''Surface'' is an American

science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...

television series created by

Jonas Jonas may refer to: Geography * Jonas, Netherlands, Netherlands * Jonas, Pennsylvania, United States * Jonas Ridge, North Carolina, United States Arts, entertainment, and media * Jonas Brothers, American pop rock band. ** ''Jonas'' (TV serie ...

and

Josh Pate Joshua Warren Pate (born January 15, 1970) is an American screenwriter, director and producer. He wrote '' The Grave'', '' Deceiver'', and '' The Take''. Pate also co-created '' Good vs Evil'', ''Surface'', and ''Outer Banks''. Early life Josh ...

, that premiered on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

on September 19, 2005. The program aired ten episodes before going on hiatus on November 28, 2005. It returned for five more episodes on January 2, 2006, and ended its run on February 6. On May 15, 2006, NBC officially announced that the series had been cancelled after one season.

Synopsis

During a routine

submersible A submersible is an underwater vehicle which needs to be transported and supported by a larger ship, watercraft or dock, platform. This distinguishes submersibles from submarines, which are self-supporting and capable of prolonged independent ope ...

dive in the North Pacific Ocean,

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

oceanographer Oceanography (), also known as oceanology, sea science, ocean science, and marine science, is the scientific study of the ocean, including its physics, chemistry, biology, and geology. It is an Earth science, which covers a wide range of top ...

Laura Daughtery (

Lake Bell Lake Siegel Bell (born March 24, 1979) is an American actress, screenwriter, and director. She has appeared in various television series, including '' Boston Legal'' (2004–2006), ''Surface'' (2005–2006), '' How to Make It in America'' (2010 ...

) is attacked by an unknown life-form that appears out of a field of craters on the ocean's floor. Miles Barnett (

Carter Jenkins Carter Jenkins is an American actor. He is best known for his roles in the films '' Aliens in the Attic'' (2009), ''Valentine's Day'' (2010), and '' Struck by Lightning'' (2012) and the ''After'' film series. On television, Jenkins was part of t ...

), a 14-year old North Carolina teenager, finds himself face to face with the strange sea creature after falling off his wakeboard during a nighttime outing with his friends. Meanwhile, Richard Connelly ( Jay R. Ferguson), a

Louisiana Louisiana ( ; ; ) is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It borders Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, and Mississippi to the east. Of the 50 U.S. states, it ranks 31st in area and 25 ...

man on a fishing trip, loses his brother in a suspicious diving accident when a creature drags him to the depths of the

Gulf of Mexico The Gulf of Mexico () is an oceanic basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, mostly surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north, and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United States; on the southw ...

. All around the world, strange things are occurring in the world's oceans. Shooting stars fall from the night sky into the

Caribbean Sea The Caribbean Sea is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean in the tropics of the Western Hemisphere, located south of the Gulf of Mexico and southwest of the Sargasso Sea. It is bounded by the Greater Antilles to the north from Cuba ...

; a horrific howl tears apart a South African

lighthouse A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of physical structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lens (optics), lenses and to serve as a beacon for navigational aid for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways. Ligh ...

. In

South Carolina South Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders North Carolina to the north and northeast, the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, and Georgia (U.S. state), Georg ...

, an unknown carcass washes up on a public beach, prompting the government to evacuate and cordon off the area, claiming it as a beached

whale Whales are a widely distributed and diverse group of fully Aquatic animal, aquatic placental mammal, placental marine mammals. As an informal and Colloquialism, colloquial grouping, they correspond to large members of the infraorder Cetacea ...

killed by red tide poisoning. Meanwhile, Daughtery's research is seized by government officials led by a mysterious Croatian scientist, Dr. Aleksander Cirko (

Rade Šerbedžija Rade Šerbedžija ( sr-Cyrl, Раде Шербеџија, ; born 27 July 1946) is a Croatian actor, director and musician. He is known for his portrayals of imposing figures on both sides of the law. He was one of the best known Yugoslav actors ...

