Ictus – As the first episode of Surface begins, we see what happens to be Sophie’s suicide attempt, but it turns out to be a dream. Sophie (Gugu Mbatha-Raw) wakes up and goes downstairs where James (Oliver Jackson-Cohen) gives her breakfast. They agree they had fun last night before Sophie admits she is nervous for her first day back at the hospital. After he says he is proud of her, Sophie reminds him that she has a dinner thing with Caroline tonight. At the hospital, she is told they’re glad she is coming back. Most of the rich philanthropists’ wives just want to brag about getting their hands dirty. Sophie always took the time to get to know the patients so they felt like she knew them right away.  Sophie sees someone coming in on a stretcher with a self-inflicted wound. While riding in a taxi, Sophie begins freaking out because they’re going to drive over the bridge.

She complains that she cannot go over the water. The cab driver (Dimitri Vantis) unlocks the door so she can get out. As she walks through the cars, she is cursed and yelled at. Sophie tells her therapist about having the dream again last night. Hannah (Marianne Jean-Baptiste) reminds her that she is going to come back to it again and again. Sophie wants to get back that one moment, but Hannah thinks her injuries make that impossible. She will have to accept that most of her memories will not be recovered. Sophie asks if she knows what it feels like not to remember anything. She feels like she has woken up in someone else’s life and everyone else believes nothing has changed. When asked, she admits she hasn’t told James since she can’t even tell him about what happened today.

Hannah tells her about neurofeedback that might help with her panic attacks. She says there are many ways to kill yourself. However, Sophie jumped off a boat into the middle of the frigging ocean. The fact that she survived is a miracle. She set out to do something and did it in the most intense, deliberate ways possible. That tells Hannah that she is determined and that will help her move on from this. Sophie isn’t sure how she is going to move on when she can’t remember making that choice. Hannah asks what is wrong with her situation since she has a nice home, friends, and a loving husband. Sophie doesn’t understand why she’d try to end her life if it was so perfect. That night, Sophie hangs out with Caroline (Ari Graynor) and the other girls. They ask if she lost weight because she looks so good. Sophie got a Peloton.

Sophie asks Caroline if this is who she used to spend time with. When Caroline says yes, Sophie admits she doesn’t feel a connection with them. Baden (Stephan James) watches them from the bar. She hates to break it to Sophie, but she doesn’t have any other friends. Caroline tells Sophie about the person at the bar looking at her. Sophie looks at the guy and says she doesn’t think she knows him. Baden pays for his drinks and leaves. While James sleeps at home, Sophie rummages through her wardrobe and tries on dresses. James gets up and tells her she is up early. Sophie admits she couldn’t sleep. He isn’t used to seeing her in something so daring. He shows her the floral dress that he always loved because it suits her. When he asks what it is for, she says the investor event at the firm.

She found the invitation and thinks it’d be a good idea to go. James says it will be fun. While she doesn’t remember it, he is a fantastic dancer. She puts on the dress after James leaves. As she walks down the street, she is approached by Baden although she doesn’t know who he is. He says they need to talk because her husband isn’t who she thinks he is. He asks if she ever thinks that there is more to what happened on the boat that day. As James walks over, Baden slips something into her purse and leaves. Sophie tells James it was just some guy asking for directions. Once they go inside, James checks on her since she seems shaken up. They briefly talk to Miranda before Sophie decides to excuse herself. After Sophie reaches the bathroom, she finds a pack of matches from the Li Bo Lounge in her purse.

She leaves the bathroom and overhears James telling Harrison (Francois Arnaud) he feels like this whole thing is their second chance. They get to reinvent themselves and forget all the mistakes they made before. Harrison admits he is an a-hole who would’ve gotten out a long time ago. Harrison tells Sophie he loves the dress. James asks what he did since she is looking at him funny, but she denies it. In the morning, Sophie gets up early to go for a run. While she runs, we see glimpses of the incident and Sophie being rescued. She remembers the paramedics telling her that she jumped. Sophie goes to the spot but can’t get closer. When she gets home, she remembers the matches she found in her purse. At the hospital, Sophie brings flowers for some of the patients and offers to take Anika’s place.

Sophie Ellis checks her profile using the computer system to learn more about her incident. The report indicates that she sustained injuries due to a fall from a watercraft over open water. She was unconscious on arrival and was placed in a coma. Brain injury was suspected. She had multiple fractures. There was no history of mental illness or previous head trauma. Another report shows she was admitted to the hospital with a fracture to the right ulna although the cause was never revealed. She is interrupted when the nurse returns and notices the call light is going off. Sophie leaves to check on Mr. Greene. Later, Sophie tells James that Victoria called yesterday asking for his driver’s license number. They wanted him to go to Seattle, but he told them he couldn’t. Sophie suggests he should since it has been five months and he can’t babysit her forever.

She says what happened before will never happen again. She doesn’t even recognize the girl who did that. Sophie insists she doesn’t want to die no matter how messed up she is. James wants to make sure she’d call Caroline if something happened. After she promises that she’ll be okay, James says he’ll tell Victoria. Next, Sophie goes to the clinic for neurofeedback therapy. The doctor there tells her that she’ll need honest answers from her. Sophie says her anxiety is a three on a scale from 1 to 10 before she is asked about the last time she experienced a trigger. Sophie reveals she was revisiting the trauma. Then, her level of anxiety jumps to five. She is told to imagine herself in a garden, but she remembers being on the boat. The doctor tells her that she is seeing a visual representation of the activity in her head. After the therapy session, Sophie returns home where she gets a visit from Caroline.

