Surface

Class envy” may have limited use as political analysis, but it’s a solid basis for a TV drama. In 2017, Big Little Lies spilled the scandalous secrets of wealthy women in multimillion-dollar beachside properties, and inspired a slew of imitators – most of them also starring Nicole Kidman. Few, though, have distilled the sub-genre’s appeal as crudely as Surface (Apple TV+). What do we want? Gorgeous, rich people being miserable. When do we want it? Now. (Or at least, the first three episodes on demand, with the rest debuting weekly.)Surface Season 1 Download

In Surface the main gorgeous rich person is Sophie (Gugu Mbatha-Raw), the indifferent owner of a grand San Francisco home (one of those Lower Haight Victorians, for architecture fans), a walk-in wardrobe brimming with designer clothing and a diary packed with nothing but social engagements. Some months ago, Sophie lost her memory after – apparently – jumping off the side of a ferry in an attempted suicide. And herein likes the series’ central mystery, as Sophie helpfully signposts during a therapy session: “If my life was so perfect, why did I try to end it?”Of course, under that placid surface, the woman is a-swirl with nebulous emotions and treacherous undercurrents. She has similar problems to Nicole Kidman’s character in Big Little Lies, and indeed Nicole Kidman’s character in The Undoing, in that her model-handsome husband may well be plotting to murder her, but – bad luck – she fancies him anyway.

That’s the show’s secondary mystery: how this marriage endures in the near-total absence of sexual chemistry, especially as husband James (Oliver Jackson-Cohen) has an annoying habit of blinking really slowly during moments of stress.Who can Sophie confide in about her troubles? Not the sexy undercover cop (Stephan James) who she always seems to bump into on her daily, sweat-free jog – his interest in her case may be more than merely professional.