The psychological thriller series on AppleTV+, Surface wraps up its 2nd season this week, with the conclusion being a bit anticlimactic as well as predictable. The protagonist, Sophie Ellis, had begun the season by returning to England, where she had seemingly grown up, in order to piece together her mysterious past, since she had genuinely lost her memory after the supposed accident in San Francisco. Following this return, Sophie realized that her mother, Emma Antoine-Day, whom she had lost at a very young age, had died under mysterious circumstances, and the revered aristocratic family in London, the Huntleys, might have had something to do with it. Thus began her journey of unearthing the truth, with the help of an investigative journalist, Callum Walsh, and it all culminates in Surface season 2 episode 8, when Sophie achieves her personal goal, albeit at the cost of further dangers to her life.
Spoiler Alert
Did Sophie and James survive the crash?
The ending of episode 7 had left Sophie Ellis and her husband, James, in a lot of trouble after their car had been rammed into by another vehicle, following which they had fallen into a ditch by the side of the road. The Huntleys’ trusted henchman, Lucas, had been instructed by Quinn to get rid of the inquisitive Sophie, for which he’d baited her to a desolate place in the English countryside using James. Once the couple had started to drive away from the place, Lucas had rammed his car into theirs, causing the accident, and had then stopped to ensure that he had successfully killed them. While the crash had initially seemed quite serious, Sophie and James are revealed to be absolutely fine at the beginning of Surface season 2 episode 8.
For a couple of minutes after the crash, Sophie loses consciousness, which almost magically brings back memories from her childhood, particularly from that fateful day when she saw her mother for the last time. She recalls Emma taking her on a ride on that particular evening, saying that she needed to deal with something urgent and could not leave her young daughter alone at home. They had driven to the Huntley estate, where Sophie was left in the car while her mother went inside the house, never to return again. She seems to remember hearing a loud bang and is instantly woken up from her reverie by loud thuds nearby. Sophie realizes where she is at and then sees James and Lucas fighting each other, since the henchman had found both his targets alive and had immediately tried to finish the job.
Thankfully for Sophie, James had woken up before her or had not lost his senses at all, because of which he could hold Lucas off, and at present, their scuffle takes a violent shape when the henchman pulls out his gun. However, the struggle leads to James managing to get hold of the gun and firing it at his attacker, meaning that Lucas not only fails to get rid of the couple as per the orders he had been given, but he himself dies in the process. Since the gunshot must have been heard by the neighbors in the area, and since they cannot afford to be questioned by the police just yet, Sophie and James immediately flee the scene, and she takes him to the safehouse that Callum had taken her to earlier in the season.
Although currently inside the safe shelter of the apartment, Sophie grows impatient to finally do something about the death of her mother, for she has finally remembered what exactly had happened, but I discuss it later in the article. She insists that they go to the police and tell them everything, including how Lucas had died and how the esteemed Huntley family was involved in the untimely death of her mother. James does not agree with this plan, though, as he knows that the police will surely arrest them for not just the murder of Lucas but also for the previous crimes in their past. This is the first time that James reveals that he and Sophie had actually made a fortune and then had built their lives in San Francisco based on money and property they had acquired either by stealing or by cheating rich families and businesses. Therefore, the police must be on the lookout for them for these past crimes, and so going to them seeking help is not a viable option, according to him.
Does Callum betray Sophie?
Right after James’ car had crashed into the ditch, Callum Walsh, who had accompanied Sophie on this rescue mission, had seen it and immediately thought of helping the couple. Since Callum had figured out that the accident had been intentionally caused and that the Huntleys wanted to kill Sophie and James, he thought of arming himself first and seeking some help from the neighbors before investigating the crash site. Therefore, he drove to the nearest house and asked for help, also taking a rifle from the owner in order to protect his friends. But by the time he had returned to the spot of the accident, James and Sophie had already fled, leaving behind the dead body of the henchman.
As the sound of the gunshot had been reported to the police by the neighbors, the authorities came and found Callum near the crime scene, because of which he was immediately taken in for questioning. Callum did not try to hide much, and he described the incident, although he did not immediately mention the involvement of the Huntleys in the whole fiasco. He claimed that Lucas had died due to his car crashing, and so when he was asked about who the rented car belonged to, Callum realized that he could not hide the truth anymore and asked for a lawyer.
It was Richard, the official lawyer and representative of the Huntley family, who first came to the police station with some counsel for Callum, obviously advising him to rat Sophie out. This is also when Richard reveals to Callum the real identity of Sophie, as she had multiple criminal charges for theft and embezzlement against her name, and claims that the woman had basically used his professional role as a journalist to attack the aristocratic family, only so that she could claim an inheritance. Although Callum does not side with Richard and politely turns down his offer, he also realizes that he can be in deep trouble with the law if the matter gets turned against him. Callum had already been reminded that the death of his informant, Phoebe, whose services he had hired in order to pursue his research, could also be pinned on him by the Huntleys.
