When Surface debuted on Apple TV+ in 2022, it wasn’t exactly an acclaimed darling. Critics felt the show was too much of a slower-than-usual slow burn, with gaps between the story and characters. While the performances were at the top of their class, the overheated tale felt a bit derivative and often drowned in its own mystery. Fast forward three years and the Reese Witherspoon-produced thriller has finally returned — and, thankfully, is a lot better than expected. Finally finding its depth after a rocky start, the Gugu Mbatha-Raw series hits the ground running, ditching its sluggish unraveling and leaning into its dark, psychological core for a smarter, faster, and more confident narrative that’s easier to dive into.
Blending sharp Hitchcockian vibes with bold noir accents, Surface Season 2 finally gives its characters and the audience something to sink their teeth into. Trading the sunshine of San Francisco for the gloom of London, Mbatha-Raw’s character Sophie is on the hunt for answers. However, having no recollection of her past also means that every step forward across these eight episodes has a bigger risk ahead. Monumentally different from its initial run, Surface Season 2 is impressively sharp, crafting a distinct story that flips everything we thought we knew on its head while offering satisfying answers and some jaw-dropping twists.
What Is ‘Surface’ Season 2 About?
Surface Season 2 wastes no time shaking things up in its premiere, “New Money,” throwing viewers back into the swirling mystery of Sophie’s fractured life — except this time, there’s an edge to her. Gone is the soft, uncertain version of a woman we began to understand after a devastating suicide attempt. Instead, we see Mbatha-Raw’s renewed character rocking a sleek bob, dark bold lip, and glittering silver gown in this second act. These opening moments set the tone for what we can expect after Sophie abandons the States as well as her husband, James (Oliver Jackson-Cohen). But hiding at a fancy hotel while she untangles her identity and digs into her past doesn’t equal your run-of-the-mill soul-searching trip.
Reintroduced at a high-stakes auction where she casually drops $25,000 on symphony tickets and is seen hacking her way into apps with high-tech gadgets, Sophie (or is it Tess now?) has a clear agenda, and it involves Eliza Huntley (Millie Brady) — a face we first saw in back flashes during Season 1. Their run-in instantly reignites tension as Sophie’s sudden disappearance doesn’t exactly go over as easily with Eliza, who suspects there is more to her return than meets the eye. Naturally, she confides in her brother, Quinn (Phil Dunster), the heir to a complicated legacy and master of his demons — and he’s got plenty.
While it seems like champagne problems plague the Huntleys on the surface, Sophie isn’t wrong to focus on them, as we learn their wealth is shadowed by years of unsolved crimes, giving Sophie (and viewers) more threads to pull at. Everything turns on its head once more when a journalist named Callum (Gavin Drea) contacts Sophie out of the blue, leading her to discover there is more at stake than she realized, and the two need to work together to expose a shocking scandal that she’s right at the center of.
‘Surface’ Season 2 Dives Deeper With Its Cast
At the heart of Surface remains Mbatha-Raw, who delivers an even more nuanced and commanding performance this season. No longer the uncertain Sophie of Season 1, the actress and series EP steps into a far more layered role as “Tess,” the woman she was before the fall, all while grappling with who she’s become since. It’s a performance deserving of acclaim, and Mbatha-Raw is striking as she navigates this duality with precision, shifting effortlessly between vulnerability and a pointed, calculated resolve. While her on-screen presence deepens the series’ noir aesthetic with a tinge of the modern femme fatale thanks to her complex moral center, Mbatha-Raw carries strength and fragility in the same breath, allowing the season’s emotional stakes to hit harder.
Jackson-Cohen returns as Sophie’s estranged husband, James, and after having grieved his wife twice, it’s safe to say he has transformed. Tapping into a more thoughtful register this season, he is still the ever-loving husband but wants his own answers. There’s a raw openness Jackson-Cohen brings that complicates how we see James. He’s still deceptive toward Sophie, but an added sadness makes his motivations feel less manipulative and more desperate. It creates a compelling and magnetic tension in scenes with Mbatha-Raw, with their dynamic shifting from cold estrangement to something far messier and more tragic.
