Surface/Episode 9

Episode 9
Season 1, Episode 9
Airdate	November 21, 2005
Production Number	109
Written by
Directed by
← 1x08 Episode 8	1x10 → Episode 10
Surface — Season One

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Episode 9 is the ninth episode of the first season of Surface, and the ninth episode overall.

Dee and Rich are trapped at the bottom of the ocean while Miles follows a trail of clues to recover Nim.

Guest Stars: Stephen Michael Ayers (Dr. Paul Blum), Eli Harris (Deputy Church), R. Keith Harris (Dr. Myers - Coroner), Jack Landry (Jared), Mark Jeffrey Miller (Owner), Tim Parati (Skinny), Ric Reitz (Ron Bennett)

Plot Overview

Dee and Rich plummet to the bottom of the sea floor over a mile down after their tether is severed. Falling down into the large glowing vent, they come to rest upside down and quickly lose power. Their problems are magnified as they've lost the ability to scrub CO2 out of their air giving them limited time before they lose consciousness and die. Rich, finally achieving the goal to get down into the depths, struggles with a desire to stay down and with Dee's desperation to get back to the surface. She convinces him to help repair the backup battery and they are able to restore internal power. Turning on the lights, they see that the submersible is surrounded by the large creatures who are engaged in some form of mating and egg laying process. The emergency life raft appears to be jammed underneath the upturned submersible so they can't return to the surface. Dee tries sending out a distress call to Jackson or anyone who will listen, but the only response comes from what appears to be a Japanese sailing vessel before the radio is drowned out by the electrical static caused by the creatures.

While down in the depths, Rich believes that he sees a shadowy human or humanoid figure standing on the sea floor. Dee doesn't see the same thing, but later Rich is convinced he saw it again. Turning the outside lights back on, he finds that it attracts the creatures. Running out of breatheable oxygen, they decide to create a lot of noise and attention and are able to get a large creature to brush past them. This dislodges the bathysphere and allows the floatation raft to deploy, bringing them safely to the surface unharmed.

Lee and his team find the Boneyard along with the overgrowing sea orchid as well as the research material that led them to the dive site. He is contacted by a coast guard officer who has intercepted Dee's distress call, but Lee has it suppressed and notifies them to be on the lookout for Jackson. Lee later has a discussion with the man in the greenhouse about the progress they've had. In addition, he talks about having tracked down and eliminated a strange specimen that was resistant to everything but radiation.

Miles, still working his community service at the Aquarium, gets word of a local electrician who was killed while working on the coast. Seeing the plaster casts of the footprints of the creatures that did it, he suspects that Nim has returned. In an attempt to lure him back, he and Phill jerry-rig an underwater speaker to replay the dinner bell sound that he conditioned Nim with. When that doesn't work, Miles gets the idea that Nim may return to high energy location given his attraction to electicity. Wading into the water near a high voltage underwater cable, he thinks he has found Nim but has instead found a large pack of the small creatures which attack him and wound his legs. He struggles home and tends to his wounds but his sister finds out. Miles later hears a sound from his closet and finds that Nimrod has found his way home.

Notes

• Dr. Blum at the Aquarium notes that the creature appears to have footpads like a mammal, long claws, webbed feet like an otter or seal, and causes massive tissue lacerations like a shark but that they travel in packs. He also notes that local sea life is showing signs of environmental impact like being forced to feed from the bottom.

Arc Advancement

Happenings

• Rich twice sees a shadowy humanoid figure on the bottom of the ocean.
• In Lee's discussion with the man in the greenhouse, it is suggested that there may be a unique strain or crossbreed around. Lee's team tracked one in northern California and were unable to kill it without radiation.

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