TV Review: Surface Episode 1.15 - Season Finale

Monday, February 06, 2006

FROM NBC: With a tsunami approaching the coast, the residents of Wilmington find themselves under a mandatory evacuation. Among the mass exodus of people leaving for safety, Miles (Carter Jenkins) and his family scramble to make it off the island. Meanwhile, Laura (Lake Bell) travels to North Carolina to find Rich (Jay R. Ferguson), who has been arrested by military police at the mysterious laboratory. As employees hurriedly vacate the building, Rich is locked up in a cell and left to die.

My Ratings: 4 out of 4

Well, Surface fans it is over, but is this the end of the series that has won viewers over even with the one of the oddest of premises. The series began with what appeared to be a series about an alien sea creature coming up and killing people. As the season progressed, we had more twists and turns to keep up with. We learned the creatures weren't not of this world, but they were manmade creatures, possibly using DNA from a long extinct dinosaur.

Man's creation began to wreck havoc with the world, and on last week things definitely came to a head. It appears the creatures set the wheels in motion for a large underwater earthquake off the coast of Puerto Rico. The earthquake registering a 9.4 on the Richter scale caused a tsunami that first placed San Juan, Puerto Rico underwater before heading towards the southeastern United States.

This is where we know two of our three major characters are currently located. Miles has lived with his family and pet creature Nim over the course of the season. Rich has followed a lead to Iderdex's facilities in Wilmington, but at the end of last week's episode we see him captured by those working in the facility. Miles and his town have just learned of the wall of water heading their way.

This week, Rich is taken into custody and then taken to what appears to be an airproof lock-up room. No one will let him out, and the facility is being evacuated before the on-coming tsunami. On his way to the room, Rich does see a picture of what appears to be Jackson on one of the evacuation lists. We were left wondering what happened to Jackson when Laura and Rich came up from their journey down beneath the ocean's surface. Was he picked up somehow by Iderdex once he had seen the creature's up close? It is entirely possible, but we don't really know.

With Rich locked up, he tries to get out any way he can. He gets into a battle with one of the guards that comes in to check on him. The guard gets free, but leaves behind a cell phone. Rich first uses the phone to call and leave a message for his wife. he then calls Laura, who informs him she is in Wilmington. She came to the city looking for him before she knew of th tsunami. She steals a car from a rental place in the airport, and she is on her way to Iderdex.

She hits a few road blocks along the way, but she is near when Rich does call. She runs through the deserted facility looking for Rich, and she does luckily find him. She releases the lock on the doors, but first she sees a series of monorails that appear to be journeying to the center of the earth. She doesn't have any time to enjoy her discovery because once she finds Rich, they need to find their way out of the plant. After the power goes out, the two have to run through the plant in order to escape. After some help from a man somehow left behind, they make their way out into the city of Wilmington, but the city is deserted.

After one car passes them by, another barely stops, and guess who is driving? Miles is behind the wheel with Kaitlin beside him and Nim in the backseat. Miles has had his own things to deal with. He had to help his family get out of the city. Savannah has left ahead of them. His parents and Miles are looking for gas, and Miles spends most of the episode trying to reach Kaitlin, as she was doing the exact same for him. Caitlin ends up making it to Miles house after his family has left. A kid comes up and steals her moped and knocks her unconscious.

When Miles and her father see the moped, Miles goes after the teenage boy, and Miles learns somehow Caitlin is in house. He jumps off the back off the ferry and swims back to his house. With Nim's help, her finds Caitlin and brings her back to consciousness. the two now need to find a way to higher ground. That is how they end up driving through town. Once they stop and are joined by Rich and Laura, our three main characters are now together.

Rich takes over the driving, and this is when Laura discovers Nim in the back seat. Miles tells her and Rich about how he raised Nim to be his pet. as they are driving, the car runs out of gas, and the four are stuck just as the tsunami hits. They start to run for their lives for the nearby church, which they plan to hide in the steeple. The wave hits the church just as they hit the second level, and Caitlin freaks out. As Miles is watching the water settle, a largish creature swims in and looks in to see them before swimming away. Creatures were also sighted in Puerto Rico, one of them even eating a reporter on television.

Just as another wave hits, the foursome make it up to the roof of the church to find Nim waiting for them. Once that has passed, they stand to see the new world that lies before them. The entire city of Wilmington is under water, and you know if they saw one creature there is more of them about. The season ends on this note.

However, is it the season's end or the series' end? We can't be sure. For weeks on end, the final episode was described as just the finale. It was only at the end of last week's episode that the word season was attached to it. so is this the end, or will the series return next season? Personally, I'd like to see this show make a return. It has kept me thoroughly interested from day one, and I know I got at least one other person hooked on it when I made my brother watch about five episodes in. This has been one of favorite television series this season, and I'm sorry to see the journey end.

Each and every week, a piece of this program's plot was revealed to us. Things were forever changing. It became more than just a story about a sea creature, but the lengths man will go in order to change the way the world works. In this case, they created this creature and what appears to be many others that were no longer a part of our world's outlook of day to day life. We learned what man is capable of when unlimited resources are available. We also learned the lengths one boy will go to in order to save his pet. This series was the perfect mix of science and fiction. I do hope it returns in the fall.