); after attempting to confront them, she is fired. Curious as to what he's seen, Miles ventures back to the area where he first spotted the creature only to find the water covered in strange pods he classifies as "eggs"; he takes one home and places it in his parents' fish tank. Unable to cope with his brother's disappearance, Connely ventures to South Carolina to see the creature for himself. Connelly meets Daughtery upon arrival after they are both taken into custody due to asking too many questions. When the fish in Miles' tank disappear and the tank breaks, Miles discovers that something has hatched from the egg; he attempts to conceal it but it escapes and causes havoc at his sister's pool party. Daughtery and Connelly sneak onto the beach and bring back a

hagfish Hagfish, of the Class (biology), class Myxini (also known as Hyperotreti) and Order (biology), order Myxiniformes , are eel-shaped Agnatha, jawless fish (occasionally called slime eels). Hagfish are the only known living Animal, animals that h ...

that had been feeding on the carcass. Each returns to their home, and Daughtery sends the fish's stomach contents to be tested. As they wait for the results, reports of strange creatures beaching themselves around the world begin to surface. These three strangers may have stumbled upon the greatest secret in human history. The creature that hatched from the "egg" Miles found appears to be a kind of web-footed aquatic lizard, possibly a

Pliosaur Pliosauroidea is an extinct clade of plesiosaurs, known from the earliest Jurassic to early Late Cretaceous. They are best known for the subclade Thalassophonea, which contained crocodile-like short-necked forms with large heads and massive toot ...

(this is later proven to be false, as the show progresses to reveal that the species were artificially created). It can zap objects with an electrical charge and heal instantaneously. Miles's friend Phil names the creature

Nimrod Nimrod is a Hebrew Bible, biblical figure mentioned in the Book of Genesis and Books of Chronicles, the Books of Chronicles. The son of Cush (Bible), Cush and therefore the great-grandson of Noah, Nimrod was described as a king in the land of Sh ...

, shortened to "Nim". Dr. Cirko discovers the origins of the creature, but is murdered before he can tell anyone. His assistant gives his research to Daughtery, who has already teamed up with Connelly. After some of the other young creatures attack him, Miles develops some of the creatures' abilities- electrical surges and a need for excess salt (as well as some form of communication with the creatures), due to Nim healing him by licking his bites and scratches. In the series finale, the creatures' activities on the sea floor cause a massive earthquake which turns into a

tsunami A tsunami ( ; from , ) is a series of waves in a water body caused by the displacement of a large volume of water, generally in an ocean or a large lake. Earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and underwater explosions (including detonations, ...

that destroys

Puerto Rico ; abbreviated PR), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, is a Government of Puerto Rico, self-governing Caribbean Geography of Puerto Rico, archipelago and island organized as an Territories of the United States, unincorporated territo ...

and heads toward the east coast. Rich discovers a

cryogenic In physics, cryogenics is the production and behaviour of materials at very low temperatures. The 13th International Institute of Refrigeration's (IIR) International Congress of Refrigeration (held in Washington, DC in 1971) endorsed a univers ...

version of Noah's Ark in the Iderdex plant, along with dozens of monorails being sent into the

Mariana Trench The Mariana Trench is an oceanic trench located in the western Pacific Ocean, about east of the Mariana Islands; it is the deep sea, deepest oceanic trench on Earth. It is crescent-shaped and measures about in length and in width. The maxi ...

. The series ends with Miles finally meeting Laura and Rich during the evacuation. The last shot is of Miles, Laura, Rich, and Caitlin looking out from the church steeple that they had climbed to escape the waves to see how the

has placed all of

Wilmington, NC Wilmington is a port city in New Hanover County, North Carolina, United States. With a population of 115,451 as of the 2020 census, it is the eighth-most populous city in the state. The county seat of New Hanover County, it is the principal cit ...

under water.

Themes

This TV series encompasses possible implications of

genetic engineering Genetic engineering, also called genetic modification or genetic manipulation, is the modification and manipulation of an organism's genes using technology. It is a set of Genetic engineering techniques, technologies used to change the genet ...

, and modern

biotechnology Biotechnology is a multidisciplinary field that involves the integration of natural sciences and Engineering Science, engineering sciences in order to achieve the application of organisms and parts thereof for products and services. Specialists ...

. The underlying theme of the series involves the artificial creation of an organism, through a secret biotechnological company. One scene in episode #113 involves a scientist (Dr. Morris) going for an interview for the company, where the interviewer reveals revelations such as the recovery of the

Archaeopteryx ''Archaeopteryx'' (; ), sometimes referred to by its German name, "" ( ''Primeval Bird'') is a genus of bird-like dinosaurs. The name derives from the ancient Greek (''archaîos''), meaning "ancient", and (''ptéryx''), meaning "feather" ...

, and that cloning

Dolly the Sheep Dolly (5 July 1996 – 14 February 2003) was a female Finn-Dorset sheep and the first mammal that was cloned from an adult somatic cell. She was cloned by associates of the Roslin Institute in Scotland, using the process of nuclear trans ...

was 30 years after their secret company discovered how to clone.

