The Open House review

The setup

Two years married and house hunting, the couple finds a place the wife already loves. She heads off with a tape measure to the kitchen, and the agent offers to show her husband the upstairs bedrooms, while the wife warns him off the cramped one. Upstairs, the agent tells him staring is allowed, everyone does it, then runs through the selling points: big windows, plenty of light, plus a door with a lock. A few questions about the marriage later, she reveals the room she reserves for husbands and suggests they test the bed.

Episode 2

The wife finds the bedroom door locked; the realtor reports the lock works, and a question about size gets a one-word answer that is not about the room. The game then flips floors: the wife stays upstairs to measure for their bed while the realtor takes the husband down to the kitchen. Her remark about how well their things fit gets recycled as innuendo, and the episode ends on a call for silence on a short clock.

Who's who

• The realtor: a polished agent whose sales pitch drifts from square footage to the husband
• The husband: two years into marriage, easily steered, and visibly not thinking about mortgages
• The wife: thrilled with the house, busy with a tape measure, and one floor away

Verdict: 6.5 out of 10

Real estate has rarely been this efficient. The agent's pitch doubles as a seduction, every feature she lists turns into a hint, and the honeymoon question is a sly needle. Episode 2 has one clever move, swapping floors so the wife measures the bedroom while the realtor works the kitchen, and her talk about how well their things fit is cheerfully shameless. The husband's narration, though, repeats the same wide-eyed question twice, and he still hardly speaks. A sharp sketch that needs its lead to wake up.

Episode guide