Character Relationship Map: Surface

Characters

• Laura Daughtery (played by Lake Bell) — protagonist

  Laura Daughtery is a California oceanographer attacked by an unknown life-form during a North Pacific submersible dive. After officials seize her research and she is fired, she investigates with Rich...

• Rich Connelly (played by Jay R. Ferguson) — protagonist

  Rich Connelly is a Louisiana fisherman whose brother vanishes in a suspicious diving accident. He travels to South Carolina to investigate, meets Laura Daughtery after both are detained for questionin...

• Miles Barnett (played by Carter Jenkins) — supporting

  Miles Barnett is a 14-year-old North Carolina teenager who encounters the aquatic creature after falling from his wakeboard. He takes an egg home, hides the hatchling after it escapes, and later devel...

• Savannah Barnett (played by Leighton Meester) — supporting

  Savannah Barnett is Miles Barnett's sister. Her pool party becomes chaotic when the aquatic creature that hatched from Miles's egg escapes and causes havoc there. The synopsis gives her no additional...

• Davis Lee (played by Ian Anthony Dale) — supporting
• Phil Nance (played by Eddie Hassell) — minor

  Phil Nance is Miles Barnett's friend. After Miles discovers that the egg has hatched, Phil names the strange aquatic creature, giving the animal the short nickname used in the story. The synopsis prov...

Canonical Relationships

Family, romantic, and professional connections based on plot evidence.

• Laura Daughtery → Davis Lee (Professional Colleague) — Work together on oceanographic research
• Miles Barnett → Savannah Barnett (Family Siblings) — Brother and sister relationship

Story Dynamics

Alliances, conflicts, and narrative interactions that evolve throughout the story.

• Rich Connelly → Miles Barnett (Narrative Unconnected Investigators) — Both investigating the creature phenomenon from different angles
• Miles Barnett → Phil Nance (Social Friends) — Close friends who share experiences with the creatures
• Laura Daughtery → Rich Connelly (Alliance Allies) — Team up to investigate the mysterious sea creatures

Story Analysis

The season follows Laura Daughtery's investigation into unexplained marine creatures as scientific discoveries, personal threats, and a coastal catastrophe steadily expand the scale of the mystery.

Plot Progression

1. Season 1: Unnatural Arrivals — Strange marine creatures appear across the world, while Laura encounters evidence that the phenomenon is real. A carcass and a dangerous autopsy turn public mystery into scientific alarm.
2. Season 1: Beneath the Evidence — The creatures spread along the coasts as investigators find signs of activity beneath the ocean floor. Laura loses her job but continues pursuing physical evidence through tracking and field investiga...
3. Season 1: Personal Exposure — The sea orchid and a break-in show that Laura's investigation has become personally dangerous. She commits to reaching the creatures' spawning site despite the growing threats around her.
4. Season 1: Truth Underwater — Laura descends in a submersible, becomes trapped on the ocean floor, and returns with disturbing new information. The attempt to expose the footage creates another confrontation over who controls the...
5. Season 1: Coastal Catastrophe — Laura follows the origin mystery to an abandoned laboratory and presses for direct answers. The search for unhatched eggs coincides with a massive tsunami, forcing the investigation into an immediate...