Cast and characters

Main

as Laura Daughtery * Jay R. Ferguson as Richard Connelly *

as Miles Barnett *

Ian Anthony Dale Ian Anthony Dale is an American actor. His notable roles include Adam Noshimuri on '' Hawaii Five-0'', Harris Edwards on ''Salvation'', Simon Lee on ''The Event'', Davis Lee on ''Surface'', Avatar Gamma on ''Charmed'' and Kazuya Mishima in '' ...

as Davis Lee *

Leighton Meester Leighton Marissa Meester ( ; born April 9, 1986) is an American actress, singer, and model. She is known for her starring role as Blair Waldorf on the CW television series ''Gossip Girl'', which ran from 2007 to 2012. She has also appeared in fi ...

as Savannah Barnett *

Eddie Hassell Lord Ed Taylor Hassell (July 16, 1990 – November 1, 2020) was an American actor. His most notable role was the 2013 film '' Jobs'', where he played the young Chris Espinosa. Life and career Born in Corsicana, Texas, Hassell grew up riding ...

as Phil Nance

Recurring

as Dr. Aleksander Cirko *

Linsey Godfrey Linsey Godfrey is an American actress. She played Caroline Spencer on the CBS soap opera ''The Bold and the Beautiful'' from March 2012 to October 2016, before returning in a recurring capacity from December 2016 to March 2018. She played Sarah ...

as Caitlin Blum * Kelly Collins Lintz as Tracy Connelly *

Ric Reitz Kenric Lowell Reitz (born September 8, 1955) is an American actor, writer, composer, director and producer. Early life and education Reitz was born and raised in Rochester, New York. He was the middle of five creative children. Growing up a ...

as Ron Barnett * Louanne Cooper as Sylvia Barnett *

Bobby Coleman Robert Moorhouse Coleman III (born May 5, 1997) is an American actor. He is best known for his roles as a child actor in the films ''Martian Child'' (2007), as the title character, and '' The Last Song'' (2010). Life and career Robert Coleman w ...

as Jesse Daughtery * Daniel Newman as Greg Butler * Jason Davis as Sean

Episodes

Home media

On May 1, 2006 it was announced that

Universal Studios Home Entertainment Universal Pictures Home Entertainment LLC (UPHE) is the home video distribution division of Universal Pictures, an American film studio owned by NBCUniversal, the entertainment unit of Comcast. UPHE is the home video distributor for all of the ...

would be releasing the ''Surface - Season One'' DVD set on August 15, 2006. The DVD set was released with the title of ''Surface: The Complete Series''. The complete series was released in Australia on April 4, 2007.

International distribution

Broadcast history

During the show's initial airing, Surface was also broadcast in syndication on the Sci-Fi Channel in the United States. In addition to American network the programme was also broadcast in Canada on CH, as well as

ITV2 ITV2 is a Television in the United Kingdom, British free-to-air television channel owned by ITV Digital Channels, a division of ITV plc. It was launched on 7 December 1998. For a number of years, it had the largest audience share after the fiv ...

in the UK,

Network Ten Network 10 (commonly known as the 10 Network, Channel 10 or simply 10) is an Australian commercial television network. It is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Paramount Global's Paramount Networks UK & Australia, UK & Australia division and is o ...

in Australia,

VT4 The VT-4 (), also known as the MBT-3000, is a Chinese modernized main battle tank built by Norinco for overseas export. Development During the development of Type 90-II/Al-Khalid (also known as MBT-2000) in the 1980s, the gearbox and engin ...

in Belgium, on

La Sexta La Sexta (; ; stylised as laSexta) is a privately owned Spanish free-to-air television channel that was founded on 18 March 2001 as Beca TV and began broadcasting on 1 April 2001. By 21 July 2003, the channel ran into debt and was shut down, bu ...

and Calle 13 in Spain and on Universal Channel in Mexico. During the summer of 2006, the series was broadcast on

ProSieben ProSieben (, ''sieben'' is German for "seven"; often stylized as Pro7) is a German free-to-air television network owned by ProSiebenSat.1 Media. It was launched on 1 January 1989. It is Germany's second-largest privately owned television company ...

in Germany, by Fox on Portuguese and Brazilian cable networks, in Israel on Yes network, and on

Canal+ Canals or artificial waterways are waterways or engineered channels built for drainage management (e.g. flood control and irrigation) or for conveyancing water transport vehicles (e.g. water taxi). They carry free, calm surface flo ...

in most of Scandinavia. During the summer of 2008, the series was broadcast on Veronica in The Netherlands. The entire series was repeated in the UK on

ITV1 ITV1 (formerly known as ITV) is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the British media company ITV plc. It provides the ITV (TV network), Channel 3 ...

between 23 July 2009 and 30 October 2009. ''Surface'' was subsequently broadcast in Italy on Italia 1 and in Norway on TVNorge (started in June 2007), Portugal on TVI on Saturday afternoons, Australia on

on Sundays, 6.30pm, reruns on

Sci Fi Channel (Australia) SF (formerly Sci Fi Channel) was an Australian subscription channel that aired science fiction, fantasy and related programs. It was available on Foxtel, Austar and Optus Television subscription platforms. In 2012, the channel rebranded from S ...

