A short-running American sci-fi series that has three people — marine biologist Laura Daughtery (Lake Bell), insurance claim adjuster Richard Connelly (Jay R. Ferguson) and high school student Miles Barnett Carter Jenkins) — having their lives changed when a new species of sea life is found in the ocean and the government tries to keep it under wraps.
The show also stars Ian Anthony Dale, Rade Šerbedžija, Leighton Meester, and Eddie Hassell.
It aired from September 19, 2005 to February 6, 2006 for one season on NBC.
Tropes for the series:
- Cliffhanger: The first (and only) season ends with the sea levels rising and the world now apparently dominated by monsters, with most of the issues raised in the series (such as who created the monsters and why) still unresolved.
- Cliffhanger: The first season ends with Laura and Rich finding out that a secret government agency has been orchestrating a new world order by releasing giant sea monsters, and flooding the world to make that happen. There's also a plot about Miles and his girlfriend Caitlin finding and adopting a baby sea monster, and raising it as their pet. In the final episode, the four of them end up together as the sea levels rise dramatically, separated from their respective families. As they manage to find safety on the top floor of a building, they watch a news reporter get swallowed whole by a sea monster. How they managed to ultimately survive, how the world would react to the planet being ruled by giant monsters, and what would become of the pet was supposed to be covered beginning in the second season. Despite leaving those issues unresolved, the series was canceled shortly thereafter.
- Contagious Powers: Nim somehow gives powers to Miles through prolonged contact. It goes poorly for the jock who opts to bully Miles shortly after they start fully manifesting.
- Downer Ending: The main cast ultimately survives the seismic events caused by the mass migration of lizard creatures though the earth's crust, but is now stuck in a blasted wasteland that is simultaneously flooded with water, lava, and genetic abominations with electrical powers.
- Fanservice: For some reason, the amount of this that Laura and Savannah (Miles' sister plyed by Leighton Meester) provide seems to increase over the series' duration.
- Mega Maelstrom: One episode has a boat (and an unfortunate parasailer) get sucked into a mega-maelstrom that was created by the show's monsters burrowing up into the lake from deep underground.
- Mix-and-Match Critters: Most of the genetic conspiracy's work, including the gigantic lizard monsters that are causing the events of the series and a nightmarish ape/human hybrid capable of speech.
- One-Word Title: Surface.
- Pet Baby Wild Animal: Miles keeps a violent baby green lizard named Nim, and after Nim knocks a policeman unconscious somehow, Miles racks up charges for assault, grand theft auto, and driving under the age limit in an attempt to save Nim from the police — he eventually ends up freeing Nim into the sea, but still has to do community service.
- Previously on…: The show uses a montage that's far too long and has a deep-voiced guy who sounds like he's just smoked five packets of cigarettes and eaten a roll of sandpaper.
- Taxonomic Term Confusion: Near the beginning of the series, Laura describes the creature she saw as "an entirely new phylum of mammal!" This is especially mind-boggling when we later learn that the creatures are created from the DNA of Liopleurodon (a prehistoric sea reptile)... which she describes as "a type of prehistoric eel". If they just wanted to incorrectly refer to something as a "prehistoric eel", they could have at least used a mosasaur, which are far more eel-like in shape than pliosaurs such as Liopleurodon, which were generally shaped more like sea turtles with crocodile heads.