At present, the journalist is visited by his boss from The Britannian, who assures him that the company’s lawyers will help him get out of the sticky situation, but only under one condition—that he give up the location of Sophie and James, whom the police have been looking for for a very long time. Therefore, he agrees to side with the police and seemingly betray Sophie, stating that he knows where the couple have been hiding and can lead the authorities to them. Based on this assurance, a police team accompanies Callum to the apartment building where the safehouse he had shown Sophie is located, and they are fully prepared to arrest them. Callum had already made a call to Sophie and told her that he was coming to meet her, asking her to keep an eye out for him reaching the courtyard.
In an intense scene, Callum appears at the courtyard and signals Sophie to be prepared for his visit, but his behavior makes it very obvious that he is being watched by someone, and she senses something is off. Sophie finally decides to flee with James, but they could not have gotten away had Callum not ultimately saved them, for he had intentionally directed the police to the wrong apartment, buying the couple enough time to escape. Callum knew that he had to become a part of the police operation, but then he did not betray Sophie and James, calling the miscommunication a simple case of his accent not being clear enough to the officers. Despite being initially threatened that he had helped the fugitives escape, no such case can be brought against him, and ultimately, Callum Walsh goes free.
Had Emma really died in an accident?
The real matter at the crux of Surface season 2 has been the mysterious death of Emma Antoine-Day, which had occurred many years ago, when Sophie was just a young girl. Her official death certificate mentioned the reason for her death as ‘unclassified,’ meaning that the doctor had not deemed it necessary to classify the reason at the time. Sophie had learned of the direct involvement of the Huntley family in the matter when it was revealed that the doctor who had signed this document actually practiced as the house physician of William Huntley. She then investigated the matter further to learn that Henry Huntley was her biological father and that he had refused to marry her mother because she was considered too lowly for the aristocratic family.
When Sophie finally confronted Henry, he was quick to apologize to her and state that he still bears remorse for his inability to stand up for his love and protect his beloved at the time. But he also mentioned that Emma had passed away in a road accident after she had driven her car recklessly because of the emotional turmoil that she was in at the moment. However, since the woman’s car can still be found in the forest behind the Huntley estate, in a completely undamaged condition, this claim was clearly a lie. It is only now, in the final episode of Surface season 2, that the real mystery regarding the matter is solved, and the perpetrator behind Emma’s death is finally found.
On the night of the incident, Emma had rushed to the Huntley estate after receiving an ultimatum from William Huntley himself, who had probably threatened to kill her or harm her daughter if she did not leave the family alone. Agitated by this ultimatum and realizing that she and her daughter would be deprived of Henry’s love and attention forever, she had gone to the estate to have a word with him. When she had pounded on the door of the house and then rushed inside when the door was opened, it was Henry’s wife, Olivia, who had responded to her calls. Henry had already gotten married to Olivia by this time, and the woman, who seemingly knew nothing about her husband’s ex-lover, was absolutely shocked and distraught to see her run in.
There have been suggestions that some of the Huntley family members, particularly William, and perhaps even Olivia, hold some racist beliefs and prejudices. These prejudices seemed to have kicked in, as Olivia panicked after seeing Emma rush into her house and reacted with her rifle, which she had brought to the front door. It was Olivia who had shot Emma dead, and Henry had only been trying to protect his wife for so long, since he did not want to lose another lover and companion in his life. Despite being framed as the main antagonist throughout the season, Henry Huntley turns out to be not so bad a man, which is why he finally decides to avenge Emma on the day of Quinn’s marriage and thus heads to the smaller private home on the estate.
It was definitely William who was grossly responsible for the death of Emma, even though he was not the one to have pulled the trigger, since he had created the tense situation that made Emma come to the estate and forced Olivia to react subsequently. Thus, Henry accompanies his father to his house back from the party and then confronts him. William is as staunch and obnoxious as ever, and he claims that he has no regrets for his decisions, as he still feels that Emma and Olivia could never be of equal stature. This finally triggers Henry, and he quickly smothers his father with the pillow, killing him by asphyxiation. He then visits the spot where Emma had been buried, right on the estate with no respect shown to her, and breaks down uncontrollably, which Eliza happens to notice from a distance.
What happens to Sophie?
When Eliza learns that it was her mother who had killed Emma and then sees her father break down in front of the patch of flowers that he always kept drawing, she realizes what had truly happened. Finally deciding to take a stand against her manipulative family, Eliza calls Sophie and tells her everything, even telling her the location where Emma is buried, so that the woman’s body can be dug up and the Huntleys can be held responsible for the gruesome crimes they had committed in the past. Spurred by this development, Sophie decides to go to the police so that the authorities finally act against the aristocratic family, and her mother can be put to rest with respect. She decides to help James flee London, and also hands him the crypto wallet, since she will not be needing any money for some time now.
Sophie knows that going to the police will be basically surrendering herself to the law, since she is wanted for her previous crimes, which neither we, the viewers, nor she had known about. Nonetheless, she takes this bold step only to ensure that her unbelievable story is also heard, suggesting that the matter of Emma’s death is finally solved and dealt with and the perpetrators will be definitely punished. However, the ending of Surface season 2 has the interrogating police officer reveal that Sophie has been a fugitive for a very long time, because of which she is seemingly wanted by the law in numerous countries. This is a clear indication that the creators of Surface intend to return with a 3rd season, in which we will learn about some completely new crimes that Sophie had committed in the past, along with her, since she still does not have any long-term memory about her life.