Caroline brought booze and admits James asked her to check up on her. Once they sit down, Sophie says she was at a doctor’s appointment the other day and she was asked how her arm was healing. Although she broke it about a year and a half ago, she doesn’t have any memory of it. Caroline remembers it because she was there. She reveals they were shopping and had a couple of drinks at brunch. While strolling down Maiden Lane, Sophie tripped in front of Chanel and the manager thought she’d sue. Caroline took her for an x-ray and to get a cast put on her arm. She calls it a silly story before asking if something is wrong. Sophie says it is nothing. She admits it is sometimes difficult not knowing your own secrets. James calls her later and says he left something for her by the record player.

She finds a record with a note saying this one is more of his taste than hers. Another note says they played this non-stop on their first road trip to the PCH. One says it was the soundtrack of their summer after they met. Sophie listens to the records and dances by herself. After looking at the matches, she decides to visit the lounge in question. The bartender pours what she usually has. Once Baden arrives, Sophie learns that he is Officer Thomas Baden and was assigned to her case. He says it was a routine investigation because all suicides have to be cleared of foul play. When she asks why he said that about James, Baden admits it is usually the person closest to the victim. Baden got a feeling that he couldn’t shake when he saw her the other day. He says people with perfect lives usually don’t jump off ferries. Sophie says her life is far from perfect.

Sophie used to love this place and said it was named after a famous poet who spent his life drinking until he drowned. The man jumped off a boat into the river. Sophie leaves after telling Baden that she doesn’t need his help. Then, she talks to Hannah about the neurofeedback and how it might be helpful. Sophie has been having new memories that she hadn’t seen before. What she saw happened right before the incident. Hannah asks if she remembers what she told her about the ictus. She says it was the catalyst or the moment when her injury essentially rebooted her brain. Hannah believes she was reborn when she opened her eyes in that water. She can’t trust anything that comes back before that moment. Hannah doesn’t think she’ll ever get the memories back from right before the jump. Instead, the oldest memories will be more likely to return.

She encourages Sophie to stop focusing on the trauma. Sophie doesn’t think they know what happened, but Hannah believes they do. After all, Sophie said she had been hurting for a long time. Sophie reads a letter she wrote about being made this way a long time ago. She doesn’t know what’ll happen the day she crosses the ocean alone, but it is a chance she has to take. She goes on to say go find a new life without her because this one isn’t hers. James returns home and finds her reading the suicide note. He thought they agreed to put it behind them. Sophie argues that is easier for him because he knows what happened. He offers to tell her what happened on the crappiest day of his life. James reveals he got a call that his wife was in critical condition after trying to end her life. He thought her life was pretty good. James was praying he’d make it back home before she died so they could at least say goodbye.

He was in Portland working and she should know that. James never told her because he wanted to forget. He argues it is done now and over. It doesn’t matter anymore and never did. After making out and such, Sophie uses her iPad and gets an alert that it hasn’t been backed up in 155 days. She tries to use the lounge’s name as her password. Once it works, she watches a video of herself trying to lure another guy into bed with her. He thinks it is a bad idea, but she says no one will ever see. He asks her if she has thought about coming with him to someplace warm. She asks if she is supposed to just pack up, leave, and leave him a note. Baden eventually joins her on the bed even though he knows the camera is still on. While on a run the next day, she runs into Baden who is surprised to see her.

She asks about the affair and when he was going to tell her. Sophie tells him to stay out of her life, but Baden can’t. She worries he is going to pin a crime that never happened on her husband although Baden doesn’t think they know what happened. She runs away until she has to stop. Sophie goes to the pier and asks a US Coast Guard member if she remembers her. The woman admits they always wondered what happened to her. She asks if she said anything unusual or if anything was out of the ordinary that day. The woman tells her that she was saying all kinds of crazy things. She said a man pushed her from the boat. Her ID said one thing, but she kept calling herself Tess. She never forgot that because it is her daughter’s name. Sophie shouldn’t put too much stock into it since she was out of her mind.

 

Surface Review

After the first episode of Surface, it is really difficult to get excited about this show. We’ve already seen these ideas so many times before and there isn’t anything new added yet. Gugu Mbatha-Raw is pretty much just repeating her recent role from The Girl Before. This has the same feel and the characters are similar. I was very confused by the setting and cast.

Some of the cast members have a British accent that they’re not even trying to hide while others are trying to sound American. Then, we see the US Coast Guard uniform at the end of the episode. There are like no American actors or actresses in this production so it would’ve made more sense to film it somewhere else. It just doesn’t mesh. Then again, it is easy to see why they’d pass on this project.

Truthfully, the first episode was boring and unappealing. It couldn’t end soon enough although the scenery is nice. The good news is that this is four episodes, but even that might be too much to take since the show really went nowhere in the opening episode. It scores a 5 out of 10. Recaps of Surface can be found on Reel Mockery here. Learn how to support our work at this link.