, Spain on La Sexta (started in September 2007), Finland on

MTV3 MTV3 (, ) is a Finnish commercial television channel owned and operated by the media company MTV Oy, originally launched on 13 August 1957 as a programming block, becoming its own channel on 1 January 1993. It had the biggest audience share ...

, rebroadcast in Germany on ProSieben and in Canada on

Space Space is a three-dimensional continuum containing positions and directions. In classical physics, physical space is often conceived in three linear dimensions. Modern physicists usually consider it, with time, to be part of a boundless ...

. In July 2007, the series was also being broadcast in Mauritius on MBC3 on Tuesday afternoons. In Poland on

TVN Siedem TVN may refer to: * TVN (Australian TV channel), a former horse racing channel * Televisión Nacional de Chile, a public broadcaster * TVN (Indonesia), a former television station; predecessor of Rajawali Televisi * TVN (Norway), or TVNorge, a comm ...

broadcast the series starting in August 2007, and starting May 2008, it was repeated on TVN. Starting in November 2007, it was broadcast in Greece on

Alter Channel Alter Channel, better known as Alter, was a private TV channel in Greece. It was launched in 1990 and owned by Eleftheri Tileorasi S.A. and was headed by Andreas Kouris. Alter's programming mainly consisted of news, current affairs shows and ent ...

on Fridays at 21:00, in New Zealand on TV3 late Friday evenings, and in Croatia (Hrvatska) on

RTL Televizija RTL (previously known as RTL Televizija) is a Croatian free-to-air television network founded on 30 April 2004. It was owned by the RTL Group from 2004 to 2022. Since 1 June 2022, it is owned by the CME Group. It is the second commercial television ...

Wednesday at 22:30. The series was shown in March 2008 on StarWorld in Singapore, with repeats airing the next day at 11:00. On December 10, 2008, ''Surface'' would later be broadcast on Digit Alb + in Albania.

List of broadcasters

*Albania: Digitalb *Argentina: Canal 13, (Mon-Fri, from March 2009) *Australia:

, Sci Fi Channel *Belgium:

RTL-TVI RTL-TVI is a private French-language, Belgian-based television station owned by DPG Media and Groupe Rossel, it was originally owned by the RTL Group until 31 March 2022. Until 2022, it was broadcast with a Luxembourgish licence, but the new ...

*Brazil:

Rede Record Record (stylized in uppercase; ), formerly known as Rede Record and RecordTV, is a Brazilian free-to-air television network. It is currently the second largest commercial TV station in Brazil, and the 28th largest in the 2012 world ranking. In ...

Universal Channel Universal TV, formerly Universal Channel, is an international pay television network specializing in movies and television series in the Thriller (genre), thriller, Drama (genre), drama, comedy, Horror (genre), horror, Crime (genre), crime and in ...

*Canada: CH,

*Colombia:

Citytv Bogotá Citytv () is a Colombian free-to-air television channel, owned by (ETCE), owner of the newspaper of the same name. ETCE licensed the Canadian brand Citytv from CHUM Limited (later sold off to Rogers Media). It began broadcasting on March 19 ...

*Croatia:

(Croatian title: Stvorenja) *Chile: Red TV *Denmark:

DR1 DR1 (DR Et) is the flagship television channel of the Danish Broadcasting Corporation (DR). It became Denmark's first television station when it began broadcasting in 1951 – at first only for an hour a day, three times a week. Besides it ...

*Dominican Republic: Teleantillas (Canal 2) *France:

TF1 TF1 (; standing for ''Télévision Française 1'') is a French commercial television network owned by TF1 Group, controlled by the Bouygues conglomerate. TF1's average market share of 24% makes it the most popular domestic network. TF1 is part ...

*Finland:

Sub Sub or SUB may refer to: Places * Juanda International Airport, Surabaya, Indonesia, IATA code SUB People * Bottom (BDSM), or "sub" for "submissive" * Substitute teacher Christianity * Sub tuum praesidium, an ancient hymn and prayer dedicated t ...

*Germany:

kabel eins ''Kabel Eins'' (; meaning Cable One) is a German free-to-air television channel that was launched on 29 February 1992 as ''Der Kabelkanal'' (). It is owned by ProSiebenSat.1 Media AG. It is largely known for airing classic American films as wel ...

