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80"Surface" is steeped in Spielberg, and is better Spielberg than Spielberg has managed in quite some time.
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60It helps that Bell is able to suggest complexity, emotional and moral, even when the dialogue fails her.
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60So far the stern-faced Lake Bell's independent-minded oceanographer is too conventional a protagonist, while the series' government cover-up thread... feels globally warmed over.
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60Surface has no complex or cynical subtexts; it's straight-ahead sci fi.
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58This by-the-numbers entry is pretty damn toothless. [23 Sep 2005, p.81]
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50Lame storytelling and dialogue.
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Surface can be creepy fun, but the obvious debt it owes to the oeuvre of Steven Spielberg--from the hidden beasts and government stonewalling to the suburban angst and working-mom pluckiness--makes the rest of the show feel blandly familiar.
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40The most enjoyable moments go to the North Carolina boy (Carter Jenkins). It's too bad Surface didn't narrow its focus and become "A Boy and His Blob."
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40Though relentlessly ominous, "Surface" is, so far, only good for surface scares.
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40Interesting, but the sprawling pilot doesn't do "Surface" any favors.
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40The pilot serves up flashy ooh-ah instead of anything tangible to wrap our arms around.
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38There isn't a moment of wonder or suspense in Surface, or a single performance or character that is even remotely involving.
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30Offers a ho-hum monster and the kind of stock characters that we've seen too many times before.
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30The best thing about "Surface" thus far is NBC's promo campaign, which, sliced into bite-sized bits, actually makes the program look considerably better than it is.
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30It's a bland Spielberg wannabe that doesn't succeed in evoking much creepiness or wonder
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30There's nothing particularly appealing about any of the folks having the close encounters.
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30Whoever wrote the first episode of "Lost" didn't crowd the screen with dimwits forced to recite grade-B TV drama drivel. By that standard, "Surface" doesn't get a pass.
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30At first glance... it comes off as silly sci-fi, a not-so-intriguing series that wades into all-too-similar waters as two other fall shows. The difference in this one is that the water is noticeably more shallow.
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25Desperately trying to be mysterious like "Lost," this show, by any other name, turns out to be an ironically diluted version.
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25You won't really want to spend another hour with these people.
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20The series hopscotches to so many locations (the Carolinas, the Antarctic, the ocean trenches) that you briefly forget that it gives you no reason to feel afraid or intrigued or anything else.
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12The most confusing ensemble drama of the new season.
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10One of the lead characters is an evolutionary biologist, which makes sense, since there's not a lot of intelligent design here.
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User score distribution:
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Positive: 216 out of 228
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Mixed: 4 out of 228
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Negative: 8 out of 228
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