‘Surface’ boss talks about how Sea 1 Finale ‘doubles down on the show’s premise’

[The following story contains spoilers from the first season of Apple TV+’s Surface, including the season one finale, “See You on the Other Side.”]

The first season of Apple TV+ surface It ends on a cliffhanger in which Gugu Mbatha-Raw’s main character Sophie acknowledges her past as Tess Caldwell and returns to the UK in search of Millie Brady’s Eliza, whose bloodied face was haunting Sophie.

While Apple has yet to renew the psychological thriller, showrunner Veronica West says that when she thought about the first season finale, she wanted to find a way to take the series forward.

“There had to be at least one more chapter in Sophie’s past, which is why you hear Tess’s name for the first time at the end of the pilot, and those memories of the Millie Brady character keep coming back, and it’s because of her. “Because that was one of the most traumatic things that ever happened to Sophie,” says West. the hollywood reporter. “In the real science of how this works, the most traumatic memories can surface first, even if they are older. They have an analogy that the more times a sled cuts ruts in the snow, the deeper those ruts become, and if someone has thought about that traumatic moment or something important in their life many times before the injury. If that happened, those grooves would be the deepest and those memories would come back the fastest. With that subtext and the depiction of this woman’s memories in Sophie’s past, we knew early on that we would have to put this into the show’s DNA to show it off in an organic next chapter if we were lucky enough to do so. one, where does this show go next.”

He adds: “What interests me most is what made Sophie the person she is. If season one is about who he really was, what did he really do, that he was a bad guy in a lot of ways, what was he running from across the ocean? Why did he renew his life? What are these memories that reflect his deep past and childhood, and how did he become the person we know during season one?”

West isn’t the only one planning a possible second season. Talk to THR inside surfaceAt the New York premiere earlier this summer, Brady said he knows more about Eliza than audiences have seen.

“A lot of what we learn about Eliza comes later, I hope we do a second season,” he said. “It was enough to give me the basis of the character. But what I really liked was the fact that a lot of Eliza’s character is also a mystery to me.

Returning to Tess’ life in the UK, Sophie appears to be faking her own death by crossing the Golden Gate Bridge before disappearing, leaving her belongings behind. Although Oliver Jackson-Cohen’s James initially denies that his wife is really gone for good, he discovers that Tess Caldwell’s bank account has been wiped and discovers a video indicating she is still alive.

As for when and what prompted Sophie to leave her life in San Francisco, as Sophie and James are still dealing with Baden’s (Stephen James) death, but also trying to start over as Sophie wants to explore her own secrets. , West Points . This action of James moves a lot.

“Baden’s death and James’ faith are responsible for this.” [plays a part in what Sophie does,]”- says West. “But he also realized in episode six, in the flashback episode, that he actually created this false reality for himself, and if he hadn’t, to be honest, when he woke up that day, he would have been nobody. . It probably happened. Baden would probably still be alive. It’s as if he wasn’t looking for answers and wasn’t feeling as restless as she was, and the story had taken a completely different direction. So it’s a little Machiavellian in a way, but what it does to James, I think there’s a real emotional purpose to holding a mirror up to him and [asking him] How it feels.”

Who was responsible for Baden’s death remains unclear, but James ties Harrison (François Arnaud) tightly during an explosive argument.

And Arno said before THR inside surface premiere that she was interested in her character’s journey.

“It’s interesting to explore how far good people go in bad territory,” Arnaud said of his character, who he described as “deeply shallow” and “committed” to avoiding “introspection and investigation and willing to do anything.” To protect his friendship with James, but it’s also a kind of action that he should think more about before he acts, but he won’t.”

While many of the characters from the first season seem isolated towards the end of the final episode, West says they could still return for a possible second season.

“[Sophie] He certainly leaves a tsunami in the wake of his actions, so people aren’t going to lie to sleeping dogs,” he says. “Even if Sophie has other plans, I think there’s definitely a chance that some of the people we loved from season one will come back. .”

While Sophie seems to have decided at the end of the first season to jump off the raft, and video footage seems to confirm this, West says Sophie’s mindset when she got off the boat will remain a mystery.

“It was at the crossroads of what happened that day on the ferry. I always thought I would never remember what I was thinking when I jumped,” he says. exactly what their intentions were.” Was he hoping to end his life or start a new one? In a way, I always felt like it doesn’t matter, because what matters now is what she chooses to do in the present, and even though she had the idea of ​​a past scenario , her choice to do this in the present really doubles down on the show’s premise and shows how much she’s grown as a character and what she could do in the future.”

After Surface began with an apparent suicide attempt, Sophie faced questions in season one about whether she had a history of mental illness, and West says the show will continue to explore her psyche.

“Ultimately, the show is really a psychological thriller. And in this genre, we really can’t help but explore the really dark parts of people’s minds,” he says. “Sophie’s story is always about who she really is and how she really feels about herself and the people around her. Those are the mysteries that the show is unraveling, so I think looking at her in the mirror and allowing her to ask these really hard questions about herself and asking really hard questions about her DNA, her family history, that’s what she’s going to continue. Fix it in her story and make her find more answers. ”