(German title: Surface - Unheimliche Tiefe) *Greece:

Alter Alter may refer to: Computing and technology * ALTER, a command in older implementations of COBOL * Alter (SQL), a command in a data definition language within SQL Music * ''Alter'' (album), 2002 album by Floater * ''Alter'', a 2006 remix alb ...

(Greek title: Άγνωστος Εχθρός) *Hungary: TV2 *India:

Star World Star World, currently stylized logo-wise in capital letters and formerly known as Star Entertainment Channel and Star Plus respectively, is an Asian English language entertainment television channel originally launched on 15 December 1991 by ...

(from 2008) *Israel: yesSTARS *Italy:

Fox Foxes are small-to-medium-sized omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull; upright, triangular ears; a pointed, slightly upturned snout; and a long, bushy tail ("brush"). Twelve species ...

Italia 1 Italia 1 (Italian pronunciation ) is an Italian free-to-air television channel on the Mediaset network, owned by MFE - MediaForEurope. It is aimed at both a young adult and adult audience. Italia 1 was launched on 3 January 1982 and, was or ...

*Latvia: TV6 *Lithuania: TV6 *Malaysia:

TV3 Channel 3 or TV 3 may refer to: Television *Canal 3 (Burkina Faso), a commercial television channel in Burkina Faso * Canal 3 Niger, a commercial television channel in Niger * Canal 3 (Guatemala), a commercial television channel in Guatemala * Can ...

*Mauritius:

MBC3 MBC 3 is a free-to-air children's channel launched on 8 December 2004, and appeals to children under the age of 15. All foreign television animated programs are dubbed into Arabic. The channel also produces its own original programmes. It is own ...

*Mexico:

*New Zealand:

(from 2007) *Netherlands: Veronica (from May 2008) *North Macedonia: Kanal 5 (Macedonian title: Суштества) *Norway:

and

Tvnorge TVNorge (literally "TVNorway"; originally abbreviated TVN, now just abbreviated N in the logos) is a Norwegian television channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery EMEA. History TVNorge went on the air on 5 December 1988 and was the first adv ...

(from 2007) *Paraguay:

Canal 9 SNT Canals or artificial waterways are waterways or engineered channels built for drainage management (e.g. flood control and irrigation) or for conveyancing water transport vehicles (e.g. water taxi). They carry free, calm surface flow un ...

*Peru:

America TV The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguous ...

*Poland:

Canal+ Poland Canals or artificial waterways are waterways or engineered channels built for drainage management (e.g. flood control and irrigation) or for conveyancing water transport vehicles (e.g. water taxi). They carry free, calm surface flow u ...

and TVN (Polish title: Na powierzchni - ''On the Surface'') *Portugal:

TVI TVI may refer to: *RTL-TVI, a French-language television station in Belgium *TVi (channel), a Ukrainian TV-channel *TVi, former name of TV Okey, a Malaysian TV-network * Tamil Vision International, a Tamil language television channel in Toronto, C ...

*Russia: Channel One *Romania: Antena 1 *Saudi Arabia: ShowSeries 1 *Serbia:

RTS2 RTS 2 (), known as RTS Program Two (), or Drugi () is a Serbian public TV channel operated by Radio Television of Serbia (RTS). It focuses on culture, in addition to offering music and sporting events. Parliamentary sittings are also broadcast l ...

*Singapore: StarWorld Ch18, Starhub Cable (Mon-Fri, from March 10, 2008) *Slovenia: Supernova,

POP TV Pop TV is a Slovenian generalist television channel operated by Pro Plus d.o.o., a subsidiary of Central European Media Enterprises (CME), which is in turn owned by Czech investment company PPF. History It was established by ProPlus, CME's Sl ...

*Slovak Republic: STV 1 (Mon-Fri, from Sept. 2008) *Spain:

laSexta La Sexta (; ; stylised as laSexta) is a privately owned Spanish free-to-air television channel that was founded on 18 March 2001 as Beca TV and began broadcasting on 1 April 2001. By 21 July 2003, the channel ran into debt and was shut down, bu ...

*Sri Lanka: DialogTV *Sweden:

, tv400 *Turkey: Dizimax *Ukraine:

1+1 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

*United Kingdom:

(Thursdays from 23 July 2009 until 30 October 2009),

(all subsequent episodes, with the exception of the pilot being first shown on ITV1) *United States:

, UniversalHD

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, 0452718, Surface 2000s American science fiction television series 2005 American television series debuts 2006 American television series endings NBC television dramas Television series by Universal Television Television shows filmed in North Carolina Television shows filmed in Wilmington, North Carolina Television shows set in North Carolina