. MacNeill. How does a guy inhabiting another body find his way back to the office, anyway? He’s not only happy, but he’s computer literate. The Carl he was screaming at when he was released from the box? Luke’s dearly departed dad.

He’s rude to employee Judy, shuffling her out of the room before looking up Luke. Selling houses? Gross.

Another mother is checking on her son. He has a guy named Cowboy Rick who has been telling him to ride fast, and he practically puts divots on the hardwood floor with his rocking horse trying.

Zooey replacement 26 is struggling with a call when Zooey returns. She’s been coming in to train all of the replacements, but she can’t keep doing that.

Auggie is giving a speech to a room that is not interested in hearing it. He wants to make things that benefit humanity, not what will wipe out unidentified adversaries.

He wonders if he should break out the sock puppets to explain it again. If he finds their mission so distasteful, then why does he stay? Oh, shacking up with the boss. Never mind.

Susan checks in with Luke about the Marshalls. They bought a normal house, but there are a lot of odd spells, and their boy is seeing Cowboy Rick. Susan will head over to see if she can figure it out.

But she saw Megan the other day. She looked great. Megan is a successful urologist, so she and Luke are not together. Susan is dating again, too. She always sets an alarm on her phone for 45 minutes in just in case it sucks. 

Joey’s mother is really worried about Cowboy Rick. There is even a Y brand on his rocking horse, which wasn’t there when they bought it. Photos of Cowboy Rick remind me of a cross between Mr. Bill and South Park’s Ike with some sharp teeth and a gun thrown in.

Later that night, Cowboy Rick and his horse come to life. He asks Mrs. Marshall, “Where’s my Buckaroo?” Susan is sure it will be fine, but the parents are not. There was a man with a gun outside of their little boys room. What is she doing to do about it.

MacNeill returns “home” to Vonda. He’s been thinking. It’s time for a couple of changes. First, he’s going to tell the house. It’s just not him anymore. They only built it a year ago. It’s to nice, big, and open. He likes something a bit more enclosed. She’s totally lost. Ah, his name is Tyler. 

This is a ruse to call Luke.

Lomax checks in with the previous owner of Cowboy Rick’s house. He claims to be in the dark. He’s not eager to help, but she gets his card anyway.

Zooey is trying to impart wisdom on Brandon, but he’s struggling with Cerebus, among other things.

Susan’s date is a sports dude who eats while talking and talks about things she doesn’t want to hear.

Her alarm goes off.

Susan and Lomax are fixing up a house to flip it. Susan remembers when she and her mom found it just before her mom died.

Cowboy Bob wants his buckaroo. He’s preparing to brand Nick, the husband, who looks alarmingly like MacNeil with less facial hair. 

Luke and Auggie are at their clandestine office again. Luke has been bringing Auggie in on the side. They might need something stronger for the Cowboy Rick case. A child is in danger, so Auggie has something in mind. He’s come to learn a lot about dark weapons over the last three years. 

Cowboy Rick asks Luke about his buckaroo, and Luke is surprised to learn that Joey is not his buckaroo. (That made me laugh out loud).

While looking at the brand, Lomax has an epiphany. The previous homeowner used the logo for his business. His father must have been Cowboy Rick’s buckaroo. Not surprisingly, the father looks just like the others, with even less facial hair. Yurth’s dad used to call him buckaroo. Perhaps Cowboy Rick is his father, thus the similarity.

Auggie and his wife talk about things.

Yurth recognizes his dad immediately. His dad always dreamed of being a cowboy. In 1967, he had the summer off, working on a ranch. He rode, herded cattle, and slept under the stars. He even rodeoed, coming in third. It was the best summer he ever had, and he wished it had never ended.

If he was happy, why didn’t he continue? Because no son of his father was going to waste his life on the back of a horse. He had a family, died, and went somewhere dreams come true, so he’s a cowboy. But he had to return and tell his son that he can achieve his dreams, too, in life.

Younger Yurth loved sailing. One weekend in Nantucket with his family was the best of his life, but he never went out again. So, he’s a sailor, dad says. He tells Kirby not to wait to do the good things.

Now, Mr. Yurth can move on.

Zooey says Brandon is not only incompetent but also a walking HR violation. She tells Luke to stop trying to replace those he lost and embrace new employees who have their own set of skills. She also thanks him for pushing her to finish law school.

Luke meets Megan for a glass of wine. They toast to old friends. She’s dating Dr. Hunter Manderly, which Luke correctly likens to a name from an old romance novel.

Phil travels a lot with the Vatican. His daughter is in her terrible twos. But I thought it had been three years since they left?

Everyone but Luke is evolving, making bold moves forward. But not Luke.

Vonda asks Tyler if he’s OK. She recognizes he’s not himself and asks if he’s sure he wants to sell the house. She kisses him, asking him not to change. She likes him just how he is now.

“Payback’s a bitch, little Luke, and it’s coming for you,” Tyler says before his eyes take on the X appearance from the bear.

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