Review of Surface - Series 1 - Complete

Introduction

I missed `Surface` when it aired last year in the UK, a year after its American debut. Unfathomably (do you like the nautical pun?) it was cancelled after its first brief season. Having just watched the lot over a two-week period, it`s really hard to see why. It`s a fantastic series with incredibly high production values, which may in the end have been its undoing, with networking figures just not able to justify the expense.

Though the series is unique in the way its glued so many popular genres together, it relies heavily on its influences - from `Jaws` `The Abyss` and `The X-Files` to name but three of the most apparent.

But setting that aside, it`s gripping stuff from the outset, proving to be thoroughly entertaining and completely addictive.

Though there are many sub-plots to the `Surface` narrative it`s really two interwoven tales knitted into a cohesive whole. The first involves Dr. Laura Daughtery (played convincingly by Lake Bell), who is a brilliant and driven marine biologist who is also a single mum. Circumstances conspire to hook her up with Rich Connelly (Jay Ferguson) who is an insurance salesman whose brother is the first `victim` of a new and unidentified species. The two become convinced that there is a major Government cover-up underway and they set out to discover what`s at its heart. The second sub-plot (a little lighter) is that of teenager Miles who finds and adopts a baby of the undiscovered alien species (with more than a nod to Elliott in E.T.).

The two plots develop and twist at an alarming rate with on the edge of your seat adventure at every turn. It`s all terribly exciting stuff and by the time you see Mile`s `dragon` gobble up his sister`s friend`s poodle you`ll be too far gone to care whether such things could really happen.

The shots of the new species fully-grown are added sparingly and often obliquely, using dark shadows or just the peripheral view of a fin or an arched back coming out the water, which only makes them seem all the more remarkable. To some degree this is undermined by the revisits to Miles Pet-raising, though it would be surly to suggest that these are not equally enjoyable. The show won an Emmy for its effects, and, whilst I agree that they were first-class by any standard, the most effective of all were the subtly implied pieces.

Look away if an episode summary will spoil things for you. (Note: cut and pasted from a published release. so the superlatives aren`t mine!)

Episode 1 (Pilot):
There`s something in the waters and oceanographer Dr. Laura Daughtery is determined to find out what it is and why the government doesn`t want anyone to know about it.

Episode 2:
Trouble washes ashore when a teenager named Miles brings a strange egg into his home and calls the hatchling "Nimrod".

Episode 3:
Things are heating up below the surface as scientists theorize that the creatures cause global warming and Laura loses her job because of accusations of plagiarism.

Episode 4:
Hoping for a clue to the unidentified species` origins, Laura fires a GPS tracking device at one of the creatures but is unprepared for where it leads her.

Episode 5:
Nimrod proves to be more work than the average pet when Miles and his friend, Phil (Eddie Hassell), are interviewed about the disappearance of their next-door neighbour`s dog.

Episode 6:
When scientist Aleksander Cirko (Rade Serbedzija) uncovers the secret origins of the unidentified species, the surprising results lead to murder, mayhem and a government investigation.

Episode 7:
Drastic measures are called for when Laura, Rich and Jackson (Austin Nichols) must hide to avoid the government questioning, and Miles and Phil return Nimrod to the sea.

Episode 8:
The mystery continues as Laura and Rich lose control of their submersible, as they get closer to the creatures` spawning site.

Episode 9:
It`s a race against time as Laura and Rich discover that the unidentified species are laying thousands of eggs on the ocean floor.

Episode 10:
Surprises abound when Laura and Rich surface in their submersible and discover that the boat that brought them to the spot is missing.

Episode 11:
It`s time to go public with the news, buy Laura discovers that they must first get past Lee and his men with their explosive footage of the species.

Episode 12:
Life on the runs from Lee and his secret agents takes its toll on Laura and Rich - until a bizarre Internet conversation gives them surprising leads.

Episode 13:
An abandoned lab may hold secrets about the past, but Laura has a sneaking suspicion that something in the shadows may be more curious about them.

Episode 14:
Family tensions boil over as Rich finds that his wife suspects him of having an affair, and Miles must choose between Nimrod and his family.

Episode 15:
A Tsunami is looming and everyone is in a race to get to higher ground as Laura makes a desperate attempt to rescue Rich and Nimrod makes a surprising discovery.

Video

Disappointingly presented in 4 by 3 (The R1 release was in widescreen 1.78:1 anamorphic) probably because the disc shares the Spanish and Portuguese dubs intended for the poorer South American markets. It`s a good, clean transfer and looks like a reasonable job has been achieved on pan and scan. If you can afford it, pick up the R1 and see this as it was intended!

Audio

What was supposed to have been a 5.1 (I`d read somewhere) appears to be a stereo track only. It`s a lovely sound-bed so it would have been nice to have got the full version.

Features

Deleted Scenes - 12 scenes cut from the series, all housed on Disc 4 which has only three episodes.

Sci-Fi Special Effects - 9 minute featurette with interviews with cast and crew, studio footage and special effects / CGI studio stuff. It`s interesting that the original script was for a film before it turned into a 15 episode series.

Conclusion

This show was a complete revelation to me having missed it when it originally aired. It`s one of those rare shows that seems to combine all the right ingredients to make it absolutely compulsive viewing, the equivalent of a `page turner` in the popular book world.

Of course it doesn`t stand up to a great deal of intellectual deconstruction. It`s full of contradictions, impossible coincidences and unlikely happenings. But if you`re willing to suspend disbelief, it really delivers the goods.

With impossibly high production values (think major blockbuster), it successfully creates a whole new dish out of some very familiar ingredients. A healthy dose of `Jaws` with a sprinkling of `E.T.`, mixed with two spoonfuls of `Close Encounters`, three of `The X-Files` and a couple of drops of `The O.C` and voila! The results are one of the best things I`ve seen on TV in a decade.

It`s a shame that this R2 edition offers up a poor man`s pan and scan and only stereo sound when the R1 was issued fully anamorphic with 5.1 and a load of extras. I can only guess that this is the result of some ill-informed American marketing department assuming that we in the UK are part of some backward European state where we still watch only black and white movies in 4 by 3! Whatever the case we`ve been grouped onto the same issue used for marketing the discs across South America.

But don`t let this put you off. It was still exhilarating viewing. But if you can stretch to importing the R1 then do that.