A marine biologist, an insurance salesman and a teen-aged boy find their lives fundamentally changed by the emergence of a new, and often dangerous, species of sea life, while government age... Read allA marine biologist, an insurance salesman and a teen-aged boy find their lives fundamentally changed by the emergence of a new, and often dangerous, species of sea life, while government agents work to keep the affair under wraps.A marine biologist, an insurance salesman and a teen-aged boy find their lives fundamentally changed by the emergence of a new, and often dangerous, species of sea life, while government agents work to keep the affair under wraps.
- Nominated for 1 Primetime Emmy
- 2 wins & 4 nominations total
Featured reviews
Surface: Episode 3 Posted Oct 3, 2005, 9:34 PM ET by Bob Sassone Filed under: NBC, Sci-Fi/Horror, Surface
Maybe a giant fireball of an explosion in the poolhouse will convince Miles that keeping a weird sea creature as a secret pet isn't the best idea in the world. But somehow, I doubt it. I still think it's ridiculous. It's not cute, it's potentially deadly, so the only two outcomes that will be acceptable are, a.) the kid brings the little creature to the attention of Laura or Rich, or b.) the monster grows up fast and devours the entire family.
So while Miles and his buddy are trying to figure out how to feed and train the little creature, Rich goes back to work at his insurance job (wow, what a dreary office/small desk he has - he should just quit and hunt monsters full-time), and Laura is having her own problems at work and has to get a job as a waitress ($68 in tips for 12 hours work...not too good). The appearance of these monsters are affecting all the major characters, in big ways.
This is the best of the new sci-fi/horror shows. It's not as boring as Invasion; it has a better plot than Supernatural; it's not as goofy as Threshold (save for the little monster subplot), and it's not as awful as Night Stalker seems to be so far. I like how they have three different plots going (Laura's, Rich's, Miles) but they haven't brought them all together yet in some forced, let's save the Earth sort of way. This show is methodical, but never boring. It's majestic and epic when it has to be, but it's never over the top. It's the only show of this bunch where I can honestly say I look forward to seeing every week and that is leaving me guessing as to what exactly is going to happen and where they are going with the plot. The structure is smart, and I love how it ends with some big event (the giant monster eating the boat whole from below, tonight's Old Faithful exploding into fire and smoke).
I've stopped watching Invasion, and I'm going to watch Supernatural only because I'm reviewing it. The Night Stalker I'll watch for the same reason or until it's cancelled. Threshold is fun too so I'll keep watching that. But Surface is the one I'll buy on DVD, if it ever gets to that point.
The problem with the show, which in short is a Godzilla series, is that it started too big, with incredible monsters, fantastic science, then it all boiled down to local Americans doing stuff. Then, the show ended too soon, since the Olympics were coming and hey! a sci-fi show is a sci-fi show, but half naked athletic people running around aimlessly is much more important. So they only did 15 episodes instead of the expected 22. The audience was small, too, as people didn't really caught it on at 20:00. In the end the suits did it. Trust a marketing plan to destroy anything that looks remotely original and promising.
Conclusion: you have a show with good special effects, stuff like huge monsters killing people or destroying boats, then going into genetic engineering, transforming people, human clones, end of the world, tsunamis. Also, the only fillers are scenes with aggressive rednecks or other annoying people being killed for their stupidity. The down-side is that after 15 episodes that prepare something huge, the show ends. No real ending, no closure, just a bitter taste of cloth in one's mouth, as if you just swallowed a piece of suit.
Besides current shows like Supernatural with its magnificent cinematography and scary atmosphere or Threshhold which started out very well but ended in me cancelling it because of its ridiculous always-the-same per-episode story lines this show - Surface - must be on par with Stargate Atlantis. Both shows have weak CG and weak acting but in the end they got stuff to it that makes you really wanna see what's happening on next. And that - I say - is good entertainment.
I will review again after the season finale, but at the moment I can clearly recommend this show. Thumbs up!
Surface is the best show that I have seen and I'm confident that it has the potential to be another sci-fi TV classic.
Did you know
- TriviaRegal Entertainment Group theatres did a cross promotion with NBC advertising this show. All of the promotion materials (i.e. posters, carpets, popcorn bags, etc.) had the show titled as "Fathom" well after the series was renamed "Surface".
- Quotes
Miles Barnett: It's more than that. He wants to sleep with me, he follows me into the shower...
Phil Nance: Dude, we're in a locker room. Make it clear you're talking about a lizard.
- ConnectionsFeatured in Late Night with Conan O'Brien: Jon Heder/Jessica Biel/Nada Surf (2005)
- How many seasons does Surface have?Powered by Alexa
Details
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- Also known as
- Fathom
- Filming locations
- North Carolina Aquarium at Fort Fisher - 900 Loggerhead Road, Kure Beach, North Carolina, USA(Miles develops his interest in sea life)
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro