Suburbia has always had a reputation problem. Perfect lawns. Identical houses. People who wave too much and smile just a little too long (I know it well because I begrudgingly live in it). The new Peacock series The ’Burbs takes that familiar unease and stretches it into something both hilarious and delightfully suspicious.
At first glance, the premise seems simple enough. Samira and Rob Fisher move into Rob’s childhood home on a picture-perfect cul-de-sac. It’s in Hinkley Hills, a place proudly marketed as “The Safest Town in America.” Of course, the moment someone says that phrase out loud, the universe responds with a raised eyebrow and ominous music.
Enter the creepy Victorian house across the street.
The home has been abandoned for two decades, which in suburban mythology translates roughly to: someone definitely died there, and everyone pretends not to know about it. When a mysterious new resident moves into the house, Samira begins to suspect something isn’t quite right. And because she’s on maternity leave, stuck at home with a newborn and a mind that refuses to accept boredom, she does what any reasonable person would do.
She starts investigating the neighbors.
Played by the endlessly charismatic Keke Palmer, Samira Fisher powers the show. Palmer balances the character’s anxiety about suburban isolation in a neighborhood so white, it might as well be a sheet of paper, with razor-sharp curiosity. Her husband Rob (Jack Whitehall) initially seems ready to settle into the calm rhythms of their new neighborhood until it becomes clear that calm was never actually on the menu.
Soon Samira finds herself forming an unlikely investigative team with a band of neighbors who are just as “knowsy” as they are lovable. There’s a widowed neighbor who knows everyone’s business, a Marine veteran who treats suburban intrigue like a tactical operation, and an eccentric, tech-savvy loner who has clearly been waiting years for something interesting to happen.
And interesting things absolutely happen.
Missing people. Possible dead bodies. A mysterious homeowner with unsettling vibes. And perhaps most terrifying of all: an aggressively involved homeowners association.
The show’s HOA president, Agnes Festersen, played with chilling suburban authority by Danielle Kennedy, might be the most believable villain of the entire series. If you’ve ever lived under HOA rule, you already know the horror genre doesn’t need ghosts. It just needs someone with a clipboard and a suspicious interest in your lawn height.
Where The ‘Burbs truly shines is its tone. What begins like a quirky family comedy slowly morphs into a layered whodunit. Every episode peels back another secret while tossing in just enough ambiguity to keep the audience arguing over who the real troublemaker might be. The show thrives on suspicious glances, raised eyebrows, and perfectly timed smirks that suggest everyone in Hinkley Hills is hiding something.
Even the score joins the fun, leaning into a playful homage to the campy horror comedies of the 1980s. It’s the kind of music that practically whispers, “Something weird is happening, but you’re going to laugh about it.”
The series also carries a quiet connection to its cinematic predecessor, the 1989 film The ’Burbs, which starred Tom Hanks. That film has achieved cult status over the years, but let’s be honest: nostalgia does a lot of heavy lifting there. The new show manages something rare in Hollywood. It improves the concept dramatically.
In fact, it might be wise to watch the show before revisiting the movie. Otherwise, you might wonder how the original idea could be turned into something catching this much buzz.
That said, the writers clearly know the original film by heart. A surprising number of jokes and visual gags are recycled, reimagined, or cleverly hidden throughout the series. Little clues and Easter eggs pop up everywhere for longtime fans, tying the new story back to the original neighborhood mythology. Yes, even the sardines mean something.
The Peacock series even includes a sweet nod to Carrie Fisher, who played Carol Peterson in the original film. The characters Samira and Rob share the last name Fisher as a tribute, and a quick visual reference to Hanks as H. Horace Hinkley, the neighborhood’s creator, appears in the first episode. It’s a small wink that acknowledges the past without letting nostalgia dominate the present.
But the biggest strength of The ‘Burbs is how it plays with the mythology of suburbia itself.
The show understands that cul-de-sacs are social ecosystems. Everyone is watching everyone else. Neighborhood gossip travels faster than Wi-Fi. And when something strange happens, the entire block becomes an amateur detective agency overnight.
What begins as simple curiosity slowly transforms into something bigger: a chaotic, hilarious, slightly paranoid community effort to uncover the truth. And along the way, the residents of Hinkley Hills discover something unexpected – friendship.
Turns out the fastest way to bond with your neighbors is to suspect them all of murder.
With a strong cast, sharp comedic timing, and a mystery that keeps twisting, The ‘Burbs proves that the most dangerous place in America might not be a haunted mansion or a dark forest. It might just be the quietest street in the suburbs.
And honestly? That tracks.