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The shiny, new players this season elevate Surface, like Dunster as Quinn, who injects the series with a rugged, morally gray charm. Far removed from his Ted Lasso fame, Dunster embodies a rough-around-the-edges rich kid swagger with an underlying menace that keeps you guessing whether Quinn is an ally or a threat. Meanwhile, his charming fiancée Grace, played by Freida Pinto, brings a captivating elegance to the series. Her porcelain facade hints at deeper cracks not just in her environment, but also in her relationship with Quinn and his family. This dynamic brings out an emotional depth in Pinto as Grace tries to uncover some of the hidden tensions and truths that simmer beneath the surface of their seemingly perfect life.
Drea’s Callum is another standout in the series. While his role is a bit disheartening at times as he flickers in and out of the plot as Sophie’s reluctant ally, his involvement and effective performance are warranted by the actor helping create a focused weightiness that is felt throughout and directly connects with Sophie. Moreover, the wildcard of the bunch —Brady’s Eliza — is a subtle, absorbing performance that offers sharp, biting energy, creating the perfect foil for Sophie as someone who could quickly unravel everything or help piece it together.
‘Surface’ Season 2 Feels Like a Soft Reboot
While Surface Season 2 is significantly improved without overwhelming the audience through continuous overcomplication, it manages to structure its mysteries a lot stronger this time. Still keeping that sharp, moody, and occasionally maddening chokehold on the viewer, the show thrives in its story even if it slightly frustrates in the wonder of where all of this was during Season 1. The two entries are so distinctively disconnected that it feels like a soft reboot at times, with Season 2 shedding the weight of its past and leaning into a slicker, more assured narrative. It also compellingly digs deeper into the performances of Mbatha-Raw and her co-stars for an ambitious sophomore season that begs for more by the end of its finale.
Creator Veronica West and her team of writers have embraced the show’s initial noir undertones that were only flirted with in Season 1, making these next chapters all the more captivating. A brooding, psychological weight anchors the story, with Sophie shifting from a passive amnesiac to an active player in her own unraveling. In Season 1, there was a bit of a foggy ambiguity surrounding Sophie, but all of that is now replaced with a more deliberate tension and realization, where every conversation feels laced with hidden motives. Even the settings between minimally styled apartments or darkened stables give the series a bit more of an edge and speak to the mysteries Sophie is trying so hard to uncover. Thankfully, all of this lends to a haunting mood where Surface Season 2 digs its heels into Hitchcockian noir for a richly layered story loaded with moral grayness and a storm of secrets.
Finally getting the chance to be the show it was always meant to be, Surface Season 2 elevates itself past its early missteps, delivering a second act filled with intricate plotting and a moody atmosphere that lingers long after the credits roll. Topped off with a mind-blowing finale, the series shifts its narrative identity without abandoning its core mystery to feel both timeless and fresh for a full-blown reinvention that leaves you wanting more.
Surface Season 2 premieres February 21 on Apple TV+.
Surface
Surface Season 2 trades foggy ambiguity for sharp, moody noir where every secret cuts deeper and nothing is what it seems.
- Release Date
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July 28, 2022
- Network
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Apple TV+
- Directors
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Kevin Rodney Sullivan, Jennifer Morrison
- Writers
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Leigh Ann Biety, Erica L. Anderson, Raven Jackson, Martín Zimmerman, Tony Saltzman, Dan Lee West
- Gugu Mbatha-Raw delivers a deeply thoughtful and layered performance.
- Strong noir aesthetics and darker themes align with the show’s fresh and sharper pacing.
- A fresh roster of characters livens up the series for complex dynamics.
- The disconnect from Season 1 might alienate returning viewers.
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