After almost two and a half years (what!?!?), Gugu Mbatha-Raw- led series Surface is finally back with a second season. The show was renewed all the way back in December 2022, but it's taken a long time for us to get here. Let's not dwell on that right now though and focus on the Surface season 2 premiere, "New Money." Here's our review of the episode on Apple TV+. SPOILERS BELOW.
Overall the first episode of the season didn't have anything super major or new information that we didn't already know from the promotion provided beforehand except for one thing. Sophie - or now going by her original name Tess - finds out that her mother, Emma, was most likely murdered by William Huntley. She had been working on exposing the family before losing her memories.
Though I have to say, this is where I get a bit confused by the timeline. Tess says she's been in London for a few weeks, which means that we're picking up a few weeks after the season 1 finale when she left her husband James and America behind to return back to Britain. And if you remember, the final shot is her and Eliza coming face to face again. Ok, so that was a few weeks ago. Eliza is also angry at her because Tess just disappeared suddenly 10 years ago, which is when she went to America.
Though where I'm confused, and clearly Tess is too, is the fact that journalist Callum Walsh asks where she's been for the last six months, which is when they last spoke. Wait, what? When did Sophie come back to Britain in the last six months? Was that before she jumped into the water and lost her memories? I'm so confused by the timeline, you guys. But I think that's what it is. Someone please correct me if I'm wrong.
Anyway, that was honestly the most interesting part of the episode. The fact that perhaps her mother was murdered by this uber rich family, and Eliza is William's granddaughter. Even through the hurt, she clearly still has some sort of affection towards Tess. And Tess can use this to her advantage to figure out the truth about what exactly happened to her mother, with the help of Callum as well.
Other than this plot point, which took 27 minutes into the episode to get to, we really just meet the new characters, establish Tess' lavish life in London, and try to start piecing things together along with Tess herself. I understand the first episode needs to be and establishing one to lay the ground work. But I'll be honest. After waiting for so long, I was hoping that the Surface season 2 premiere would be a bit more exciting.
I guess we'll see where the story and season go from here. James also didn't appear, except in a quick dream Tess/Sophie had. We already know actor Oliver Jackson-Cohen is coming back to reprise his role in the second season. So it's clearly only a matter of time before we see James pop back up. Surface season 2 episode 1 felt a bit like an anthology episode and a premiere of a new show rather than the continuation of season 1. But again, let's see how it all plays out. Episode grade level: C.
Surface season 2 releases new episodes Fridays on Apple TV+.