Surface: Season One

For as long as man has been telling stories there has been a certain fascination with the depths of the oceans. Tall tales have populated the deep with strange and often huge creatures that threaten those men that take to the seas. In many ways these stories where the precursor to the one that would later take place in space. Men are isolated, you cannot even breath without mechanical devices to sustain you and no one can hear you scream. The television season of 2005 marked the return of the network’s interest in science fiction series. One of the several new entries was ‘Surface’ somewhat of a cross between ‘The Abyss’ and ‘Close Encounters’. The story lines follow three individuals whose lives change with the discovery of a new undersea form of life. Marine biologist Laura ‘Dee’ Daughtery (Lake Bell) is a PhD working on life that exists near hot vents in the ocean floor. She descends to the depths in a submersible as she has done numerous times before only with this dive her craft is attacked by something fast, extremely large and discharging an electrical current. Being a good scientist she documents her encounter only to have it seized by government officials in the name of national security. These agents led by the mysterious Dr. Aleksander Cirko (Rade Šerbedžija) not only get Dr. Daughtery fired they go so far as to forge allegations against her stating she plagiarized her doctoral work. This effectively removed her from any hopes of future research and making sure no one of any importance will listen to her account. Miles (Carter Jenkins) is a typical nerdy teenager. He years for a girl he knows is far beyond his reach. Miles finds what looks like strange eggs on the beach and decides to take one home. He dumps it in the family fish tank and soon it hatches feasting on the family fish. The creature, named Nim (short for nimrod) is amphibious, grows legs and is soon running around the property. It becomes evident that Nim is not found in any biology text. The creature is able to emit an electrical discharge that can not only stun prey but disrupt most devices in the immediate environment. When Nim escapes during a party held by Miles’ older sister Savannah (Leighton Meester), the boy has his hands full getting the creature back under control without letting the party guest know what is happening. Last there is Rich Connelly (Jay R. Ferguson). Rich is a good hearted fellow with a wife, children and brother. During a routine dive with his kid brother, George (Eric Ladin), they encounter a much larger version of Nim. His brother hooks it with a harpoon and is dragged deep into the ocean. Rich becomes obsessed with finding out what happened to George much to the distain of his wife. While all this is going on other mysterious events begin to occur. On a beach something washes up. The government cordons off the area and issues a statement that it was whale carcasses killed by red tide. Off the coast of Belize an old fisherman and his grandson witness a large scale meteor shower. Near the Cape of Good Hope in Africa a creature appears that produces a sound capable of shattering all the windows of an isolated light house. It certainly seems that the government is trying to hide something with global impact.

While this series was not the best of the three that premiered in the 2005 season it certainly was far ahead of most of the faire that is offered on a nightly basis. On the down side there several factors. First, the writers did patch together some hackney plots that are getting a little over used. The concept of a secret government agency has been pretty much beaten to death, especially in the science fiction genre. Then there is the kid hiding a strange creature from his clueless parents. While this was sweet twenty years ago with E.T. the ploy has lost all possible believability. With that said the series did contain some novel aspects that made it enjoyable. When Dee is cast out from the scientific community she still has to provide for her young son. She takes any job she can but finding it is hard she one look at the PhD on her resume and most employers don’t see her as waitress material. Instead of bogging the plot line down with overly maternal scenes and side plots the story quickly puts Dee on the run. She can still be the concerned mother but the task at hand, finding the truth and keeping away from the government agents, drives the story. Richard is a take off of the Richard Dreyfuss character in Close Encounters of the Third Kind. He takes off leaving his family behind to serve his own obsession. In this incarnation of the stereotype Richard is still concerned with the family left behind. This gives the story a little more plausibility. One of the best characters was Miles. He is not the typical geek with a genius for all things technical and a brain that would rival Einstein. Instead he is barely passing his classes and is better socialized then is usually seen in a science fiction thriller.

The cast does help this series to be more character driven than most science fiction faire. Lake Bell is no stranger to television having played the same role on two shows, Boston Legal and the Practice. Here Ms Bell gives us a character that is a strong willed and determined woman who is fighting not only to reveal the truth but to restore her good name and professional reputation. Jay R. Ferguson plays Richard as a bit of a good hearted lumbering sort of fellow that in the middle on the season makes a perfect counterpoint to the smart and savvy Dee. Carter Jenkins does very well as the lamentable Miles. He has the usual post-puberty woes such as an attraction to girls out of his league but also feels a responsibility to Nim’s welfare. He is a reasonable kid caught in the most unreasonable circumstances.

Overall the series is worth it. It does look like it was cancelled so at least fans will have this set to remember it by. It is far better than the almost cloned television series that depend on fantastic science to solve the murder. Universal has done well with the video and audio masters here and the set deserves a place in the collection of the die hard science fiction fan. One warning, if the series is not picked up the last episode will be a very large tease but this should not deter you from enjoy what we have of it.

Posted 8/16/06