Ending this week's trifecta of 'alien invasion' DVD releases is Universal's "Surface." This particular little series posited the theory that there are creatures living beneath the Earth's oceans. This one I found particularly interesting because there are still s many part of the ocean that are uncharted and we know for a fact that there are still some creatures that live so far down that we have yet to discover them. Who knows what's really down there? Well, maybe James Cameron… but certainly no one else. "Surface" started off with a lot of promise and characters that were very interesting. The main storyline is initially divided into three stories of obsessions, one dealing with an oceanographer (Lake Bell) who sees one of the creatures on her very first trip in a submersible. She becomes obsessed with finding out just what it was, frustrated that few believe what she saw. The frustration grows when her lab is taken over by a government agency (forgetting that they work for us, not the other way around) that wants access to all of her research.

Another storyline follows a teenage boy who sees the creature while out waterskiing with friends. His obsession has him out searching for it with a friend, even though his parents have grounded him. The third storyline revolves around two brothers who go deep sea fishing near an oil rig. One of the brothers tags the creature, but get pulled deeper into the water and through some kind of portal. The remaining brother becomes obsessed with finding his brother, convinced that he is not dead.

I found "Surface" to be a little on the melodramatic side, but that didn’t make it any less entertaining. Like the other series, it started off kind of slow (after the initial sightings), but began to pickup a few episodes in. But unfortunately (for the third time), the network just didn't give the series enough of an opportunity to build an audience and killed it before it solidified any kind of loyal fan base. Only 15 episodes were produced before the plug was pulled.

Universal is releasing the entire series, such as it was, on DVD this month. This gave me the chance to see for myself whether or not it had anything going for it. It was pretty good, I thought, though not great. I could see a lot of unrealized potential, certainly in the way of character development. But, as with the other three shows I've reviewed this week, the DVD set is rather frustrating because it ends without any kind of resolution.

Still, the DVD offers up a nice transfer so the show, which is very dark, so it looks and sounds great. As for special features, you'll find a handful of deleted scenes and a featurette that focuses on the show's special effects.

I keep hoping that the networks will one day have more patience with some of their more groundbreaking shows. They should know by now that not all shows hit the ground running, some take a little time to build an audience. Then if the show is good enough (and sometimes even when its not), it will more than likely grow a fan base that would become a good target for their advertisers (which as we know is the bottom line".

Starring: Lake Bell, Jay R. Ferguson, Carter Jenkins, Ian Anthony Dale, Leighton Meester
Extras: Deleted Scenes, Sci-Fi and Special Effects
Specifications: Widescreen (1.78:1), Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound
Studio: Universal
Release Date: 8/15/2006
Region 1
MPAA Rating: NR
Website

We'll give Surface: The Complete Series a B-.