Lake Bell's Underrated Sci-Fi TV Series Is Streaming For Free On An Underused Service

In 2005 NBC premiered the first episode of "Surface." Starring Lake Bell of "Boston Legal" fame, "Surface" was a mystery sci-fi show about apparent monsters emerging from the ocean. It's a show with a lot of beach-related mysteries, so it found itself on the wrong side of countless "Lost" comparisons. James Poniewozik at TIME Magazine dismissively referred to it as "the wettest of the 'Lost' wannabes," although he argued that the show's attempts to capture director Steven Spielberg's magic is where it floundered most of all:

"It does aim, clumsily, at a sense of wonder, with so much faux Spielberg — a boy hiding a creature in his house, à la 'E.T.'; an average guy who becomes obsessed with the secret, à la 'Close Encounters' — that NBC might as well have called this 'Jaws: The Series.' Instead it was called 'Fathom,' then renamed the equally limp 'Surface.' Now people can't say, 'I cannot fathom how this mishmash got on the air.'"

Ten episodes into the first season NBC put "Surface" on a temporary hiatus, which is never a good sign. The show returned in January for five more episodes, then was put on another hiatus due to the 2006 Winter Olympics. It never returned again, and was officially canceled a few months later. 

It was a sad end for the show, although at least "Surface" is now easier to find than other canceled series from its era. Today you can watch the show for free on Fandango at Home. If you want to watch it without ads, you can pay $1.99 an episode or $19.99 for the whole season. That might not sound like the greatest deal but, as someone who still can't find a copy of the 1996 series "Mr. & Mrs. Smith" anywhere, I'll take what I can get.

Although it may seem unfair to call "Surface" a "Lost" ripoff, it's easy to see why critics were so fast to pull that card. "Surface" was greenlit amid the hit first season of "Lost," and when it premiered it was airing alongside "Invasion" on ABC and "Threshold" on CBS, two other mystery-box shows that also appeared to be shamelessly trying to cash in on the success of "Lost." None of these three shows made it past their first season. 

The trend of supposed "Lost" rip-offs didn't go away until at least the mid-2010s, when networks shifted to trying to cash in on the success of shows like "The Walking Dead" and "Game of Thrones." But as "Lost" gradually faded out of the zeitgeist it became easier to appreciate shows like "Surface" on their own terms. That might be why "Surface," despite its 20% positive score among critics on Rotten Tomatoes, has a much-higher 82% positive score among general audiences. Almost all the critics' ratings are confined to that 2005 period, whereas regular audience members can watch and rate the show years afterward, during a time where no one's buzzing in their ear talking about how "Lost" did it better.

Of course, none of the neglected "Lost" lookalikes are as good as the 2009 show "FlashForward," a mystery-box drama in which everyone on Earth suddenly passes out at the same time and has a vision of their future. That show was also canceled after one season (after its own sudden mid-season hiatus no less), and this still stings fifteen years later. "Surface" is a decent "Lost" replacement series, but if your favorite part of "Lost" were the musings on fate vs. free will, "FlashForward" is definitely the show for you.