Inspired by the 1989 film of the same name starring Tom Hanks, Peacock’s latest horror comedy, “The ‘Burbs,” created by Celeste Hughey, is a fun and terrifying series highlighting secrets, how little we really know our neighbors and the horrors of suburbia. The show follows married couple Samira (an exceptional Keke Palmer) and Rob (Jack Whitehall), who reluctantly leave the city and move to Hinkley Hills with their newborn son, Miles, to take up residence in Rob’s childhood home. Mostly sequestered in the cul-de-sac during her maternity leave, Samira becomes increasingly curious about the creepy, abandoned old Victorian sitting directly across the street. What she uncovers is a two-decades-long secret that forces her to question her new neighborhood and who exactly she’s married to. Dark, hilariously funny and totally bizarre, “The ‘Burbs” is an entertaining blend of genres that keeps viewers guessing until the very end.
“The ‘Burbs” opens in the early evening hours on Ashfield Place. Samira and Rob take a walk, chatting about their fast-paced romance, having Rob’s parents as landlords and how Samira will spend the rest of her maternity leave. However, the couple’s carefree conversation is suddenly interrupted by the loud caws of a murder of crows who have landed on the towering, dilapidated pink Victorian. The Hinkley House, as it’s called, looks comically out of place from the rest of the homes on the picturesque street, and it immediately skeeves Samira out.
Still, Samira, a civil litigation lawyer, is determined to put her best foot forward in her new environment. With Rob and his best friend Naveeen (Kapil Talwalkar) headed to the city for work the next day, she begins carving out a routine for herself through the exhaustion of motherhood and the isolation of her new life which includes folding laundry, explaining the Kendrick Lamar x Drake beef to Miles, taking hot girl night walks and listening to Juvenile’s “Back That Azz Up” on repeat. However, after meeting her new neighbors, the recently widowed Lynn (Julia Duffy), former Marine, Dana (Paul Pell) and oddball Tod (Mark Proksch), Samira realizes that Rob knows much more about the old pink house and what happened to the girl who used to live there than he’s letting on.
Throughout the eight-episode first season, with the trio of new neighbors at her side, Samira puts on her attorney hat. She begins digging through the history of the Hinkley House, Rob’s teen years and why the Victorian’s new owner, Gary (Justin Kirk), has suddenly appeared out of the blue. In addition to Samria and Rob, viewers also get further insight into the inner workings of Hinkley Hills, and its vicious HOA President, Agnes (Danielle Kennedy), who keeps the neighborhood running by wielding a binder full of rules and the threat of her dog Darla’s massive poops on residents’ perfectly manicured lawns.
Episode 4, “A Nine on the Tension Scale,” is especially exciting. Content to focus on her time with her son instead of being so fixated on Hinkley House, Samira tries to enjoy the neighborhood’s annual block party. However, after gathering additional information from unsuspecting neighbors, she quickly realizes she was on the right track with her theories all along, and she’s emboldened to keep digging, desperate to uncover the truth.
“The ‘Burbs’” is brilliantly written, with the racial tension and psychological unease throughout echo the themes presented in Jordan Peele’s Oscar-winning “Get Out.” Not only are all the hodgepodge characters living and puttering around Ashfield Place strange and interesting, but Hughey also grounds Samira’s experience not just as a young mother experiencing the ups and downs of postpartum, but as a Black woman navigating a white space where she is immediately othered. So often, television tries to erase and sugarcoat the experiences of Black people in white-majority environments, but in Hinkley Hills, Samira faces overt racism and microaggressions, creating a level of fear even from her own husband, whom she grows increasingly suspicious of. These nuanced plot choices make for richer storytelling and elevate the horror already permeating throughout the season.
In the end, a lot is happening in “The ‘Burbs.” There are revelations regarding Rob’s past, which he has so carefully kept secret, the mystery of the Hinkley House and even the conundrums that lie hidden just behind those unassuming front doors on the black of Ashfield Place. The show is a series of puzzle pieces bolstered by engaging performances that showcase how far some people are willing to go for the illusion of perfection.
All eight episodes of “The ‘Burbs” premiere Feb. 8 on Peacock.